Col. Jeff Cooper:

Self-control is what makes a good shot. Self-control is also what makes a good man. The two ideas are not necessarily coincident, but there is a connection.

The Art of the Rifle, The Mind of the Rifleman.

Sometimes, there are coincidences.

By which I mean, coincidences do exist, after all. But just not this time I suppose:

Tehran, March 11, IRNA - Iran news agency: French banks release Iran's frozen assets

Presidential Advisor for legal and parliamentary affairs Majid Jafarzadeh said on Tuesday that the assets of Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which were seized by French banks, have been released.

Speaking to IRNA, he said that the move followed continued efforts by Presidential department for legal and parliamentary affairs on Monday. CBI assets were frozen by Bank of French Banque Populaire.

France has not confirmed or denied the Iranian news agency report, and, typical of the French news occulting reporting, I could not find any mention of this here — even simply to say that Iran "claims" the assets were released.

If the information proved to be true however, considering both the implications of such move and the sick and thick collusion between the French "private", semi-private (and public evidently) companies with the State¹, there is no way — emphasis on no way — this could have happened without both knowledge and approval at the top level of the French diplomacy and Presidency — that means Kouchner and Sarkozy.

While there is little trust to put into an official Iranian news agency of course, the fact that France "won't deny or confirm" gives a lot of ground to suspicions of a — typical, if History helps and memory serves — French shady deal in the works.

In Paris, on the very same day (Tuesday, March 11) at the opening of some local fair grandiloquently dubbed "Forum for New Diplomacy"², the Good Doctor Kouchner, that old school Socialist who was offered de Villepin's chair, staff and budget as France's foreign minister by France's New Supa Dupa President-Showman Sarkozy, couldn't help but serving the same old Leftist canard that "Bush damaged America's image in the World[...'s view of those who already hated America in the first place — Ed]", while speaking to Roger Cohen from the New York Times' European outlet, the International Herald Tribune (that manages to go further down and to the Left of the mother ship, making it a real chore to read⁴), a particularly receptive interlocutor to this kind of mantra:

'Magic is over' for U.S., says French foreign minister

PARIS: Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France (...) says that whoever succeeds President George W. Bush may restore something of the United States' battered image and standing overseas, but that "the magic is over."

Asked whether the United States could repair the damage it has suffered to its reputation during the Bush presidency and especially since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Kouchner replied, "It will never be as it was before."

Let's begin with a quick digression: many of us peons have been knowing that "it will never be as it was before" since September 11, 2001, 12:46:30 UTC, but it's apparently taking more than 6 years to penetrate the walls of the Great Diplomats at the Quai D'Orsay.

Or that's just not what the Good Doctor Kouchner has in mind when he says "it", perhaps — end of digression.

I'll say it once again, just because I know there will come a time when I'll have to say "I told you so": France's dirty bag of tricks is still open, because France's semi-secret weasel war against the US is still on.

The only difference is that rather than the unlucky and untimely frogs in the open strategy pursued by Chirac and de Villepin, Sarkozy and Kouchner have reverted to the insidious methods⁵ of the Mitterrand era — the 1980's Socialist President who "served [1940's Collaborationist] Vichy [regime] with such zeal that he earned himself the Francisque medal [Vichy's highest honour]" yet is still regarded as a semi-god by the French elite — who once (in)famously said:

"France does not know it, but we are at war with America. Yes, a permanent war, a vital war, a war without death".

Hence Sarkozy, having briefly staged his pro-American act, telling US congressmen exactly what they wanted to hear⁶ and crying out loud for a few weeks how he loved America (As long as he had the international media's attention. Then he stopped, and he's not making such a fuss about it anymore.) — before going all hanky-panky with Putin's Russia. Hence his bypassing the Parliament by sending one of his future former ex-wives⁷ on a high profile mission to al-Gaddafi's Lybia with gifts of French warplanes and nukes in her bottomless yet rather dashy vanity case. Hence France's meddling in the Near and Middle-East, or even France's sudden interest in getting back into NATO, asking for a command position nobody was offering her.

"A permanent war" — and if you think that a few, much hyped, days of vacation in New Hampshire constitute a cease-fire (let alone a peace treaty), you've not learned much of French History.

A good KGB training is a terrible thing to waste

Not strictly related, but part of the French "ecosystem": a few more pages to add to the Chronicles of Ordinary Anti-Americanism (French chapter), with this cover of the current special issue of Les Echos; France's economics monthly that wished it was "The Economist" but is to Capitalism and the economy what Pravda was to actual Truth.


Translation: "After Bush. Financial crisis, social divide, immigration, environment. Why America must reinvent herself.">

On her long agony towards oblivion, France is experiencing as a result of decades of dedication to Socialism, those very flaws Les Echos are projecting on America here — though to a critical degree nearing the point of no return, as far as social unrest is concerned. As a result, her "elite" in the political-media complex have little options left but to resort to a well-known (soft) Soviet tactic: keep your masses more or less in check by telling them, repeatedly, that no matter how bad they feel, people are doing far worse in the USA.

That's the basics of propaganda, so I'll just let you enjoy the tone, the subject, the imagery, the substance, and the style.

Welcome to my Life in France.

The (Dead Trees) Information Age seems definitely over, as the new thrive for freedom in the most famous of the last Communist dictatorship — and the most revered of all in France — ignores the Samizdats-on-paper of the 20^st century Soviet Union and its unfortunate satellites, in favor of flash disks and data sticks smuggled in the country:

HAVANA — A growing underground network of young people armed with computer memory sticks, digital cameras and clandestine Internet hookups has been mounting some challenges to the Cuban government in recent months, spreading news that the official state media try to suppress.
(…)
Something similar happened in late January when officials tried to impose a tax on the tips and wages of employees of foreign companies. Workers erupted in jeers and shouts when told about the new tax, a moment caught on a cellphone camera and passed along by memory sticks.

“It passes from flash drive to flash drive,” said Ariel, 33, a computer programmer, who, like almost everyone else interviewed for this article, asked that his last name not be used for fear of political persecution. “This is going to get out of the government’s hands because the technology is moving so rapidly.”

Young people here say there is a thriving black market giving thousands of people an underground connection to the world outside the Communist country.

People who have smuggled in satellite dishes provide illegal connections to the Internet for a fee or download movies to sell on discs. Others exploit the connections to the Web of foreign businesses and state-run enterprises.

Students download everything from the latest American television shows to articles and videos criticizing the government, and pass them quickly around the island.

All in all, an extremely heartwarming read — even though it comes from the New York Times, of all places.

The days of Socialist Cuba are numbered, and the end could come faster than it did for any of its predecessors. Could almost make you regret that Castro died before seeing this.

Almost.

Cheers to all Cubans Freedom Cyber-fighters — and viva Cuba libre, at last.

h/t to Bill for the post title

By the way

Sure, Castro is not dead. Neither is Elvis.

I stumbled on the picture below during a random browsing session¹ (can't remember where I found it though. I think the Dude is Nigerian), and found most of its aesthetic features truly appealing, so much so that I've decided to share it with you.



Any connection, mental or otherwise, with the previous post and the current state of the primaries on the Democrats' side in the US 2008 Presidential election remains the pure product of the reader's sick and twisted mind.

Truly, I think you need help³ and you should be very ashamed of yourself.

So it seems that the latest Obamessiah miracle was to raise Hillary from the dead.

Maybe it's because of this, but I can't bring myself to find the news totally distressing.

I hasten to add that I wouldn't dare lecturing US voters on matters in which I have absolutely not the beginning of a right, but if I can offer a testimony based on my recent experience here in France, it's that sometimes, it's best to stick with known evils than try new ones.

Meaning — take note of what's coming, because reading it here is indeed quite historical — that after nearly ten months of the great crypto-Socialist Circus of President-Showman Sarkozy, I find myself leaning to the edge of beginning to miss Jacques Chirac.

Hang on, I need to read that twice, to make sure I just wrote it.

Say what? Oh, you like that graphic? Well then, get it as a wallpaper, and share it with your friends and relatives.



Click on your preferred size, and once the picture is loaded right-click it an "Save picture". If you have trouble with that, shout in the comments or drop me an email.