Betalogue

More on the justifications of the US war in Iraq

The following column by Jeff Danziger is particularly striking: “Tour of Duty or Deplorable Deployment?” by Jeff Danziger, Los Angeles Times As a complement, the following is a good read as well, even though it’s from the U.K. and it’s much more clearly biased. “20 Lies About the War” by Glen Rangwala and Raymond Whitaker, […]

Interesting column by Thomas Friedman on the evolution of the wired (and increasingly wireless) world and its impact on world-wide relations and, more specifically, on relations between the US and everyone else: “Is Google God?” by Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times [free registration required] None of this means we, America, just have to […]

This article in The New Republic on the way the US administration has lied and misled the American public and insulted everyone’s intelligence is, unfortunately, required reading: “The First Casualty” by John B. Judis and Spencer Ackerman, The New Republic

There is something mind-boggling in the way that a Republican senator such as John McCain continues to try and justify — by stating that we are “past the point of justifying”, no less — the actions of the current US administration. What is mind-boggling is that he is continuing to use the “weapons of mass […]

Wow. I had no idea all French raw-milk cheese was banned in the US: “Hey, Wanna Score Some Cheese?” by Katy McLaughlin, The Wall Street Journal (Raw-milk cheese from other countries is banned if it’s aged for less than 60 days, which eliminates most raw-milk soft cheese.) Such cheese was stamped with a big red […]

Cela fait plusieurs semaines maintenant que la France est sous l’emprise de mouvements de grève qui n’en finissent pas, dans divers secteurs, dont l’enseignement, la fonction publique en général, les transports, etc. Le motif principal de ces grèves est la réforme des retraites proposée par le gouvernement. Comme la plupart des démocraties occidentales, la France […]

We already know that, in the strange world of modern America, Saddam Hussein really was behind Sept. 11 and that the hijackers were Iraqi citizens, but Bush logic has reached a whole new level in the past few weeks: “What the definition of ‘WMD’ is” by Jake Tapper, Salon.com When President George W. Bush says […]

I find this article about Americans spending too much time on the job particularly worrying: “All Work and No Play” by Joe Robinson, Los Angeles Times Americans already work far too much for too little compensation and too little vacation time, and things are only going to get worse, if proposed changes are adopted: These […]

Paul Krugman has no choice but to reach the inevitable conclusions: “Standard Operating Procedure” by Paul Krugman, The New York Times [free registration required] Suggestions that the public was manipulated INTO supporting an Iraq war gain credibility from the fact that misrepresentation and deception are standard operating procedure for this administration, which — to an […]

You don’t hear much about media consolidation in the mainstream media conglomerates, maybe because it’s not a very sexy subject, but mostly because it is definitely not in their interest to cover an issue where they themselves have so much at stake. This makes Dan Gillmor’s recent column on the subject all the more required […]

At times, you cannot help but wonder how low the current US administration will stoop to defend its indefensible position regarding the Iraq situation. from Wolfowitz trying to rationalize the lying for “bureaucratic” reasons (and the Pentagon later trying to change the line) to Condoleezza Rice repeating how the US is still “disappointed” with Canada, […]

Media mogul Ted Turner (who launched CNN back in 1980) now writes: If these rules had been in place in 1970, it would have been virtually impossible for me to start Turner Broadcasting or, 10 years later, to launch CNN… It’s hard to compete when your suppliers are owned by your competitors. We bought MGM, […]

I don’t know if any sensible individual can still be in denial with respect to the fact that the US administration lied to the world regarding the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. For those who are close to reaching the inevitable conclusions, Paul Krugman has this to add in a recent New […]

Margaret Drabble speaks eloquently in an opinion piece at telegraph.co.uk: “I loathe America, and what it has done to the rest of the world” by Margaret Drabble, The Daily Telegraph, May 8, 2003 I hate feeling this hatred. I have to keep reminding myself that if Bush hadn’t been (so narrowly) elected, we wouldn’t be […]