On Lawyers and Torture

There’s been much commentary the past weeks over the legal memos released by the Obama administration, in which lawyers for the Bush administration were asked to give an opinion as to the legality of certain so-called “enhanced” interrogation techniques (which were of sufficient severity and cruelty that most people would call them “torture”).  I’ve read the memos (which are available here), albeit not word-for-word, and find myself disagreeing with those […]

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Poisson d’Avril Excellent!

Sur France 2, cette émission m’a bien eu!  Je l’ai regardé le premier avril avec ma femme, et je l’ai dit, “je me demandais souvent si les éoliennes pourraient ralentir la rotation de la terre.”  J’ai vraiment cru cette emission!  Mais aujourd’hui je découvre qu’elle était un “poisson d’avril.”  Heursement, je ne suis pas seul … regardez le 114 commentaires ici. Bien fait France 2! This report on France 2 […]

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This Drives Me Crazy

You may have seen the letter that appeared in the New York Times from Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, announcing his resignation because … let’s all get out our hankies here … he was criticized for being paid a bonus of “$742,006.40, after taxes.”  In the letter, he expresses his view of the unfairness of it all:  He stayed on after […]

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15 (Plus) Albums

Cover of Reckoning My sister-in-law Yvette posted this challenge on Facebook: Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. They might not be what you listen to now, […]

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The Parasitic Professionals Retraining Act

The bankers and the big dog finance guys are taking a huge hit in the press and in Congress right now, the large bonuses being paid to people who don’t seem to have done a lot of good for their companies recently being fodder for a thorough bashing. It’s hard to feel much sympathy for those on the wrong end of things right now; these are, after all, people who’ve […]

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The Last Thing in Common?

We went to San Francisco yesterday, on a beautiful, clear, fresh, sunny day, to celebrate Suzie’s and Will’s birthdays, and to attend the “Giants Fan Fest” at AT&T Park. (Pour mes amis étrangers, les Giants sont l’équipe de baseball de San Francisco.) We were able to walk on the field, go into the dugout (le endroit dans lequel l’équipe reste pendant le match), and watch a presentation by the Giants’ […]

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Bonne Chance et Bon Courage Obama!

Domain mon pays aura un nouveau Président.  Après huit ans de Bush, nous avons beaucoup d’espoir pour l’avenir.  J’espere que Obama sera un centriste, parce que il faut rassembler les americains.  Bush et ses conseillers ont essayé de gagner des élections par diviser les americains.  Malheursement, la gauche fait le même chose.  Je crains que le plus grand probléme pour Obama soit sa propre partie.  Beaucoup de ‘democrats’ a déjà […]

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C’est Difficile à Revenir

Je suis revenu en Californie il y a une semaine.  La rentrée est difficile.  La France me manque, et Paris me manque.  Mes amis à Santa Rosa me demandent pourquoi, mais je ne peux pas facilement m’expliquer.  Un jour, je regardais un match de football americain à la télévision, et il y a eu la pub pour une camionette.  Dans cette pub, la musique était forte, tous les hommes étaient […]

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Au Revoir Paris

It’s almost 10 pm, the taxi comes at 7 am, I’m still not packed. But we had a nice last day, which in addition to hours of packing, included a last lunch at the little restaurant on the side street next to our apartment (Le Daudet), a wonderful visit at the apartment of one of our instructors from the Alliance (coffee, tea, chocolates, and conversation), topped off by a trip […]

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