And the winner mailbox is...
You know you are in suburbia when your mailbox has to be something special.... :) Here is the ultimate winner. You can also see this website for more entries in that competition
April 29, 2006
April 27, 2006
Samsung SGH-i310
First ever Smartphone Mobile Phone with 8GB HD. The question WHY? rings in my head. How bad should the battery performance be on that sucker? It has a TV out, Bluetooth stereo, USB 2.0, miniSD etc. Great combo, GSM, Windows Mobile 5.0 and all at a pants-breaking, hand-twisting 120g of weight, that's almost half-pound.
See full announcement
April 26, 2006
Drinking limits...
It is no secret that here in the United States companies are very reluctant to indulge in their employees' drinking habits. One company even announced that it is introducing a new policy at the corporate parties, one glass per person....
Корейский сериал
Наш Сеульский корреспондент прислал коллекцию фотографий со съёмок ТВ фильма, в котором он снимался в многочисленнвых сценах...
April 25, 2006
Propaganda at work
In case you wondered what the Iranians may think about their president, this image may give you a hint of the powerful propaganda machine that is currently at work.
April 23, 2006
Happy Birthday, Empire State Building!
Arguably the most recognizable American building in the world is celebrating its 75th birthday. Come see the New York Times special issue filled with trivia and juicy tidbits about the landmark or visit the Empire State Building's official web page where you can always find the lighting schedule and the meaning of the colors.
April 22, 2006
Wine Exports Growth
Look at the difference in wine consumption between the French (55 liters per year) and the Americans (8 liters) and the Russians (6 liters).
Blessing of the bikes
SEVENTH BLESSING OF THE BICYCLES, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, at 112th Street, Morningside Heights. Sat April 22 at 9:30 a.m.
BBC: Green Wing
The most outrageous, whackiest, goofiest show I've ever seen, and that says a lot... The premiss of the show is completely irrelevant, the plot is almost non-existent, yet the adventures of the hospital staff where no patient ever take part in any of the action are absolutely, ridiculously outlandish....
So, watch Green Wing Season 1 on BBC America from May 5, and then join the real BBC to watch the season 2 which is already in progress... Alternatively, come see me for the funniest episodes...
April 20, 2006
Australian for ‘Food’
by Robin Raisfeld
It used to be that New York City’s 13,000 or so Australian expats craving a comforting taste of home had few places to seek refuge. Then in late 1999 came Eight Mile Creek, the Nolita pioneer that paved the way for the Sunburnt Cow, Ruby’s, and last year, a burgeoning meat-pie industry. With all this activity, and an Aussie fish bar in the works (Bondi Road, at 153 Rivington Street), it’s time for an Australian-food primer.
Mention American coffee, and your average laid-back Aussie gets all worked up like Russell Crowe attempting to dial overseas. Their quintessential cup, the flat white, is a strong, smooth espresso drink—less milky than a latte, and not as foamy as a cappuccino. It’s done to perfection at Ruby’s, a lively Aussie hangout (219 Mulberry St.; 212-925-5755), and it’s turned up recently in Fort Greene, where expat Basquali (he goes by one name) has opened the café Smooch (264 Carlton Ave.; 718-624-4075).
There is very little an Aussie won’t pile atop his burger, if the Whaleys (named for a beach popular among the surfer-dude set) at Ruby’s is any indication: It’s layered with lettuce, tomato, pineapple, beets, ketchup, cheese, and a fried egg. Also available at the Sunburnt Cow (137 Ave. C; 212-529-0005).
Drinking food at its primitive best, meant to be doused with ketchup and eaten out of hand from a paper bag like a Bowery bum, Australian meat pies are infiltrating the fast-food market. The charismatic Tuck Shop, which just spawned a midtown branch, fills its pies with ground beef, chicken (chook), steak, and curry vegetables; baker Lincoln Davies is experimenting with kangaroo and pondering Philly cheesesteak (68 E. 1st St.; 212-979-5200; and 250 W. 49th St.; 212-757-4841). And recently, commercial baker DUB (Down Under Bakery) Pies surreptitiously took over an existing Carroll Gardens bakery space and began selling its pies retail (193 Columbia St.; 646-202-9412).
What Tim Tams are to cookies (the Australian archetype), Lamingtons are to cake — a chocolate-iced, coconut-dusted sponge layered with jam that must have been what Hostess had in mind when it concocted the Sno Ball. Difference is, it’s actually edible. Available at Tuck Shop, DUB, and wherever fine Australian food is served
April 18, 2006
Sing Sing Prison
My daily travel took me today to Ossining, NY where the famous Sing Sing prison and the Rockefeller estate are. The prison, or "The Big House", aka "Up the River", aka "The Last Mile" has been there since 1825!
Come see a gallery of interesting photos from inside the prison.
April 16, 2006
Margaret Atwood reads her poem "The Moment"
Visit this website and read a beautiful poem "The Moment" by Margaret Atwood. You can also listen to that poem read by the author herself. Enjoy!
An interesting little fact-let.... **fr
see the article below (click read more and then, if you do not read French, click translate button with a British flag on it underneath the article) that appeared in Le Monde on April 14, 2006, where there is a claim that
"the State of Israel, it is a fact, has never recognized Palestine in its borders of 1967, no more that it recognized Al Qods (in the Arab part of Jerusalem) as a capital of the Palestinian Authority, so why then the Palestinian Authority should recognize Israel?"
Point de vue
Est-on trop indulgent envers Israël ?, par Shlomo Sand
LE MONDE | 13.04.06 | 13h41 • Mis à jour le 13.04.06 | 13h41
Le verdict des urnes dans les territoires de l'Autorité palestinienne a été critiqué par la quasi-totalité des capitales occidentales qui, en revanche, ont accueilli avec satisfaction la nouvelle donne issue des élections israéliennes. Le fait que beaucoup d'Israéliens aient commencé à exprimer leur lassitude après de longues années d'occupation des territoires palestiniens peut, effectivement, être perçu comme une évolution positive dans cette "guerre de cent ans" des temps modernes.
Mais les choix politiques du peuple palestinien sont disqualifiés par les porte-parole américains, au motif que les vainqueurs des élections ne sont pas disposés à reconnaître l'Etat d'Israël. Cela constitue un problème, mais faut-il vraiment s'en étonner ? Depuis maintenant quatre décennies, tous les gouvernements d'Israël, de droite comme de gauche, n'ont cessé d'autoriser ou d'encourager le processus de colonisation qui ronge, année après année, de nouveaux morceaux du territoire palestinien.
Après le refus historique permanent d'Israël de reconnaître ne serait-ce qu'une part de responsabilité dans l'origine du problème des réfugiés palestiniens en 1948, et après avoir tout fait pour réduire en miettes le prestige et le semblant de souveraineté de l'Autorité palestinienne, la population des territoires, soumise à l'occupation, a majoritairement opté pour une alternative politique plus ferme, mais aussi moins corrompue. Certes, le Hamas, de l'avis général, joue un jeu dangereux, et il est peu probable qu'il trouve un soutien durable auprès du peuple palestinien, particulièrement éprouvé. Cependant il assume le risque de défier Israël et l'Occident. Il n'a pas pour autant rejeté totalement l'idée d'une reconnaissance mutuelle, laissant même entendre qu'il y serait disposé sous certaines conditions.
L'Etat d'Israël, c'est un fait, n'a jamais reconnu une Palestine dans les frontières de 1967, pas plus qu'il n'a reconnu Al Qods (la partie arabe de Jérusalem) comme capitale de l'Etat palestinien ; pourquoi, dans ces conditions, reconnaître un tel Israël ? En 1988, le mouvement national palestinien a majoritairement fini par adopter le principe du partage de la Palestine. Mais Israël n'a toujours pas admis, à ce jour, le principe du droit à l'autodétermination du peuple palestinien, sans pour autant se voir menacé de boycott par le monde occidental. Des pressions ont pu être exercées, çà et là, sur Israël, mais nul recours à la menace publique et aux sanctions.
Pourquoi, les Américains n'adoptent-ils pas une attitude semblable à l'égard du gouvernement Hamas ? Il faut, évidemment, chercher la réponse dans leur relation historique déséquilibrée vis-à-vis des Israéliens et des Arabes. Il n'aura guère fallu plus de deux semaines pour que la Syrie retire ses troupes du Liban, à la suite de la résolution du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, alors que, depuis 1967, les Etats-Unis opposent systématiquement leur veto à toute tentative de résolution intimant à Israël d'évacuer les territoires occupés. Face à la négation, depuis trente-neuf ans, des droits politiques et humains de tout un peuple, le monde occidental démocratique se tait. Il a fallu l'outrecuidance du vote des Palestiniens en faveur du Hamas pour l'arracher à son silence !
Le monde, en revanche, ne tarit pas d'éloges à l'égard d'Ehoud Olmert, tout comme il avait fini par encenser son prédécesseur, Ariel Sharon : tous deux auraient la trempe d'un de Gaulle. Mais ni l'un ni l'autre n'a envisagé de négocier avec les Palestiniens une "paix des braves". Bien au contraire : Israël édifie un mur de séparation, non pas sur son territoire, mais sur celui des Palestiniens ; Israël met tout en oeuvre pour annexer la partie orientale de Jérusalem, y compris ses Lieux saints ; Israël expulse des populations palestiniennes de la vallée du Jourdain afin de parachever l'encerclement des Palestiniens et densifie sa présence dans la zone étroite entre les territoires occupés au sud et au nord de Jérusalem afin d'empêcher toute continuité territoriale dans le futur Etat palestinien. Tout cela n'empêche pas Israël de se voir décerner bons points et appréciations flatteuses. Pourquoi, en effet, s'embarrasser des principes de justice et d'égalité des droits, si cette politique des faits accomplis par la force assure trente-neuf années supplémentaires de tranquillité relative, avec un niveau limité de terrorisme local ?
Mais les élections israéliennes n'ont pas traduit uniquement la victoire du sentiment de lassitude vis-à-vis de l'occupation et de la terreur meurtrière qu'elle a engendrée. L'"Etat juif et démocratique", qui, selon sa propre définition, n'est pas la république de tous ses citoyens, mais un Etat pour les juifs du monde entier, est saisi d'une crainte majeure : celle de l'évolution du rapport démographique entre juifs et Arabes sur l'ensemble des territoires dont il a pris possession. Cette préoccupation a guidé hier le retrait israélien de la bande de Gaza ; elle explique aujourd'hui le succès du parti Kadima et la popularité de son projet de "regroupement".
La droite "territorialiste", qui rêvait du "Grand Israël", est aujourd'hui en recul au profit d'une droite "ethniciste" qui a le vent en poupe : le parti Notre maison Israël d'Avigdor Liberman, dont les immigrés de Russie constituent l'essentiel de l'électorat, veut exclure des frontières d'Israël les régions peuplées d'Arabes israéliens afin de parvenir à un Etat juif "homogène". Ce parti, qui prône ouvertement une épuration ethnique, jouit désormais d'une pleine légitimité dans la culture politique israélienne. Ehoud Olmert, le futur premier ministre, l'a invité à rejoindre son gouvernement, selon le principe que seuls des partis juifs et sionistes peuvent participer à sa coalition. De ce fait, il confirme ce qui est connu de tous : l'Etat d'Israël n'est démocratique que pour ses juifs et juif pour ses Arabes.
En tant qu'Israélien, fils de juifs qui se sont vu dénier, au XXe siècle, le droit de citoyenneté au motif de leur origine, comment ne pas s'effrayer de la perspective d'un Etat juif "purifié" ! Il y a donc urgence à mettre fin à l'occupation et au cortège d'actes meurtriers qu'elle nourrit, mais aussi à vacciner l'Etat d'Israël contre le virus raciste qui menace de le contaminer !
Traduit de l'hébreu par Michel Bilis.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomo Sand est professeur d'histoire contemporaine à l'université de Tel-Aviv.
Latin America Leans Left
The world gets pinker day by day. As the map below shows most of Latin America either already has a left/left-centrist coalition in power or soon will have it. I guess Henry Kissinger must feel pretty nervous about the whole thing, the work of his life is unravelling and he's not even dead yet...
The fastest growing economy in Southeastern Asia **fr
No, that's not the Communist China, it is Vietnam, also Communist, the one that borders with the Communist Laos, which itself is not that far from Nepal, which is soon to become Communist.
Pretty ha-ha funny for the "dustbins of history". Click read more to see the article in Le Monde, that details the impressive numbers that the vietnamese economy is generating the second year in a row.
Le Vietnam communiste présente l'économie la plus dynamique d'Asie du Sud-Est
LE MONDE | 13.04.06 | 14h46 • Mis à jour le 13.04.06 | 14h46
BANGKOK CORRESPONDANT
Le Vietnam, dont le régime communiste s'apprête à tenir ses assises politiques comme tous les cinq ans, du 18 au 25 avril, sera le pays d'Asie du Sud-Est connaissant la plus forte croissance en 2006 - c'était déjà le cas en 2005 - et le restera vraisemblablement en 2007.
Cette prévision de la Banque asiatique de développement (BAD) est toutefois assortie d'un certain nombre de conditions : celle, notamment, que les autorités de Hanoï continuent d'adopter des mesures - de transparence économique en particulier - compatibles avec leur candidature, en cours de négociation, à l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC).
Le décollage économique du Vietnam, en cours depuis six ans, s'est illustré par une croissance de 8,4 % en 2005 (8,1 % selon la BAD) ; il devrait friser 8 % en 2006 et dépasser ce chiffre en 2007.
Certaines valeurs vietnamiennes s'arrachent à la Bourse de New York à raison de six fois leur plancher de mise en vente, les exportations sont à la hausse (30 milliards de dollars ou environ 25 milliards d'euros), de même que l'investissement étranger direct. Ceci n'a pas empêché le premier ministre, Phan Van Khai, de lancer un avertissement sévère en 2005 : "La productivité est faible et ne s'accroît que lentement, les investissements sont peu efficaces et les coûts de production et de distribution sont trop élevés."
Un analyste vietnamien écrivant pour un site Internet relevant du ministère du commerce en a rajouté dans une rétrospective sur l'année : "Par rapport aux autres pays de la région, on peut dire que la situation du Vietnam n'a guère progressé. Une compétitivité basse, la corruption et les inadéquations du système juridique n'ont connu, semble-t-il, aucune amélioration", soulignait Phan The Hai (www.ven.org.vn).
Toute cette prudence officielle ou officieuse contraste avec un certain engouement occidental récent pour une réémergence soudaine du Vietnam, que ce soit en raison de projets importants de développement dans le domaine énergétique (raffinerie de Dung Quat pour la consommation intérieure, usine hydroélectrique de Son La pour les provinces du Nord) ou pour ses capacités à se glisser à son tour dans des niches économiques internationales déjà explorées par la Chine.
Près de trente agences bancaires étrangères opèrent désormais au Vietnam. Standard Chartered, ANZ Bank et HSBC sont présentes. Il n'était pas question pour elles d'accéder à un quelconque strapontin de l'économie nationale voilà peu.
Centrée autour de l'ex-Saïgon (Ho Chi Minh-Ville), dans le Sud, cette poussée de fièvre fait dire, un peu vite, à des responsables vietnamiens tel le vice-premier ministre Vu Khoan que le pays "est en train de muter d'une économie à bas revenu à une économie à revenu moyen".
Pour relativiser, le taux de croissance est estimé à partir d'un point de départ qui, pour une population nationale de 82 millions d'habitants, représente une province chinoise moyenne à un niveau de développement d'il y a environ quinze ou vingt ans. C'était, pour chaque province chinoise, l'âge d'or de la croissance facile.
En outre, la mondialisation accélérée depuis lors, impose au régime vietnamien des choix plus drastiques encore qu'à la Chine lors de sa négociation pour entrer à l'OMC, à la fin des années 1990.
La pression des instances économiques internationales, telle la Banque mondiale, est forte pour que Hanoï se présente en bon élève de la nouvelle classe des pays émergents. Début avril, le ministre des transports, Dao Dinh Binh, a démissionné et son vice-ministre Nguyen Viet Tien a été arrêté à la suite de suspicions sur des malversations financières touchant à des opérations d'aide au développement financées par la Banque mondiale - laquelle a dans son portefeuille vietnamien quelque 1 000 projets représentant 80 millions de dollars sur six ans.
A cet aspect des choses s'ajoute le volet des droits de l'homme à quelque six mois d'une visite programmée du président américain George Bush, en novembre. L'administration américaine a publiquement appelé Hanoï à libérer, avant cette visite hautement symbolique, "tous les prisonniers d'opinion" (prudemment, Washington n'a émis qu'une petite liste de 21 personnes...).
Problème : pour Hanoï, cette catégorie n'existe pas. L'honneur communiste historique est en jeu, là. La partie de chat et souris est en cours depuis déjà quelques mois, entre élargissements "humanitaires" de détenus et froncements de sourcils gouvernementaux mutuels.
Au final, le Vietnam a découvert que son admission au sein de l'OMC serait plus difficile à négocier que prévu même si, officiellement de part et d'autre, on proclame que le processus est "dans sa phase finale".
La Chine avait tremblé à sa façon devant l'effet de déstabilisation politique que l'adhésion risquait de provoquer en bousculant ses marchés intérieurs. A une échelle bien inférieure (quinze fois moins importante en terme de population), l'enjeu est encore bien plus préoccupant pour le Vietnam.
Francis Deron
Article paru dans l'édition du 14.04.06
April 15, 2006
April 14, 2006
Basic, very basic instinct...
Now that's what I call a SPANKING good review:
by PETER TRAVERS
Rolling Stone, Mar 30, 2006
Credit Stone, 48, for getting in knockout shape for this vanity project. And she can act (see Casino), she just doesn't choose to do it here. Instead she loads up every line with sexual innuendo and plays Catherine as a predator who sits around her flat in heels, tight skirt and full makeup waiting for drop-ins. First up is Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey), a shrink who treats her for risk addiction and becomes addicted to her himself. You'll have to take the script's word for that, since the doughy, dead-eyed Morrissey projects all the ardor of a zombie in a bespoke suit.
About that script. Henry Bean, justly praised for The Believer and Internal Affairs, wrote the damned thing with his wife, Leora Barish. Was it Stone or director Michael Caton-Jones who ordered them to remove the lewd, lurid vitality that writer Joe Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven brought to the original? Several fine actors go down with this ship, including David Thewlis as a corrupt cop and Charlotte Rampling as a Hungarian shrink. Rampling's natural beauty is a rebuke to everything fake and flashy in a movie that almost performs the miracle of making Madonna's Body of Evidence look passable.
WSJ: The Jewish Lobby - More Ripples
Trial Unnerves Some U.S. Jewish Leaders
As Ex-Lobbyists of Pro-Israel Group Face
Court, Article Queries Sway on Mideast Policy
By JAY SOLOMON
WSJ April 14, 2006; Page A4
WASHINGTON -- The coming trial of two former representatives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for alleged violations of the Espionage Act is fueling concern among Jewish leaders that Israel and the Jewish-American community increasingly are being blamed for the Bush administration's troubles in the Middle East.
The trial comes amid a furor sparked last month by an article by two American academics that argues pro-Israel interest groups have undercut the U.S.'s standing in the Middle East by promoting a policy line too close to Tel Aviv's. They argue that the U.S. is too aligned with Israel in its position on the Palestinian question, weapons proliferation in the Middle East, and diplomatic ties with a number of Arab states. Meanwhile, leaders of such groups as the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League say they're tracking global media that they believe disproportionately focuses on the role Jewish officials inside the Bush administration played in building the case for war in Iraq.
A number of prominent strategists overseeing the Iraq invasion during President Bush's first term are Jews, such as former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and the Pentagon's then-No. 3 civilian official, Douglas Feith. Although they have been singled out for particular criticism, Jewish leaders say critics of the war often selectively bypass the scores of non-Jewish officials who also played central roles in developing the Iraq policy.
"Now you have an Iraq war that Americans are turning against, and you have people saying it's all a Jewish conspiracy," says Jack Rosen, president of the American Jewish Congress, which promotes religious tolerance and the rights of the state of Israel. "But look at President Clinton's team: You had many Jews who aggressively pushed for peace in the Middle East. But these same critics don't see this as part of the same conspiracy."
Despite the criticism of the pro-Israel lobby, many Jewish leaders in America say they don't believe their community ultimately will be blamed for the war in Iraq and unrest elsewhere in the Middle East. They cite polls showing that America's support for Israel has grown in recent years, and note that many indicators suggest that anti-Semitism in America is declining. While certain officials who are Jewish may be facing criticism, these leaders say, they don't see a wider threat.
"I don't see a gathering storm" against the Jewish community, says David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington. "Most people seem to be focusing on individuals rather than a conspiracy."
The trial of the former AIPAC lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, is scheduled to begin next month. The two men are charged under the Espionage Act with receiving and disseminating classified information provided by a former Pentagon Middle East analyst. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley are among the witnesses Messrs. Rosen and Weissman's defense team has indicated it may call.
The Justice Department's indictment details how Messrs. Rosen and Weissman allegedly sought to promote a hawkish U.S. policy toward Iran by trading information and favors with a number of senior U.S. officials. Lawrence Franklin, the former Pentagon official, has pleaded guilty to misusing classified information. Mr. Franklin was charged with orally passing on information about a draft National Security Council paper about Iran to the two lobbyists, according to people familiar with the case, as well as other classified information. Mr. Franklin was sentenced in December to nearly 13 years in prison, but his sentence could be reduced, depending on the testimony he provides for the prosecution.
Lawyers for Messrs. Rosen and Weissman, as well as many Jewish leaders, say the actions of the former AIPAC employees were no different from how thousands of Washington lobbyists work. They say the indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that American citizens -- outside government employees or contractors -- have been charged with receiving and disseminating state secrets in conversations. In court filings, the defense team argues that their clients couldn't have known that the information they received was classified, and they say a conviction in the case could cast a chill over the U.S. media and political process.
The actions of the men are "what members of the media, members of the Washington policy community, lobbyists and members of congressional staffs do perhaps hundreds of times per day," the legal team wrote this month in a brief seeking to have the case dismissed. "These meetings are a vital and necessary part of how our government and society function."
Several members of Congress have expressed concern about the case since it broke in 2004, fearing that the Justice Department may be targeting pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC. These officials say they're eager to see the legal process run its course, but are concerned about the lack of transparency in the case.
"The administration hasn't been forthcoming on this case," said Lale Mamaux, a spokeswoman for Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida. Mr. Wexler wrote to the Bush administration seeking more information on the AIPAC case when it first broke.
The trial is scheduled to begin just weeks after publication of an article on the pro-Israel lobby by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard University. In the paper, titled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," which was posted on the Web site of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the authors argue that a bloc of pro-Israel interest groups, including Jewish-Americans and Christian evangelicals, have lobbied to align U.S. foreign policy with Israel's. They write that this trend has accelerated under the Bush administration, where neoconservative strategists in the Pentagon and White House have been ideologically aligned with hawks in Israel. (Read the paper.)
Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt argue that rather than enhancing national security, America's ties to Israel have escalated terrorist attacks against the U.S., undermined moves toward democracy in the Middle East, and advanced a global race to acquire weapons of mass destruction. "Other special-interest groups have managed to skew U.S. foreign policy in directions they favored, but no lobby has managed to divert U.S. foreign policy as far from what the American national interest would otherwise suggest," their paper says.
The authors write that the broader Jewish community in America appeared to be generally against the invasion of Iraq. But they emphasize that many pro-Israel lobbying groups and U.S. officials close to Israel championed the conflict. "The war was due in large part to the [pro-Israel] Lobby's influence, especially the neoconservatives within it."
Reaction from the Jewish community and from many in the mainstream press has been strong and swift against the academics. Opinion pieces in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have attacked alleged factual and historical inaccuracies in the piece. Many Jewish leaders say the article rehashes centuries-old conspiracy theories about Jewish cabals with dual loyalties. They say similar sentiment arose during the first Gulf War, when some critics of the conflict saw it as designed to protect Israel.
Still, Jewish leaders say that such attacks traditionally have come from members of the extreme left or right wings, and that they are particularly concerned to see them presented by academics from such pre-eminent American institutions. "The notion that there's a so-called Jewish cabal continues to surface," said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee. "That it had currency in Czarist Russia was, tragically, par for the course. ... But at Harvard or Chicago in 2006? That's truly mind-boggling."
In their article, Messrs. Mearsheimer and Walt emphasize that the pro-Israel lobby isn't a cabal or conspiracy, but rather a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that operates in much the same way that other U.S. interest groups do. Mr. Walt also said in an interview that the main aim of the article was to stimulate debate on an important foreign-policy issue.
Harvard, which left the article on the Web site but removed the Kennedy School's logo from it, has stressed that the paper reflects the authors' personal views and not that of the university. In a statement, Harvard said that "the Kennedy school does not restrict, interfere with, or take a position on the research conclusions reached by individual faculty members."
Trying to stifle a debate on Washington's relationship with Israel, or the pro-Israel lobby itself, could prove damaging to the Jewish community longer term. "It's bad for Jews in America if it's seen like you can't talk about this one specific issue," says M.J. Rosenberg, who heads the Washington office of the Israel Policy Forum.
Новое стихотворение
Наша парижская корреспондентка Наташа прислала своё новое стихотворение
Бери из жизни Красоту...
Из детства...карандашный цвет
Его наивность и мечту...
и баловство беспечных лет...
Бери из юности задор...
Мурашки первых томных встреч...
Любви восторги...ясный взор
И обнаженность нежных плеч...
её website находится здесь
NYT: Jewish Lobby: The Ripple
The New York Times just published an article about the essay that was published in the London Review of books - see this blog for both the article and the full essay.
by Michael Stravato for the New York Times
When John J. Mearsheimer, a 58-year-old political scientist at the University of Chicago, decided to take on the United States' support for Israel, he considered the subject too touchy to confront alone.
So he enlisted a colleague to help provoke a public discussion. Like Dr. Mearsheimer, Stephen M. Walt, a 50-year-old professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, is a specialist in theories of international relations and a tenured professor with a prestigious chair."I think it's in the national interest to have a debate on this," Dr. Mearsheimer said. "I don't think it benefits anyone to keep this in the closet." The resulting paper, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," was published last month in the London Review of Books, after an earlier draft was rejected by The Atlantic. Editors at The Atlantic declined to discuss why. A longer, 42-page version of the article, with an additional 40 pages of footnotes, was also posted on the Kennedy School's Web site.The paper asserts that the United States' support of Israel has been unwavering, has jeopardized American security and has been driven by "the unmatched power of the Israel Lobby," which the authors describe as a loose coalition of American Jews and their allies. They say that the United States was singled out by Al Qaeda in large part because of American support for Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and that a significant motivation for the invasion of Iraq was to improve Israel's security. The essay has caused an uproar. First came headlines in The New York Sun and The Forward, the 108-year-old Jewish weekly, followed by critiques in opinion journals like The New Republic and The Weekly Standard, along with myriad newspaper op-ed articles. Many of the articles have castigated the paper as historically inaccurate and sloppy in its scholarship, with some critics saying for example that Osama bin Laden first focused on the United States because of its support for the Saudi government. Many have also criticized the professors as defining the so-called pro-Israel lobby so broadly as to render it all but meaningless, and as implying, by referring to it always as "the Lobby" with a capital L, that it operates in a monolithic, if not conspiratorial manner. While condemnations have been fierce at home, the article has drawn some praise in British publications for stimulating debate. The Kennedy School removed its logo from the cover page of the essay on its Web site to make clear that it contained the professors' opinions and analysis, not the school's. But Harvard and the University of Chicago have stood behind Dr. Mearsheimer and Dr. Walt, with officials citing the need to protect free expression."This is a kind of classic call in academic freedom," said David T. Ellwood, dean of the Kennedy School. "If universities stand for anything, they stand for getting ideas out there and then for open debate. Some ideas are controversial, some ideas are very controversial, some ideas are wrong. But the administration shouldn't be in the position of making a judgment on something like this. Other scholars should be making those judgments, and ideas should rise and fall in the bright light of scholarly debate."
Some Harvard colleagues of Dr. Walt have entered the debate full-throated, including David R. Gergen, also at the Kennedy School and a former adviser to four presidents, and Alan M. Dershowitz, a professor at Harvard Law School, described in the paper as an apologist for Israel. The Kennedy School invited members of the Harvard faculty to post responses on the Web site, as long as they were scholarly and were not personal attacks. Mr. Dershowitz posted a 45-page response last week in which he attacked the authors' logic and facts. He also asked why they recycled accusations that "would be seized on by bigots to promote their anti-Semitic agendas." The article asserts that the Israel lobby includes members of the Clinton and the Bush administrations, Jewish organizations, Christian evangelicals, thinkers referred to as "neo-conservative gentiles" and an array of policy organizations. "There is this blanket denunciation of a very large number of American Jews and an accusation of disloyalty," Eliot A. Cohen, a professor at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, said in a telephone interview. In an opinion article in The Washington Post last week, Dr. Cohen described the paper as anti-Semitic and "a wretched piece of scholarship."Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator for the United States, said he found the paper "incredibly simple-minded." He was listed in it as an official with "close ties to Israel or to prominent pro-Israel organizations." "If this lobby is so powerful, how come every major Arab arms sale that they opposed they lost on?" Mr. Ross asked.
Now counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a research organization, Mr. Ross also said that Dr. Mearsheimer and Dr. Walt had misstated American positions in peace negotiations with the Israelis and Palestinians during the Clinton administration. Dr. Mearsheimer said that the response was not unexpected, but that he had been surprised by some of the vitriol. "We certainly wanted to provoke a debate, and this has happened," he said. "But we hoped to provoke a rational debate, not a food fight in which people accuse us of being anti-Semites." Dr. Walt and Dr. Mearsheimer are prominent in the academic world, part of a group of foreign policy analysts, known as realists, who believe that international politics is fundamentally about the pursuit of power. Each has written extensively on foreign affairs and theories of international relations, although they are not experts on the Middle East.
Dr. Walt has written books on how other nations have responded to the global power of the United States and on international alliances. Dr. Mearsheimer, who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, has written books on deterrence and great-power politics. In the first article they wrote together, in 2003, they opposed the Iraq war. Dr. Mearsheimer said that he and Dr. Walt had stated in their latest essay that they were not contending that American Jews and their allies were engaged in a conspiracy to put Israel's strategic needs ahead of those of the United States. "We never used the word 'cabal,' " Dr. Mearsheimer said. "It's not in our vocabulary. And I think it would be completely irresponsible to suggest that it is a cabal or a conspiracy." "This is a classic case of interest-group politics," he said of the pro-Israel lobbying in Washington. "It's as American as apple pie." Dr. Walt and Dr. Mearsheimer said that most of their colleagues had treated them well, including those who disagreed with them.
"The response of colleagues has been on one level uniformly supportive of the basic principle of academic freedom," Dr. Walt said. "I have received a number of messages from colleagues, at Harvard and elsewhere, that were strongly supportive of our basic argument. I have also received some very thoughtful responses from colleagues at other universities taking issue with arguments we've made." Both men said they had expected consequences from having published the paper. "We both knew from the get-go that whoever wrote this piece would essentially be committing career suicide in terms of getting a high-level administrative job in academia or a policy-making position," Dr. Mearsheimer said.
(Dr. Walt's intention to step down this summer as the academic dean at the Kennedy School was announced in early February, before the essay was published.) Some critics of the paper dismissed the idea that Dr. Mearsheimer and Dr. Walt might be punished for expressing their ideas. "Honestly, one of the things I found distasteful is the pose of martyrdom," Dr. Cohen of Johns Hopkins said. "Nothing is going to happen to them, nor should it."
Decaf - how bad it really is... **fr
Un déca sans dégâts
Les chercheurs planchent sur les alternatives aux méthodes toxiques d'extraction de la caféine
Le «déca» est-il cancérigène? La polémique inquiète depuis plus de trente ans. En cause: les procédés industriels d'extraction de la caféine. L'utilisation de solvants est encore courante. Mais les grains - dont les pores ont été préalablement ouverts sous l'effet de la vapeur - ne sont plus trempés dans du benzène ou du trichloréthylène, des produits très dangereux. Ils le sont dans du chlorure de méthylène ou de l'acétate d'éthyle, moins toxiques. Des traces subsistent après rinçage et séchage des grains décaféinés.
L'ingestion de ces substances à faible dose est-elle cancérigène? Aucune étude n'en apporte la preuve. Toutefois, d'autres procédés moins agressifs sont de plus en plus utilisés. D'abord, l'extraction par CO2 à l'état liquide. Sous cette forme, «le dioxyde de carbone pénètre et ressort facilement du grain sans laisser de résidus, tel un gaz. Mais, en tant que liquide, il capture aussi facilement, au passage, les molécules de caféine», explique Cyril Aymonier, chercheur à l'Institut de chimie de la matière condensée du CNRS. Autre avantage, le CO2 est recyclé sans polluer l'environnement. Plus intéressante mais plus coûteuse, l'extraction à l'eau commence à faire ses preuves. La caféine est portée par la vapeur puis retenue à travers un filtre en charbon actif. Ce procédé prend de huit heures à deux jours, mais ne présente pas d'effet néfaste… Hormis le fait que «l'extraction industrielle de la caféine dégrade, dans tous les cas, jusqu'à 10% des précurseurs d'arômes de la graine», rappelle Jean-Pierre Blanc, directeur des cafés Malongo. La véritable alternative consiste à trouver des caféiers naturellement décaféinés. Le bourbon pointu, une variété traditionnelle de l'île de la Réunion, est ainsi replanté depuis quatre ans. L'arbre a donné ses premiers fruits: son café contient seulement 0,6% de caféine (contre 1,2% pour l'arabica ordinaire) et conserve tout son arôme doux et fruité prêt à être révélé lors de la torréfaction. Au Brésil, cette fois, trois mutants ont été découverts en 2004 avec un taux de caféine encore dix fois inférieur, soit 0,07%. Mais Benoît Bertrand, du Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (Cirad), reste prudent: «Nous avons encore peu de données sur ces arbres, il se peut que leur mutation concerne d'autres gènes que celui inhibant la fabrication de la caféine. Cela rendrait plus difficile leur mise en culture.» Au mieux, le café naturellement décaféiné sera sur les étals dans cinq ans. Au pis - si des croisements avec d'autres caféiers sont nécessaires - d'ici à une trentaine d'années…
Il y a deux ans, au Japon, le premier plant de décaféiné transgénique a été mis au point. L'action du gène incriminé dans la production de caféine a été réduite de 70% dans les feuilles de l'arbuste, là où le processus de création de cette substance a lieu. Reste à savoir si cette caractéristique persiste jusque dans les grains. Réponse en 2008, lors de la première fructification. L'arrivée de ces moutures naturelles et OGM ne va, en tout cas, pas ravir les multinationales qui revendent actuellement la caféine extraite, notamment aux fabricants de soda.
pour lire plus...
April 13, 2006
April 12, 2006
Jesus - the prophet of Islam, therefore...
If you thought that islam prohibits any images of Prophet Mohammed only, you are in for a big surprise. Al-Azhar, an Egyptian university, reminded recently, that any images of Jesus Christ are also forbidden by Islam, since he is considered to be a prophet as well.... Well, now it's getting REALLY interesting! :)
April 11, 2006
April 10, 2006
WSJ: Microwave that credit card! Now!
Why Some People Put These Credit Cards In the Microwave
Mr. Walker Took a Hammer To His New MasterCard -- To Stop the Radio Waves
By SUSAN WARREN
The Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2006; Page A1
When Brenden Walker got his new MasterCard PayPass ATM card in the mail last month, he headed to the gas station to try it out. To test the card's "Tap N Go" convenience, he passed it in front of the scanner, which activated with a beep and displayed the word "authorizing..." on its LCD screen. That was quite enough for Mr. Walker. Without completing the transaction, he put the card down on the pavement and took a hammer to it.![[Brenden Walker]](https://lh3-testonly.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_siEIiGzNugDF-4N3AYVuix42ilLzWzImhQ1cjfWMmsanAdxfe67bTx-KJCfUK5RWlNjDJi7oCWEJ8Yk3YE02EBBJXBEzPy3Ahe1_iv2rIM95b1P7TLOVhHyDk4f63qkVxBEWCW_mH0CqjQLUlIIHT-=s0-d)
But Mr. Walker, a 37-year-old software engineer in Canton, Ohio, is one of a growing number of computer and technology experts who are becoming anxious about possible abuses of the technology. Mr. Walker fears that thieves will be able to eavesdrop on the radio transmission and buy gas at his expense. He also figures that he himself could walk past the pump and accidentally pay for somebody else's gas, though the card companies say he would have to get within two inches of the scanner to accomplish that feat. In any event, he wants no part of it. Hammering the card destroyed the chip. "I tried it again and...nothing," he says. "I might as well have been holding up a salami sandwich."
As the chips become more widespread, other militants are seeking them out and destroying them. And a little industry is springing up on the Internet to pitch an array of devices meant to protect consumers from abuses of the technology, called radio frequency identification, or RFID. One example: wallets with metal shields built in that block radio signals.
Radio chips have been around for decades performing other tasks, mostly related to security access. They are the invisible passports that allow motorists to breeze through highway tollbooths and let employees open their office doors.
Pets and people are getting chip implants under their skin that carry identification or medical information. Governments are beginning to use radio chips in driver's licenses and passports. Retailers use them to track inventory. The banks that are now using chips in their credit and cash cards say they make transactions more efficient -- and more convenient for customers.
Critics such as Mr. Walker worry that sensitive information will be intercepted. Some privacy advocates envision businesses and government furtively gathering personal data on unsuspecting consumers, and criminals taking identify theft to a whole new level.
A German group called FoeBud, which describes itself as a civil-rights group for the digital age, is featuring an array of RFID-busting products in the organization's online store. Items include "deactivator nippers," which look remarkably like a common hole-punch, priced at about $7. The most popular item in the store has been a copper bracelet with a red light that blinks when it is near an RFID scanner, says Rena Tangens, FoeBud's founder. The store claims to have sold about a thousand bracelets so far at about $18. "People think this is a cool gadget," Ms. Tangens says.
Others are using do-it-yourself methods for disabling radio chips, including microwaving them. The electromagnetic energy emitted by a microwave oven fries the chip and renders it useless. The downside: Tagged items might burst into flames in the process, warns Caspian, a consumer group campaigning against the widening use of radio tags. The group suggests cutting out the chip with a pair of scissors, puncturing it with a straight pin, crushing it or pulverizing it.
Several Web sites boast about -- but don't yet sell -- devices with names like TagZapper and RFIDWasher, which are supposed to make disabling the tags easier. Technology experts say some of these "zappers" work by emitting a burst of electromagnetic energy that permanently destroys the tag. Unfortunately, they say, it might also fry other nearby electronics, including iPods and cellphones.
Some techies in Germany figured out how to make a Zapper by modifying a disposable camera. When you hit the switch, instead of taking a picture, it emits a burst of electromagnetic energy that fries any nearby electronics. They have posted an extensive description of their project on the Internet. Several technology experts contacted say it should work, but the developers did not respond to emails requesting comment.
A Web site describing the gadget listed several potential hazards, including electric shocks and Federal Communications Commission law violations. It also warned, "Don't try it near your grandpa's pacemaker."
Makers of products using RFID say privacy and security safeguards are being built into the chips to prevent abuses. MasterCard International says multiple layers of security are available to prevent MasterCard data from being stolen by electronic eavesdropping. It is up to the companies that issue the card to decide which security measures to adopt, says Art Kranzley, MasterCard's executive vice president in charge of new payment technologies.
Customers who don't want RFID in their PayPass payment cards can ask to be issued an old-fashioned chipless card, says Mr. Kranzley.
Kelly Lum, 23 years old, a computer-network engineer in Eatontown, N.J., recently bought a wallet online from a site called DIFRWear (RFID backwards). The wallet has a metal insert designed to shield her radio-chip bank card from being read without her knowledge.
The card Ms. Lum carries came without any information about security safeguards, she says, so she decided to take no chances. "It's maybe a little bit of a paranoia thing, but hey, it's my credit rating," she says.
Eric Caraszi, a 26-year-old computer programmer in Albany, N.Y., recently bought an RFID-proof wallet after having a conversation with a co-worker about different ways criminals might be able to exploit RFID-chip cards -- from sneaky scans on crowded elevators to high-powered scanners on the roadside that could mine passing traffic.
"For every smart person trying to make a lock, there is going to be an equally smart person trying to unlock that lock," he notes.
April 9, 2006
Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire
Click here to see a powerful music video from Sarah McLachlan. Bravo!
April 8, 2006
April 7, 2006
Stone Age Dentists
Teeth from a Neolithic graveyard in Mehgarh in the country's Baluchistan province show clear signs of drilling. Analysis of the teeth shows prehistoric dentists had a go at curing toothache with drills made from flint heads. The team that carried out the work say close examination of the teeth shows the tool was "surprisingly effective" at removing rotting dental tissue.
A total of eleven drilled crowns were found, with one example showing evidence of a complex procedure involving tooth enamel removal followed by carving of the cavity wall. Four of the teeth show signs of decay associated with the drilled hole. "In all cases, marginal smoothing confirms that drilling was performed on a living person who continued to chew on the tooth surfaces after they had been drilled," the reserchers reported. The form of dental treatment seen at Mehrgarh continued for about 1,500 years, before the practice was stopped in the area.
Flint drill heads are found abundantly at the Mehrgarh site, among assemblages of beads made of bones, shell and turquoise. Writing in Nature, the authors suggest that skills developed by bead craftsmen also worked well on teeth. Mehrgarh straddles a route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley to the south. The researchers, led by Roberto Macchiarelli of the University of Poitiers, France, said it was an early site for agriculture, where barley, wheat, and cotton were grown.
April 6, 2006
China, Turkmenistan step up anti-terror measures
Source: Reuters
BEIJING, April 4 (Reuters) - China and Turkmenistan agreed on Tuesday to fight terrorism together, Xinhua news agency reported during a visit to Beijing by Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov.
The two countries would "further enhance law-enforcement cooperation in (the) security and anti-terrorism sector", Xinhua said, quoting a joint statement.
Many of the 19 million Muslim Uighurs who make up the majority of China's western Xinjiang province want more autonomy for the region. Some have staged riots and bomb attacks to try to establish an independent state they call "East Turkistan".
China is especially keen to maintain stability in the region as it contains 30 percent of the country's oil reserves.
"Terrorism, splittism and extremism pose a grave threat to the security and stability in the region," a statement signed by Niyazov and Chinese President Hu Jintao said.
"The two countries agreed that it is an important component of the worldwide war against terrorism to crack down on the separatist forces of 'East Turkistan'," Xinhua said.
Niyazov and Hu on Monday oversaw the signing of several bilateral agreements, including one expanding energy cooperation.
Niyazov has exercised harsh one-man rule in his Central Asian country since 1985, and he has cultivated a cult of personality echoing the country's Stalinist past under the Soviet Union. He styles himself as the "Turkmenbashi", or father of the Turkmen.
Hu said Niyazov was a "good friend" and called his six-day visit to China that began on Sunday a "new milestone".
April 5, 2006
L'homme qui veut faire payer Moscou
par Vincent Nouzille
«Je ne lâcherai jamais. C'est une question de principe!» Teint blême et poings serrés, le vieillard qui psalmodie ces phrases en agitant les mains a une allure de vieux fauve blessé. Assis dans son bureau blindé, au sixième étage d'un immeuble du centre de Genève, Nessim Gaon, homme d'affaires suisse de 84 ans, rumine son mauvais sort. Il affirme que la Fédération de Russie lui doit un peu plus de 1 milliard de dollars pour des opérations d'échange de pétrole contre des biens de consommation interrompues au début des années 1990. En dépit d'un combat acharné de quinze ans, ponctué de tentatives de saisies spectaculaires, le patron du groupe familial Noga (anagramme de Gaon) n'a toujours pas réussi à se faire payer.
Sa lutte s'apparente à celle du pot de terre contre le pot de fer. «Face à un Etat souverain aussi puissant que la Russie, même avec des décisions de justice en ma faveur, mes moyens de pression sont limités», confie Nessim Gaon, en recevant exceptionnellement L'Express dans sa tanière genevoise. Quasi en faillite, dépossédé de la plupart de ses biens, dont les luxueux hôtels Noga Hilton de Genève et de Cannes, l'ex-milliardaire n'a pas dit son dernier mot: «Même si cela me prend encore vingt ans, je me battrai pour que la Russie me rende mon argent», lâche l'octogénaire…
Nessim Gaon est un brasseur d'affaires éclectique, habitué aux situations acrobatiques: élevé en Egypte et au Soudan, officier de l'armée britannique durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ce nomade s'est installé en 1952 à Genève, multipliant les contrats de matières premières, d'Israël au Nigeria, du Brésil à New York, avec des contacts au plus haut niveau. «J'ai aidé mon ami Menahem Begin à faire la paix avec l'Egypte de Sadate en 1977», raconte fièrement le négociant. Son imbroglio avec les Russes a commencé au début des années 1990, en pleine décomposition de l'URSS.
«Le gouvernement de la nouvelle Fédération de Russie m'a demandé de l'aider, explique-t-il. J'ai fourni 100 millions de dollars de vêtements, de grains et de fertilisants, contre du pétrole. Comme cela s'était bien passé, j'en ai ensuite expédié pour 200 millions de dollars de plus. Et là… les livraisons de pétrole se sont arrêtées.» Les autorités russes lui conseillent d'envoyer pour 300 millions de dollars de marchandises supplémentaires. Il s'exécute. «Je leur ai fait confiance, résume-t-il. Le Premier ministre m'a ensuite demandé de venir à Moscou pour être payé. J'ai attendu pendant un mois dans un hôtel que les fonds soient débloqués. En vain.»
Nessim Gaon engage des procédures judiciaires afin de recouvrer sa créance, désormais contestée par les Russes. Surprise: au Luxembourg, un tribunal déniche 900 millions de dollars, sous forme de lingots, de diamants et de devises, atterris sur une dizaine de comptes de personnalités russes, dont un ancien vice-ministre des Finances d'Eltsine. Ces sommes sont placées sous séquestre en 1995, mais, comme il s'agit de comptes individuels, et pas au nom de la Fédération de Russie, Gaon ne peut mettre la main dessus. Curieusement, aucun des titulaires de ces comptes ne s'est manifesté depuis leur blocage, comme si l'argent ne leur appartenait pas. «Il pourrait s'agir d'un trésor de guerre officieux, mis de côté par les proches d'Eltsine, lorsqu'ils craignaient un nouveau coup d'Etat», estime François Roche, éditeur de la lettre Russia Intelligence, qui suit le dossier de près. Ce magot oublié dort toujours dans les coffres du grand-duché…
L'homme d'affaires suisse poursuit sa guérilla ailleurs. A Stockholm, en 1997, une cour arbitrale lui octroie 27 millions de dollars, que la Russie ne règle pas. Il essaie, en vain, de saisir les comptes bancaires de l'ambassade russe à Paris. En juillet 2000, il apprend que le navire-école russe Sedov doit parader lors des fêtes maritimes de Brest. Ce magnifique quatre-mâts intéresse le négociant, qui espère le revendre à un pays scandinave. Le Sedov est bloqué quelques jours. Les autorités russes protestent. A Paris, l'Elysée et le ministère des Transports n'apprécient guère cette saisie qui fâche Moscou. Le tribunal de Brest ordonne finalement la main-levée: le Sedov repart libre vers des eaux plus calmes…
Saisie de tableaux du musée Pouchkine
Nessim Gaon récidive en juin 2001, durant le Salon aéronautique du Bourget. Cette fois-ci, il veut faire saisir un Sukhoï et un Mig de l'armée russe! Là encore, les pressions de Moscou sur Paris font échouer la tentative. Les avions militaires redécollent le jour même du Bourget. Quelques mois plus tard, des émissaires du ministre russe des Finances, Alexeï Kudrin, paraissent décidés à régler le litige par une transaction amiable. Au début de 2003, ils semblent reconnaître une dette de 800 millions de dollars à la condition que Gaon accepte de n'en toucher que 360.
«J'étais d'accord pour transiger, mais je n'ai jamais vu la couleur de l'argent promis», s'étonne Nessim Gaon, qui, du coup, a réactivé la justice suisse. Sollicités par L'Express, des avocats de la Fédération de Russie - Maurice Harari à Genève et le cabinet Cleary Gottlieb à Paris - se refusent à tout commentaire. Leur position est connue: ils contestent la validité de l'accord de 2003, négocié selon eux par un intermédiaire non mandaté. Ils ont lancé une procédure d'arbitrage devant la Chambre de commerce internationale, à Paris, afin de faire casser cette transaction.
Dans l'attente de la décision, leur défense a néanmoins été affaiblie. En septembre 2005, le tribunal de Genève a validé un commandement de payer de 800 millions de dollars, signifié à la Russie en 2003. L'Office des poursuites du canton de Genève est chargé de recouvrer les sommes à titre conservatoire. Le 13 novembre, ses agents font saisir une partie des 54 chefs-d'œuvre impressionnistes (Monet, Manet, Renoir…) de la collection du musée Pouchkine de Moscou, exposés en Suisse depuis l'été à la fondation Pierre Gianadda, à Martigny.
De mystérieux intermédiaires
Sitôt connue, la nouvelle provoque un tollé en Russie, les officiels dénonçant une prise d' «otage» de joyaux inestimables du patrimoine russe. Sous les pressions, le département suisse des Affaires étrangères ordonne la restitution des tableaux, déclarés insaisissables, au musée Pouchkine.
Ces derniers mois, l'Office genevois des poursuites continue de s'activer discrètement sur ce dossier. Il envisage notamment de bloquer une partie des 250 millions de dollars détenus par la compagnie semi-publique russe Aeroflot au siège de l'Association internationale du transport aérien (IATA), basée à Genève. «Les Russes vont encore dénoncer une provocation médiatique», prévient un expert. Nessim Gaon n'en a cure: «S'il le faut, je ferai faire d'autres saisies, ici ou à New York». Parallèlement, il est de plus en plus courtisé par de mystérieux intermédiaires, qui prétendent à nouveau régler son litige avec Moscou à l'amiable, moyennant une décote abyssale… «J'ai refusé toutes ces propositions farfelues», explique l'homme d'affaires.
Privé de son «milliard», surendetté, Nessim Gaon est pourtant aux abois. Les Noga Hilton de Genève et de Cannes, donnés en garantie à ses banques, ont été revendus dans des conditions controversées. Il conserve des intérêts en Israël, mais il est mêlé sur place, avec ses enfants, à une faillite bancaire qui lui vaut des déboires judiciaires. Or il a déjà eu des problèmes avec la justice. En 1993, il avait été soupçonné par le parquet de Genève de «gestion déloyale» du Noga Hilton de la ville. L'affaire s'est soldée par un non-lieu, délivré en 2004 par un nouveau procureur. En revanche, en février 2005, le tribunal de Nice lui a infligé, ainsi qu'à son gendre, une peine de prison avec sursis dans le cadre de l'affaire de corruption impliquant Michel Mouillot, ancien maire de Cannes. «Je n'y étais pour rien et nous avons fait appel», plaide Gaon. Presque ruiné, accablé de soucis, fatigué, le vieux Nessim ne baisse pas la garde. «On veut m'étrangler financièrement, conclut-il. Mais, durant la guerre, j'ai échappé plusieurs fois à la mort. Depuis, je n'ai peur de personne.»
Всю жизнь Лев Толстой боролся с похотью
...В течение месяцев, когда Толстой почти ежедневно виделся с Арсеньевой... он записывал: «Ездил со сладострастными целями верхом, - безуспешно». «Наткнулся на хорошенькую бабу и сконфузился».
...Из Севастополя Толстой вернулся полный чувственных вожделений. «Это уже не темперамент, а привычка разврата», - записал он по приезде. «Похоть ужасная, доходящая до физической болезни». «Шлялся по саду со смутной, сладострастной надеждой поймать кого-то в кусту. Ничто мне так не мешает работать. Поэтому решился, где бы то и как бы то ни было, завести на эти два месяца любовницу». ...«Женщину хочу - ужасно. Хорошую».
Из дневника: «Видел мельком Аксинью. Очень хороша. ...Я влюблен, как никогда в жизни. Нет другой мысли. Мучаюсь».
«Два раза имел Кас. Дурно. Я очень опустился». «Ходил к К., хорошо, что она не пустила»...
...Спустя полгода: «Ее не видал. Но вчера... мне даже страшно становится, как она мне близка». «Ее нигде нет - искал. Уже не чувство оленя, а мужа к жене»...
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April 4, 2006
The Spectator: Meet the real Sarkozy
...Ever since anyone can remember, French politicians have been following Napoleon Bonaparte’s advice: to be a success in the world, promise everything and deliver nothing. The only thing Sarkozy, a nervous man, shares with Napoleon, apart from a towering ambition, is his small height. If he has his way, he will change France for the better; if not, he says he will go back to being a lawyer. He tells his friends that he wants to be president for only one five-year term ‘and then make a lot of money. A lot of money’. Truly to revolutionise France in such a short time is an impossibly tall order; but if anybody is up to the task of starting to reverse France’s decline, it is surely Sarkozy....
...Like scholars such as Olivier Roy, Sarkozy doesn’t believe the main problem of the French ghettos to be Islamic extremism. Instead, he argues that the rioters’ only religion is television, which he holds partly responsible for the fact that they have aped the manners of American rappers and criminal gangs. But he also opposes Turkish membership of the European Union, arguing that France has found it very difficult to integrate its Muslim immigrants. He blames ‘badly controlled’ immigration for last autumn’s riots and the fact that the authorities traditionally turn a blind eye to gangs in the ghettos. Sarkozy sees reclaiming the banlieues for the French state as one of his key missions....
read the full article at http://www.spectator.co.uk
April 3, 2006
PoshAir? I'd Say....
Wanna sit next to a guy in this sack on your next flight? Come see the demo of the "revoliionary" product @http://www.poshair.com
April 2, 2006
The Singhsons!
Following the tradition of the Simpsons-remakes, here is the Indian version, where the Singhsons live in Singh-field, etc. See it here
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