France

Dishonesty and ignorance at any cost

From our UK edition

Daniel Larison as already done yeoman work dismantling elements of David Gelernter's appalling piece in The Weekly Standard. But more needs to be done and, that being the case, let's have at it in this and a number of posts to follow. Gelertner's piece, cheerily headlined "Defeat at Any Price" makes the case, natch, that Democrats and liberals in the United States want to see America defeated in Iraq. Of course, they're devilishly clever and never actually come out and say this (Gelertner declines to buttress his case with any quotations from Messrs Clinton, Obama, Edwards et al that would support his claim that they believe "America would be better off if it lost"). Nonetheless, being in thrall to "Appeasement, pacifism and globalism" Democrats want to see America laid low.

Pick that out!

From our UK edition

No words required, mes amis. Peter Martin's commentary for Radio Clyde is almost as good as the goal itself.

The Tyranny of Hope

From our UK edition

Two questions: oh god, will it never end? And, how can winning be more fraught with terror than losing? I write, as you will have guessed, of Scottish football. Today's remarkable, nay logic-defying, triumph in Paris - our first on French soil in, oh, 57 years - was unbearable stuff. I can cope with despair; it's hope I can't stand. Here's the thing then. With three games left in our murderous Euro 2008 qualifying group, Scotland are - astonishingly - top of the table, ahead of France and Italy (last year's World Cup finalists) and Ukraine (who reached the last eight in Germany). This is not the way the world is supposed to work. Find me the man who predicted the Scots would defeat the French home and away and I'll show you the papers committing him to an asylum.

Why can’t we have a better cable service?

From our UK edition

Woo hoo! The Rugby World Cup is almost upon us. Once upon a time - ie, during the inaugural tournament in 1987 - this would have meant that those of us exiled in the United States had almost no chance of following the tournament live. So, three cheers for the internets and satellite television and all the other accoutrements of the global telecommunications revolution. The world is a smaller, better place. So why-oh-why-oh-why - and in the name of the wee man - are Versus showing games with a 24-48 hour delay? Seriously. The tournament kicks off with France vs Argentina on Friday, but it will be shown on Versus on Sunday. Have these people not heard of globalisation? That sort of tape delay* is close to being worse than not showing the games at all.

How Sarko seduced France

From our UK edition

I'm rather looking forward to reading Yasmina Reza's account of her year on the campaign trail with Nicolas Sarkozy, Dawn, Evening or Night. It looks as though it could be the political book of the year. If Elaine Sciolino's article is at all accurate, Sarko comes across as a man who, above all, is alive (a welcome change after the stagnant corruption of the Chirac years. There's wit too: Even before his victory, Sarkozy is drunk with bravado. Emerging from lunch in London with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Sarkozy announces to his aides: "Tony and I have just made a decision. We're going to conquer Europe.

Pour encourager les autres? Oui, monsieur…

From our UK edition

Of course I agree with Megan that dog-fighting is a bad, even wicked thing. Still, I was struck by her (cutting) question: did Michael Vick and his pals think that by - allegedly! - executing and torturing dogs that had lost fights this would be a case of pour encourager les autres? Voltaire's famous quip is one of my favourites. "In this country" he remarked, speaking of Britain, "it is thought good to kill an admiral from time to time, to give courage to the others". When it's trotted out these days it's generally accompanied by an arched eyebrow as though the very idea of this was absurd. But Voltaire was more right than he knew...