vendredi 29 avril 2011

Caricature républicain...


On ne fait assurément pas dans la dentelle ici... Caricaturiste particulièrement subjectif?

The Obama doctrine: Leading from behind... Réflexion et critique de la politique étrangère de l'administration Obama


Dans les Washington post de ce matin...

"Leading from behind is not leading. It is abdicating. It is also an oxymoron. Yet a sympathetic journalist, channeling an Obama adviser, elevates it to a doctrine. The president is no doubt flattered. The rest of us are merely stunned."

À lire en entier sur http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-obama-doctrine-leading-from-behind/2011/04/28/AFBCy18E_story.html

Caricature Kadhafi: vents violents

Tradition tunisienne: citation du jour



"This is how it is, these are our customs. If there is something to eat, we will eat it together. If there is nothing to eat, we will have nothing together."

ABDALLAH AWAYE, un tunisien qui accueille des réfugiés libyens...

jeudi 28 avril 2011

Tea party: baisse dans les sondages...



Il n'y a que chez certains républicains qu'on retrouve une opinion favorale au Tea party. Le mouvement sera-t-il encore un facteur à considérer lors de l'élection de 2012? Je crois que les leaders du GOP espèrent que non...

"Gallup began tracking Americans' views of the Tea Party in March 2010, when 37% had a favorable and 40% an unfavorable view. Those views stayed roughly the same through January of this year, but have now turned somewhat more negative. The April 20-23 USA Today/Gallup poll finds favorable opinions of the Tea Party movement dropping to 33%, from 39% in January, and unfavorable opinions rising to 47% from 42%. Twenty percent of Americans say they haven't heard of the Tea Party or have no opinion of it."

Corée du nord: la sagesse de Carter...


Jimmy Carter continue à parcourir la planète et à garnir une feuille de route plus intéressante que lorsqu'il était Président des États-Unis. Son dernier arrêt? LA Corée du nord.

"Chairman and General Secretary Kim Jong-il said he is willing and the people of North Korea are willing to negotiate with South Korea or with the United States or with the six powers on any subject any time and without any preconditions," Carter told a press conference on Thursday.

Carter and three other former state leaders -- known as The Elders -- met the North's leaders in Pyongyang during a "private" visit in which they were also due to discuss the impoverished North's pleas for food aid.

Lara Logan et l'agression sexuelle en Égypte


Lara Logan abordera publiquement pour la seule et unique fois le sujet des attaques dont elle fut victime lors de sa couverture des soulèvements en Égypte. Elle a retenu l'émission 60 minutes pour se confier.

"In interviews with "60 Minutes" and the New York Times which were released on Thursday, Logan described what happened when the mob surrounded her.

"Our camera battery went down, and we had to stop for a moment, and suddenly, Bahar [the Egyptian cameraman] looks at me and says, 'we've got to get out of here,'" she told CBS' Scott Pelley. "I thought, not only am I going to die here, but it's going to be just a torturous death that's going to go on forever and ever and ever."

Logan told the Times that the attack lasted for 40 minutes and involved 200 to 300 men.

"For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands," she said. "My clothes were torn to pieces...what really struck me was how merciless they were. They really enjoyed my pain and suffering. It incited them to more violence.""

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/lara-logan-speaks-out-assault_n_855101.html

Jack et Iggy pour la seconde place...


Dans le Ottawa Citizen

Obama's birth certificate? Ça change quoi? All of the above...

Talibans en fuite à Guantanamo...

Obama dévoile tout!

Caricature Kadhafi et "Mini-me"...

Fête des mères: caricatures!






Égypte: des archéologues révèlent au monde une statue d'Amenhotep III


Treize mètre de hauteur!

"The 13 meter (42 foot) tall statue of Amenhotep III was one of a pair that flanked the northern entrance to the grand funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile that is currently the focus of a major excavation.

The statue consists of seven large quartzite blocks and still lacks a head and was actually first discovered in the 1928 and then rehidden, according to the press release from the country's antiquities authority. Archaeologists expect to find its twin in the next digging season."

Lien pour l'article traitant de la découverte:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/26/amenhotep-pharaoh-statue-found-egypt_n_853731.html

Bahreïn: condamnation à mort...


Comment interprété ces condamnations?

"The verdicts – which can be appealed – were the first related to Bahrain's uprising, which was inspired by revolts in the Arab world. The kingdom's Shiite majority has long complained of discrimination and is campaigning for greater freedoms and equal rights in the tiny Sunni-ruled island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

Bahrain's human rights groups blasted the verdict and said the trial, conducted in secrecy, had no legal credibility and was politically motivated.

"This verdict is a message from the government, determined to stop the democracy movement," said Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "It's a warning, saying this is how we will treat you if you continue to demand your rights."

Faced with an unprecedented political unrest, Bahrain's king declared martial law and invited troops from Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf countries to help quell Shiite dissent after weeks of street marches and bloody clashes in the kingdom's capital, Manama.

A report by the Bahrain News Agency said the defendants had "all their legal rights" during the trial for what it called "one of the most gruesome murders in Bahrain.""

À suivre...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/bahrain-execution-protesters_n_854788.html

Terror Watch List: peut-on figurer sur la liste et acheter des armes?


Oui! Après les vérifications d'usage... Plus de 200 personnes l'ont fait l'an dernier.

"The government can only prevent people from buying guns for any of 11 reasons. Convicted felons and illegal immigrants, for example, cannot buy weapons. But the terrorist watch list is different. People become convicted felons only after a court process and an opportunity to defend themselves. The watch list is secret and generated at the government's discretion. It is not a list of people convicted of terrorism crimes.

The list of about 450,000 people includes suspected members of al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, terror financiers, terror recruiters and people who attended training camps. People's names are added to and removed from the watch list every day, and most people never know whether they're on it."

Article intéressant:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/terror-watch-list-guns_n_854787.html

Julianne Moore dans le rôle de Sarah Palin!


J'ai déjà mentionné le film à venir sur le "phénomène" Sarah Palin. Le choix de l'actrice qui incarnera l'ancienne candidate à la vice-présidente ne pouvait me plaire plus puisque j'aime beaucoup Julianne Moore. La transformation physique est plutôt intéressante...

"The actress nails Palin's look with a bright suit, patriotic flag pin and similar glasses. She also ditched her trademark red hair for Palin's brown style, which she wears in a look-alike updo.

Production begins on Wednesday for the movie, directed by Jay Roach and written by Danny Strong. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are executive producers.

Ed Harris plays John McCain in the film, which follows the Arizona U.S. Senators failed 2008 Republican presidential bid. Woody Harrelson plays Steve Schmidt, McCain's senior adviser. Temple Grandin’s Melissa Farman will play Bristol Palin, The Hollywood Reporter first reported Tuesday."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/julianne-moore-as-sarah-palin-182614?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Fnews+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Top+Stories%29

Palestine: entente entre le Fatah et le Hamas


Une entente solide? Israël rassuré? Comment les États-Unis peuvent-ils composer avec la présence du Hamas? Un avenir pour le processus de paix?

Topo dans le NY Times de ce matin:
The deal, brokered in secret talks by the caretaker Egyptian government, was announced at a news conference in Cairo where the two negotiators referred to each side as brothers and declared a new chapter in the Palestinian struggle for independence, hobbled in recent years by the split between the Fatah-run West Bank and Hamas-run Gaza.

It was the first tangible sign that the upheaval across the Arab world, especially the Egyptian revolution, was having an impact on the Palestinians, who have been losing faith in American-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel and seem now to be turning more to fellow Arabs. But the years of bitterness will not be easily overcome, and both sides warned of potential obstacles ahead.

Israel, feeling increasingly surrounded by unfriendly forces, denounced the unity deal as dooming future peace talks since Hamas seeks its destruction. “The Palestinian Authority has to choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in a televised statement. The Obama administration warned that Hamas was a terrorist organization unfit for peacemaking.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2

Chine: le grand bond en arrière?


Les dirigeants de la Chine veulent éviter de reproduire chez eux le cas de l'Égypte... Il faut débuter la répression plus tôt!

"Since China is in the middle of its harshest crackdown on independent thought in two decades, I thought that on this visit I might write about a woman named Cheng Jianping who is imprisoned for tweeting.

Ms. Cheng was arrested on what was supposed to have been her wedding day last fall for sending a single sarcastic Twitter message that included the words “charge, angry youth.” The government, lacking a sense of humor, sentenced her to a year in labor camp.

So I tried to interview her fiancé, Hua Chunhui, but it turns out that Mr. Hua was recently arrested and imprisoned as well. That’s the way it goes in China these days. The government’s crackdown is rippling through the country, undercutting China’s prodigious growth and representing the harshest clampdown since the crushing of the Tiananmen democracy movement in 1989.

The reason? Surprising as it may seem, the government is worried that China could become the next Egypt or Tunisia, unless security forces act early and ruthlessly.

“Of course, they’re scared that the same thing might happen here,” one Chinese friend with family and professional ties to top leaders told me. A family member of another Chinese leader put it this way: “They’re just terrified. That’s why they’re cracking down.”"

Article de NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF dans le NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/opinion/28kristof.html?_r=1

Panetta à la défense et Petraeus à la C.I.A.: de bons choix selon le Boston globe



Des nominations dans une période trouble...

UNDER EVERY president, top national-security officials move around or are replaced, but impending personnel changes in the Obama administration come amid profound global upheaval and unforgiving domestic fiscal pressures. In tapping Leon Panetta — currently the CIA director and formerly the nation’s budget chief — as the next secretary of defense, President Obama recognized the connection between preserving security and getting the defense budget down to a rational size.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a holdover from the Bush administration who once ran the CIA, has valuable credibility with Republicans and hawkish Democrats. And by supporting reasonable, though insufficient, cuts in defense spending, Gates helped make the argument that the Pentagon must be subject to the same budget discipline as other federal programs. Yet Panetta will still have to oversee reductions in expensive weapons systems that are of little use for the actual conflicts US forces confront — but nonetheless enjoy political support within the military and in Congress. He will have to push for closing many of the hundreds of bases around the world that serve little purpose today.

Two other looming appointments look good on paper: David Petraeus, Obama’s choice to replace Panetta at CIA, has been open-minded and innovative as a military commander in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ryan Crocker, who dealt skillfully with diverse interests as US ambassador to Iraq, will likely do the same as ambassador to Afghanistan. In tapping Crocker, Petraeus, and Panetta, the president settled on the best available options to confront the monumental challenges at hand.

Birthers et "mariage royal"...

mardi 26 avril 2011

Guantanamo... Vous avez des idées?

Web et confidentialité...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOGaugKpzs

Corancancan... voile islamique + tradition française = le Corancancan


Ouf... Ça risque de chauffer...

Nick Walker, artiste anglais, été invité à Paris par Studio 55... Il a produit une fresque qui met en scène six femmes voilées qui dansent le french cancan...

Standard and Poors: cliché?

Mariage royal: "ma" vision...

GOP nominee for 2012 is... Oups!





Élections 2012: les républicains insatisfaits des candidats dans la course...


Le point sur les candidatures annoncées et/ou présumées chez les républicains... Je serais également insatisfait!

As the Republican presidential primary race continues its slow march out of the gate, a new poll suggests likely GOP voters are significantly less satisfied with the potential field of contenders than they were four years ago.
Less than 50 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents give positive marks to the still-in-flux GOP presidential field, down markedly from 2008 when nearly two-thirds said they were happy with that cycle's crop of candidates, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll.

And in another sign no potential candidate has yet to register momentum within the party, only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney scored in the double digits (16 percent) when likely Republican voters were asked who they would support in the primaries and caucuses. The answer "no opinion" by contrast was the response of 33 percent of respondents, while an additional 12 percent said flatly "no one."
Behind Romney comes perhaps-serious candidate and business mogul Donald Trump at 8 percent, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, at 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.
Several other candidates were at 2 percent or less, including: Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has said he will not run.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/19/poll-shows-gop-not-happy-with-its-prez-candidates/

Japon: on craint une hausse du nombre de suicides...


Lorsqu'on ajoute à l'horreur... Sur le site du L.A. Times:

Naoko Sugimoto has heard the news through the nation's fledgling mental health grapevine, ominous reports of suicides in the region devastated by last month's magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami.

It's a trickle she fears may soon become a river: the farmer who hanged himself, distressed about a cabbage harvest ruined by radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant; the overworked government worker near the complex who took his life; the father who killed himself after a fruitless search for his child after the tsunami.

"I feel sorry for these people in the same way I do for those who died in the tsunami," said Sugimoto, 67, who heads a national suicide support group, Izoku Shien. "But they didn't die in the tsunami; they died afterward. They took their own lives. And that makes you ask yourself, 'What could we have done?'"

As Japan rebuilds from the March 11 disaster, public health officials worry that a lingering sense of hopelessness among those affected might lead to a surge in suicides in a nation already coping with one of the developed world's highest rates of self-inflicted deaths. They have created suicide hotlines, pumped more money into therapy programs and sent more suicide counselors into the field as they wait and worry.

In the coming months, as those displaced by the quake and tsunami seek to move on with their lives, the true gravity of the disaster will slowly sink in for many, say government officials, aid organizations and mental health workers.

Al-Qaïda et l'Angleterre: mouvement solidement implanté?


Les dangers selon The Telegraph... Des retombées des infos de Wikileaks au sujet de Guantanamo.

The revelations leaked to this newspaper about the US government's detention facility at Guantánamo Bay raise profound questions about the scale and nature of the Islamist threat to the West and the way it is being confronted. In particular, nothing is more unsettling than the confirmation that al-Qaeda and its offshoots are deeply embedded in this country. A picture emerges of London as the hub of a global terrorist network whose ambition to cause death and destruction remains undimmed.
According to the documents, some of London's mosques acted as a "haven" for extremists and a "key transit facility" for terrorists en route from North Africa to al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Abu Qatada, allegedly Osama bin Laden's senior European representative, and his deputy, Abu Hamza, used their "preaching" in those mosques to radicalise young recruits from the Middle East and the Maghreb. Evidence has also emerged relating to the 18 Britons detained in Guantánamo. Regarded by their American interrogators as "high risk", some of them are alleged to have fought against British forces in Afghanistan. Their punishment, in most cases, has been to receive substantial compensation from the British taxpayer.
The key lesson of these disclosures is that they expose our folly in not being more robust with the suspected terrorists living among us. Attempts to deport suspects, or those who indoctrinate them, have been persistently thwarted by the courts on human rights grounds. This led to the introduction of control orders – which run counter to this country's traditions of personal liberty – as the only mechanism with which such suspects could be effectively monitored. The Coalition is in the process of replacing them with Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, which the Home Secretary says will be more "focused and flexible", though critics claim they will be little more than "control orders lite".
This is unsatisfactory. Lord Carlile, who spent nine years as the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has argued that suspects should be returned to their home countries provided assurances are secured that they will not be ill-treated. France uses this "deportation with assurances" system successfully, yet British courts routinely block such attempts. The Guantánamo leaks reveal how potentially dangerous our obsession with the rights of terrorist suspects can be. There has been no lethal outrage since the 2005 bombings – and given what we have learnt from these leaks, that is a tribute to the skill and dedication of the security services and police. Yet still we expect them to defend us from harm with one hand tied behind their backs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/8473266/The-law-protects-those-who-seek-to-do-us-harm.html

Chine numéro 1 mondial? Give us a break répond le site Investors.com


This just in from the International Monetary Fund: China could pass the United States as the world's largest economy as early as 2016. With all due respect, the IMF has it wrong again.

A new IMF report blithely forecasts that the "Age of America" will end as the U.S. economy is overtaken by China. And on the surface, it's tough to argue the point.

Officially, China's GDP is growing at 10% while ours is expanding at about 3%. At those rates, China's economy doubles every seven years, America's about every 24.

But such forecasts are based on a straight-line extrapolation from current trends: So if China's growing at 10% now, it'll always grow that fast.

One has to wonder, too, about a politically motivated IMF "report" that predicts U.S. decline. Our troubles are many, but we've heard all this before.

The fact is, China itself faces formidable hurdles that will make it tough to keep growing at current rates.

This was tacitly admitted by China just last month, when it announced it was lowering its targeted GDP growth rate to 7% a year — a full third slower than its recent growth rate.

Moreover, the IMF doesn't even use the correct data. It uses overall GDP, not per-capita GDP. Big difference. It would be surprising indeed if a nation of 1.3 billion — 20% of all people on earth — didn't eventually become the overall largest economy.

But real wealth and productivity are measured on a per-person basis. And based on that, China won't catch the U.S. anytime soon. In fact, it may never catch us.

As the chart shows, China is way behind the U.S. in per-person income. Per-capita GDP in the U.S. is $42,517 in 2005 dollars. In China, it's about $2,802. Even by 2030, China doesn't get close to U.S. per-person output, not even at current growth rates.

This is important, because per-capita GDP is a rough proxy for productivity. China has at most a few more years of rapid, productivity-driven growth as it transfers millions of people from rural poverty into its cities, where they instantly see their productivity increase by a factor of as much as 10.

But, as we've noted before, due to its notorious "one-child" policy, China is aging fast. By 2040, its elderly population will exceed the total population of Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Japan today.

The old saying among economists is that you have to get rich before you get old. China's losing that race.

Les Tours de Laliberté migrent: rejoignez-moi sur le site du Journal de Québec et du Journal de Montréal

Depuis un certain temps je me demandais comment faire évoluer mon petit carnet web. La réponse m'est parvenue par le biais d'u...