Sunday, October 22, 2006

Back from the Bundu

El Jefe has yet again arrived back in his capital, to be met by millions of denizens of Ciudad El Jefe, all frantically cheering as he drinks the ceremonial Cosmo upon departing his conveyance; before greeting the great and the good of the Imperial court: the archbishops, the casino owners, the secret police bosses, political bagmen, the football coaches, the Corps Diplomatique, and fixers, wire-pullers and hangers-on of every description, including the latest Imperial mistress who, (like all the others), bears a remarkable resemblance to Mindy Farrar, a Penthouse model of bygone days. . .
Then the phone rang and (after the longest run-on sentence ever) I woke up from my nap.
Back out in the bundu this weekend. No internet, TV or newspapers at our Schloss in the country and, oddly enough, for somebody who is as big a news junkie as I am -- I don't miss it so much. I hauled books, papers and the laptop to fiddle with of course, but was cut off from any news input I didn't haul with me. The Sunday New York Times, among other things, is awaiting my attention, and no doubt I will be brought up to speed in due course. A brief perusal of the internet drew a couple of things to my attention:
AP reports that the White House is bracing for the loss of Congress, and that this could spark "guerrilla warfare on the homefront politically." You don't say ? They pay people to come to conclusions like that one ? Sign me up.
Barack Obama is supposedly considering running for President in 2008. He has a small problem in that he's completely unqualified -- hasn't even finished his first term in Congress, but I don't suppose this will be an impediment. It's never bothered anybody before.
France's problems with its Arab citizens and immigrants concentrated in big ghettos called banlieus are at last beginning to get some international attention. Gates of Vienna asks a very pertinent question on this subject; and I'll ask another pair: (1) what condition are the French internal security forces in ? and, (2) what will the French government do when the Police Nationale (particularly their riot troops, the CRS), are no longer able to cope ? Behind the police are the militarized Gendarmerie, and behind them, the Army.
How close is the French government to pulling those levers ? The French have been having problems for awhile: mostly below the radar of the media, but matters appear to be getting serious, and the police, presently in the form of complaints from their labor unions, are calling for help.

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