Christian wrote in part:

As I see it, President Sarkozy is already planning the after-Bush period. I
think that's a wise move, if not especially shrewd, because everyone knows
that Bush won't stay on after Jan. 20th. So better plan what comes next
right now. Especially since Sarkozy will hold the rotating EU Presidency for
6 months starting July 1st, which happens to include Nov. 4th, US Election
Day.


To which I answer:  It's not wise or shrewd; it's a no-brainer.  The day of
the election to his or her second term, everyone on the planet knows the
date certain when (s)he will step down.  So plans are immediately adjusted
with that date in mind.




If France really repressed free speech, there's a lot of things I wrote,
including a few on this list, that would have landed me in court, if not
outright in jail. It never happened. And I can assure you I don't fear a
knock on my door, like it happened at darker times in our history.

Speaking of Brigitte Bardot (I guess that's the one you're referring to,
most likely not my former boss at HP, nor my second-degree cousin, who both
go by that same first name), I admit that, since I'm absolutely not
interested in that person, I did not bother to gather specific information.
So, in a nutshell, I don't know what happened to her, if anything. The only
thing I'm aware of is that she recently got some limited media attention,
but I just did not bother to ask why.


You are right, I don't know of your second cousin and your erstwhile boss; I
was indeed referring to Brigitte Bardot.  I don't give a hoot about her, but
I found it disturbing that she got censored and fined, several times, for
what she said.  I am further disturbed that you did not know or care about
that.  I would think that as someone who cares about freedom of speech, you
would be horrified by that and would want to do something about it.  This
attack on the freedom of speech is happening all over Europe and in Canada
quite a bit.  The world is changing and in some ways, not for the better.

I happen to strongly believe in the freedom of speech and pity the people
who do not have that, and I find it depressing that people who do have it
and perfectly happy with, or oblivious to the fact it is being eroded.

Denys...

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