Cold War, the sequel

The grand-grandsons of Napoleon’s mutts took over Animal Farm. And they are rich.

Let's face it and stop being naive: the Caucasus is Russia's backyard. The whole region holds an immense economical and geostrategical value for the ex/new/never ceased to be superpower. In the old times, when the vetuste, archaic Soviet Union exported almost nothing, we still could think that the problem was most of all ideological. But not anymore. It's about money.

Were the Americans really expecting that the Russians would let Tbilisi regain total control of the region? No, they weren't. They were just trying to stir things up a little, maybe to test Medvedev's strength, and at the end it's up to Europe to try to calm things down and pick up the pieces (one quarter of our energy depends on it) . And up to the Georgians and the Ossetians to bury their dead. It's "those Washington bullets again". Or Moscow bullets.

(In a country where L'Essentiel is such a success, it was very plesant to find a decent defying article about this subject here. It's the online edition of the Woxx, l'autre hebdomadaire.)

Who's afraid of Luxembourg?

To be taken seriously:

The real superpower threat

New Renault Mégane

A journalist named Bruno Thomas was jailed in France for publishing some photos of the future Renault Mégane (Auto Plus magazine). In Beijing and Paris, they have their ways with press and Internet freedom. Anyhow, it's too late, now. The damage is done. Industrial espionage. A big German carmaker is said to have started a new design department called FBG Projekt. The Fat Bottom Girls Project.

London's gas guzzlers congestion charge scrapped

London Mayor Boris Johnson scrapped not only the £25 planned congestion charge for gas guzzlers (see post and comments here), but also the exemption for cleaner cars emitting less than 120g/km of CO2. Which means that everyone is going to pay the same £8. Hybrids and electric vehicles will still be congestion charge-exempt. I don't agree with Johnson's arguments, but I'm happy with the ditching of a predictable small "breath-my-particles-before-they-empoison-the-environment" diesels frenzy.

Sarkozy's new video: France 3 off-air footage

This time I'm not posting the video. Off means off.


“One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat him at politeness.”
(Josh Billings)

Referendum in Ireland: "NO" to the Treaty of Lisbon

That's why democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.

The Irish voted "No" against the end of restrictions on abortion, and to keep the country’s traditional neutrality and the low tax rates responsible for the rise of the Celtic Tiger. Not against the Treaty. Now what?

Tramway invading Limpertsberg

According to L'Essentiel, the "syndicat du Limpertsberg" is protesting against the fact that the tramway is going to corrupt their very nice neighbourhood. They were not consulted, and they call it "an invasion".

At the same time, at http://service.vdl.lu/forum/read.php?4,4102,4103#msg-4103 (the City of Luxembourg online forum) someone is asking for a direct bus line between Limpertsberg and Kirchberg. Others demand for more peripheral direct connections (meaning: if you don't live near Centre Hammilius or the Gare, chances are that you'll have to take two different buses to go anywhere).

Me, I've never been to the Limpertsberg village. I'm a city guy and I fell sick in deserted open spaces, full of cows and ticks, but I do believe that if people have chosen to live in the countryside, away from the turbulent city centre, they should be respected.

More posts about the tramway here.