Maybe it's time to face the facts, and call a spade a spade.
The symbol of America is indeed a personal firearm.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Bush brother's curious tweet
The fellow known as Jeb Bush, brother of the ex-president George W Bush, is the governor of Florida. He's also a contender in the Republican primaries aimed at the forthcoming presidential election. Well, Jeb Bush has just offered the people of the nation a weird tweet:
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Is there anything truly “Antipodean” in this blog?
Well, yes: me, the author. According to a fuzzy dictionary website, an Antipodean is “a person who comes from Australia or New Zealand”. But there’s little point in examining that kind of definition any further, because it’s neither rigorous nor reassuring.
When I started this blog, on 9 December 2006, I had the impression that my main readers would probably be members of my family back in my native land. In fact, I’ve always had many readers in France and in the USA.
If there are readers of my Antipodes blog who might still imagine that it deals with my native Australia, they're going to be more and more disappointed. Let me explain. Once upon a time, I had a fairly good idea of what was happening in my native land, because I could regularly look at newspapers through the Internet. These days, unfortunately, that is no longer the case. There are fewer and fewer Australian newspapers, the quality of those that remain has dropped frighteningly, and the few remaining newspapers have put padlocks on their information. Even the terribly boring newspaper from my birthplace (Grafton, NSW) is only accessible to paid subscribers. I'm convinced that this crazy situation is rapidly destroying the little that remains of Australia's written press.
Nicolas Sarkozy
After 11 hours of questioning, the assessors concluded that Nicolas Sarkozy should be brought to trial for illegal financing in 2012 in the context of the presidential election.
In French law, the notion of being "brought to trial" doesn't mean that the person in question is actually guilty. Consequently, this assessment does not imply that Sarkozy will be prevented from competing as a candidate in next year's presidential election. But it doesn't render his theoretical candidacy any easier. For the moment, there are at least three powerful candidates from Sarko's party in the forthcoming competition. The cartoonist Plantu imagines this situation as follows:
In French law, the notion of being "brought to trial" doesn't mean that the person in question is actually guilty. Consequently, this assessment does not imply that Sarkozy will be prevented from competing as a candidate in next year's presidential election. But it doesn't render his theoretical candidacy any easier. For the moment, there are at least three powerful candidates from Sarko's party in the forthcoming competition. The cartoonist Plantu imagines this situation as follows:
Candidates in the water: Fillon, Juppé and Copé.
Old websites that I built in Flash
For many years, my favorite website development software was Macromedia Flash. Here is a list of various websites (in English, French or both) that I've developed in Flash:
Elements of my birthplace Grafton (Australia)My brother Don Skyvington.Labyrinths of Chartres and Lucca.All the Earth is Mine [novel].Quest for the Holy Grail [satire].Lewis Carroll’s descent from the Skeffington family.Maître Bruno, le premier chartreux.Terres du Royans au Moyen Age.Plans du Royans établis en 1780.Pont-en-Royans.Lisa. Dialogue avec un être virtuel.Divination à l’aide des cartes Tarot.Mes contacts avec Tinos (Grèce).
A few years ago, in accordance with the politics of Apple's Steve Jobs, I decided to abandon Flash and replace it by the latest HTML approach. Today, I no longer have access to any Flash development software. Consequently, all the above-mentioned Flash websites are in a state of limbo, since I have no means of modifying any of their elements whatsoever. So, if I wished to modify one of these websites, I would first have to translate the code into HTML.
Alas, for the moment, I have better things to do with my time and energy. Therefore, it is highly likely that these old Flash websites will remain in their present state of limbo for quite some time... They provide excellent examples of what are called legacy websites.
Alas, for the moment, I have better things to do with my time and energy. Therefore, it is highly likely that these old Flash websites will remain in their present state of limbo for quite some time... They provide excellent examples of what are called legacy websites.
Dangerous creatures in my native land
I was shocked yesterday by a banal story I came across in a local newspaper in Australia. The tragic news article involved this common reptile known simply as a Brown Snake.
A snake of this kind had bitten a six-year-old girl and, in spite of rapid medical attention, the child did not survive.
When growing up in rural Australia, I was perfectly aware of the dangers of various specimens of wild life such as snakes and spiders... not to mention more exotic beasts such as crocodiles and sharks. But I was never greatly stressed by such threats. Funnily enough, my everyday rural existence here in France has made me aware of the various kinds of behavior that would be unwise if Gamone were in fact located in my native land. Here, for example, when I catch sight of some kind of snake, I certainly don't think of killing it.
Once upon a time, in the land that would become Australia, there was a particularly dangerous beast known as the Marsupial Lion.
To put it bluntly, this animal was about as bad as a wild beast could possibly be. But I'm joking, of course. Maybe it was a charming companion... if only you didn't upset it, particularly when it was hungry or angry, or both.
A snake of this kind had bitten a six-year-old girl and, in spite of rapid medical attention, the child did not survive.
When growing up in rural Australia, I was perfectly aware of the dangers of various specimens of wild life such as snakes and spiders... not to mention more exotic beasts such as crocodiles and sharks. But I was never greatly stressed by such threats. Funnily enough, my everyday rural existence here in France has made me aware of the various kinds of behavior that would be unwise if Gamone were in fact located in my native land. Here, for example, when I catch sight of some kind of snake, I certainly don't think of killing it.
Once upon a time, in the land that would become Australia, there was a particularly dangerous beast known as the Marsupial Lion.
To put it bluntly, this animal was about as bad as a wild beast could possibly be. But I'm joking, of course. Maybe it was a charming companion... if only you didn't upset it, particularly when it was hungry or angry, or both.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Still more right-wing candidates to come
In the context of next year's presidential election in France, this is an updated presentation of right-wing candidates from the group associated with the ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. You'll notice that Sarko himself is not yet present in the list.
One of their left-wing opponents said that Sarko's crowd will soon be big enough to make up a football team. But can we be certain, when the new season starts next year, that the former captain will still be running around excitedly on the playing field?
From left to right: Alain Juppé, François Fillon, Hervé Mariton, Frédéric Lefebvre, Jean-Frédéric Poisson, Nadine Morano and Jean-François Copé.We're also awaiting the candidacies of Bruno Le Maire and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet.
One of their left-wing opponents said that Sarko's crowd will soon be big enough to make up a football team. But can we be certain, when the new season starts next year, that the former captain will still be running around excitedly on the playing field?
Personally, I wouldn't bet on it. Not at all...
CIA chief: "Paris was a failure of intelligence"
Hopefully, French politicians and security folk will listen attentively to these words from CIA chief John Brennan, who used the CBS show "60 Minutes" to judge the recent terrorist affairs in Paris. He was interviewed by the CBS correspondent Scott Pelley.
John Brennan: Paris was a failure of intelligence. All but one of the eight terrorists were French citizens, trained by ISIS in Syria. They returned, unnoticed, and attacked six locations killing 130 people.
Scott Pelley: What did you learn from Paris?
John Brennan: That there is a lot that ISIL probably has underway that we don't have obviously full insight into. We knew the system was blinking red. We knew just in the days before that ISIL was trying to carry out something. But the individuals involved have been able to take advantage of the newly available means of communication that are--that are walled off, from law enforcement officials.
Scott Pelley: You're talking about encrypted Internet communications.
John Brennan: Yeah, I'm talking about the very sophisticated use of these technologies and communication systems.
Scott Pelley: After Paris you told your people what?
John Brennan: We gotta work harder. We have to work harder. We need to have the capabilities, the technical capabilities, the human sources. We need to be able to have advanced notice about this so that we can take this-- the steps to stop them. Believe me, intelligence security services have stopped numerous attacks-- operatives-- that have been moved from maybe the Iraq to Syria theater into Europe. They have been stopped and interdicted and arrested and detained and debriefed because of very, very good intelligence.
I hardly need to point out that John Brennan was not referring, in that last sentence, to French intelligence.
Scott Pelley: What did you learn from Paris?
John Brennan: That there is a lot that ISIL probably has underway that we don't have obviously full insight into. We knew the system was blinking red. We knew just in the days before that ISIL was trying to carry out something. But the individuals involved have been able to take advantage of the newly available means of communication that are--that are walled off, from law enforcement officials.
Scott Pelley: You're talking about encrypted Internet communications.
John Brennan: Yeah, I'm talking about the very sophisticated use of these technologies and communication systems.
Scott Pelley: After Paris you told your people what?
John Brennan: We gotta work harder. We have to work harder. We need to have the capabilities, the technical capabilities, the human sources. We need to be able to have advanced notice about this so that we can take this-- the steps to stop them. Believe me, intelligence security services have stopped numerous attacks-- operatives-- that have been moved from maybe the Iraq to Syria theater into Europe. They have been stopped and interdicted and arrested and detained and debriefed because of very, very good intelligence.
I hardly need to point out that John Brennan was not referring, in that last sentence, to French intelligence.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Poor-quality fuzzy drawing of a boat
This low-quality drawing is so amateurish that it looks like the fuzzy work of a child. So, I would understand you for thinking it's worthless.
Well, it is indeed an uninteresting work of art... but I was prepared to pardon its weaknesses when I learnt that this was an authentic sketch of the barque Caroline which had reached Rottnest Island near Perth (Australia) in 1829, conveying the Henty brothers James, Stephen and John, accompanied by a few Spanish merino sheep. Four years later, on 6 August 1833, my great-great-grandfather Charles Walker had been employed as a steward aboard that same ship when he arrived in Sydney.
As for Rottnest Island, that was a lovely playground for my son François and me when we used to go sailing on the Zigeuner in 1986. So, at a personal level, this fuzzy drawing is a precious document.
A few years ago, I was surprised to learn that an Australian lady whose maiden name was Sheridan Henty had purchased a house in the neighboring village of Pont-en-Royans. She was a descendant of the Henty pioneers who had reached Western Australia aboard the Caroline. Sheridan showed me a book on her Henty ancestors by Marney Bassett, and that's where I found the fuzzy drawing.
As for Rottnest Island, that was a lovely playground for my son François and me when we used to go sailing on the Zigeuner in 1986. So, at a personal level, this fuzzy drawing is a precious document.
A few years ago, I was surprised to learn that an Australian lady whose maiden name was Sheridan Henty had purchased a house in the neighboring village of Pont-en-Royans. She was a descendant of the Henty pioneers who had reached Western Australia aboard the Caroline. Sheridan showed me a book on her Henty ancestors by Marney Bassett, and that's where I found the fuzzy drawing.
Learning how to splash around in the sea
Click here to visit the English-language website of this exemplary French body.
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