On my mind...

More cheerleading than money going toward environment - Americas - International Herald Tribune

Research into energy technologies by both government and industry has not been rising, but rather falling.

In the United States, annual federal spending for all energy research and development - not just the research aimed at climate-friendly technologies - is less than half what it was a quarter- century ago. Japan is the only economic power that increased research spending in recent decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

Marie Antoinette, queen of zeitgeist - Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune In cloaking 21st-century American arrogance in the pastel-colored finery of the 18th-century French court, Coppola inadvertently exposes the tarnish on America’s gilded age.

With no interest in thorny policy issues, no care for the consequences of her actions, and no doubts about her own entitlement, this Marie Antoinette is today’s ugly American par excellence: a Bush Yankee in King Louis’ court.

And like the movie’s royal shopaholic, whose girls-just-want-to-have-fun outlook cannot process any unpleasantness outside the palace walls, we Americans single-mindedly pursue our pleasures, even as a wider and scarier world clamors for our attention.

But why worry? Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, ensconced in her unapologetically decadent bubble, acts as though she rules the world even as she ruins it. Why shouldn’t we, following her all-too American lead, expect to have our cake and eat it, too?

Politicus: France’s front-runners dumb down the race - Europe - International Herald Tribune From both left and right, before the presidential nominations are certain, France is getting dumbed-down politics from the front-runners, vaguer each day on conviction and already narrowed on ideas. At this level, with six or seven months to go till the election, 2007 looks a long way from becoming the country’s year of renewal.

Communiqué A la suite de l’assassinat de Mme Anna POLITKOVSKAIA. - Présidence de la République

Paris, le 9 octobre 2006.

COMMUNIQUE

Le Président de la République, profondément ému et choqué par l’assassinat de Mme Anna Politkovskaia, a demandé à l’ambassadeur de France en Russie, M. Jean Cadet, de remettre demain en son nom un message de condoléances et de solidarité à ses enfants. Il souhaite que toute la lumière soit faite sur ce crime odieux qui porte gravement atteinte à la liberté de la presse.

C’est ce qu’on appelle un service minimum. Pas de quoi fâcher Poutine. C’est déjà mieux que Sarko: pas une ligne sur le site de l’UMP.

Featured Author: Cormac McCarthy - New York Times

Flâner dans les rues de Vienne peut conduire à se poser des questions essentielles.