Sunday linkfest

1. Things are actually getting better: the libertarian perspective.

2. Aspen bomber. "1:26 a.m. Suspect is spotted driving green Jeep Cherokee with a spare tire on the roof." You should definitely be suspicious of a guy driving a Jeep on the roof. Bonus: Commenters blame Bush.

3. France, land of brie, wine, and car torchings. I omitted "body odor," because that's understood. (via Ace)

4. This Israeli video for HDTV is old but quite wonderful. Translation is available at the site. (Warning: video starts automatically.)

5. Among the "related" videos was this dumb Jewish "wazzup" commercial. (Same warning.)

Click here to read more . . .

The next French civil war

Those of us who are socially traditional tend to think that there really isn't much to be discerned between nudists and swingers. Both participate in a non-traditional lifestyle that's totally foreign to us.

But this just shows how naive we are. It turns out that, in France, anyway, the nudists are at war with the swingers (échangistes). In fact, the nudists have firebombed three swinger clubs, burning them to the ground. Yes, you read that right. In French terms, the town has been "plunged into anxiety," not to say ennui.

The normally peaceful Cap d’Agde, a magnet for nudists in the south of France, has been plunged into anxiety. Investigators suspect “fundamentalist” naturists of harbouring a grudge against the échangistes, or swingers, who are drawn to the town by the promise of sex.

A so-called boîte échangiste, or wife-swapping club, called Glamour, where couples engage in group sex, was the first to be razed, in April. The next day the Palme Ré, another orgy venue, went up in flames. In September the Tantra club and Zen, its neighbouring bar, were destroyed in blazes.

The tensions appear to be based on the resentment by traditional nudists of the swingers who show up looking for sex. "'What goes on in certain places is not naturism,' said Guy Delfour, former head of the French federation of naturism. 'Nudity is just one element of naturism. There are other values to recognise, such as the protection of nature.'"

I see. Who could possibly object?

But even if this article were not as inherently entertaining as it is, I would still commend it to you for its quotation of the phrase "mullahs of chaste nudity":

Some in Cap d’Agde attribute the fires to fundamentalist “mullahs of chaste nudity”, as one magazine called them, who have often harangued holiday-makers venturing onto nudist beaches in bathing costumes. Others denied that naturists could have been involved.

“We don’t want to put the échangiste places out of business,” said Gilles Beaumont, a naturist and regular at Cap d’Agde. “It’s true that we don’t like being mixed up with the swingers. But we respect other people and their right to behave as they please.”

I'm really tickled by the concept of naked Taliban. I suspect things would have developed far differently in Afghan history if the Taliban had been nudists.

And now, it's time to handicap this war. I place my wager on the swingers for these reasons:

1. Concealed weapons. Swingers can hide their weapons under clothing. Where are the nudists going to hide theirs? (Don't answer that.)

2. Cooperation. Swingers are used to working in groups.

3. Underwear. It's easier to get around when your personal regions aren't swaying in the wind.

4. Surrender. The nudists are French. (OK, so are the swingers, but I had to get that crack in somewhere.)


UPDATE: Thanks, Ace, for the link.

Click here to read more . . .

Superman is Jewish

Yeah, you know it's true, buddy.

When I was about 13, my friend and I whiled the time away in Hebrew School with the Superman is Jewish Club, making up news stories about Clark Kentsky and the others. Then, later, I read about Siegel and Schuster writing of their own fantasies of themselves -- which proved our thesis that Superman was Jewish.

Now, we learn there's a comic book exhibit in Paris that proves it further:

A Paris exhibit on comic strips shows that Superman is Jewish.

The exhibit, at the Museum of Jewish Art and History in Paris, makes it clear "that Superman is Jewish," Samuel Blumenfeld and Yves-Marie Labé write in the French newspaper Le Monde. And even Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels knew it.

In comments translated in the Eurotopics online newsletter, the writers say that "When the 'Iron Man' destroyed the Atlantic wall and the Siegfried line well before D-day, ...Goebbels shouted in a meeting that 'Superman is Jewish.' What was an insult is now to be taken as something quite evident."

The Superman comic strip was created in 1932 by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Schuster, both sons of Jewish immigrants, and sold to D.C. Comics in 1938.

There's a website about the exhibit in French. Here's a Google automated translation into English.

Then the era of superheroes, related to the process of integration of the second generation of immigrants. 1938 sees rise Superman. Batman followed in 1939, and Captain America in 1940. They also embody the dreams related to the experience and the Jewish tradition, the first superheroes are meant to the American nation. They are a fantastic and reassuring response to the difficulties caused by the crisis of 1929 and the rise of Fascisms in Europe. Infatigables vigilantes ensuring law and order in the world, they defend the human species and universal values of good and justice. It was only after the Holocaust that some people will have signs specifically Jews.

The translation is pretty funny, but I think you get the gist of it.

UPDATE (11/11): Mark Newgent sent me this link to a video clip of Superman II. Listen carefully at 2:33.

Click here to read more . . .

Mugged by monkeys

This week's burning question is answered at Slate: "What should you do if you're surrounded by angry macaques?" No George Allen jokes, please! Those monkeys killed an Indian government official the other day.

Slate's answer, in its short version, is: "It's like Mom said about muggers: Just give 'em what they want." In other words, "Act French." Surrender! Be a cheese-eating surrender monkey to a bunch of monkeys. Got it?

And speaking of eating cheese, eating cheese apparently leads to sleepwalking, sometimes in the nude in public places. (hat tip: Soccer Dad)

A surge in naked sleepwalking among guests has led one of Britain's largest budget hotel groups to re-train staff to handle late-night nudity.

According to the article, "Studies have found that sleepwalking can be brought on by stress, alcohol, eating cheese or consuming too much caffeine."

So the moral is: If you stay in a budget hotel in England, don't be surprised to see naked cheese-eating somnabulist monkeys wandering around late at night.

My advice would be that you might want to invest a few more dollars in a better hotel.

Click here to read more . . .