A Note from the French Lunatic Asylum, and more in the afternoon roundup

A Note from the French Lunatic Asylum

Richard Landes has a translation of an article from the French weekly news magazine Le Nouvel Observateur up at Augean Stables. Because I am unfamiliar with the naval-gazing world of the French Elite (they invented the word!), at first I thought that "Nouvel Observateur" must be some kind of French Idiom for Lunatic Asylum. The thing is such a monument to un-self conscious self-deification and denial of reality that it reads most readily as either parody or the ravings of the insane. If you read it sentence by sentence and really listen to what they are implying, it really sounds as if it was written by a group of loonies- some who think they are Napoleons, Louis XIV, a few Richelieus and a Robespierre or two- sitting around in the day room of a French mental hospital. I searched some of the names of the signatories and to my surprise, most of them appear to be out on the streets and without psychiatric "paperwork". So, I guess, it turns out that we were meant to take it seriously.

Go read the whole post, and make sure to read Circling the Wagons around Charles: Le Nouvel Obs calls for Solidarity with their colleague under attack
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Getting by with a little help... from your friends:


Mary Katherine Ham has Obama on your shoulder
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New blog Versailles Beat has a great post on Dr Oscar Elias Biscet
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Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows
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Via Ace, the Amazon Wish list for the men and women recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
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The menu at the World Hunger Meeting: Your UN Dollars Fighting Hunger!
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Egypt Uncovers 'Missing' Pyramid, unfortunately most of it was gone.

Speaking of archeology, Machu Picchu got looted by a German guy before Bingham got there. Too bad Klaus Kinsky is dead - Herzog could have made a great movie with Kinsky playing Berns the raider. Or will Indy get the prequel?



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Doug Ross and the Temech family

Doug has a fascinating post on an exciting archeological find:

Discovery of ancient seal validates Biblical account

A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday.

Additonally, the Israel Antiquity Authority has an article on the later temple, Impressive Second Temple Period Ediface is Discovered in the City of David

In the Antiquities Authority excavations which are being carried out with the Nature and Parks Authority and the Ir David Foundation, an impressive architectural complex has been partially uncovered that includes massive foundations, walls - some of which are preserved to a height in excess of five meters and made of stones that weigh hundreds of kilograms, halls that are preserved to a height of at least two stories, a basement level that was covered with vaults, remains of polychrome frescoes, water installations and ritual baths (miqve’ot).

Evidence of the drama which transpired within it prior to its destruction by the Romans in the year 70 CE can be seen in the narrow openings that were discovered in the basement level through which its inhabitants attempted to flee. Much of the structure was intentionally demolished at that time: the stones from the walls and the ceilings of the upper stories were discovered mixed inside the destruction layer that accumulated on the floor of the basement. Among the finds recovered are pottery vessels, stone vessels and coins that date to the end of the Second Temple period.

These are the ancestors of the people of Israel, of all the Jews. Any attempt to disconnect the history of Jerusalem with the present-day Jews should be derided.


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