Barricade Selectivity

I've read many references to the French college students' union in the past week but not till today had I heard of this:

The head of the French secondary school union FIDL, Tristan Rouquier, said Monday that more than 450 secondary schools were currently disrupted because of the protest, 'with blockages, selective barricades or occupations.'

Where are the grade school trade unionists and the kindergarten syndicalists, the tadpoletariat? Go ahead sophisticated kiddies, sit this one out. Laugh all you want at your lycee and university older brother and sisters blockading and occupying to defend their lifetime right to the jobs that the French economy isn't creating for them in the first place. "If it wasn't for occupations they wouldn't have any occupations at all", I can almost hear you stage whispering in your jaded but squeaky way. It is sooooooooooo easy to be satirical when you're too short to get on half the rides at Euro Disney.

Paul Haggis Is the Sam Mendes of His Generation

The joke template for this headline courtesy of a childhood acquaintance of mine who later set himself on fire in a vacant lot (RIP, B.B.). The indisputable stature of Paul Haggis was called to mind by Drudge's link to this.

Is That a Hole in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to Seem Real?

From the tiny but fat 4x4 inch volume called The Little Zen Companion (less a book than a 400 page greetting card) that I've been browsing and enjoying the last several days:

God made everything out of nothing. But the nothingness shows through.
--Paul Valery