So, how many of the people ranting about Israel's judicial reform know what it actually contains?

Thankfully, I'm here to help. The reform contains five different measures: (1/16) 1. Ministers will be able to choose who represents them in court and which line of argumentation to use.

This is meant to correct a situation where legal advisors (appointed not by ministers but by jurists' committees on tender)... (2/16)

Qu'arrive-t-il à Marianne ?

Ont-ils besoin d'argent pour réparer la toiture ?

Ou veulent-ils paraître plus malins que les autres, les gens à qui on ne la fait pas ? (1/4) Il y a des gens si attachés à leur relativisme moral qu'ils ne voient pas le mal absolu même quand il s'invite dans leur salon en montrant ouvertement toutes ses actions. (2/4)

Germany is currently following the road taken by Turkey at the beginning of the century and by Russia since 2014. The world watches and says:

"It can't be for real, they're not subject to an evil ideology anymore, therefore they must be normal and civilised deep inside." (1/4) And then: "They must have a public opinion to manage - we'll find a win-win agreement eventually."

Only later, the truth emerges. It was never about evil ideologies. (2/4)

Why I am not terrified by the Israeli judicial reform proposal.

Overly heated rhetoric is common in Israeli political life on both sides and should always be taken with a grain of salt. (1/14) No matter how many times it is repeated, the judicial reforms proposed by Israel's new coalition are not "the end of democracy" or "of Zionism", or whatever. (2/14)

I sometimes get the reproach of generalising too much about members of different cultures - saying that Germans are like this, Russians like that, Muslims like this again, and let's not even speak of US Democrats. (1/17) I've learnt during these exchanges the funny word "culturalism," which is supposed to mirror "racism" and is used to shame people who use these generalisations.

Well, guilty as charged. I feel no shame at all. (2/17)

What is really at stake.

Possibly the most important outcome to be expected from the Russian defeat - and what will make it fundamentally different from previous defeats against Japan (1905), Poland (1920), Finland (1940) and Afghanistan (1989)... (1/15) ... is that this time, it is the very claim of Russian intrinsic superiority, and the natural inferiority of neighbouring cultures, which is about to be shattered. (2/15)

Superficial similarities vs. essential difference.

Many Westerners see mostly the similarities between Russian and Ukrainian culture: closely related languages; ... (1/16) ... a visible influence of Ukrainian architecture on Russian churches and palaces (built half a millennium later); a majority identification with the Orthodox church; some aspects of a common Soviet heritage such as the excessive role of oligarchs in the economy. (2/16)

To summarise: the car of one the President's close allies, carrying him and his daughter, arrives at an event. Given his rank, the car MUST have been under surveillance while they attended the event. (1/4) As they prepare to leave, the presidential advisor changes his mind at the last minute and decides to leave with another car. His daughter takes the well-watched car. It explodes and she dies.

A few hours later, all the Putin press sends one message: (2/4)

Lessons of the war for NATO:
- Europe remains an essential ground, mostly for the army; the great switch to Asia must therefore be moderated;
- Logistics are becoming more difficult to hide with increasing open source information; (1/5) - Slow aircraft such as helicopters are becoming more vulnerable due to cheap and accurate shoulder missiles;
- Maintaining and prepositioning significant amounts of assets is essential to face the risk of prolonged attrition; (2/5)

#onthisday in 1794, France ended its only domestic experiment in demented bloodthirsty tyranny by sending to the guillotine dictator Maximilien Robespierre, his main three accomplices Antoine de Saint-Just, François Couthon and Augustin Robespierre, and some minor figures. (1/5) Robespierre - the most verbose tyrant before the advent of Fidel Castro - had his jaw broken by a bullet the day before in the fight that led to their arrest and was therefore deprived of the opportunity to make a last speech. (2/5)

Putinist logic - a few examples:

- Since Ukraine won't surrender and Russia won't surrender, Ukraine must surrender; (1/10) - It's not just about Ukraine. Russia legitimately finds it unacceptable to have NATO at its borders, except Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland; (2/10)

Years, not months.

I predicted about three months ago that the war, although it certainly wasn't over after Russia retreated to the Kherson-Donetsk line, would be over in months, not years, as relative attrition rates favoured a NATO-supported Ukraine. (1/14) Since then, however, I've seen analysis from people with a more detailed knowledge than I have of the weapons systems, which points in the opposite direction: years, not months of fighting.

Two variables, unknown to me at that stage, will decide between the scenarios. (2/14)

An important point is made in the French press (Le Point) this week by my friend, Russia specialist Helena Perroud. She reminds us that Putin is very attached to the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Russia and refused to define Russia as a nation state. (1/16) This is consistent with an observation I made in the past few weeks as I was watching and reading several productions from the Putin-owned press (and brushing up my rusty Russian in the process): one word that Putinists never use when talking about Russia is "nation". (2/16)

A gruesome, but revealing detail from the areas from which the Russian army retreated in the past few days is thats dead Russian soldiers were simply left where they had fallen. (1/7) This gives a new meaning to the body bags and portable incinerators which are known to have been brought in by the Russians and were initially explained by a desire to "hide casualties". (2/7)

Without going as far as Putinism (which, as I might have told you one or twenty times before, is cause for immediate and final blocking from this page, with no application of any rights of defense whatsoever)... (1/9) ... I can sense among some of my fellow reactionaries some irritation about the rape of Ukraine distracting people from the fight against the evils of progressivism.

This view is, I'm afraid, imbued with a very un-reactionary optimism about human nature. (2/9)

For any objective mind, the publication of the Michigan forensic audit ends the debate: Nov. 3 was, in fact, not an election but a coup.
(1/15) The voting system was deliberately manipulated to produce an outcome different from the voters' will (not my words, but that of the company hired by the State of Michigan). (2/15)