Word: french
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...French have a phrase to describe the carefully crafted rhetoric that politicians use when they have nothing much to say or want to paper over fundamental differences. They call it "langue de bois" - wooden tongue - and, unfortunately, we are entering a period in which official tongues will be even more thickly wooden than usual. The main reason for that is the summit of world leaders scheduled to take place on April 2 in London. Billed as a crucially important event for the future of the global economy when it was first called just four months ago, it's now clear...
...French have pronounced The Kindly Ones (the phrase refers to the Furies of Greek myth) a modern masterpiece. In the U.S., the reception has been mixed at best; the New York Times called it "an odious stunt." That it is not. It's far from perfect: Littell has that maddening Continental contempt for paragraph breaks, and he details Max's neuroses with dismaying thoroughness--Max is gay and obsessed with sodomy, which he used to practice with his twin sister, for whom he still yearns (lusty twins being the last resort of the lazy novelist). Above all, there...
...course, his philosophy runs straight into reality. Catholic missionary groups are at the center of efforts to reduce the rate of HIV infection in Africa, which accounts for just over 12% of the world's population but has more than 60% of its AIDS cases. Speaking on French radio, European parliament member Daniel Cohen-Bendit called the Pope's latest comments "close to premeditated murder...
...China's new antitrust law contains provisions allowing the government to protect national brands. And it's true that Beijing is hardly the first government to kill a foreign acquisition for political reasons, even in defense of less-than-strategic industries. The French rescued yogurt company Danone from the clutches of PepsiCo a few years ago. But Beijing didn't justify its decision on "national economic development" grounds, the part of the law that allows protection of popular brands. It cited the need to protect consumers, an unconvincing reason to some legal experts...
...Staffed by both British and local judges, mixed commissions were anything but individualistic. Through a series of bilateral treaties with the French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and American empires, Britain convinced states to cede sovereignty to Britain in its effort to crush the slave trade. Not only did these international tribunals charge foreigners with the task of judging domestic citizens, but they also worked in tandem with the Royal Navy as it seized illegal slavers on the high seas...