French Fear of Economic Liberty

The Bush Dilemma - If the president is willing to take risks abroad, why won't he do it at home?
by Victor Davis Hanson
http://www.victorhanson.com/

In what could be an ominous sign for the U.S. tech industry, American universities slipped lower in an international programming contest.
http://news.com.com/

...this week President Jacques Chirac faces one of the biggest battles of his political career as he launches a crusade to persuade the French to vote 'Oui' in next month's referendum on the EU constitution...Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said: 'If the "no" side wins, the French will have a much tougher time because we will be in a world of unbridled economic liberalism.' In a video conference, right-wing UMP leader Nicolas Sarkozy told farmers: 'If we are not in Brussels, who will defend the common agricultural policy?'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk

That's America. In Holland, you can taste a cookie without signing a legal waiver, and, if you get food poisoning from it, the doctor will discreetly euthanize you to avoid putting your family through the trauma of waiting six hours for the stomach pump to become available. That's not how the American cookie crumbles. Euthanasia here will be a 10-year court culminating in slow-motion public execution played out on the 24-hour cable channels.
http://www.suntimes.com/

They may not be as unpredictable as Michael Jackson, but witnesses in the singer's child molestation case have surprised lawyers on both sides with unexpected testimony.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/