You Will Anyway: Macron's climate - trade line in the sand

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Macron's climate - trade line in the sand

In a fiery address to the UN punctuated by a claim that France will not sign a trade deal with any country outside the Paris climate agreement, President Emmanuel Macron railed against nationalism and stressed the importance of collective action in confronting the world's problems.

Axios

It does seem rather bizarre that a signatory to the UN and a major player would go before the entire body and proclaim exceptionalism and unilateralism. But that's what America is in the age of Trump - bizarre.

Also, Macron crossed Trump in speaking about Palestine.

Trampling on the Palestinians and pushing unilateral initiatives will not resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Macron said taking a swipe at his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump's policy on the issue.

"What can resolve the crisis between Israel and Palestine? Not unilateral initiatives, nor trampling on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to legitimate peace. "There is no credible alternative to the two-state solution."
Haaretz

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Life, as Explained in "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"

GUILDENSTERN: What a fine persecution---to be kept intrigued without ever quite being enlightened.

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ROSENCRANTZ : The only thing that makes it bearable is the irrational belief that somebody interesting will come on in a minute.

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GUILDENSTERN: But for God's sake what are we supposed to do?!

PLAYER: Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn.

GUILDENSTERN: But we don't know what's going on, or what to do with ourselves. We don't know how to act.

PLAYER: Act natural. You know why you're here at least.

GUILDENSTERN: We only know what we're told, and that's little enough. And for all we know it isn't even true.

PLAYER: For all anyone knows, nothing is. Everything has to be taken on trust; truth is only that which is taken to be true. It's the currency of living. There may be nothing behind it, but it doesn't make any difference so long as it is honoured. One acts on assumptions.

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GUILDENSTERN : We act on scraps of information... sifting half-remembered directions that we can hardly separate from instinct.

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PLAYER: Life is a gamble, at terrible odds-if it was a bet you wouldn't take it.