The BBC reports that French forces in Lebanon claim they almost fired on Israeli planes:

French troops serving in Lebanon have been only seconds away from firing on Israeli aircraft, the French defence minister says.

Michele Alliot-Marie told parliament the jets dived towards UN positions in October and were perceived as a threat.

"Two seconds later there would have been a shot against the aircraft which were directly menacing our forces," the defence minister said.

Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say, Michèle.

I'll go out on a limb here and make a prediction: French forces in Lebanon will never attack Israeli aircraft.

You see, unlike Greenpeace boats, Israeli warplanes fire back.

Via the unpermalinkable Steven Den Beste, LGF commenter jwbaumann is having second thoughts about the wisdom of American military intervention:

Lizard.1: Lizard 2: Lizard 3: Lizard 1: Lizard 2: Lizard 1: Lizard 2: Lizard 3: Lizard 2: Lizard 1: Lizard 2: Lizard 1: Lizard 3: Lizard 1: Lizard 2: Lizard 1: Lizard 2: Lizard 3:

It's terrible. The horrible loss of American soldiers freeing that country from tyranny... ...only to have it devolve into Civil War. Car fires, buses burning, security forces being attacked... ...and the native population seeming to be helpless to stop it. Unemployment sky high... ...no vision for the future... ...a leader at odds with the U.S. No-go zones with anti-government gangs in control. Terrible. We never should have "liberated" them. It was a mistake. And I was so hopeful.. They voted in a constitution... The economy was doing well — exports were increasing... But now, just thousands of dead and wounded Americans. Billions of dollars squandered. And for what? Muslim radical-driven civil war. Yeah. Sad. What a waste. But enough about France. Now what should we do about Iraq?

You can read more about radical Islam's war on France here, here, and here. Those stories are relatively recent, but the same stuff has been going on for over a year. And of course, the French are already starting to surrender.

Via Fark, Reuters reports:

Around a dozen Japanese tourists a year need psychological treatment after visiting Paris as the reality of unfriendly locals and scruffy streets clashes with their expectations, a newspaper reported Sunday.

"A third of patients get better immediately, a third suffer relapses and the rest have psychoses," Yousef Mahmoudia, a psychologist at the Hotel-Dieu hospital, next to Notre Dame cathedral, told the newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

..."Fragile travelers can lose their bearings. When the idea they have of the country meets the reality of what they discover it can provoke a crisis," psychologist Herve Benhamou told the paper.

And that's presumably in the touristy central part of Pairs. Imagine if they had gone into the suburbs (via Instapundit).

I got my X-4 back from the bike shop late last week. Here's a photo:


The big changes: Ohlins suspension and billet aluminum Nissin brakes, front and rear, all in black:

Ohlins rear suspension

Ohlins front forks and Nissin brakes

Braced handlebar, Nissin brake cylinder

I ordered Beringer brake and clutch cylinders, too, but Beringer doesn't seem to have any in stock. And being a French company, they don't seem too concerned about it, either. They said in April that they'd have some available in May. In May, they said June. Now it's July, and I'd guess they're shooting for August — except August is essentially a month-long vacation in France, so we're probably talking September. At best.