Unconventional Wisdom

From Reuters:

France’s parliament passed a law on Wednesday that will allow companies to bypass compulsory 35-hour working week limits, effectively burying one of the flagship reforms of the former Socialist government.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has repeatedly slammed the 35-hour week as one of the biggest factors hampering France’s economic competitiveness and he has chipped away at it since coming to power in 2007.

But he has shied away from scrapping it altogether, aware of its popularity among French workers and conscious as well of the boost to consumer purchasing power of overtime work, which is not subject to income tax after an earlier reform last year.

The law, which also includes measures aimed at ensuring that unions are more representative, will permit firms to set individual deals with unions over working hours and overtime.

Final approval, which follows the Senate’s approval of a separate package of measures reforming small business and the retail sector, came late on Wednesday and the new measures are set to come into force at the end of August.

The French are getting smart for a change. They know what they need to do to get ahead. Via Newsalert!

Story via Instapundit who remarked that,”THEY TOLD ME THAT IF GEORGE W. BUSH WERE RE-ELECTED, jack-booted thugs would raid the homes of people who criticized our leaders. And they were right!”

Freeport resident Gabriel Razzano claims he was targeted in the spring raid for his “unpopular” political beliefs.

He’s now filed a $5 million federal lawsuit against the Nassau PD and McCarthy, charging they joined forces to strip him of his guns unconstitutionally.

The case pits Razzano against McCarthy, the most outspoken gun-control advocate in Congress. A crazed gunman murdered her husband in the infamous 1993 Long Island Rail Road Massacre.

The flap arose on March 19, when Razzano visited McCarthy’s Garden City office to discuss an article about an illegal immigrant who was deported but was later nabbed in Freeport for the attempted murder of a cop.

“The office staff felt that Razzano’s behavior was disruptive and threatening,” said Lt. Kevin Smith, a police spokesman.

Razzano’s home was raided the next morning.

I don’t know all the facts, but I wonder if this was an excuse.

Via The News Junkie!

From Dick Morris:

In yesterday’s Post, we criticized Barack Obama’s plan to “give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage.” We raised the question: “Are they Americans?” – noting that the 47 million statistic includes those who’ve come here illegally and are subject to deportation.

The Obama campaign complains that the senator has no such plan. Indeed, he’s said his plan “does not” cover illegals: “We’ve got limited resources. And it is important for us that, when we’ve got millions of US citizens that aren’t yet covered, it’s important for us to make sure that they are provided coverage.”

Yet the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the 47 million figure includes illegal immigrants. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal criticized Obama’s use of that figure, noting that his plan would fall short of it because it allegedly excludes illegal immigrants.

Obama can’t have it both ways. He can’t say he will cover 47 million Americans – as he has again and again in speeches and even in a national TV ad as recently as last month – and then turn around and deny that he’ll cover the illegal immigrants who are included in that count.

Measured by money alone this could be a Republican win. We’ll see though:

The campaign of Johnstown resident and Republican nominee for Congress Lt. Colonel Bill Russell outpaced incumbent Congressman John Murtha in the second fundraising quarter of 2008. According to campaign manager, Peg Luksik, William Russell for Congress reported raising $637,137 to Murtha’s $113,155 to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). The combined totals from the first and second quarters of 2008 exceed $900,000.

“The incredible story about Bill’s campaign is that the $15 and $25 contributions are coming in from all over Pennsylvania and every corner of the country,” said Luksik. “This is K-Street versus Main Street. These are patriotic families expressing support for soldiers, sailors and Marines, and people saying they’ve had enough of the old ‘pay-to-play’ culture in the Capitol. That’s what’s fueling this campaign.”

Oh and McCain and Obama are now tied. Is this campaign getting more exciting?

As for the Congressional angle, well I talked a little about that last night. Republicans could take advantage of the situation at the moment. From JammieWearingFool:

Meanwhile, the generic Congressional ballot, which had the Democrats up 14 points last month has now eroded to nine points.

Hmm. Might the public finally be realizing what a lousy job the Pelosi Congress has been doing?

It may finally have occurred to those complaining about $4 a gallon gas that they may wind up paying much more with a No-Drill Congress and a pliable President Obama?

Via Instapundit!

From Volokh:

Over at Opinio Juris, Kenneth Anderson has an interesting post about last week’s gun control conference at the United Nations, and a New York Times puff piece thereon, written by C.J. Chivers.

After noting U.S. concerns about the U.N. becoming a venue attacks on American gun ownership, the Times explains:

The United Nations and advocates of gun control have said that such fears are unfounded, and that there is no effort to impose standards on nations with traditions of civilian ownership, or to restrict hunting. The programs, they said, apply largely to areas suffering from insurgencies or war.“States remain free to have their own national legislation,” said Daniel Prins, chief of the Conventional Arms Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. “This document does not try to regulate gun ownership in the whole world. This is an instrument that allows states to focus on regions in conflict and the weapons that illicitly get there.”

Via Instapundit!