thanks for the long comment, dean. actually i am not sure if my readership has dropped, there are 99 subscribers now and i almost receive a new one every day. but concerning comments, this blog has become very silent. i was almost ready to post something stupid like "how much do i have to pay you for a comment?". thanks again.

concerning the iraq aggression i won't change my stance at all, i suppose. it is just that there is nothing to do about it now except rebuilding and supporting democracy in iraq. right now i am in france and the opinion here is still very negative. especially the devastation of the museum in bagdad which has not been stopped by the us forces at all is something which is very difficult to forgive. somehow this incident shows how plain and without culture the us government and/or the military is. peasants as the british would say.

i am in france and the opinion here is still very negative.

I work at a large wine merchant here in the Bay Area, California. It's been interesting watching how french wine sales have been going. Sales in the actual retail shop (even on the just arriving bordeaux futures) have dropped significantly. But online, sales are way up. I can only conclude this means people are still happy to drink French wines, but they don't want others in the check-out line to know they do! It's like porn. ;-)

We have another master sommelier newly arriving from France on Wednesday. At least he's coming to the most anti-war region of the US. I can imagine he's still coming over with a bit of trepidation. We'll treat him well...

especially the devastation of the museum in bagdad

Well, when has war ever been about civilization anyway? We shouldn't expect anything more from it. But it is crimminal, I agree. "We" saved the oil, yet didn't care at all about their heritage, their art, their history.

that's quite interesting, dean. why do people buy less french wine in the shop but don't stop buying french wine online? i suppose people are ashamed or even afraid to show that they like french wine and are therefore non-patriotic. buying online is still rather anonymous, therefore people continue buying french products online. maybe i am wrong but i have the feeling that there is a climate of anxiety in the states right now which reminds me of the mccarthy era. the existence of the internet is a source of hope for me. bush and his clan are maybe capable to control most countries in the world but they will never control the internet. and the irony of this is that the internet has been developed by the american military.