I agree with Arnold for once, The NAZI’s(Le BOSCH, It was I heard a derisive term back then) were ruthless and those who resisted were most likely shot on the spot or hauled off somewhere, My Dad served in the US Army back then in the 368th Medical from North Africa to Occupied Germany(Including Sicily, Anzio and Northern France) as a Clerk and from what I read He saw a lot and He never talked about the war, He didn’t trust Doctors after He came back, I can guess why too. He enlisted on His own in 1942 and was discharged in 1946 and was recommended for a couple of commendations. Oh and My family is of French descent too, As I can trace our family back to 1770 Ireland, Our family left France around 1690 and settled in Ireland after being invited by the King of England in 1690 to escape religious persecution as My family were protestants.

This story isn’t even news worthy or worth a post on this blog. Don’t they have better things to work on in the CA legislature?

In 2006 a court in Toulouse (southern France) found the SNCF guilty and condemned it to pay €50,000 to Alain Lipietz, a French representative in the European parliament, for transporting one of his relatives to a concentration camp.
Up to then, all reparations had been paid by the French state since the SNCF was considered a mere instrument. The jewish community’s reaction to the judgment was less than enthusiastic. Many claimed it showed a total ignorance of historical facts and rendered a disservice to the victims by shifting the blame away from the deciders. A court of appeal annuled the judgment in 2007.
The SNCF’s most vocal advocate was Arno Klarsfeld, a lawyer with dual French-Israeli nationality whose grandfather died at Auschwitz. His father and mother were famous nazi-hunters who helped unmask many war criminals. Arno is also a member of the California Bar and could defend th SNCF if need be.
In France, the whole affair is generally considered as a lackluster trick to eliminate a French company from the competition. Fortunately, it doesn’t make headlines. When it does, it will certainly revive anti-americanism which had died out after Obama’s election.

Now, would elimination from California (and Florida) be a bad thing for the SNCF? I don’t think so.
I remember an American economist saying that the trouble with executives climbing the corporate ladder was cimbing one step too many and reaching their level of incompetence.
What is true for executives can also be true for a whole company. The SNCF’s level of incompetence would be reached in America. The mere fact they didn’t see the Blumenfield measure coming shows how unprepared they are to the American political environment. Their incompetence stands out before the game has even started. They should heed the warning and keep out.

OT

A newspaper article today is reporting that Schwarzenegger tried to erase his mistake regarding High Speed Rail appointments. http://www.examiner.com/transportation-policy-in-san-francisco/california-high-speed-rail-senator-simitian-s-town-hall-palo-alto

‘Hot off the presses, Sen. Simitian told the audience that there was a last minute attempt to exempt board members of the High Speed Rail during the budget negotiations considering State law, Conflict of Interest code 1099. There was an audible gasp of disbelief from the audience. Simitian said it did not fly but encouraged people to keep an eye on this. He said emphatically he could not support that kind of action, because it’s” inappropriate on merits” and “from a process standpoint, it would be impossible to justify.”‘

Apparently with budget bills, all sorts of things get thrown in that don’t go through the normal legislative process with hearings.

Obviously, we would have a problem with this. Less obviously, it does seem to confirm that Katz and Pringle are holding incompatible offices.

The meeting was video taped. I’ve emailed Senator Simitian’s office to see if it will be posted. Once I hear back, I’ll post the answer here.

Kathy Hamilton’s article contains long verbatim quotes from Simitian – so regardless of your opinion on the source, you can read exactly what Simitian said.

OT: Does anyone know when Flashman is planning on filing the more detailed Objection to and the new lawsuit on the Revised Program EIR? His objection from September 23 stated that it would be filed on or before October 4.

Just in at CARRD:
For Immediate Release:
September 30, 2010

Contact: Fred Muir
Office – 213-624-1030 x206
Mobile – 310-600-8954
fred.muir@rosekindel.com

SNCF Statement Regarding Gov. Schwarzenegger’s veto of Assembly Bill 619

While we respect Gov. Schwarzenegger’s decision to veto AB 619, the French National Railways, (SNCF), still plans to fully comply with the bill’s intent. The legislation had sought to require companies competing for high-speed rail projects in California to disclose whether they had any direct involvement in deporting individuals to extermination camps, work camps, concentration camps, prisoner of war camps, or any similar camps during the World War II.

The people of France and SNCF are determined to remember and honor victims of the Holocaust so that the horrors of Nazi Germany and WWII are never repeated. This commitment is ingrained in our company‚s culture as well as the hearts of the French people, and is confirmed by our actions.

That’s why SNCF is committed to full disclosure and has been unsparing in its self examination of war-time activities. The company has taken extraordinary steps to research and document its history in detail and to make those documents publicly available.

In 1996, SNCF opened its vast archives center to the public. This facility in Le Mans, France, maintains one the most extensive collections of railway history in the world, including detailed accounts about SNCF’s role during WWII. The archives are open to the public for anyone to access and examine

Additionally, in an effort to fully and independently document its World War II history, SNCF in 1992 commissioned the noted historian Christian Bachelier and a team of independent academics to prepare an exhaustive historical study. The 914-page report was released in 2000 and has been publicly available at all times since then. That report was written in the French language. We have commissioned a translator to transcribe it into English, and we plan to have copies available this fall.

Unfortunately, during the course of recent debates and miscellaneous media reports, we‚ve seen a disturbing amount of misinformation and false accusations surrounding SNCF’s war-time involvement. We welcome this opportunity to address the issue and provide interested parties in America with the facts.

The truth is SNCF’s trains and railways were seized by Nazi Germany during WWII. The Nazi regime controlled the railway system throughout the war and forcibly requisitioned SNCF trains to transport innocent people to concentration camps. During this time, Nazi Germany’s military transport division subjected all SNCF workers, agents and administration to German military law. The Nazi military transport division threatened to execute French railway workers and their families if they resisted strict Nazi orders. In fact, nearly 800 SNCF workers were executed by Nazi firing squads for resisting orders, and 1,200 SNCF workers were deported to Nazi death camps for sabotage and other acts of defiance.

The atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during WWII were so horrific that we can never forget, nor should we. The people of France and SNCF have made this commitment through our words and our deeds, and we will continue to do so now and into the future.

That’s why SNCF will continue its commitment to complete transparency of its WWII history, and will voluntarily comply, and even exceed, the requirements AB 619 would have mandated.

I’m sure FIAT built trucks which were used by Mussolini’s fascists to transport Italian jews to concentration camps after Italy’s fascist regime passed the infamous “Racial Laws” of 1938. I haven’t heard any American politicians questioning FIAT’s bail out of Chrysler on the same grounds though. I guess money talks, bullshit walks.

If we are into raking up the Good ‘Ole Days, thank God Boeing doesn’t build trains, or some wacky Assemblymember of Japanese origin could as well have issued a Hiroshima Survivor Responsibility Act.

Let’s start a poll: SNCF vs Superfortress – who’s the Real Bad Guy?