About François Blumenfeld-Kouchner

François Blumenfeld-Kouchner was born in Paris in 1978. He has been an itinerant student in France, Scotland and Ireland before reaching Chicago, where he currently lives, studies and teaches.

Obama and Torture

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner February 12, 2009

It seems that the lure of the dramatized version of reality presented by televised shows still works on politicians unfamiliar with actual facts on torture. Leon Panetta, the nominee about to be confirmed to head the C.I.A., a politician without … Read More

Cowardice and Bastardy

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner January 5, 2008

Good news: the Paris-Dakar has been cancelled this year. Unfortunately only one of many rallies involving motorbikes, cars, and trucks running through African countries, the Paris-Dakar has become somewhat infamous for reasons other than its disastrous ecological impact. Since at least 1988, there … Read More

Sarkozy’s Dangerous Game

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner January 2, 2008

While the French are preoccupied with a new law that will prohibit smoking in public places, their president’s foreign policy is taking a strange turn. Remember how Sarkozy defended his invitation of Gaddafi through contracts that he did not end … Read More

Taking Your Date to Disneyland Doesn’t Make You a Liberal

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner December 21, 2007

Nothing much has changed in France’s so-called ‘Arab policy’. Paris is still willing to snuggle up to dictators, if it means they could -hypothetically- sell them some armaments or nuclear facilities. Gaddafi’s ridiculous stop in Paris during his European tour … Read More

Forget Romney on Religion, Romney on Torture Is Worse

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner December 8, 2007

Michael’s recent post on Mitt Romney’s religious stance made of the later a ‘political enemy.' If his disdain for the separation of church and state wasn’t enough, Romney’s stance on torture should help make him utterly abhorrent to anyone.   … Read More

Good News: Jewish Lobby Controls France

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner November 29, 2007

Jewcy's Abe Greenwald shouldn't worry so much about France -the Algerian government (well, one of its ministers, but he has received no official rebuttal) tells us who's really in charge: Sarkozy was put in power by the "Jewish lobby,which has the monopoly … Read More

Smart As A Dick

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner November 24, 2007

Daniel Koffler recently wrote a couple of posts on this blog regarding the pseudo-debate on "racial IQ." (Here's whyit's pseudo-.) I can't say that the many comments in response to hispost have made me feel any easier about the vulgarization … Read More

Exceptionally Unexceptional: French Strikes Extending the Holidays

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner November 21, 2007

As Mike Boyer recently noted in a rebuttal of Fred Kaplan’s “To Know Us Is To Love Us,” And there's the real problem with the suggestion, "to know us is to love us." It ignores reality. One Dutch student wrote to Kaplan: "America must (re-)consider … Read More

“How’d That Get In There?” Iran’s Lame Nuclear Dodge

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner November 15, 2007

A new IAEA report on Iran just came out (it has indeed already been leaked). Elements of it are no doubt intended to make it readable –and quotable- as supporting either side of the debate: Iran has provided sufficient access to individuals and … Read More

Racism and its Future Downfall

By François Blumenfeld-Kouchner November 10, 2007

A recent report to the UN by Doudou Diène addressed the problem of the legitimization of racism at the highest intellectual and political levels in democratic societies. He cited French President Sarkozy’s Dakar speech, which stated that the African “man never launched himself … Read More