The Sarkozy Line - Maginot Redux

French President Nicolas Sarkozy must not study history, because he's about to repeat it.  Sarkozy is threatening to close the French borders to stem the tide of illegal immigration.  As if the European Union didn't resent France already, the destruction of the Schengen Agreement is really gonna piss them off.  The Schengen Agreement which allows for passport free movement amongst all "Schengen Zone" countries, allows for easier intra-Europe transit to facilitate international business and exchange.
The last time that France tried to close off its borders was during the First World War with a series of fixed and armed fortresses designed to stave of incoming Germans.  What did the Germans do?  They went around in the damned thing in what has become one of history's least effective strategies.
The whole damned point of the Schengen Agreement is to facilitate business.  If other European countries can't easily do business with France, they'll just go around and trade with the rest of Europe.


Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/201231118344797284.html

Apple, Apple, Uber Alles!

With a $500 billion stock market value, Apple is now worth more than Poland.  In other news, Germany is considering a hostile takeover of Apple, just out of habit. Originally, Putin and Merkel had decided to split the stock, but at the last minute the Germans pulled out of the deal.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/29/technology/apple_market_cap/index.htm