I have been writing an intellectual diary of sorts since 1976. The collection of writings on a wide variety of topics goes under the title of Residua. Since 2000, my writings have been available on the World Wide Web (www.residua.org). As it is a blog of some kind, my friends have dubbed it the mother of all blogs, and I have accepted their verdict as a subtitle.

A short while ago I read a book by Jacques Attali, one of the leading French intellectuals, and I posted a few things about it on my website. I even got in touch with him, and we communicated several times via electronic mail. However, today I noticed that these pages do not appear among Google’s results when I searched for “Jacques Attali.” Then I tried to search for the author’s name using the “site:residua.org” function. To my surprise, Google found nothing once again. Of course, I immediately reported the whole thing on my blog (see the last addendum on www.residua.org/book-xxxiii-2008/in-praise-of-jacques-attali/), and I sent it to Attali, as well.

It is clear that the search engine is blocked in some way. It is also clear that Attali is behind the blockage, for my site is otherwise unaffected. Now, I would like to know whether he has done this through you on some legal basis, or whether this is something he has done on his own, as well as illegally. In either case, I would like the Google search unblocked. My response to Attali’s writings is within the bounds of the intellectual tradition both of us supposedly uphold. Or so I thought until today’s discovery.