Filed under: Fun stuff | Tags: Christine Lagarde, Clichés about France, Crisis in France, French Finance Minister, Jon Stewart
Filed under: Culture Shock, Environment, Technology | Tags: Acela, France TGV, high-speed train, Obama, Pittsburgh
the French high-speed train
I’m living in Pittsburgh for 3 years now, wondering why modern America is still favoring long, painful and unpredictable air transit over high-speed trains for medium distances. France has built a high-speed train network for decades, and I’m still not used to the hassle of air transportation to travel from Pittsburgh to cities as close as Philadelphia or Boston. Even though the two cities are “only” 560 miles distant, spending over 4 hours to fly from Pittsburgh to Boston via Detroit looks like a common thing to do, against geography (traveling almost twice the distance) and common sense (standing in hallways half of the time). Not to mention the risk of bad weather conditions, the two poor crackers you’ll get for lunch, and the overweight person overflowing your seat while staring at the half cracker you are sparing for dinner. A long journey indeed.
I understand that private investors alone cannot afford the cost of high-speed network infrastructure and long-term return on investment . And those who can might well be discouraged to do so by Boeing lobbyists. But when you think of the total hours of work lost daily due to deficient air transportation, the productivity loss for the country as a whole is huge! Despite that and an overwhelming 40% unsatisfied airline passengers, America did not invest in efficient ground infrastructure for decades.
Things might change in the close future as Obama unveiled a high-speed rail plan for America today. It might also be a great chance for the French technology to cross the Atlantic. But to succeed, high-speed trains will have to convince the American public that trains can actually move much faster than the existing Acela “high-speed” connection between Boston and Washington (over 6 hours for 440 miles!). As for the French technology to succeed in America, I’m afraid it would cost too much effort to convince the American public that France and Technology are actually compatible … Even though the TGV remains the fastest train in the world today, “world-class technology” (beside US technology of course) is a trademark by Japan and Germany!
Filed under: Culture Shock, Fun stuff, Global culture, Politics | Tags: conservatives, De Gaulle, France, protests, Sarkozy, tea party
I might be wrong but I believe that only De Gaulle in France had managed to get conservatives protesting in the streets (to support his policy against the socialist party in the 60’s). I was not even born at that time. Since then, the conservatives have returned to work, leaving the streets of France to the left-wing protesters.
Protest against Sarkozy’s rigorous economic policy in France – January 28, 2009
So imagine how unusual it is for a French to witness an actual right-wing protest such as the “Tea Parties” that took place today across the United States! These protests against federal deficits and the prospect of new taxes did not gather a lot of people, but it was worth reporting a few shots for my French fellows. Conservatives in the street! It doesn’t happen a lot in Europe!
Filed under: anti-Americanism | Tags: Barack Obama in Strasbourg, NATO Summit, Nicolas Sarkozy, Strasbourg
64 years ago, my mother saw the Americans liberating Strasbourg, France, my hometown. Today she is proud that Strasbourg was up to the visit of the U.S. President, in giving him a warm welcome. She also saw the French-German border collapse on the Rhine, and was proud to watch the NATO allies meeting this week on the Pont des Deux Rives, which materializes the former check-point.
Mom called me from Framce today to make sure I had not missed the event. But she also wanted to make sure that the American media did not put too much emphasis on the anti-NATO demonstrations held on the sidelines of the summit. “Just a few idiots and thugs” she said as to apologize. This is her city, she’s proud … and ashamed.
And it is true that aside from the overall warm welcome, some violent demonstrations took place in the suburbs of the city, against the Europe-US Alliance, against capitalism and against globalization. Not to say the word: against America. These events are not specifically French. They have become routine at most major international meetings. They were violent in London for the G20, as for all the latest “G” meetings. But from a US perspective, they take a special importance when held in a country which is viewed as the most anti-American in Europe. It’s a cliché (polls show that anti-americanism is much stronger in Germany and Spain), but one must acknowledge that it is a cliché that many French politicians are likely to promote.
By showing respect and consideration for the European culture and influence, Barack Obama undermines the foundation of the French anti-Americanism. But it seems now that anti-Americanism gets fueled by the pro-American support Nicolas Sarkozy is showing in return. As the President of the United States gets more popular in Europe, anti-Americanism turns into “anti pro-Americanism.” Since we can’t blame the American president anymore , let’s blame the pro-american decisions of the French president. Pure rhetoric.
It will probably take more than the speech Barack Obama delivered in Strasbourg in a public meeting to put an end to this sterile antagonism. It will also require the media to report full excerpts of the speech, not just 5 seconds. In the excerpt of Obama’s speech reproduced below, the french media often broadcasted the first part only, while CNN pulled out the second part. Unfortunately, the “antis” on all sides have nice days ahead …
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In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.
But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what’s bad.
(…)
So let me say this as clearly as I can: America is changing, but it cannot be America alone that changes.
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Here we go. This blog is officially entering the depression. No posts for weeks. Not that we lack some important news, but two or three letters are generally enough to report them: AIG, GM, G20, 3M and no need for additional comment. It’s depressing enough. So today, I jump on the rare occasion of some fun stuff that I received in my mailbox to hook up a nine-letter IV to this blog: Southwest.
This short sequence will delight those who like me are desperate to see video screens gradually replace the live choreography of the flight attendants before takeoff. As long as there is humor, there is hope!
Filed under: Fun stuff, Just kidding | Tags: child -selling, Mississippi, USA
There are bargains you don’t want to miss. To restore peace and serenity in your home, while making some extra money in these difficult times: sell your children! It’s easy and it is legal in Mississippi!
But you must hurry. Mississippi’s preparing to enter the 19th century and will prohibit child selling very soon (another burden for the cost of labor in small businesses). So schedule your family trip in Mississippi right now! It won’t cost you more than a one way ticket for the children, and return on investment is guaranteed!
[Thanks to the Colbert Report for bringing these incredible facts to our attention]
Filed under: Paradox | Tags: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, health care reform, heart transplant, Laith Dougherty
Here’s a story that will delight both admirers of American generosity and critics of unleashed US capitalism. It’s also another example of the (many) paradoxes of the American society.
Laith Dougherty is a two month old baby born in Portland, Oregon, with a severe cardiac dysfunction. Estimated at $ 1.5 million, the cost of the surgery critical to his survival was far more than the family’s insurance coverage could provide, and no qualified hospital from Oregon to California would take care of the baby unless the cost was paid upfront.
On March 2, with a little help of outraged bloggers, Laith was finally admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who volunteered to save his life despite the lack of coverage. Not only by generosity, but also because the hospital has a 90% success rate for this type of surgery and is one of the few in the country capable of implementing a heart pump adapted to the small size of the patient while awaiting a transplant.
The paradox is that Laith could benefit from full coverage by Medicaid … if only his parents were poor enough. Strange system where – if not a millionaire – it’s better to be born without shelter to ensure good health.
Barack Obama hosted today at the White House a summit on health care reform. Perhaps the end of a paradox.
I wish a long life to Laith, who really touched … my heart !
Filed under: Everyday Life | Tags: Florida Keys, Key West, Pittsburgh, vacation
There’s nothing you can do. It’s a physical law. Take an average happy guy who just spent a week in the Florida Keys, dip him in turquoise water at 75 degrees, let him brown a few hours on the hot sand in the morning sun, then throw him in a plane at lunch with no service on board, and take him back in the evening on the snowbound parking lot of the Pittsburgh airport during a snow storm: inevitably, the guy turns in a bad mood. And it’s even worse when, having prepared well in advance, the guy takes care of wearing only a light jacket so he can send his wife – much better equiped – find his car lost under the snow: the mood of the wife also turns ugly … and two individuals spend a very bad evening.
Aside from the trip back, Florida is beautiful in February! Too bad all the bridges between two keys are not cut. You’d love to be stuck there.
Next time: remember to take the dynamite.
Filed under: Paradox, Politics | Tags: Barack Obama, Carla Bruni, French Socialist Party, Nicolas Sarkozy, Ségolène Royal
Since the U.S. presidential election, the world seems to claim its share of the success of Barack Obama. The event is particularly celebrated by the French Socialist Party leaders, who seem to have experienced the election of Obama as the return of the prodigal son. They feel like after all these years of wandering in wars and “brutal capitalism”, the American people found their way back to more noble and generous ideals : theirs (those of the French socialists).
From there to suggest that Obama’s victory is just their own, there is only one step that was easily crossed by Ségolène Royal (the French socialist candidate who lost the presidential election in 2007) on January 20 in her statement to the French newspaper Le Monde: “I have inspired Obama and his team copied our campaign.” So much for the reputation of French arrogance. The French far left and anti-globalization movement may well also have the use of a bit of “Obama Magic” and chanted an utterly shameless “Yes We Can“ while demonstrating against the “colonialist practices of the French government” (but asking for “immediate government subsidy”) in the Caribbean! (Arghh!)
But while the French Socialist leaders seem to believe that there is now a Ségolène Royal in the White House, Americans actually seem to worry that their new president looks more and more like … Nicolas Sarkozy!
They’re probably right. Barack Obama is not Che Guevara! And before they ask for Sarkozy’s impeachment and ask Barack Obama to lead the country instead, the French Socialists should consider some facts first. Obama does not argue for a general increase in wages and a spending stimulus as the Socialist Party does in France, but for massive investment in infrastructure, research and education, just as the French President. Like him, Obama proposes to reduce taxes on the middle class, not increase them. Like him, he wants more control over the financial markets, not to demolish Wall Street piece by piece. Like Sarkozy in France, Obama intends to increase healthcare coverage in the U.S. by reducing healthcare costs, not increasing them.
Other similarities are also striking. The Obama Administration claims bi-partisanship and includes figures of both camps. What the French Socialists had considered a “cheap political maneuver” when Sarkozy took a similar initiative in France! The first decision was for Obama to close of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. In France, the closure of the Sangatte refugee camp by Sarkozy was described as a reckless and dangerous act.
With respect to media coverage as well, all things considered, the “hyper-President” Sarkozy can be easily compared to the “Obama icon”. The American president made the headlines of Men’s Health (while smoking a pack of cigarettes per day before the campaign!) and Vanity Fair … where he succeeded to the glamorous Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
No really, Newsweek’s cover this week may well claim that “We are all Socialists Now!” with an article explaining how the U.S. economy becomes more and more French, it remains very, very unlikely to see a socialist like Ségolène Royal enter the White House. Although he’s been leading the conservative party, the “socialist” that Americans view as living in the Elysee Palace right now is Nicolas Sarkozy ! So much for Ségolène’s copyright on Obama’s campaign.
Filed under: Fun stuff, Politics | Tags: C-SPAN, Gary Ackerman, LCP-AN, Madoff, SEC
C-SPAN is to the U.S. Congress what LCP-AN is to the French National Assembly: a boring TV channel with few viewers. But as LCP-AN remains constantly boring, C-SPAN can become somewhat exciting when the Congress investigates some of the most shocking scandals (which never happens in France. Well, not the scandals of course, but the investigation). Then, you get the excitment of the good and innocent kid watching the teacher (the congressman) lecturing the dunce (the federal agency that has not done its job) caught in the act of indiscipline.
When the scandal is about Bernard Madoff and his $ 50 billion financial fraud, and the teacher who conducts the investigation has the eloquence of Gary Ackermann, and when the dunce is nothing less that the formerly-very-honorable SEC, it gives us some good expiatory moments like this one.
Probably not enough to make the golden boys who are watching C-SPAN from a Caribbean beach feel guilty, but quite enjoyable for the average-joe-who-is-tired-to-be-considered-a-dummy.
In context, Gary Ackermann is here referring to the SEC representatives who ignored (knowingly?) a detailed report on Madoff’s fraudulent activities that landed on their desk 8 years ago!
