Year Five: Banking Thy Name is Obscenity
While financial freebooters thrive and ‘quintiply’, much of Europe struggles with Stygian darkness in a Hades of misery as the longest economic crisis since the Great Depression shows no signs of abating. In an in depth review below, John Keane reflects on the concerns of those who fear parliamentary democracy is being subordinated to banking oligarchs answerable to no one. [...]
Does Paris Love its Kiosks Enough?
Paris has had a love affair with its ornate newspaper kiosks for the past 150 years but there are growing fears they may disappear mainly…
The Most Secretive of Parisian Businesses
At one stage the French banking arm of the Rothschild dynasty was all but obliterated but, as Evan Jones notes — in a piece published in…
Verdun 1916 – “Places that Died For France”
It was at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month 1918, that the Armistice was signed at Compiégne in France and…
Alsace and Limousin Still Daggers Drawn
The French regions of Alsace and Limousin remain unreconciled over Nazi War atrocities at Oradour-sur-Glane a state of affairs some believe will only end when…
In the Footsteps of Louis Braille
Frenchman Louis Braille and Napoloen’s sonograph inspire this fascinating tale by Toronto writer Norman Ball who has been…
Who’s Right, France or les Anglo-Saxoniques?
The Left-Right divide in politics harks back to the French Revolution but the economic focus of Anglo-Saxon policymaking overlooks…
Latin Invasion – What Would Napoleon Say?
Starting 1807 Emperor Napoleon of France invaded the Iberian peninsular in a disastrous Peninsular War campaign — leaving…
Anti-Semitism back on the agenda in France
As Paris July 16 remembered the 70th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv Roundup and deportation to Auschwitz of…
Indignados reshaping European Democracy
Far-right nationalist parties — expressions of deep weaknesses in European democracies — show an impressive ability to shape…
European Democracy Hijacked by Crisis?
Authoritarian threats to European democracies have increased in direct proportion to the worsening of an EU sovereign debt…
Paris is for People with Passions
Earlier generations raised with typewriters rather than ‘input devices’, will delight in this nostalgia trip around Paris with…
Pyrénées – No Barrier to a Cultural Cauldron
With Basques to the west and Catalans to the east the Pyrénées are a physical but not a…
Fears for Europe’s Democratic Future
Its not done to make much mention of the point in the politically-correct corridors of Brussels, the…
Deep Australian Link to Villers-Bretonneux
Just outside Villers-Bretonneux stands the National Memorial in remembrance of all Australian soldiers who fought in France and…
The Sun King First Lit the City of Light
Is Paris the City of Light because of earlier academic brilliance or the foresight of the Sun King? Toronto…
Georges Dufayel – a Model Modern Retailer
Georges Dufayel popularised the practice of buying on tick long before bank cards came on the scene. Know…
Parisians Lineup for Portuguese Tarts
An unpretentious 11-letter word is set to be a hot topic on election bandwagons rolling across France as left…
Breton Easter Island Rises on a Hilltop Valley
In a bid to rival Easter Island and its ‘moai’ perhaps, residents of Brittany are raising monumental statutes…
Algeria: 50 Years on Still a Burning Issue
There is uproar in the neighbouring villages of Samatan and Lombez (Gers) in the Pyrénées foothills, over one man’s…
Jeanne d’Arc, A Gender Issue At Age 600
Days before the 600th anniversary of the French heroine’s birth, the Paris-based magazine VSD opted to stir an…
A Happy (Mayan) New Year One and All
As the New Year dawns, the forces of the Mayan “apocalypse” gather in Cathar country, New-Agers set-up shop…
Say Hello to the Merkozy Austerity Union
In France and across Europe commentators fear the outcome of the Merkozy-led summit to staunch the sovereign debt…
Treasure Trove Found in Louvre Biscuit Tin
The refined musical tastes of Alexander the Great (324 BC) have been uncovered in a biscuit tin stashed…
Modern Mme Defarge ‘knits’ News in Lille
A Lille Tricoteuse imitating her revolutionary predecessors, is producing a hand-knitted record of news and events, that she…
Are French Socialists Germanaphobes?
Echoes of the tensions that provoked two World Wars are ominously reappearing as a European Union — designed…
Apple Suppresses Jewish App Worldwide
A top selling but controversial smart phone App in the Apple iTunes Store has been withdrawn worldwide following…
‘British’ Cassoulet re-ignites 100-Year-War
Cassoulet — pride of rural French kitchens — comes from Castelnaudary in the south-west, right? Well… imagine now for…
OSS – Maquis “So the Memory Never Dies”
Some 67 years after the event a plaque commemorating the sabotage of a viaduct near Souillac in the…
Juif or Not Juif, That is The Question
That an Apple played a significant role in the Old Testament parable on temptation and downfall, cannot have…