Optimism, a Gâteau of 111 Ingredients
Tired of doom and gloom, fed up with the glass-half-empty brigade, cheer-up La France has plenty of reasons to be happy, in fact 111 significant ones if l’Express is right. (Read more online French News here) Why exactly the writers selected 111 reasons we are not told but in its special 12-page cover story, a [...]
Norway’s Atrocity: the Mental Tunnel
The deadly attacks in Norway are fuelling debate about multiculturalism, immigration, security and radicalisation. But more attention must also be paid to the behaviours and attitudes that underlie extreme political violence, says Sara Silvestri. The perpetrator of the horrible attacks of 22 July 2011 in Norway accompanied his inhuman deeds with propaganda materials that mix condemnation [...]
“The Mass Delusion of Climate Change”
President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic is one of very few European leaders who firmly and fearlessly speaks out against eco-lunacy. This however hasn’t impressed France which is to spend 170 million euros on a five-year plan “to adapt to climate change” The Czech leader and economist is one of the leading critics of global [...]
Loony London
This is in London of course, but if the campaign caught on what, if anything, might more robust European states do about any clash with entrenched law? Fair question? To read the original report in full click this link, and this subsequent piece on the same development: “Eighty-five Sharia courts now operate nationwide, parallel to [...]
And Bankers Think They are Off the Hook?
“…until banks stop acting as criminal enterprises, and outside agencies thoroughly investigate and fully prosecute banks and their executives for criminal activity, we will continue to move towards a government of the banks, by the banks and for the bankers” “…The clearest manifestation of the financial industry’s power is its ability to consistently avoid criminal [...]
Renting through Airbnb? Read on
If you are a gite or holiday accommodation owner and make of use the US website Airbnb to find your clients, you might want to read on. Founded in August 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique spaces around the world online. [...]
Monaco Anger at French Annexation Call
Monaco has accused France of “neo-colonialism” in a row provoked by a call on nationwide TV for Paris to annex the 700-year-old micro-state just days after the Monegasque ruler Prince Albert II married his glamorous South African bride Charlene. (Read more online French News here) The call has deeply angered senior state officials in Monte [...]
Zig-Zagging towards European Federation?
Euroland has pulled back from the brink with a Greek bailout deal close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s heart, but is this good news or bad? That depends entirely on whose press you read… (Read more online French News here) The outcome of the brinkmanship between Germany and France has produced a framework plan to [...]
24 Hours Short of Total Disaster
The stars are fading fast in Euroland and there are fears that France – a Euroland core member – faces disastrous contagion if the emergency EU summit called for July 21 again fails to deliver. David Blanchflower, a professor at Dartmouth College and Bloomberg Television contributing editor, discusses the euro-zone debt crisis and talks about [...]
A Euro-Lehman or an Orderly Unwinding?
The headlines are appalling. A tsunami of titanic proportions threatens to engulf us all …. and that’s finance not walls of water we mean. Orderly unwinding of the eurozone or apocalypse seem to be the main alternatives on offer to irresolute Euroland politicians. The Gods of Thor have unleashed their thunderbolts and disorderly default, banking [...]
What’s in a Name? Ask Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen believes children born in France along with those of immigrants who become naturalised French, should be helped to assimilate rapidly into society by being given proper “French” names. (Read more online French News here) The President of the Front National and a leading contender in the 2012 French Presidential election race was [...]
Bungling Politicians bring Euro to Breakpoint
Jacques Cailloux, the Sorbonne University educated Euro-zone economist warns the Euro-area is at ‘breakpoint’ with the sovereign debt crisis now threatening the entire zone ‘because policy makers still don’t understand market dynamics.’ The French-born and educated chief economist at the UK’s troubled state-bailed RBS bank has, according to the FTAlphaville blog, just released a report [...]
Financial Napoleons out to Crush Europe
EU leaders are in a multi-layered bind of their own making but it is European taxpayers who will pay dearly for the Euro vanities of politicians desperate to save the battered common currency by dancing around in ever-diminishing and ever-more expensive circles. Finance, according to Michael Hudson Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, [...]
Picnic in Paris (Now that Summer is Here)
Paris is full of enough treasure to weary the most ardent culture vulture so when the heat gets oppressive and the appeal of some cool restful greenery beckons, plan a Paris Picnic. When you reach the page with the intereactive map hover with your mouse over your chosen spot for a description and directions on [...]
Privacy laws: Trojan Horse for Censorship?
Are Privacy laws a Trojan horse for censorship? Discuss. The phone hacking scandal involving the Murdoch-owned, UK-based, News of the World tabloid (weekly circulation 2.7m), has brought down the paper and prompted calls in that country for tighter control of the press. The debate is not one that North American readers would have much truck [...]
On Avoiding Improper Conduct – IMF
Interesting July 5 letter from the International Monetary Fund on Christine Lagarde’s Terms of Appointment as Managing Director. One imagines a very similar letter was delivered to her predeccessor? 2. As Managing Director, you are expected to observe the highest standards of ethical conduct, consistent with the values of integrity, impartiality and discretion. You shall [...]
Fears EU Could Self-destruct Over Euro Crisis
Before heading for your groceries in the local French hypermarket, pause at the latest attraction, the itinerant gold assayer’s stall — he’s offering cash for old gold tooth fillings or any other little surplus bits of the metal you care to dispose of. (Read more online French News here) Tempting? Well ask yourself why are gold [...]
Who’s Monitoring Your Internet?
This interactive data-journalism map from the Owni France site shows how far down the road of curbs, filters and restrictions European states have marched in the 25 years since the birth of the Internet promised the free and untrammelled digital interchange of information and ideas.. Want to know how you are being affected by social [...]
Job Hunting? – Try Twitter
Its a right tough old job market out there at the moment and your run of the mill CV just won’t cut the mustard. But here’s how one bright spark landed a placement using the social networking platform Twitter: Twitter Job Hustle from Wonder Years on Vimeo.
DSK Case Collapsing?
The prosecution case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) may be collapsing… … if it does, how much, we wonder, will it cost someone in damages, not to mention careers! Meanwhile New York Mag does a comprehensive wrap-up of the whole affair even though the trial, scheduled for sometime after July 18, now appears to be in jeopardy [...]
