Misantropismes

Advice Illustrated

2012-01-26T14:50:00.001+01:00

Letter 1 is from a 50yo wife of a brain-damaged husband. She doesn't want to leave him, because the burden would just be on her children. But she misses sex, etc. Can she take a lover? Of course. But be discreet. Prudie agrees, in a more enlightening fashion.

Video letter is from Mercedes Benz, and then about a girl whose mom made them stay at mom's bro's place in NYC during a visit, despite the fact that the place stank of cat. She left for a hotel, infuriating everyone at her “rudeness”. If she's old enough to pay for her own hotel, then she's old enough to choose to go to the hotel. As Prudie says: is her entire family crazy? (But just where did she think they were doing to stay? This is weird.)

Letter 2 is so bad it must be quoted in extenso:

“My husband and I are happily married with two children. Over the years, my husband's sister and her husband have struggled with infertility. They finally asked if I would act as a surrogate. My husband and I did not take this lightly, but we decided to help them. Last year I gave birth to a lovely daughter. I lost the weight easily after my first two pregnancies but have been struggling after this one and am embarrassed about my slow progress. My sister-in-law has started making insensitive remarks about my body that would be rude in any circumstances but cut more deeply given that I gained this weight while pregnant with her daughter. At Thanksgiving, she said I’d need to work out extra hard to make up for what was on my plate. At a family birthday, she suggested I get only a small slice of cake. What, if anything, should I say to my sister-in-law when she makes these hurtful remarks? If she asked me to be a surrogate again, I’d refuse because of her attitude. But would that be selfish?”

The question asked is: “would that be selfish?”. The answer is: “no”. The follow-up is: “did you really want an answer to that particularly dumb question, or did you want to bitch about your SIL?”

She's a bitch. Here's what you say the next time she makes a comment: “It's true I got fat bearing your child. It's a pity God hates you so much he made you a barren sterile hag” or “a dried-up crone with a uterus full of twigs”, if you'd rather.

Letter 3 is from the head of a small family-style (hah!) departement in a big firm. His latest hire is destroying the cozy atmosphere of the place, but “a friend in HR” says he can't fire the guy since he hasn't done anything wrong. Prudie says to get real action from HR. If he's an at-will employee, as is very likely (since those labor unions are so eeeviiiill), he can be dumped. I say that he is overestimating the lovely atmosphere before (“like a family” makes my skin crawl), but that yes, he should get rid of the guy.

Letter 4 is from an uptight woman who is going on a family vacation with her husband and son and inlaws. She wants each family to cook separately so that her child doesn't eat hot dogs and hamburgers. Prudie says to get off her nutritional soapbox. I agree.

Advice Illustrated: I agree with Prudence (yikes!)

2012-01-19T13:46:00.000+01:00

Letter 1 is from this scrotum whose GF of six months (and “love of his life”) is the maid of honor at her BFF's wedding. Problem is she's maid out (!) with three of the groomsmen, including the best man, who apparently is pining after her. It's all so so painful: should he skip the wedding? Best part: “She said I should consider how she feels, having to participate in a wedding along with these guys. That makes sense, but those are the repercussions of her actions.” Yeah, the bitch had sex (or something close to it). Good thing all she got was discomfort, and not a STI, or a baby. How dare she have sexual relations in her circle of friends?!
I say, skip the wedding, and skip the relationship, you insecure pathetic lamester.
What does Prudie say? She says to suck it up, get modern, and go to the wedding.

Video letter's entitled “Psycho Wedding Guest”. So that's great. LW is getting married and her fiancé's BFF will be the best man, but BFF's wife (LW's former BFF!) is crazy and did all sorts of crazy things. A police report was filed! Can they have him but not her?
A police report? And...? Charges? A trial? As Prudie says, this is a social event, but you can't have him without her, so he can't be the best man, or even a guest. I agree. When you marry a crazy, there are repercussions, such as being a social pariah. (But I think there's much more to this story and wouldn't mind hearing the crazy's version.)

Letter 2 is from a woman whose husband's father is a wastrel and a spendthrift. On the brink of ruin, he's about to be taken in by LW's MIL, who herself has divorced her second horrible husband (I'm correcting the LW's version, which said “horrible second husband”). When it all goes to hell, LW knows her husband will have to pick up the pieces.
I have little empathy with people who have millions of dollars to waste on wine, women and song. These are literally rich people's problems. Prudie says LW and hubbie are not his parents' keepers. I agree.

Letter 3 is from a woman whose prankster husband's latest “prank” got him fired after nearly killing a coworker. She's taken the coworker's side and is disgusted by her husband. I say, DTMFA and find a man to marry this time, rather than a kid. Prudie agrees, in a more moderate fashion.

Letter 4 is from a student teacher interning with a horrible teacher. She needs a good evaluation from the teacher, but would really like to report the witch. I say: play nice, get the evaluation, and when you're settled in your profession, rat her out. Like anyone cares... Prudence agrees.

Advice Illustrated

2012-01-12T14:49:00.000+01:00

Letter 1 is from a liar. LW told her BF that she "wanted to make all his sexual fantasies come true", but when he told her what his (pretty vanilla) fantasy was, she freaked. Not GGG at all! He wants her to play a young girl. Prudie wisely (surprising!) says there's a difference between fantasy and reality, giving the example of some women who have rape fantasies.

Video letter is from a woman whose husband keeps provoking nighttime sex even after she asked to stop that. She wakes up to find him screwing her, and screams to get him stop. He says "he can't help it".
He can help it, and this is abuse, or even rape. Prudie says he may have a sleep disorder. But if not, it's time for urgent counseling. I'm inclined to say that if there's no medical cause, DTMFA.

Letter 2 is from a woman whose 17yo step daughter, who lives with LW and her husband, wants to terminate her unplanned pregnancy. Biomom, who step-daughter sees regularly, is anti-choice and anti-contraception (a dangerous combo). LW isn't sure she wants to support this abortion, because she could raise the baby (huh?). But step-daughter has plans for her future that are incompatible with single teen momdom. LW could manage to help SD but doesn't want to hide this from her husband (who is also anti-abortion, and apparently would "go on a rampage". But if she helps SD, biomom will go ballistic.

Prudie says to go to Planned Parenthood to learn the legal options, etc., adding: "Despite inflammatory political rhetoric, the mission of Planned Parenthood is not to perform abortions, but to provide the crucial services that prevent unwanted pregnancies." Dear Prudie: the opponents of abortion know that, and don't care. They are against contraception, too. They are against anything that allows women to control their bodies and their reproduction. Cf Rick Santorum. HERE. And alas, she'll have to inform her husband.

Girls (and guys): Belts and braces! Contraceptives AND condoms. (And let's give a hand for Obama's refusal to accept medical recommendations re Plan B. Thank goodness Americans have a progressive president in the White House.)

Letter 3 is from a guy who works at a place where the 20yo receptionist sucks her thumb. Everyone, including her boss, can see this, but no-one has done anything. Should he say something? Prudie says to say nothing to her, but to tell higher ups that LW feels the receptionist is giving the place a bad image. Yeah.

Letter 4 is from a woman... read it yourself HERE. It's too boring. Oh, alright, but I can't be bothered to summarize:

I host a book club at my apartment. At a recent gathering one woman brought a pair of boots she was planning to return to the store. I don’t know why she brought them, since the store would have been closed by the time we finished. I did not see the boots, but she asked me for a paper bag to put them in. The day after the book club, she emailed saying she had left the boots at my house and wanted to get them. I searched my apartment and couldn’t find a grocery bag with the boots anywhere. I emailed the group to see if someone accidentally picked them up, and no one responded. I told her that they may have inadvertently been recycled since we were using the same type of grocery bags to collect bottles and cans that evening. I also suggested she may have left with them and misplaced them afterward. She is adamant that they went missing at my place and has hinted that I should pay for them. Do I owe her for the cost of the boots?

Prudie says to ignore her hinting, and if she asks outright, to calmly refuse. Yeah.

Advice Illustrated

2012-01-05T14:22:00.000+01:00

Letter 1 is from a silly girl who is mortified because she farted in bed. If I were Prudence I would have played with her head more, because she's such an easy target.

Video letter is from a woman whose friend has a precocious 9yo son. He's an obnoxious manipulative boor. I say, when he behaves badly to you, leave.

Prudie compares the kid to Stewie Griffin and suggests seeing her BFF without the kid.

Letter 2 is from a person who has learned that their friend and business partner is going to die. Friend is in denial. At the least, this impacts their business and other partners. Ugh. Prudie says the partners at least have to know, so give the friend one last chance to come clean. Ahem. Re pronoses, I recall Stephen J. Gould's analysis of his own diagnosis of cancer: http://cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html

Letter 3 is from a crazy lesbian who is letting her girlfriend influence her with regard to LW's "relationship" with her crazy, racist, homophobic estranged father. I say: tell the GF to stuff it. This biological sample donor was not part of your life for some 20 years, and won't ever be a part of your life. Period.

Letter 4 is from a well-educated dummy who wonders if the low-income applicant to his alma mater is really low income. That, dear sir, is the role of the financial aid procedure, not amateur google-detectives.

Spreading Santorum blog !

2012-01-04T20:16:00.001+01:00

http://blog.spreadingsantorum.com/

This is the newish blog on the Spreading Santorum site, in honor to Rick Santorum and the froth mix of lube and fecal matter.

Advice Illustrated: Do you really want to do this?

2011-12-29T18:59:00.000+01:00

Hope your Yuletide was merry, and that the New Year's celebrations will be fun and safe for y'all.

Now on to Pruditry.

Winner of the women's division of the How to Do Everything beard sprint

Letter 1 is from a woman who is boycotting intimacy with her husband because he refuses to shave his beard. I would say that she made a big mistake in demanding that he shave. Surely her feminine wiles would have been much more effective? And let's turn this around: what if he starts demanding that she shave her public hair? Does she have to oblige?
Prudie says to try another tack, and at least get him to groom his beard properly.

Video letter is from... Wait! There's no video letter, just a best-of the year's videos. Boo.

This painting was popular among the results for a search for "illegitimate daughter"

Letter 2 is from a child who hates her mother for having an affair with a married man (who was her absent biodad). Now she herself is having an affair with a married man, and hates herself but can't stop.
I say: he's the married one, not you. But if you don't like yourself for doing this, stop it. Was that so hard? If you're too weak to see him, change jobs, change cities. But I think you're just having too much fun flagellating yourself. And maybe vicariously punishing your mother or something.
Prudie mostly agrees, but of course adds in the obligatory "get counseling".

Letter 3 is from a person who is in competition for a job with a former colleague who was fired for embezzlement. It's not on her record, so should LW tattle? Or rather, how should they tattle?
Really, if they're not your employer, you don't really care, so your fake concern about her potential for ripping off her new employer is most implausible. I say it's your call. Tattle or don't. If you do tell, I'd bet they don't choose either of you.
Prudie agrees, and suggest working on her own interview skills rather than trying to take down her competition.

Letter 4 is from a guy who's got financial difficulties, and who received a generous gift of cash from family friends. The givers' daughter says that her parents know he's in trouble, and think of him as family and want to help. LW's parents think the gift is too generous and should be treated as a loan.
I have been helped at times, and have helped others at times. I see being the beneficiary of others' generosity as a source of no shame, and being the benefactor no great honor. It's the way society should work: accept help when offered and needed, give help when you can and see the need. "Pay it forward" is probably a better policy here than "pay it back".

Advice Illustrated: Why one might hate Christmas

2011-12-22T14:07:00.001+01:00

No illustrations this week. Suggestions welcome!

Letter 1 is from a woman who is still a baby and wants Xmas to always be just her nuclear family. Now her brother’s inlaws are inviting everyone over and it’s just sooooo hard to bear, because they’re STRANGERS to her (of course, one might think that after a few Xmases like this, she might get to know them a bit). Prudie says to grow up.
I say: Get laid. This sounds more like jealousy that your brother has a spouse and a new family, while you’re still a bitter spinster.

Video letter is from a woman whose family wants to be together for Xmas, but no one wants to host. LW can’t host and wants someone else to do it. Prudie suggests she organize a family dinner at the nearest Chinese restaurant with all the Jews, then return to her place to exchange gifts. If that doesn’t work, she should find another “family” to spend Xmas with.
I say, OK.

Letter 2 is from a woman whose been estranger from her evil brother. Other families have made some sort of peace with him recently, but she doesn’t want to. This year he sent her some Xmas presents. She fears that acknowledging the gift will send the message that she approves contact.
Prudie says this is a peace offering from a changed man, and to give him a chance.
I say, do as you please and stop worrying about him.

Letter 3 is from a child who doesn’t want to go to Xmas mass with her virtually non-religious family. Her father wants her to go so that her mother’s feelings won’t be hurt.
I say: go to the damn mass. And if you really want to play some board game, do that too.
Prudie agrees.

Letter 4 is from a woman whose aunt and uncle keep sending her and her sister a 30 USD check each year for Xmas. She thinks it’s silly, especially since she has to go to all the trouble of sending a thank you card (which she doesn’t: a handwritten note on her own lovely embossed note paper would be even better).
Prudie says with some vehemence, with which I thoroughly concur, that LW simply has to look forward to the wonderful day when the death of her aunt and uncle will free her from the burden of thanking them for their gift. Here’s another idea: how about offering them a gift?

Advice Illustrated: silly women and people of other genders

2011-12-15T15:15:00.000+01:00

I must say that this week's lot, while not dramatic in any way, offered something a bitter different from the usual run of crap.

Letter 1 is from a woman who have at last found Mr Right who is absolutely perfect. Except he’s allergic to her cat. She feels guilty and is being guilted by her friends about outplacing her cat.
I say: I love my cat, and my cat(s) have turned the BF into a cat lover himself, but he’s not allergic. People are more important than animals. Find a nice home for him, and stop feeling guilty. And those people who guilt you? They aren’t friends.
Prudie agrees, and suggests asking which of the naysayers is going to adopt pussy. She also nags about getting a ring on it.

Video letter is from a guy whose younger brother is a big spender (especially with others’ money) but won’t chip in for family outings. Should he insist bro pay his share? Answer: Yes. Was that a hard question?
Prudie says to cancel the expensive reservation made by older brother. (I would say go there, and skip out, leaving younger bro to pick up the tab, at last… reservation’s in his name, he’s responsible.)

Letter 2 is from a woman whose husband is perfect, except he forgets to give gifts for the official occasions. She has asked him to put some thought and forethought into Xmas this year. He shows his love throughout the year spontaneously, so is she wrong to get so annoyed by his holiday giving?
I am guilty of the printout thing. Sorry!
Prudie says to lighten up and propose a positive message, like going shopping together.
Prudie notes, knowingly: Comfort yourself that most letters to this column that begin with the phrase “My wonderful husband” end with the news that he is “a lecher,” “an alcoholic,” “a mamma’s boy,” or ”wearing my pantyhose.”

Letter 3 is from a Jewess who’s married to a goy. They keep a Jewish home and raise their child as a Jew. They’re spending Xmas with the inlaws, and LW wants them to wrap the kid’s presents in Hanukkah paper. Inlaws say Xmas is secular (not as long as that X stands for Christ is it).
Prudie notes: Someone who’s still healing from his bris is too young to notice he’s getting gifts wrapped in paper printed with Santas not dreidels. You plan to explain to your son that Christmas is the holiday of Grandma and Papa, who are not Jewish. So your demand that they use Hanukkah gift wrap won’t prevent confusion, because it’s confusing me. Your in-laws don’t celebrate Hanukkah, and trying to make their Christmas into an ersatz Jewish holiday will rightly be offensive to them. You and your husband have agreed to raise Jewish children, so you will have Jewish kids who have a set of grandparents who give them Christmas presents. Be grateful these people have warmly embraced you and your traditions, and don’t demand they change theirs.”
I can’t say more (except that the inlaws’ argument sucks… but LW is still wrong and is a jerk, and that while Hanukkah falls at Xmastime this year, it won't usually, so what are you gonna do then, bitch?)

Letter 4 is from a woman in her early 20s who misses the childhood home she left at age 12. She and her sister want to write the current owners asking to visit their old house. I say, so write the letter. Duh.

Advice Illustrated: Oh, creepy step-fathers!

2011-12-08T22:14:00.001+01:00

It's step-father week, but Prudie seems to have not gotten the memo.

Letter 1 is from a woman who has discovered that her husband is having an affair with her daughter from a previous marriage. Prudie goes off on her “mental illness explains all” trip and wants some sort of intervention to diagnose the daughter (but not the husband: apparently men are bipolar-free). My take: gunfire.

Video letter is from a young widower who got some media coverage due to the circumstances of his wife’s death, who’s now getting hit on by all the ladies.
Prudie has first-hand experience as the woman who landed the hot young widower. She says there’s no way to tell which of the women are serious.

Letter 2 is from a woman and as it involves “they are from a different culture and we can’t expect them to behave like normal people”, I’m giving it a pass. (And Emily feigns surprise at a second step-father letter.)

Letter 3 involves yet another step-father, this one a painter who paints his step-daughter nude. This started when she was an adult, and she is still an adult, and her BF, who is the LW, should maybe let her make her own decisions about who she gets naked with. And isn’t there something odd about a “long-term girlfriend” when both of you are in your 30s? If you were writing about your wife or partner, you might have more a say in this. And even then, not.
Prudie wants to keep this in the sordid step-father theme of the week (which she is just discovering? How does that work?), so she tells him to talk to the GF (duh).

Letter 4 is from a grown woman who feels guilty for having a security blanket. My take: you could be relying on food or drink or drugs or cigarettes for comfort, so lighten up on yourself. And tell the BF to STFU.

Advice Illustrated

2011-11-17T16:00:00.001+01:00

Dear Prudence,

I've been blessed with good looks, which I work to maintain for my own self-esteem. The trouble is that people attribute what I believe are earned accomplishments to my appearance. For instance, I recently began a career in sales and in my first month grossed more than all of the other new associates combined. I worked hard to do this and dressed professionally and appropriately (my attire has not been a point of contention), but a number of people have commented that my success is due to my looks. I won't deny that my appearance could not have hurt, but I find these comments hurtful. Thus far, I've responded by stating that I'm just a workaholic, but the comments persist. These types of comments pervade my day-to-day dealings, as well: "Oh, the handyman only helped you because you're pretty." How can I discourage or deflect these comments?

—Hard Worker

Dear Worked Hard,

How can you discourage these comments? Disfigure yourself.

-- Me

Video is from a first-time dog-owner who gets weepy at the thought of having to put his dog to sleep. Prudie says to get over it. I say he's sick, sick, sick and needs help.

Letter 2 is from a woman who hates her parents. Does she have to spend Thanksgiving with them?
Yes, because you need to be punished for being stupid enough to ask this question.

Letter 3 is from a woman whose husband has a too-close relationship with an ex-colleague. Prudie says she's right to be jealous and she has to give an ultimatum. I agree that bringing the woman's car to LW's home to wax it, the straw that broke the camel's back, is too strange. Ultimatum away!

Letter 4 is a whining counselor who's tired of her friends and family moaning about small things when there are people with worse problems in the world.
My response: there are people with worse problems than yours. STFU:

Advice Illustrated. I'm cool with that (mostly).

2011-11-03T16:07:00.001+01:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who has never been with anyone other than his wife. He's now wondering what it's like with other women.
Prudie suggests a separation or open marriage, but in any case, talking about it. I'm cool with that.

Video letter is from a woman who has an "artist" friend. Friend keeps giving horrible works of art as gifts despite lots of heavy hints.
Prudie suggests a final warning, then any additional monstrosities get dumped. I'm cool with that.

Letter 2 is from a (let's say) woman who is deformed from previously working for a control freak. She can't deal with the freedom to fail in her new position.
Prudie recommends prolonged exposure therapy, which is specifically designed to treat PTSD; or mindfulness therapy; or more traditional cognitive therapy. I'm cool with that. Or just stop worrying.

Letter 3 is from a child whose divorced has told him me about an affair that he recently had with LW's roommate's mother, whose husband is terminally ill. Father said he ended it when she went crazy and started to get possessive. Roommate's family is planning on having Thanksgiving dinner at LW's house. LW doesn't want to be around roommate's mother but doesn't want to tell all.
Prudie thinks LW should suck it up. I think LW should do the soup kitchen thing.

Letter 4 is from a woman who smokes pot now and then with hubby and friends. She fears her kids will find out. Her husband says deny, deny, deny. Shouldn't they be honest?
Prudie says LW and husband are dope fiends who will go to jail and destroy their family. Maybe. Prudie assumes as much... after suggesting they do a test by going off the daily dope for a week. Prudie seems to know that husband won't make it.
I say that sometime's it's great not to have kids.

AI: Advice Illustrated

2011-10-13T17:20:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a woman who hates guns, and whose husband really wants to kill people. 'He feels everyone has the right to bear arms.' Well, 'right' does not mean 'obligation'. 'I don't understand the point in having one for defense if it's locked up.' Indeed. 'Please Mr Home Invader ! Would you mind waiting there while I go to my gun cabinet in the locker and open the combination lock ?' This dispute is blocking their reproductive plans.
You don't want a gun in your house. If he brings a gun in your house, you can't live there. That's the end of the story : it's a dealbreaker.
Prudie says each has a point, and their (his in particular) refusal to admit the other has a point is disturbing. She says to go to a firing range (huh?) 'If your husband won’t get certified in safety and basic skills, then he’s undone his own argument about gun ownership.'

Video letter is from a mom who takes her kid to swim lesson, during which she manages to steel herself to wear a swimsuit. A dad has started taking first photos of his kid in the pool, and now VIDEO. Can she ask him to stop?
Prudie says to get over herself. So do I. (But thanks for drown-proofing your child: you're a crazy lady but a good parent.)

Letter 2 is from a newlywed man whose wedding was a disaster involving bloodshed and felony charges. Do they return their wedding gifts from the assaillant and victim ? Apologize to the other guests ?
At last an interesting wedding question. Prudie uses 'bloodshed' and 'assailant' too. Hee !
Prudie says no need to return gift from the killer. Tell victim you won't be cashing check, and offer to use some wedding gift money (namely from killer) for his expenses.

Letter 3 is from a woman whose friend lost her hair to chemo. Friend has always admired LW's hair, so LW wants to surprise her with a wig made from LW's hair. LW's hubbie thinks it lacks 'propriety'.
Prudie agrees. I don't. I would reformulate the gift : do it, and tell your friend you're donating the wig to an organization that does this kind of thing. Say that if she would like it herself, you would be honored to give it to her directly.
Prudie says there are other ways to help (meals, etc.). I say : we have no information that LW is not already doing all that.

Letter 4 is from a woman who lives far from her parents, resulting in infrequent but long visits. Her parents prefer that LW and family visit them, but parents are disgusting hoarder types.
Prudie correctly wonders if this is new behavior, and if it is, that there's something wrong with the parents that needs to be dealt with medically etc. In any case, refuse to go there and tell them to come to you.
Yes, was that so hard ?

Advice Illustrated: Grow up!

2011-10-09T10:34:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who's not getting enough sex from his wife, so he frequents prostitutes, which he says is more honorable than having an affair. Wife refuses counseling. He gets along with her and a divorce would destroy his relationship with his kids.
Prudie says he was wrong to marry her if he knew they were so incompatible. He needs to press her to reestablish their relationship. He needs to think of the risk of exposure, arrest, etc. while usig prostitutes. And, oh, STIs.
I would say that by refusing to allow you to have sex with her, she's giving you approval to get it elsewhere. But why are whores "more honorable" than an affair? An affair can be just about sex. and it would be far better with respect to STIs. And about that little detail: if you're sleeping with other people, she has an absolute right to know. How about this message: "Dear, I want our marriage to work, but I have legitimate needs you refuse to meet. Either we work on this, or you are putting me in a situation where I will have to look elsewhere. If you can't bear that idea, we will have to divorce. If you can bear it, you will have to decide if you want to continue to have sex with each other, knowing that I am sleeping with others and potentially putting you at risk.

Video letter is from a gal whose husband takes naughty photos of the neighbor ladies. Is it illegal? Prudie correctly says that this is a dumb question, and that she needs to divorce him.

Letter 2 is from a man in his late 70s who doesn't want to go to his 60th high school reunion because they voted him "most likely to succeed." He hasn't "if success is defined by 'wealth'," He asks: "How do I overcome my feelings of inadequacy because I am not 'successful'?" OMG this is a joke, right? You are inadequate, please jump off a bridge you worthless piece of matter.

Letter 3 is from a dad who raised his son after the death of his wife. Son is now adult, and regularly visits and calls. When dad emailed to confirm his latest trip, son replied with mistake with an email to his GF stating: "F--k , my dad arrives tomorrow morning. Arg. Arg. I am sorry baby." LW flipped (why?). He has refused to speak to his son. Did he overreact? Did Adam do it with Eve? You bet he did, and so did you (overreact). Prudie agrees, but says the son was also wrong, but LW needs to make the first step. I say: WTF! His "fuck" was related to cancelling plans with his GF, and has nothing to do with his pleasure seeing you. You have made a mountain out of an anthill (the email mixup, not the content). Grovel!

Letter 4 is from a girl whose friend has been organizing her 24th birthday "weekend", with lots of drunkenness scheduled. Friend has invited herself to LW's place on night 2, because she'll be too drunk to drive (no news on where she plans to sleep on night 1, when she'll also be too drunk to drive... and just what is "not too drunk to drive"?). LW wants to see her own BF that weekend, hates the bar, and would prefer the BF and other guys to join night 2 (planned as girls only). BDay girl refuses, pouts, and is making a big deal about LW even suggesting such a thing. The goyls "said I was wrong because it was her birthday and she should get to celebrate how she wants."
Prudie is rightly amazed that a 24yo gets a "birthday weekend" with two parties. But she's not even inviting you, she's telling you where to go and how to spend your money, which you're under no obligation to do. Why do you want to be friends with these people? It would be hard to uninvite her crashpadding, but you don't have to go to her grand drunken affair. Prudie agrees.

Advice Illustrated: Finally post Fray

2011-09-29T12:59:00.001+02:00

The first post-Fray Advice Illustrated.
View this post and much, much more on The Fly Magazine at http://theflymagazine.blogspot.com/

Letter 1 is from a woman who is haunted by her abusive mother. Prudie says to get therapy, and stop giving this evil woman such power. I say, yeah.

Video letter is from a guy who has a casual kissing thing (?) with this woman. That woman lives elsewhere and has a BF. But now he's hooked on the first woman's sister. Is that gross? Prudie says he's not hooked on the sister. I say, to answer the question, no, it's not gross. Think of Jacob with Leah and Rebecca. It's all cool.

Letter 2 is from a slacker jerk who was a bad employee, slovenly, bad attitude, etc. (yet still managed to keep his job... I don't get that). Now he's turned over a new leaf and has gone corporate and responsible. But none of his colleagues take his change in behavior seriously. Whine, whine, whine. Prudie says it will take time, and then says what I say, in the words of my mother: "So you want a medal for that?".

Letter 3 is from a guy who shares everything with his GF, and vice versa. Among the thoughts she has shared with him is that she at times finds him unattractive. Prudie says that honesty is not the best policy, and we have jaws that can close and stay closed. I say, this woman doesn't know men, and she's just begging for her dude to go limp. I say DTMFA in any case: who makes this kind of comment once, let alone twice? She's sending a pretty clear message.

Letter 4 is from a woman who disagrees about who should be the guardians of their children in case she and her husband die. She wants one of the pairs of elderly grandparents. He wants his sister and her husband. All are financially able to manage, but she thinks the aunt and uncle live too far away, are childless, and cold. Prudie says they can make a choice and change that choice later. I say, would you want a 70-year-old to take on such a daunting task? Children are lots of work, and humans are programmed to have them young because of that. What happens in 10 years, when those 60-70 year olds are 70-80 year olds?

Advice Illusrated: Post Fray?

2011-09-22T14:45:00.000+02:00

Too obvious, I know.

Letter 1 is from a woman whose husband of two years has been cheating on her. The other woman says it's been a long-thing, he says it was a one-off ages ago. She still likes him and is in therapy, but doesn't really believe him. Prudie says she's right to doubt him: he didn't confess, he got caught. Prudie says to ask the other woman for proof of an on-going affair. I say: pretend it never happened. Become monogamish. You really don't want to know, do you? Make sure he arranges things in the future so that you don't find out.

Video letter is from a woman whose father and step-mother ("his wife") drive her crazy on their annual visit. Prudie says to tell them they'll be staying at a motel for future visits, but that in the big scheme of things, she's got it lucky. I say, yeah, whatever. And when they ask if this or that item in your house is new, is it so very hard to say "yes" or "no"?

Letter 2 is from a woman whose friend has invited her to her wedding. She also invited LW's mother, but not her father. When LW called to find out why, "friend" told her that since her father has been given only weeks to live, it wasn't worth planning on him coming months from now to her wedding. Prudie says the "friend" is a pig and for all to decline the invitation and drop this humunculouse as a "friend". I say it's time for all their mutual friends to know, too. You might send a card, though, saying "I was going to send you a wedding gift, but since you're going to die at some point, I figured it wasn't worth it."

Letter 3 is from a recent grad working for Americorps and living at home whose parents have decided to stick him for half of his expensive private college education (after telling him not to go to a state school). And now they've sold their vacation home to cover his college costs, and they want to use some of the leftover cash to go on an expensive vacation with him, and with him paying his "share". Prudie says to tell them that if they had expected him to pay for his education, they needed to make that clear before, and that he will not be joining them on their vacation. And to get a job and get out of their home ASAP.
I say: Why is it so expensive? Back in my day, we had financial aid, based on ability to pay. This guy's parents are nuts, and seem to be poor financial planners if they have to seel their vacation home to pay for their child's education. This is confirmed by the fact that the first thing they decided to do with the excess cash was to blow it on a dream vacation. How about putting it away for your retirement? In any case, these are a pair of creeps.

Letter 4 is from a young woman whose mentally retarded male neighbor is always hanging around trying to chat with her. Put up with it or get him to stop? And how? Prudie says to chat when she can, and to tell his mother that there are groups providing activities for mentally retarded adults. And also about how we should use a term other than "mentally retarded". I say that I don't really know. This could get creepy/dangerous at some point. The LW makes him sound kind of stalkery. I think if I were her I might be a bit afraid. His mental age is 8 but his body is 25, and it sounds like he's not gotten as much support as he could have growing up.

16 septembre 2011 / Koh Lanta

2011-09-18T00:00:00.000+02:00

Ambition de Maxime : décimer sa propreéquipe pour se retrouver tout seul à la réunification. Maximepremier éliminé après la réunification. Fin stratège.

La faute de Lisa d'après Florence :elle a été gentille avec moi ET avec quelqu'un d'autre. C'étaitlouche.

Après les jeunes contre les vieux etles hommes contre les femmes, cette année TF1 nous propose lesNordistes contre les gens normaux.

Les jaunes vont faire exprès de perdrepour pouvoir virer Gégé, aka l'Edenté, aka Robert Hue, aka le Nainde jardin, aka celui qui hélas ne s'est pas noyé.

Gégé : si tu es deshydraté, fautarrêter avec les larmes...

Advice Illustrated: Just whose advice do you REALLY want, people!?

2011-09-15T14:59:00.002+02:00

A week with TWO letters submitted to and answered by other advice columnists! This as gotten OUT OF HAND!

In the words of Josh M (aka Sparkle Joshua):

I

WILL

NOT

HAVE

IT

!

Letter 1 is from a woman who has learned that her newborn is at risk for a hereditary disease. She thinks her MIL knew she has the disease and didn't warn her son and LW. She thinks MIL kept mum cuz she wanted grandchildren. LW hates, hates, hates her MIL and wants to keep her away from her precious child.
Prudie gives all sorts of good advice, with a lot of research behind it. All well and good.
Here's mine: I am amazed and disgusted that you are obsessed with your MIL's behavior, and showing no interest or compassion in your husband's situation.The only way your child can have this disease is if your husband has it. Shouldn't you show some degree of concern about him and what he must be experiencing? (Let alone his situation with a mother who does have a horrible disease.)

But you don't. It's all about your baby that deserves to be perfect because you are the perfect woman and perfect mother and will do everything perfectly to have a perfect baby with a perfect life. You have sacrificed so much to have that child! Bed rest, for goodness sake!

And your mother's medical condition really is her business. If anything is private, it is that. Sharing this risk would have been the right thing to do, but you do not even know if she knew: in fact she DIDN'T KNOW. "My mother-in-law says she didn't really know it was HD; she just thought it was something old people get." Why is that so hard to believe?

Oh, but she's a devious woman, who knew but hid the truth just to have a grandchild. And now you are going to punish her by preventing her from having one. Do you realize what you are accusing her of? She is keeping her own son in ignorance of a medical risk, and promoting the birth of a child, just for these selfish reasons.

Your hormones and the distress of this bad news go some way to explaining your horrible behavior, but not that far. You are being a nasty selfish person. Get help.

The video letter is a double of a Miss Manners letter. http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=23682951

Dear Miss Manners,
I have exceedingly long hair. It comes to my knees, and between that and its auburn color, it attracts a lot of attention when I wear it down. I am not a vain person, and I don't often wear makeup or spend a lot of time fussing over my appearance, but my hair is my one vanity and of necessity, it takes a considerable amount of maintenance.

I realize that something as unusual as my hair is bound to be an attractive nuisance, but some people go beyond the bounds of what is acceptable. I have had complete strangers walk up behind me and touch my hair! However, while unwanted touching can usually be resolved with a simple request, there is one particular series of events which occurs with distressing frequency and is much more difficult to resolve.

I am frequently complimented on my hair, but it seems that around three quarters of the time, the person in question follows up with "You should donate it to Locks of Love." It has taken 13 years of meticulous care to get the hair I have, and I have no intention of cutting it off. People wouldn't generally be so rude as to tell me to make other sorts of charitable donations, so I don't know how to respond to this particular demand.

Gentle Reader,
On the contrary, those who consider themselves to be charitable do, all too often, believe that this virtue entitles them to be rude to individuals. And soliciting contributions from people's bodies is not just rude but creepy.

Miss Manners suggests your acknowledging that Locks of Love is a worthy organization, but that you have other charities to which you devote your efforts, as you presumably do. If you want to mention the donation of kidneys as an example, and stare at the relevant area of those who covet your hair, Miss Manners will not object.

Miss Manners' advice is far better.

Letter 2 is a double of a Cary Tennis letter published TODAY! http://www.salon.com/life/since_you_asked/index.html?story=/mwt/col/tenn/2011/09/14/cheated_once

A guy is all guilty cuz he had a one-night-stand while he was with his girlfriend (later his fiancée, now his wife). Two years later, he is racked by guilt. He says he has a "double life", which Prudie rightly points out makes him delusional. Cary Tennis tells him to go to a 12-step program (but that's just Cary Tennis boilerplate) and CONFESS. Prudie tells him to get over himself, realize it was not a big thing, and make his wife happy. Prudie's advice is FARRRR better (but Cary Tennis is a low bar for advice, when you can actually get some out of his stuff).

Letter 3 is a liar, because she claims she had a HS GPA of 4.6, when the top is 4.0. She was such a go-getter, but somehow did not get an Ivy-League education, nor a high-flying job. She's mopy about what "could have been".
Prudie says it's a bit early for LW to consider her life a failure. Get help for what seems to be depression, and work on getting the job you want. As for me, bleh. She lost me with her 4.6 GPA BS. As Prudie says, no one cares about your GPA after you leave HS, and certainly not about your "weighted GPA". Your weighted ego is keeping you down!

Letter 4 is from a woman whose predecessor in her job was "both obnoxious and incompetent". Her superiors and coworkers keep telling her how much better she is. Four months of this seems a bit much.
Prudie says they will stop telling her how wonderful she is soon enough. I say: start being obnoxious and incompetent. That'll stop those irksome compliments.

Advice Illustrated: Miss Manners edition

2011-09-08T15:22:00.001+02:00

Letter 1 is from Christopher Plummer in Beginners. Keep your piehole shut. You can be out and proud when and if the wife croaks.

Video letter was submitted to Miss Manners quite a while ago. http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/article.aspx?cp-documentid=18709504

Dear Miss Manners,
My brand-new husband and I eloped late last year due to the financial cost of having a wedding. We sent out announcements to both of our extended families to notify them of our happy news, and received a most horrid gift in return: my husband's aunt and uncle had co-written a book on marital infidelity and sent it along with a card inviting us to attend (and pay for) one of their weekend seminars. They even went so far as to autograph the inside cover.

My husband and I have never had so much as a heated argument, much less an affair on either side. We're both offended and positive this was an act of self-promotion. Our question is, do we write a thank-you note for an offensive gift? Thank you for your insight.

Gentle Reader,
It doesn't take much insight to know that these people were more interested in advertising their wares than in celebrating your marriage. Still, Miss Manners is afraid that you do have to thank them. She suggests something along the lines of "We were both shocked and saddened to read of these troubled marriages, but all the more grateful -- as we are sure you intended -- for our own happiness."

Prudie's advice was similar.

Letter 2 is from a woman whose new guy wants to adopt her child. Child is creeped out by adoption and by his desire to change her name. Prudie says to drop the power struggle with a 4-year-old, and to chill. I say: if new daddy wants everyone to have the same name, why isn't he taking his new wife's name? Or hyphenate? Compromise, people!

Letter 3 is from a physician who knows another doctor arrested for child porn on his home PC. He now wants a recommendation for a child-safe job. LW thinks the guy would do a good job and wants to help him get his life back. Should he tell employers about the arrest? And he says: "I don't want to risk being tainted by having any association with this guy."
Prudie wisely points out the extremes to which "child pornography" has been taken (like "she looks young"). She also says to tell doctor that he will give the recommendation, but will mention the arrest.
I guess I'm OK with Prudie's advice. Except of course that we only know that he was arrested. Not charged, not convicted.

Letter 4 is from a guy whose wife insisted on stopping to get a hostess gift on the way to a dinner party, making them late. Prudie says it's better to be on time and empty-handed. I say that based on my Miss Manners catch-up, the custom of bringing food and drink is not the best idea. You imply that the host has not planned properly, and the implied requirement to consume the gift can upset their plans. You can send flowers in advance, and you must write a thank you note, and most important: reciprocate! As for Prudie's personal solution, not everyone is a lush like you.

Advice Illustrated: Y'all are wasting our time

2011-09-01T17:10:00.001+02:00

Useless bunch of time wasters.

Letter 1 is from a mom who thinks her FIL is a pedophile and doesn't want to leave her daughter alone with him. Her husband doesn't want to deal with his father and so says nothing. You are such a fool. I hope her daughter (and son) survive her obvious horrible mothering skills. If your own FIL gives you the creeps, your duty is to protect your children, not his feeling.

Video letter is from a guy who's been going out with a chainsmoker for three years. He would like to propose, but can't get beyond the smoking, which he sas he "can't stand". Well, apparently you can stand it, since you've been with her for three years. Prudie says there are ways to manage together, including a promise not to smoke during any pregnancy. I can't imagine any romance with a smoker unless he was very smoking. If you've gotten this far, I don't see what marriage changes. And do you really want this complete stranger to tell you how to make the most important decision of your life?

Letter 2 is from a woman who snooped and found out that her BF is trying to hook up with other women (all of whom give him the brushoff, so you just know he's a real catch). She doesn't want to hurt his feelings by telling him she knows he's a creep. You are such a fool. DTMFA. He's trying to cheat on you and you really give a rat's ass abouthis feelings?

Letter 3 is from a woman who will be making the maid of honor's toast at her BFF's wedding. Should LW mention the bride's mom, who died not that long ago? It might offend dad's new GF! You are such a fool. Do you really need Prudie's advice on whether or not you should pretend that your friend had no mother? And for fear of offending her dad's new piece of ass?

Letter 4 is from a woman whose BF found 80 USD on the sidewalk in front of a theater and left it with the box office. Should they have kept the money? You are such a fool. There is no "right" answer, but it's never wrong to not keep something that's not yours.

Advice Illustrated: Just why is this a problem?

2011-08-18T18:06:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a woman who was abused by a hateful horrible mother. Lots of other crap in her family. Her new inlaws want to know more about her upbringing, but she doesn't want to talk about it. Prudie says that the inlaws already imagine horrible things. Let hubby tell them a bit, and ask them to keep quiet in future. Yeah. And congrats to LW.

Video letter is from a recent college grad who's working for a fantastic progressive non profit and saving the world. She has a thirtysomething coworker who she respects, but who treats LW like a dimwit. Just why is this a problem? You're getting paid while she is giving you a point-by-point explanation of sharpening a pencil. (OMG: I wrote that before listening to Prudie, who used that example. I'm thinking like Emily. Yikes!). Prudie says to show her maturity by having a serious talk about the behavior.

Letter 2 is from a guy who got laid over summer vacation and is now going all girly about it. There, that's my sexism quotient. Prudie says to enjoy his sex-getting. I say: just why is this a problem?

Letter 3 is from a mid-20s guy who finally got a job. His employer is hiring for the same position, and LW is resentful that recent graduates are being considered when there are other mid-20s guys looking for jobs. Before reading Prudie's answer, here's mine: just why is this a problem? And if it is a problem, why is it your problem? Prudie says that he can advocate for his cohort. Whatever. I would remind him that he isn't being paid to intervene in hiring decisions. He's there to do his job, and unless he keeps focused on that, he's going to be a mid-20s guy on the job market.

Letter 4 is from a guilt-ridden bobo whose inlaws want to invite the family on a cruise. Her social consciousness makes her hesitant to go, but she doesn't want to hurt her inlaws or deprive her child of quality time with his grandparents. Prudie says to go and have a good time. I say: just why is this a problem?

Advice Illustrated

2011-08-11T15:31:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who had a period of Walter Middying (out loud). He knows the truth will come out after his death, and is prospectively embarrassed. Prudie says he's worried about his impending death, and to come clean in a light-hearted fashion. I say, sure.

Video letter is from a student (HS? college? It would be good to know) whose otherwise delightful and dedicated math teacher gets easily lead off topic by some mean girls. And let me go into the example given: teacher was illustrating something or other with the subject of the national debt. And a student interjected that if the US stopped foreign aid, there would be no deficit spending. This reminds me of a Larry King interview with Hulk Hogan on his political aspirations (this was in the days of Jesse Ventura as governor of Minnesota, so it wasn't all that strange a notion... well it was a strange notion, but, alas, not unheard of... in fact, it may have been Ventura on Larry King, but I have a recollection it was Hogan). Anyway, he made the point that the US should cut off all foreign aid until there were no hungry Americans. So he wants the government to pay Americans to eat. Right. Has he looked out his limo lately?

Back to the topic: Now why did it take the teacher ONE HOUR to set this Tea Party bimbo straight? Say "foreign aid, most of which goes for military and economic support of US allies, represents less than 1% of the federal budget. The total amount represents less than half of what American spend on soda pop each year. Now STFU and let's get back to the lesson."

Prudie's advice is to go with other students and kindly ask the teach to keep to the subject. Was that so hard?

Letter 2 is from an adult whose 50ish parents want to adopt a special needs child. His siblings have said nice things to the case worker who interviewed them as part of the process, but he wants to tell the "truth", which is that mom "is bipolar" and was emotionally abusive, and that dad let her do it. He manages to get along his parents now, but fears that if he tells the truth, it will get back to mom and destroy their barely civil relationship. He has reason to fear the case worker will blab, because they already have about other matters relating to the case. Prudie says to speak to the case worker's supervisor and demand confidentiality. She questions the fitness of such an elderly couple to deal with a child who may need demanding care, possibly for their entire life.
I have some questions about npn professionals diagnosing mental illness. But let's say he's right, and right about the abuse. If so, he has to speak up, and Prudie's way is probably the best of a bad lot. I don't know how the information would not get back to the case worker, who has proven themself to be a failure. And I share Prudie's concerns about an older couple taking on such a trying job.

Letter 3 is from a person whose building's swimming pool has no lifeguard, and who is concerned about poorly monitored or unmonitored use by children. Should she speak out to parents who are less than careful about their children's safety? Prudie says to get the building manager to provide firmer notices, and to intervene individually if she sees a dangerous situation. And to tell people that she is a certified lifeguard when doing so. I agree with all but the last point. Let's say a child dies in her presence. She might find herself sued or something. Why bother bringing up her training? It doens't take certification to know that leaving a child unattended in a pool is risky.

Letter 4 is from a person who acquired a huge dog with unusual markings and is now annoyed that people notice. Before reading Prudie's response, I will say: STFU. Prudie says something along those lines, but in a lower key way.
Here's a story for you from David Sedaris: http://www.esquire.com/features/three-stories-sedaris-0300

Advice Illustrated

2011-08-04T15:34:00.001+02:00

Letter 1 is so "OMG/I want to kill this man". This is a Savage Love letter written to Prudie, so I dread her answer. Anyhow, this Adonis of a husband is bored with his sex life, and gets his wife to agree to swing. The other guy is old, fat, balding and ugly, but far better endowed than LW. After seeing his wife in ecstasy, he now wants to divorce her and beat her up, in any order you prefer.
My take: Yes, please let this woman be free from her whining insecure egotistical husband. So you wanted your sex life spiced up? But when you say "your" you really mean just yours, not yours and hers. Grow up, get help, or get out, you putz of a pretty boy. He made your wife howl not because of his mega cock, but because he's a better lover. Maybe because he's into giving pleasure, rather than validating his own attractiveness.
Prudie gives it to him good, so I'm happy.

Video letter is from a woman whose BFF ran off with her cousin, left school, and started popping out babies. LW broke off ties because she disapproved of their life path. Now the couple is back in town, and LW would like to renew their ties, but they are so different (she is a rising yuppie and they are trailer trash, from the way she puts it). Prudie says that the way to a parent's heart is through their kids, so pretend to adore the brats.

Letter 2 is a bit complicated. LW is a woman who is pregnant. Her fiancé is worried about becoming a father because of a history of mental illness in his paternal relatives. LW is convinced that her FIL is not the biodad, for a variety of reasonable reasons, including her slutty MIL. Should she ask her MIL about her fiancé's parentage or STFU?
I say, if he was so worried about ever producing offspring, he would have had a vasectomy. I imagine he's more worried about getting married and becoming a father than he is in his genetic background, which sounds a lot like a pretext for some unhealthy curiosity and meddling on your part. STFU. Now, on to Prudence: She says to STFU, but that since we all know LW won't STFU, Prudie suggests she speak to her fiancé rather than accusing her MIL of being a tramp.

Letter 3 is from someone who offered to recommend a jobless friend for a job in her firm. Now she's learned that he's not a good employee (he got fired as an intern!), and would rather not recommend him. Can she pull out? Of course you can pull out. Your recommendation of a loser makes you look bad. You can tell him a position is available and who to write to, but that's it. And if it makes it easier, tell him you recommended him: he may still get the job, and he's not going to get it on your say-so anyway.
Prudie says to tell him the truth (but not the whole truth), because he's young and still able to change. Feh. I think that if you had no idea about his work experience, even from him, he's not that close a friend.

Letter 4 is from a dog owner who "crates" their dog, which means that they can't do any after-work socializing because the dog will have been in a crate for too long. I say: do not own a dog. You are cruel. Find this dog a new home, and get yourself a cat. If you are going to be out 12 hours straight, you should not have a dog. Do not own a dog. I am repeating myself, but you shouldn't own a dog.
Prudie says to train the dog, take the dog to doggie day care, get someone to give her more exercise, bla bla bla. The real answer: find this dog another home.

In the news: a doozy for Le Parisien

2011-08-04T11:56:00.001+02:00

For lack of time, I've stopped doing my daily review, but I am impelled to do one because of the horrible edition of Le Parisien today.

Mayor of Sarkozyist 15th Arrondissement is upset becaue due to routine maintenance and a variety of technical problems, only one pool is open at the moment in the Arrondissement. He does not apologize for his own party's lack of investment in sports facilities during the 20+ years they were in power in Paris.

Cover and first two pages are about UFOs! They're back! And of course, UFO means intelligent alien life forms. Duh. A headline says "One in five sighting is inexplicable". Not "unexplained". "Inexplicable." When you read the article, the expert quoted says in fact that 22% of sightings remained unidentified. That's all. Le Parisien is evil.

In the DSK story of the day, the "victim's" lawyer is calling on employees of Air France to tell all about what a boor DSK was on flights (because being a pig is the same as being a rapist.) Le Parisien tells us that lawyer Taylor was tipped off by a letter from a staff member written in "perfect English". Which leads me to wonder if anyone at Le Parisien speaks English. Here is the letter: THE AIR FRANCE COMPANY HAS IN HIS POSSESSION A FEW HUNDRED COMPLAINTS [ABOUT DSK]. CONSEQUENTLY IS WAS DECIDED THAT ONLY MALE EMPLOYEES TO BE AFFECTED TO THE "FIRST CLASS LOUNGE" WHEN THIS CLIENT IS TRAVELLING.

Now, the English is not horrible, but it's far from perfect. It is clearly the work of a French speaker who speaks English quite well.

Clothilde Courau, married to thuggish "prince" of Italy, is going to launch her career as a singer! She is finally complying with the Constitutional requirement for all French actresses to try to sing. Also applies to supermodels.

Thunderbirds made me puke

2011-08-01T14:35:00.001+02:00

I know of course that we are not to take Thunderbirds seriously (unlike, for example, Captain Scarlett). It's schlock, it's just for fun, this is not high art or serious fantasy or sci fi. But I've just seen what has to be the stupidest episode in the history of Supermarionation.

There is one good thing about this episode: the use of live actors. We see Lady Penelope's feet walking (Anderson's puppets couldn't walk) in the fog at night, we see her eye looking through a peephole, and her gloved hands snapping her fingers annoyingly. But otherwise...

First, it's a Parker-centered episode. I hate Parker. I kind of hate Penelope, too, but she at least is rich,beautiful and gracious. Parker is none of the above.

Ex-con Parker has been tasked with proving that the vault of the Bank of England needs replacing by a newer more modern vault. To do so, he must crack the safe, which he does with ease. But because we are supposed to think at first that Penelope and Parker have gone to the dark side, we see them knocking out the watchman guarding the entrance to the Bank. This of course is crazy, as they are the guests of the governor of the Bank, so this is a pointless and dangerous assault that makes no sense as soon as you realize that Parker is working for the Bank on this "caper".

And why does the Bank of England have just one guard? ONE GUARD!

And why do they BLOW DOWN THE DOOR (the only door) with explosives? Again, it's just nuts.

So Parker demonstrates that the old safe is useless, giving the Governor the proof he needs to convince his superiors that he needs a new safe. Penelope invites him to dine with her the next evening to celebrate.

And overnight, the new safe is installed. Yes, this major project, involving heavy construction, takes place overnight.

The new safe is electronically controled by a single key. That's right, there's just one key that can open and close the vault, and it remains in the hands of the Governor at all times. Or rather, in his briefcase. Let's hope he doesn't drop it down the drainpipe or something.

None of this would be Thunderbirds worthy if the Bank of England didn't have its employees work in the vault. Yes, the staff works in the vault.

And so at the end of the first day the Governor takes roll call to check that all staff has left the vault. One man (only men work at the Bank of England) is missing, but one of his colleagues says "I think he left already", which is enough for the Governor, who doesn't bother to send anyone to check that the vault is clear before closing it.

Now here you would say to yourself, well, no big deal: the guy's in the vault, but he'll be freed the next day. [I have since seen that this vault was to be closed for TWO YEARS. Why? Who knows, and it doesn't change much, except make one wonder even more why they've installed offices in a vault that will be locked tight for TWO YEARS.] And except of course that the new vault pumps all the air from inside, because documents are conserved better in a vacuum. Yep. They vacuum-pack these precious documents.

Fortunately for our staffer locked in the vault, it seems to take about 5 hours to produce the vacuum. Based on this, we could guess that the contents of the vault benefit from the preserving effect of the vacuum for about one hour a day... |If it's closed for two years, this seems less stupid. But of course there is no explanation as to why it takes so long, or why the staffer is able to continue to work and breathe and not even notice the lack of air until it's almost all gone.]

Of course, the Governor could open the safe, but he's having dinner with Penelope, and hasn't told anyone where he's located. Somehow the special alert signal from the Bank reaches him, and he tries to call the Bank. But Parker cuts the telephone wire, and will continue to sabotage all attempts at getting the Governor to London.

Why? Because a fellow ex-con, who has dreamt of breaking into the Bank of England, has just excaped from prison, and Parker decides it's better to help his old friend (not sure how his actions will do this, but let's set that aside for now), rather than respecting the law. For a reformed criminal, Parker is beyond shady.

Penelope finally gets the Governor to the Bank in the nick of time, only to discover that the asshole has left his briefcase with the only key able to unlock the safe back at Penelope's stately home. Ugh!

The Tracy boys have in the meantime been trying to open the safe. They are having no luck making a hole in the door. This is odd, since their torches can cut anything, and all that's really needed in this case is the tiniest of holes to let in air. Instead, they decide to use the abandoned tube tunnels (the Underground has been out of service for years, leaving us to wonder how Londoners get about).

But in the end, it's accomplice-to-criminals Parker who saves the day, unlocking the door with one of Penelope's hairpins.

AAAARRGGGHHHH

The Rotterdam Hilton is crap

2011-07-28T20:33:00.001+02:00

Blackout curtains behind sheers

As an official of the Federation of Gay Games I attended the Eurogames held in Rotterdam, and needed to find accommodation for my partner and me.

Not-so-fashionable styling

On lastminute.fr I found a “top secret” hotel described as a four-star hotel near the central station. The services provided and the location were interesting, and the price seemed reasonable: 405 euros for two persons for five nights. Among the services on the special “top secret” page were a fitness center, which interested my partner, and free ethernet and wifi internet, which interested me. We regretted that breakfast wasn't included, but thought it was still a good offer, even without this service, which we could always pay extra for it we desired.

Wiring worthy of 1911

For “top secret” hotels, you only learn the name of the hotel when you pay. In our case, it was the Rotterdam Hilton, which we found reassuring, thanks to the Hilton brand name.

Extra-thick flat-screen TV

We arrived at the hotel last Wednesday, and got a room with a king-size bed. At check in we learned that breakfast cost 25 euros, which meant it was out of the question for us.

Burl veneer furniture, looks good with shoulder pads

It was when we arrived in the room that things started looking bad. The decor is decidedly old fashioned, as if the place had been done up in 1980 and never been updated. The TV, for example, is a cathode ray tube model rather than a flat screen. It is quite small and placed in a corner, hard to see from the left side of the bed. The outlets for the electricity, TV, and telephone all run outside the wall, and all the wiring is very visible, and quite unsightly.

Control buttons built in to bedside table probably once did something

The rest of the decor was very worn, with dirty baseboards, damaged corners of walls, holes in walls, and chipped paint on doors. Speaking of doors, the bathroom door had a closing mechanism that was crudely installed, and a slot cut out of the bottom of the door, perhaps to improve ventilation. The closet door did not cover the minbar area, leaving the unattractive fridge exposed. There is no safe in the room.

Scuffed baseboards

The curtains have a loud pattern, and the sheers are installed in an odd way, in front of the blackout curtains. As neither of these sets of curtains are operated by a curtain pull, you need to reach back behind the sheers to open and close the blackout curtains.

Worn wallpaper

The telephone at the desk didn't work, nor did the ethernet connection. When I called the front desk to ask how to get the ethernet to work, I learned that internet was in fact not included in the price of the room. I insisted that I had seen that it as included when I purchased the room, and that I would never have chosen a hotel that did not include internet in the price of the room. After several calls back and forth, the situation remained unchanged, with the manager saying that if there was a problem, it was with lastminute.fr, and that I could only take it up with them when I got home, which of course did nothing for my current situation. Nor was I willing to pay their ridiculous fee of 22 euros a day for internet service (“including access to your email!”), a scandalous amount of money for a service that much more affordable establishments include in the price of the room.

The minibar, home of the mysterious "Dutch Assortment"

While I imagine that the internet issue may be the fault of lastminute.fr, I was surprised that no solution was proposed by the front desk. They could have, for example, offered one day of internet access during our five-day stay as a goodwill gesture. As it was, I was able to access internet at the Eurogames accreditation center,but I would of course have preferred to have access in my room.

Smallish closet, with no safe

In the bathroom, we were surprised to find that hot water came out of the cold water tap. When we reported this, a technician quickly came, and after letting the water run for 20 minutes and fiddling with various other things, managed to get the water down to lukewarm. This problem came and went throughout our stay.

Is this a snake-door for easy access to the bathroom?

As compensation for the water problem, we were offered vouchers for two free drinks from the minibar, from the “Dutch assortment”. As there was nothing on the minibar price list that indicated which items were part of the “Dutch assortment”, I called the front desk, where they were unable to tell me just what that meant, unless it might mean anything produced in the Netherlands, or to be safe, just beer and wine. They were unable to say whether this included soft drinks, juices, and water.

When we arrived, we also noted that one of the pillow cases was stained. We called the front desk to ask for it to be changed, but when we returned in the evening, we found the dirty case still in place.

The location of the hotel was good for us, but we were disappointed to learn that the nearest metro station was closed, information which was not indicated on the website of the hotel. We were also somewhat disturbed by the constant noise coming from the next street over, where the outdoor bars and nightclubs play loud music as late as 5 am. Despite being on the 6th floor, we were disturbed.

Advice Illustrated: Duh

2011-07-28T16:19:00.000+02:00

A real week of non-stop duhs. These people!

Letter 1 is from a woman who's dating a wonderful man. She found out by chance that he was arrested for soliciting a minor for sex over the internet. She would prefer not to know this... What to do? Prudie says she has to talk to the BF about it and make a decision based on what he says and his demeanor. I say, duh.
Deserves it? No.

Video is from an adult whose parents are divorcing and are burdening her with details of how horrible the other parent is. She wants to tactfully tell them to shut up. Prudie says she doesn't need to be tactful, just to tell them to shut up. I say, duh.
Deserves it? Yes. She needed to put a stop to this day 1.

Letter 2 is from a guy who was caught looking at his GF's phone when trying to find her parents' phone number to ask for their blessing of his proposal to their daughter. She is furious about his "invasion of her privacy", despite his perfectly innocent explanation. She did accept the proposal, but remains wounded, injured, peeved and perturbed.
Before reading Prudie's answer, I say: DTMFA. Why would you want to live the rest of your life with a person who can't let go of a petty grievance? Frankly, this reaction would make me very suspicious. I don't want my BF looking at what's on my phone, but I don't have anything to hide, and if he told me why he went looking, I would let it go. And yeah, LW is a superdoof for using her phone to get the number rather than... directory assistance? Internet? Why didn't he already have the number (after four years and being ready to marry her)? And doesn't this prove that the outmoded "tradition" of asking for a woman's hand in marriage should be deep sixed? Now I will read Prudie's answer...
She basically agrees with me, without going all the way to DTMFA. She's a softy, that Prudie. In any case, this too is a "duh".
Deserves it? Yes. Asking her hand in marriage and using her phone to get the parents' number makes you a worthy target for all the crazy you're getting.

Letter 3 is from a young person who works/ed for Borders. He wants to get gift cards for his laid off coworkers but doesn't know how he can use his limited budget fairly. Before reading Prudie's answer, here's mine: You are a graduate student who had to take a part-time job, but you have money to spend on your coworkers' severance gift? You're unemployed, too, honey. It's not your job to take care of these people: they'll be getting unemployment insurance (and some will loll about enjoying living on the dole, as we all know). What kind of gift certificates were you going to get? B&N? Amazon? Save your money, you twit. Now, what does Prudence say?
Prudence says he's a twit, and that if he's really concerned about their well-being, the best thing he can do is keep in contact and make them part of his job network. So, duh.
Deserves it? Yes, if what he deserves is paying money he ought not be paying. He's a dolt.

Letter 4 is from a woman who wants to name her first child Lolita if it's a girl, and Humbert if it's a boy. Her husband thinks she's nuts. Before reading Prudie's answer, I will say that I agree with the husband. Lolita is a skunked name, like Adolf. Or even Adolph. What does the Prudester say?
Sbe graciously tells LW that she's nuts. So, duh.
Deserves it? Yes, she deserves to give birth to a child who will hate her for life.

Advice Illustrated

2011-07-26T13:21:00.001+02:00

Nearly a week behind, but here is a fresh look at these hopeless letters.

I may have minunderstood the letter...

Letter 1 is from a woman who ran over a neighbor's cat. Instead of doing the right thing, she abetted her husband's plan to hide the evidence. Now she is justifiably consumer by guilt and wants to tell all. Oh, and the cat's owner is not a nice guy. Prudie says that it's too late to come clean and she needs to keep it together. Nor should her criminal genius of a husband offer to replace the cat.
Now, my take: The whole rant about how mean, mean, mean the neighbor is seems to be about justifying your own horrible behavior. Cats running free do risk getting run over, but that doesn't change the fact that you are responsible for, at the least, telling the truth about what happened. None of the rest is of any interest, except, perhaps, for his wont to sue. So let's look at the horrid behavior of this old man:
1) He complains about every little thing: Just what does he complain about? How often? This claim is too vague to discuss.
2) He calls the police any time there is loud music in the neighborhood? He has a right to peace and quiet. If he has cause to call the police often enough for you to note it as a constant issue, you live among a bunch of very rude people. And just what is a 70yo man to do when his crude neighbors play their country music loud at all hours? Risk getting his dentures knocked down his throat? Far too often such victims end up going on a shooting spree, so calling the cops seems the prudent thing to do. Why don't you intervene to ensure a peaceful environment for all? And if the cops come each time, I'm guessing there is a legitimate cause for complaint.
3) He calls the police if there are "suspicious-looking" kids hanging out too close to his house? Yes, he should allow young hoodlums to threaten him. Why are these thugs loitering? More proof you are low-lifes in a neighborhood of low-lifes.
4) He once tried to sue a neighbor over tree branches falling into his yard? Did he sue or didn't he? Was the threat of a suit what it took for the owner of the tree to take action to protect this man's safety and property?
You are evil, you are just one of the low-lifes, and I am ashamed to read the same online magazine as you.

Maybe he's stealing from you to pay back JC Pënney's?

Video letter is from another abetter who was just fine having among her nearest and dearest friends a thief who makes it a practice of stealing from retailers. Now that he's starting to steal from LW, it's suddenly an issue. Prudence is completely deranged and ignores the whole stealing thing to focus on the niceties of whether one must wanr ones mutual friends that ones BFF is a criminal who steals from them. WTF???? Are you the cat-killer? You certainly seem to come from the same figurative trailer park. I'm not saying you have to go to the cops, but just what does it mean that you want this criminal in your life?

Trust me, she's PREGNANT!

Letter 2 is from a PREGNANT woman whose husband has a new-old BFF is a VERY BAD INFLUENCE on him. I hate all three of them, and foresee a short and nasty marriage for LW. It may be too late for an abortion, but LW should consider letting a more loving and mature couple raise her child.
Prudie says to get counseling.

Letter 3 is from a child whose father wants to have his ashes buried in with his second wife alongside the remains of LW's mother. LW is SHOCKED. Prudie says to get over it. So do I.

Letter 4 is from a guy (I'm guessing) who feels "discomfort" because his boss goes out with colleagues after work and gets drunk. This has happened THREE WHOLE TIMES. There are ESCAPADES. His boss is maybe, like an ALCOHOLIC. Prudie says to narc the boss with an anonymous letter to HQ. I say: WHAT? Just how is this LW's problem? If LW starts getting hassled for not going out drinking, then it's his problem. Until then, MYOB.

Advice Illustrated

2011-07-14T22:48:00.001+02:00

Surely this killed the market for nude rock star photos?

Letter 1 is totally unlikely but a bit fun. It's from a woman who dated a now-famous rock star just as he was becoming famous. He dumped her (she was pregnant, he didn't know, she miscarried, but it ruined her life or something...). Now "his people" want to get their hands on some nude pics she has of him. She's tempted to seel them to a tabloid. Prudie says to consult a lawyer (less hating lately) and to try to negotiate a deal to sell the rights to "his people". I agree. And who really wants to see these nude pictures?

Only acceptable reference to "Adam's Rib"

Video letter is from a woman who acts like a Wiccan and feels oppressed by her community college professor who keeps bringing his Krazy Kristian beliefs into the class. Prudie says to talk about things in a general way with the teacher, and if not satisfied, to go to his higher ups. I say: I hate tattoos. And if you want to advertise your beliefs, you should be prepared for people to react to them. But teacher is indeed out of line. Is this a science class? Then he is teaching BS and is obviously unqualified (and maybe puts the school at risk of losing accreditation). Is this not a science class? Then why is he talking about the origin of the female of the species? Is this a religion class? Then you're kind of asking for it.

I'll have what they're having.

Letter 2 is from a guy whose wife takes a vacation alone once or twice a year. He's jealous and suspicious and pouty. Before reading Prudie's answer, here's mine: Get a grip! She goes on vacations with you, you say nothing about her neglecting you or giving your reason to suspect her of cheating at any other time. And if she is getting her cheating out of the way once a year in Miami, is that really so horrible? Prudie's only concern is that this is taking away from their common vacation time (which he doesn't complain about, so WTF?). Prudie's husband (since when do we hear what he thinks?) is sure she's cheating. My only addition after this is: go away on your own. And do what you please.

From the "there's no justice" file

Letter 3 is from someone who wants to know how to stop hating Casey Anthony. Prudie says to turn her energy from hatred to doing something positive for kids. I add: she wasn't found innocent: she was found not guilty.

Kid's got bags under its eyes. Time for some concealer.

Letter 4 is from someone whose sister keeps pestering them to vote for LW's nephew in "most beautiful baby" contests. LW has asked not to be bothered about these contests, of which they disapprove, but the emails and FB reminders keep coming. Before reading the answer, I say that this is something worth losing a relationship over. It's revolting (the contest) and the pestering is unacceptable. Tell sister that you will have to treat her like you do any other enterprise that makes unwanted solicitations of you. You will block her email address and unfriend her on FB. And if needed, follow through. Be willing to accept the fallout: it's worth it. (On the other hand, you could just ignore the pestering... she can't check on what you're doing after receiving it.)

Advice Illustrated: Assuming Prudie is not a serial killer

2011-07-07T16:25:00.000+02:00

I know it's obvious, but if Prudie goes there, I can too

Letter 1 is from a guy falsely accused of rape. He's not ready to date, and wants to know if he should tell.
Prudie decides "to take him at his word that he was falsely accused". So Prudence, you ***, are you going to add that comment to every single letter you reply to now? After that comment, I don't want to read your puke response.
So, dude, get help to get over this. And tell when the time is right.

Video letter is from a gal whose live-in guy farts in front of her. Prudence does not make a statement as to the veracity of the claim before responding that he needs to tighten up and she needs to loosen up. And that if he farts in front of her, it's because he feels at home. Yeah.

Letter 2 is from the daughter of an alcoholic father and an enabler mother. LW won't let 4yo grandson stay overnight with them or drive with grandpa. Recently grandparents took the boy to the restaurant without warning, and grandpa was driving. Hubby wants to confront his inlaws and set the rule that no cars ever again. LW thinks it will be futile, and that they should just make sure there's no cars ever again. I am confused as to how the two approaches differ.
Prudie makes no comment about the veracity of the LW's statement before saying that LW should worry about other people's children and get dad off the road. I agree. She also says to get help for themselves, do an intervention, and to make the scene (so she's with husband on this, as am I).

Correct reaction

Letter 3 is from a drama queen who caught her husband (oops, boyfriend of two years) cheating on her with a slutty coworker. She didn't DTMFA but keeps putting on the hysterics. Her ostensible question is about hating the slut less. After making on comment on the veracity of LW's story, Prudie correctly diagnoses the problem and tells her to dump him and get a grip.

Is it so hard to understand? I'd marry either of them, and I'm not into women

Letter 4 is from a parent who's getting his/her knickers in a twist because he/she doesn't know how to explain the concept of marriage equality to the 3yo. Prudie wastes some time with LW. I won't.

Advice Illustrated

2011-06-30T16:03:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from the father of two hot teen girls who mow the lawn in bathing suits. Repressed and repressive neighbor has caught his home-schooled sons (among his litter of EIGHT) ogling the girls, and wants LW to make them cover up.
My answer: fuck off. You want to remove your kids from the temptations of the world? Make them wear blinders. Paint their bedroom windows black. Poke their eyes out. But don't impose your negative, hateful values on your neighbors. Don't like the scenery? MOVE.
Now what does Prudie say?
Prudie agrees, in a less violent fashion. (And just what kind of will power or faith or whatever is it when there are no temptations to test it?)

Video letter is from a college guy who keeps mooning over a girl he fell in love with in high school. Should he try to find her and finally tell her he LURVES her. Prudie says that he has invested far too much in this fantasy, and to start dating some girls from his own college. I say, yeah.
(When I did an image search for "daydreaming", almost all the images were of girls. "Interesting".)

(evil cousin)

Letter 2 is from a woman who's husband's married cousin has a thing for hubby. Turns out that when he was a child, cousin molested him. He doesn't want to make a scene and is too "easy-going" to do anything. LW wants to take action, but what? I say, kill her.
What does Prudie say?
She says to get her husband to therapy (agree), and to protect him from the cousin (agree). Give him the words he needs to make clear to her that she is to stay as far away from him as possible at future family gatherings.
I say, yes. And add that if she doesn't, his wife will kill her. His is not the only family with crazies.

Letter 3 is from a woman with a somewhat detail-ridden problem that involves her missing her hometown now that she lives in Texas with her new husband. I got nothing. Get over it?
What does Prudie say?
She says to make the most of her good fortune in finding someone to love, and to enjoy her new city life, and share it with friends from back home. Basically tells her to get over it. I agree.

Letter 4 is from a person in a training camp (or something... too much pointless detail) who has to work with a guy who picks his nose. How can she get him to stop while still keeping a relationship that allows them to work together? I would say: "Stop that!" I was told by a friend in college to stop sniffing. While I was mortified at the time, I am glad that I was made aware of this annoying habit.
Prudie says to narc on him to a superior, that he may be mentally ill, that his future students will appreciate it. Whatever. There's an Iranian sports photographer who has been disappeared by the authorities on route to the Women's World Cup in Germany. That's a problem. You can sign a petition calling for her release here: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/free-maryam-majd.html

Sans HADOPI, pas de création ! L'artiste du jour qui n'a pas fait carrière, faute d'HADOPI

2011-06-24T09:11:00.000+02:00

Hélas, parce qu'ils n'ont pas bénéficié de la protection d'HADOPI, les habitants de la grotte Chauvet n'ont pas peint les murs de leur grotte.

Sans HADOPI, pas de création ! L'artiste du jour qui n'a pas fait carrière, faute d'HADOPI

2011-06-23T19:33:00.000+02:00

Hélas, parce qu'il n'a pas bénéficié de la protection d'HADOPI, Rembrandt n'a pas peint la Ronde de nuit.

Advice Illustrated

2011-06-23T16:23:00.001+02:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who is now in a relationship with a younger couple with a child. They live with him (I guess, it's not clear). Now his own son is out of work and looking to move in with his whole family. Should LW tell the son about his poly life?
Before reading the answer, I am willing to wager that Prudence will not approve of this relationship. Let's have a read.
.../...
Actually, Prudie was pretty cool, and avoided too many snarky puns. She says to tell the son and be as discreet as possible. I agree.

Video letter is from a woman who has the hots for her BIL. Prudie mocks her mercilessly, and LW deserves it.

Letter 2 is from someone who works in close quarters in a hard-to-get resume-building job with a couple. The couple are verbally and possibly physically abusive to each other. LW is shutting down as this reminds him too much of his own family. What to do "in this economy"?
Prudie says that if he can't deal with crazies, he shouldn't be in his business (film). She says that the abuse isn't aimed at him, so he should stick it out and use this as material for a future film.
I say, yeah. Just what did LW expect Prudie to say? He's the only one who knows if it's worth it to him to stay in the job.

Letter 3 is from a woman who cries at the drop of a hanky. Prudie references John Boner. She says to see a doctor, but she may need to just accept this, and by worrying less about it, end up sobbing less often. I know I want to cry when I'm on the line with customer service. What I want to know is: does it get results?

Letter 4 is from a patron of a non-tipping restaurant who enjoys the service of one of the staff. She knows he has a tough life, and is expecting his first child. Can she give him a check or gift card for the baby? Prudie says duh. And do duh I.

Let me fix that for you: la fuite des sujets du bac

2011-06-23T15:07:00.001+02:00

Encore une fois, mais plus encore que d'autres années, les sujets du bac auront fuité. Je ne sais comment l'éviter s'il s'agit d'imprimer et distribuer en milliers d'exemplaires à travers le pays et le monde. Le lamentable ministre de l'éducation Chatel promet des "enquêtes" et des "plaintes", mais semble incapable de voir au delà du dispositif actuel pour une réforme réellement capable de limiter les fuites.

Si l'on prend comme point de départ l'idée que les fuites proviennent du circuit impression-transport d'imprimés, la solution semble évidente : supprimer l'impression, ou plutôt la reporter plus près des salles d'examen.

L'essentiel de notre solution est d'imprimer sur place dans chaque centre d'examen les copies des sujets. De nos jours des imprimantes ou photocopieurs sont capables de produire des tirages de haute qualité en grand volume à des prix intéressants. Il suffit au responsable de chaque centre d'insérer sa clé USB avec les sujets à tirer.

Cela implique néanmoins une distribution préalable des sujets sous forme électronique. Mais on supprime toute la chaîne de production en amont du centre, ce qui réduit de beaucoup les possibilités de fuite.

Nous pouvons rajouter des options qui réduisent encore plus ces possibilités.

Une solution: publier quelques jours ou semaine avant l'épreuve une centaine de sujets pour chaque épreuve. Ces sujets sont chargés sur une clé USB. Après la fermeture des portes du centre d'examen, le responsable reçoit un SMS indiquant quels sujets doivent être tirés.

Autre solution semblable, mais plus sophistiquée, les fichiers des sujets sont transmis aux responsables avant l'épreuve, mais cryptés. Au moment de tirer les sujets, le responsable reçoit un SMS avec un code permettant de décrypter les sujets.

Dans ces deux cas, les sujets sont connus seulement quelques minutes avant l'épreuve, et sans que les élèves puissent les connaître avant de les voir arriver sur leur pupitre.

Sans HADOPI, pas de création ! L'artiste du jour qui n'a pas fait carrière, faute d'HADOPI

2011-06-22T22:04:00.000+02:00

Hélas, parce qu'il n'a pas bénéficié de la protection d'HADOPI, Mozart n'a pas écrit les Noces de Figaro.

Eva Joly, beuh

2011-06-19T19:47:00.003+02:00

J'ai un peu de mal à supporter Eva Joly, suite à sa défense de Romain Polanski. C'est vrai qu'elle ne l'a pas vraiment défendu, mais elle a bien soutenu à plusieurs reprises (dont ICI) que si les Français étaient choqués, c'est que dans notre droit il y aurait eu prescription pour le cinéaste ("Ce mandat d’arrêt choque parce qu’il porte sur des faits qui remontent à plus de trente ans. Or, en France, un viol qui s’est déroulé il y a une trentaine d’années n’est plus punissable.") alors qu'en droit "américain", il n'y a pas prescription ("Mais aux Etats-Unis, comme en Suisse, la prescription pour la délinquance sexuelle sur mineur n’existe pas.").

Et là je dis AIE, surtout pour UNE JUGE.

En droit français, la prescription peut être interrompue ou suspendue. De Wikipédia: "Les actes interruptifs peuvent être : un acte d’enquête préliminaire, comme un procès-verbal ; un acte de poursuite, à l’initiative du parquet ou de la partie civile ou un acte d’instruction, sauf désignation d’expert ou acte réalisé par un juge étranger."
Polanski a été non seulement arrêté, mais jugé. Parler de prescription sur 30 ans est de toute évidence un non-sens.

Parler ensuite de droit "américain", alors qu'il s'agit du droit californien démontre une méconnaissance affligeante du droit international. Pour quelqu'un qui a enquêté sur le plan international, une telle méprise est consternante. Pense-t-elle que le droit suédois s'applique à travers l'Union européenne ?

Pire (enfin, tout est mauvais dans ces propos), cette notion qu'il n'aurait pas prescription en droit "américain" pour la délinquence sexuelle sur mineur. Elle a raison qu'en droit californien il n'y a pas de prescription pour le viol (et le fait qu'il y en aurait en France m'afflige), mais pour "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor", le délai de prescription est de six ans.

Bon, si une femme peut raconter autant de bêtises sur un sujet qu'elle est censée connaître parfaitment, sur son propre métier, comment oser lui confier une quelconque responsabilité ? Joly sur Polanski et Sarkozy sur l'homophobie dans le sport, c'est un duo de cons.

PS : Tout ceci suppose que la demande d'extradition de Polanski choquait les Français... A part les artistes et les média, je ne sais pas s'il y en a eu tant de Français choqués que ça.

Morning at the Council of Foreign Residents/Matin à l'Assemblée parisienne des citoyens extra-communautaires

2011-06-18T19:38:00.000+02:00

Despite my disappointment with the Council and its pointless existence, I was invited to the second waste of time (oops, plenary session). Once again at the Council chamber of the City Council at the Hôtel de Ville, this time in the presence of the Mayor. Last time we had breakfast pastries, coffee, warm milk, tea, juice, etc. in china cups. This time we had just coffee, self serve, in plastic cups, and store-bought cookies. Times are tough, as Delanoe said during his remarks. A violent bit of yelling took place between a member of the council and the deputy mayor in charge of foreign residents. No idea what that was about. Learned that a member of the committee I supposedly sit on (which hasn't met in months) is now a citizen, so this was her swan song on the Council.

Otherwise, I liked the theme, which was "learning French", an important topic, and one that was very timely as we work on our neighborhood council newsletter, the next issue of which will have the theme "reading in Belleville". So I'm going to get the report made by the woman from the city department, which was very informative, and really pointed out the complexity and lack of clarity of the offer in the city. I spoke of the guide to learning French produced by the Belleville neighborhood council. Otherwise, the time Delanoe gave to us was used by very long-winded commentaries/questions/sagas from a few guys of a particular nationality...

18 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-18T13:18:00.000+02:00

I've been too busy to react to the news, but this one calls for comment...

France has a bicameral legislature, but the Senate has little power: it's more a power to delay and annoy than a power to legislate. Still, it's a cushy job in a beautiful palace (Luxembourg) with a splendid garden. The elections to the Senate take place this year. Because in French political thought the National Assembly has primacy as the VOICE OF THE PEOPLE, it would be out of the question for the Senate to be directly elected.

So who elects Senators? Other elected officials. The electoral college is made up of all MPs, members of the regional and departmental councils, and, most important, members of municipal councils. This gives a huge advantage to the countless tiny municipalities of rural France, ensuring that the Senate is solidly conservative.

Paris is a special case: it is both a city and a department, and there aren't enough elected officials to make up the electoral college for this Senatorial district. So yesterday the city council elected 2000 extra people (!) to sit on the electoral college. (Why not just give the votes of members of the city council more weight, I don't know...).

Then they do stuff with lists and all sorts of other crap. And they dare laugh at the US electoral college...

Advice Illustrated: Father's Day special

2011-06-16T17:00:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who thought he might have a child by an old girlfriend. He told his present wife that this might be the case. Now the child has come looking for him, he is pleased to meet her, but his wife is nutso: I was open about meeting my daughter the first time, but when I got back, she was in tears about my "new family." He now keeps seeing his daughter, but in secret, and he feels sleazy. And how can he introduce her to his sons without making wife freak again?
I say: Good thing you've got a "new family", cuz the old one sounds like you're better off without her.
Prudie says to make sure she really is his kid, and to lay it on the line with wifey, going to counseling if needed.
Score: 9/10.

Video letter is from a woman whose single friend was hurt by a photo from a wedding the LW posted to Facebook. Prudie says to apologize.
Score 8/10.

Letter 2 is from a woman who owns the house her father lives in. They aren't close. She has learned that he is a hoarder/filthmonger who is making the house go to rot. She's worried about the house, but even more worried about her father's mental health.
Prudie says to see a lawyer about getting him out of the house and into treatment.
Score 8/10. So glad it wasn't Cary Tennis answering.

Letter 3 is from a woman (I'm guessing) who is planning her father's (surprise) 80th birthday with her five siblings. Which means no one is planning. They are fighting a lot, about everything (when? where? how? what? who?).
Prudie says first, try to get along, second, dump the surprise party, and third, bla bla bla about the details.
I give Prudie 10/10 just for ixnaying the surprise party. Never a good idea, a worse idea for a very old person, and hurtful to make him think you have forgotten him, or make him live in fear every time he enters a room.
As for the details, Prudie was wrong to indulge the LW. But LW is an doof for thinking that it's important to have the party on his birthday rather than on the nearest weekend. If you want people to come, it's on the weekend, LW. And Prudie's other advice is wise. I do not want to go to a restaurant with you and your swarms of grandchildren. There could easily be about 80 guests: why don't you just rent a hall (with A/C) and get it catered?

Caption: Just because this is the photo that came up when I searched for "Stepfather". Really!

Letter 4 is from a woman whose husband has been a model stepfather to her adult sons, who refuse to acknowledge him on Father's Day or his birthday. Prudie says to tell them what she expects of them.
Socre 9/10: Sure the kids are ingrates, but just where has LW been all these many years?

15 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-15T17:03:00.001+02:00

Reading the good ol' Parisien.

Top story is a 6-page special on the disgruntled young people of various European countries. No future!

The Banque de France is worried about the housing market bubble. It's particularly grotesque in Paris. Correction or crash ahead?

Who will replace Christine Lagarde as Minister of Finance? François Baroin, currently minister of budget, knows the place, but that might not be a good thing, because if he keeps the budget portfolio, he would be very powerful. And he doesn't speak English. Maybe Valérie Pécresse, currently Education minister. Or the rising start Bruno Lemaire, but he's doing too good a job as minister of agriculture to let him move.

The Greens will also be doing a presidential primary, and it sounds just as fucked up at the one the Socialists will painfully attempt.

The bill for marriage equality failed in the National Assembly, which was no surprise. I smirked a bit at the "abstention" of François Bayrou, who wants to appear modern and moderate, but who just can't make a choice, and can't forget the origins of his party as the Christian Democratic party. (I just saw a video where he says he's TOTALLY cool with equality, as long as it's called something other than marriage. And so we will patiently wait for Mr Bayrou to introduce a bill calling for this separate but equal regime.

A report on the commission on cults says there are serious risks of incidents in 2012 with apocalyptics.

A complaint has been filed by relatives of victims of the Karachi attack on French naval shipyard workers against media star "anti-terrorist" judge Bruguière. His investigation blamed the attack on local terrorists, when it's clear that it was related to corruption in the Chirac/Sarkozy party (the party for which Bruguière stood in recent elections).

14 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-14T23:15:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien:

Top story gets four pages: crime in the dreadful suburb of Sevran, where half the population lives in housing projects.

Story 1: A city where children can't go outside for recess for fear of a stray bullet. A mayor who calls for UN peacekeepers.
Story 2: A center for drug dealing, with clients coming from far and wide, where grass is smoked in plain view, near kids.
Story 3: Heavy police presence, with choppers, etc.
Story 4: Fears of schoolkids.
Story 5: Some buildings, those with former youth "leaders", manage to clear out the dealers, but they just go to the next building.
Story 6: Residents keep their mouth shut for fear of reprisals.
Story 7: Residents feel abandoned by politicans and civil servants.
Story 8: Map and key figures.
Story 9: The closing of the Kodak and Westinghouse factories has made poverty and unemployment a way of life.
Story 10: People want to leave, while others have hopes for the urban renewal projects underway.
Story 11: Within the city, the residents of each project keep to themselves.
Story 12: Some neighbors work together, including on new community gardens.
Story 13: The president of the business association says things aren't so bad: "It will never be Harlem" (which shows he doesn't know Harlem).
Story 14: The municipal cinema and other culture venues are places of stability and security.

Chirac's "joke" about voting for a Socialist candidate for P12 still making news.

A page on a new campaign against spousal rape will be making waves.

It's national blood donor day. But I can't give, because I'm gay, and France has a crazy policy not based on risky behaviors, but on identity. That said, I would rather the activists who attack the ministry of health on this discrimination devoted their energy to reducing the prevlance of HIV among gay men, in particular among young men. Do that, and there's no excuse for discrimination.

The Sarkozy government is plowing ahead with its pseudo-populist law on bonuses. Companies that paid bigger dividends in 2010 than in recent years must negotiate a deal for a bonus, which will be exempt from payroll taxes. So only employees in listed companies, and only the ones that paid dividends in the required way, are eligible, creating huge and unfair disparities based on the accident of the company they happen to work for. Unions and employer organizations are both opposed.

France is going to require new testing for foreign-educated physicians. The result will be fewer doctors for night shifts, rural areas, and tough neighborhoods, where French doctors don't want to work.

All is well in the Marais, where all were freaking out at the thought of a McDonald's opening. Instead, it will be a home decor store.

Rick Santorum's Google problem

2011-06-14T18:07:00.002+02:00

Here is is: http://www.spreadingsantorum.com/ is the site to link to for news about "santorum", that frothy mix of lube and fecal matter following anal sex.

13 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-13T12:34:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien:

Drought in the news. There would likely be no shortages if farmers stopped planting corn in places it has to be irrigated.

Interesting article on the reproduction of the Grotte Chauvet being made near Paris.

Lots of stories about a non-story that's been in the news all weekend. Former president Chirac (UMP) said he would vote for François Hollande (Socialists), rather than his own successor Sarkozy (UMP) in P12. Now claims it was "Corrèze humor" (both Chirac and Hollande have built their political career in the Corrèze.

I'm delighted to see a real rival to Christine Lagarde for head of IMF, in the form of the Israeli finance minister. Lagarde is such a huge time bomb, and I don't see why France deservees "its" candidate to get the job. Remember Jacques Attali, who invented the EBRD so he could run it, only to be forced out over his extravagant spending (the French were very keen to get the job for a "Frenchman", and let the bank be located in London in exchange... Attali is gone, and the jobs are still in London)? Remember... DSK? Remember Christine Lagarde, named to the IMF only to have to resign in disgrace weeks later when she was indicted for abuse of power?

Raymond Domenach is a candidate to coach the Algerian national football team. Didn't France do enough harm to Algerian in all its years as a colonial power?

12 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-12T22:42:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien, a bit late:

Former Minister of Education, "philosopher", media whore Luc Ferry thought he would get some nice media luvvin by accusing, without naming him, a "former minister" of being caught in a pedophile orgy in Morocco. Alas, it just brought attention to him, and not in a good way. Among those taking note of Lucky Luc was his employer, a university president, who sent him a letter reminding him that he was in theory a university professor, but that he hadn't been doing any actual teaching.

To try to cover the story, the Prime Minister's office decided to cover the cost of his salary, because he was in theory working for a commission under the authority of the Prime Minister.

Alas for the Prime Minister, that has people wondering just what this fictional commission was supposed to be doing. France has any number of commissions created mainly as make-work schemes for friends of the powerful, for politicos who lose a race, or to quietly get people to go away.

In 2003, Eric Woerth, minister of the budget (who has since resigned over suspicions of illegal campaign finance... it finally occurred to Sarkozy that having your minister of the budget be the treasurer of your political party could raise some questions) said he would reduce the 650 commissions by half. There are now nearly 800 of them.

Here are some: Committee for Prevention and Precaution, Consulting Committee on Household Packaging Waste, Committee for the Polar Environment, National Committee for the French Initiative for Coral Reefs, Consulting Council for Amerindian Populations, Committee for Industrial Mobilization, National Committee for Intensive Calculation, Permanent Consultating Committee on Oenology, and a great double play: The National Council for Associations and the Council for the Development of Associations. There's also the National Council for Facilitation, or the Strategic Committee for Modernization. Luc Ferry's was the "Council for the Analysis of Society".

Luc Ferry says that it's a PLOT, a CONSPIRACY by his ENEMIES!!! He says that this council, which he presided, did important things! Like writing the law on volunteer firefighters, and the civilian service for young people. (That's all he was able to come up with.)

Ferry also claims he would LOOOOOVE to return to teaching, but he's such a celeb that the security would be impossible to manage.

The Socialists are pouting because their "friends" on the left, the Communists, aren't helping them organize their semi-legal presidential primaries.

Although it's the Left that has the tax-and-spend reputation, I have the feeling the Right is even better. They're still pushing for another day of slavery to pay for old people. The PM who let those old people die in the heat wave says the French still have too many days off.

The MPs are still putting pressure on Air France to buy Airbuses rather than Boeings. Idjuts.

In an article about the human-milk-producing cloned cow, the journalist manages to claim that this cow produces human antibodies which are so useful for babies' health. Um, no.

It's in the middle of the paper, but DSK still gets a page, with a big article on Tribeca and the stars that live near DSK. Also, DSK has the support of our doddering rocker national Johnny H.

10 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-11T21:26:00.001+02:00

Reading yesterday's Le Parisien:

Top story is about the gambling clubs in Paris. Casino's are banned in a 100km radius of Paris (except for Enghien), nominally to protect resorts, and to protect Parisian gamblers from themselves.

But there are these gambling clubs that are allowed. There are supposedly non-profit charitable organizations. After WWII they were authorized, and handed over to the Corsican mob in exchange for the Resistance work done in Corsica. They are still run by the Corsicans and are very shady. The police has started to crack down on them, mainly because of the explosion of poker there. As poker has become more popular, the gambling clubs have started in raking in even more money.

After failing to introduce marriage equality when they were in power, the Socialists did a stunt this week, with a sure-to-fail bill in the National Assembly. In preliminary sessions, a UMP (Sarkozy) MP compared gay marriage to bestiality. She then apologized, claiming her words were "taken out of context". As she is otherwise a great friend of the far right, her apologies were not taken seriously.

Two UMP MPs voted in favor of the gay marriage bill. One is the young mayor of Coulommiers, a rising star who is very cute, and apparently gay (but the French don't talk about this... his official website has a "Get to know me" section which speaks of his professional activities, but nothing about his private life. I'm not going to applaud the guy: he's UMP, and he was the lead MP for the repressive and absurd HADOPI "three-strikes" law on internet.

The National Assembly will be naming a house ethicist for the first time. Just one. Hah!

A group of lawyers are attacking websites that offer drivers help in getting back their licence. Of course, it's for the most noble of causes, and not protecting their selfish interests.

There's a story about footballer Kevin Gameiro. I have no interest in the story, but Kevin is cute as a button.

11 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-11T17:33:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien...

Top story: the start of individual personal car rental. You can rent out your own car to other drivers.

Lagarde is still leading in the race to run the IMF, despite the fact that she is certain to be charged with abuse of power in the context of the Tapie case. I really wonder why the French (and Europeans) are pushing her. Two French heads having to resign for charges of illegal actions will be a bit much.

Her new rival, Agustin Cartens, is just too fat. A caricature of the fat cat banker. (There's a blog article making the rounds on this issue.) And I say this as an obese person.

The DSK affair has brought to light another embarrassment for the Socialists. One of their Senators, also mayor of a town near Paris, has been convicted for sexual assault, yet remains a member of the party. Why no action on this?

In a sidebar to an article about apartment concierges, we learn they don't want to be called "concierges", but rather "gardien(ne)s". "Concierge" has a connotation of a nosy gossip. In English, of course, it's much classier: the notion of high-quality individualized service, via the hotel business.

The Comédie Française will be closed for a retrofit for one year. So a temporary theater is being built between the colonnades of the Palais Royal. One might think that finding temporary host theaters for the troup would be a better solution, given how many public theaters are more often empty than not. And as it turns out, they will be performing some productsion at Le 104 and the Grand Palais.

The public inquiry into the renovation project for the place de la Répubique is open, and Le Parisien does a comparison between the city's project and a stupid counter project. The city's project is drastic, closing off one side of the square to cars, along with the adjoining access street, whereas the counter project doesn't change very much. The official project offers some interesting possibilities for using the place, which is pretty grim today, with lots of space for cars, and little space for pedestrians.

A big article on the first same-sex pairs DanceSport competition, part of our FSGL Tournoi international de Paris. This is just about the first time Le Parisien (or any mainstream paper) has shown an interest in the TIP. (The paper has done stories about the Gais Musette being refused accommodation for a workshop.)

9 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-09T19:26:00.000+02:00

Cover story is the Baccalaureate school leaving exam. Everyone gets it today (87% success rate), so you really need to get it with honors for it to mean something. In 1989, about 25% of those earning their Bac get honors. Now it's nearly 50%. But it's important to know that prior to reaching the Bac, many students have been kicked out of the system. Only about 65% of a cohort will get the Bac.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_high_school_graduates_go_to_college_2008-2009
The national high school graduation rate for all public school students remained flat over the last decade, going from 72% in 1991 to 71% in 2002. Nationally, the percentage of all students who left high school with the skills and qualifications necessary to attend college increased from 25% in 1991 to 34% in 2002. The finding of flat high school graduation rates and increasing college readiness rates is likely the result of the increased standards and accountability programs over the last decade, which have required students to take more challenging courses required for admission to college without pushing those students to drop out of high school. The state with the highest graduation rate in the nation in 2002 was New Jersey (89%), followed by Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Dakota (each at 85%). The state with the lowest graduation rate in the nation was South Carolina (53%), followed by Georgia (56%), Tennessee (57%), and Alabama (58%). There is a wide disparity in the graduation rates of white and minority students. In the class of 2002, about 78% of white students graduated from high school with a regular diploma, compared to 56% of African-American students and 52% of Hispanic students. There is also a large difference among racial and ethnic groups in the percentage of students who leave high school eligible for college admission. About 40% of white students, 23% of African-American students, and 20% of Hispanic students who started public high school graduated college-ready in 2002. There is very little difference between the number of students who graduate from high school college-ready and the number of students who enroll in college for the first time. This indicates that there is not a large pool of students who have the skills necessary to attend college but do not do so because of lack of funds or other non-academic factors.

The next big story is about Liliane Bettencourt's lawyer, who is under the threat of malpractice action. He has power of attorney for the richest woman in France, and used 143 million euros of her money (!) to finance the sketchy business of another of his clients, via the bank for which he is also the lawyer.

Weinergate's in the news here. It's mainly of interest because the French believe that the DSK case is followed as intensely in the US as here (it's not), and that this story is the one that pushed DSK off the front page. And because it fits the cliché of puritanical America, the paper says that the only option for Weiner is to resign (they haven't heard of diaper whore Vitter).

The paper gives a lot of space to interviews with the victims of AltMed reflexologist foot fetishist former minister and still mayor Georges Tron.

A fan of the Jim Morrison who opened a small bar in his honor is being threatened by the Doors. Boo! The lawyers claim (ahem): "The musicians don't want to appear to approve the consumption of alcohol".

Advice Illustrated: Could Emily resist the Weiner jokes? Nope.

2011-06-09T15:40:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a man who finds himself compelled to go to strip clubs, brothers, etc. whenever he's away from his wife. He hasn't had sex yet, but fears he will. Can he just stick to strip clubs?
Before reading Prudie's answer, here's mine: NO. It is not wrong to go to these places, but this is clearly not healthy for you. It's a compulsion, you are unhappy when you do it, yet you keep doing it. You probably need professional help to kick this habit.
Now what does Prudie say? She too suffers from an unhealthy compulsion, to make inappropriate allusions and far too many puns. But she basically says the same thing.

Video letter is from a guy who has a mother with lots of issues, including a return to drug addiction late in life. She's now hooked on crack. How can their relationship be the same? Prudie says that his mother needs his help, not his disgust. Contact her case worker to offer your help. I say, yeah. Geez, dude, your mom made a huge effort to be a good parent and raise you as best she could. Maybe you could show her some of the love she gave you by helping her rather than being grossed out. And what's the deal with your freaking out over crack? Is it because it's a déclassé drug? Would you be cooler with vodka or cocaine? And before you go off on your mom again, remember it could be worse (see illustration).

Letter 2 is from someone who has a friend who's just become a teacher and who is behaving inappropriately with her high school students, exchanging personal text messages, attending their pool parties, etc. Prudie says friend is cruising for a bruising, and as a good friend, LW needs to warn her. I say, yeah.

Letter 3 is from a women who can't stay married who's married to a guy who's even worse, and who lets his mother run his life (and ruin his marriages). Prudie says to get counseling, and to be ready to jump. I say I really don't care, except for the kids involved. But LW is a fool, her current husband is a jerk, and her current MIL is a grade-A bitch. And frankly, people who talk about their family "heritage" and "bloodline" deserve only disdain.

Letter 4 is from a woman whose BF of a few weeks doesn't wash his hands after using the toidie. Prudie says to hold off a while until their more intimate, then tell him he needs to wash his hands. I say: if he's just peeing, I think lots of guys don't wash. And there are people who rarely do number 2 (I live with one... when we first met, it was like three times a week), so he may indeed only be doing number 1. That said, the next time he leaves the john, I'd say: "Hey, I didn't hear the water running in the sink. Did you forget to wash your hands?" I think if you are letting him put his thingie in your whatsit, you are on intimate enough terms to talk about hand washing.

8 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-08T16:06:00.001+02:00

The top story of the day? Social unrest? Rampant crime? DSK? The 2012 presidential election? Nope...
TWO PAGES ON A FOOTBALL PLAYER.

The next story is a full page on a missing teen in southwestern France. He texted his father at 10:45pm to say he would be home by 11 and that he hadn't had dinner. Then nothing. His bike has been found, locked with a lock that is not his. Localizing his last cellphone position has not yielded useful info. He had no problems, was well adjusted. His only problem was his Justin Bieber hairdo.

Former Socialist minister Emmanuelli gave PM Fillon the finger during a session at the National Assembly. Chirac has published the next volume of his memoirs, where he's not nice to Sarkozy. This gives the paper an opportunity to remind readers that Chirac will soon, after years and years of delays, be heading to court for corruption charges.

Rachida Dati is trying to protect "her" seat in the National Assembly (read HERE) from the covetous Fillon. She is crying sexism and "respect for diversity" (I guess that means that the National Assembly needs more people whose brothers have been convicted of various crimes).

It looks like dual nationality, a principle contested by the National Front and by those in Sarkozy's party who wish it were more like the National Front, is safe. Sarkozy has said so, perhaps because his wife has dual nationality (French and Italian).

There's a proposal to extend paternity leave, which is now only 11 days. Mothers have 16 weeks total, before and after birth. The new plan is to offer 12 weeks before birth to women, and 4 weeks to each parent after birth.

50 MPs presented a petition to Air France telling them the firm should buy Airbus plans rather than Boeings. I think the passengers and shareholders of the firm think the firm should buy the plane that offers the best product for the best price. And I wonder if Airbus is keen to engage in illegal favoritism that would immediately be attacked by Boeing.

UGH! It seems that convicted persons who are offered community service can do it BUILDING A CATHOLIC MONASTERY!!!! Please don't give me any "laïcité" bullshit. (And French people: you may now shut the fuck up about "In god we trust".)

After the most recent riots in Corbeil, near Paris, where media-military-industrial mogul Serge Dassault runs the show, there are complaints that the failure to make payoffs usually given to idle youth to keep them quiet is part of the "problem". Last year's crop of fake employees were fired after violence against city workers. These riots are one way to put pressure on the right-wing mayor to rehire the thugs for the summer. (Dassault is a supporter and a member of Sarkozy's "tough on crime" party.)

After rumor-mongering about a pedophile ex minister, Luc Ferry is now in trouble because this ex minister of Education is supposedly a university professor (at least he gets paid as one), but rarely shows up to give a class. He's now been summoned by the university president.

In DSK news, the victim's lawyer has called on all women abused by DSK to come forward. One who won't be is the "journalist"/novelist who turned DSK's attempted rape into such delightful cocktail chatter, before trying to get another 15 minutes of fame by recalling it after DSK's arrest. (I'm convinced he assaulted her, but have no respect for a victim who did not file a complaint at the time, and has since been dining out on her story, and now repeats it, while still refusing to file a complaint. One reason she wants to avoid testifying in the US is that she would look pretty crappy on cross examination making light of this crime on TV.)

The police came with an investigating magistrate yesterday morning to interview the richest woman in France, Liliane Bettancourt, on her illegal financing of right-wing political campaigns. She refused to respond to summons to testify on medical grounds, and now her physician and a clinic where she was treated are being investigated.

A while ago I said I was surprised at some good initiatives by Frédéric Lefebvre since he was named minister of commerce and small businesses. But he's back to his old tricks as a creepy demagogue, supporting shops in Montmartre that open in total illegality on Sunday. Should a minister be supporting an illegal action? Among the reasons for the Mayor's refusal to make an exception is the (true) argument that it will only encourage the transformation from traditional shops to endless clothing stores.

7 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-07T20:12:00.000+02:00

DSK again gets top place in Le Parisien, with three pages devoted to his hearing yesterday, where he (surprise!) pleaded not guilty.

DSK has liberated discussion of sexual assault and harassment. A couple of women MPs have launched a counteroffensive against their colleagues who complain of the sexism of the men of the National Assembly. These are the tough cookies, who, if a guy wolfwhistles them in a skirt, smack the guy in the schnozz. Yep. They do have a point that the right to wear a skirt without being treated as a whore is less of a problem in the National Assembly than in French housing projects, where Islamist repression treats girls that dare show any skin as willing victims of gang rapes (yes!).

On the other hand, other woman point out the widespread harassment or worse that parliamentary assistants suffer at the hands of male MPs.

Things are heating up for the Green Party's presidential primaries, where three of the four candidates are not actually members of the party. Yep. A leading candidate is a former TV nature show host. Whatever the candidate, he or she will not reach the second round of the election, so this is all very theoretical, but people (well, the press) treat it as if it were important.

Gilbert Collard, the media whore lawyer currently in the news (he's always in the news for something) for attacking former foot-fetishist minister Tron, is now considering representing Khaddafi in a case against France for killing his son.

Work begins today on the Palais de Tokyo, the site for never-ending renovations and changes of occupants. The "center for creation" will go from 9000 to 20000 square meters. It's supposed to cost a mre 20 million euros...

The wasteful, pointless renovation of the Forum des Halles has made another victim: massive leaks during the recent rains in the Forum des Images and neighboring shops.

Dear Prudence: Monday Middens

2011-06-06T21:45:00.000+02:00

Revenge of the geek? This does sound very ABC Movie of the Week meets ABC After-school Special. And changing schools is always an option.

Grabby husband
Raping a chambermaid and fondling your wife are not the same thing, Emily. Given the number of letters complaining about a lack of sexual attention and attraction, I think you should enjoy this. But feel free to pinch his ass. And if you really want to get your message across, grab his balls.

Daughter too immodest
This sounds rather fake. But let's say it's true. Yes, she gets to wear what she wants. And yes, you get to say you don't want her dressing like a pole dancer around you. Those are not incompatible. If she dresses in such a way that you cannot be in her presence, then leave, or ask her to leave. She is an adult, and so are you, and adults get to choose who they want to associate with. That said, a hot 20yo wearing a bikini on a beach is hardly shocking. And your husband, another adult, may decide he prefers the company of his daughter to the company of his prudish wife.

Love letters of parents
Stupid question. Of course you keep them. And try to live up to them in your own relationships.

Employee's R18 pic
What Prudie said. I don't know whose reputation the creep is trying to ruin, but he's doing a great job ruining his.

I just want to be friends this time
"I realized I was wrong, and so I tried to do the same thing again." Right.

Condoms
Silly woman. Of course he's cheating on you. Ever heard of a "nooner"?

.
Dark Family Secret
Wow. Yes, contact a lawyer. And do your best to find a way to stop him. I think picketing in front of his business would be a good way. Can he sue you for slander? Maybe. But I think truth is always protection against those charges.

Self esteem
I like you less than your twin, but only because you write "with my twin sister and I". That makes you one ugly, ugly person.

To the Bully Mother...
Not a question. And of course she doesn't remember what she did. The victim has much more reason to remember the details than the bully.

For the Ex Bully
Not a question.

Reluctance?
What's the "first of 2011"? Do you mean the first of January? You are free to issue an ultimatum. Being engaged means an intent to marry. But whatever.

Relationships
God. He didn't say he loved you because he didn't love you. Did you love him? Silly person.

Friendship and children
Yeah.

Emailed Photos
Not a question.

Re: condoms
Not a question. I don't think he's using condoms to cut down on the mess.

Household rivalries
Given your apparent mental abilities, I assume this is some sort of dog-grooming establishment. Do they have even have sports teams?

6 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-06T16:11:00.001+02:00

It's DSK-plea-hearing day! Joy! He's back as the top story of Le Parisien. Within the cornucopia of crap in the three pages devoted to him, we find what has to be the worst story of all time. Le Parisien retraces the taxi journey of DSK from the hotel to the airport. After failing to get the taxi driver (who they take pains to identify fully), they go off on their own. Which bridge or tunnel to take? It's a veritable GPS-fest.

We've just got a news flash: DSK has pleaded not guilty. Like he was going to plead guilty. Sheesh.

During a radio interview, Paris mayor Delanoë spoke of "the tragedy in New York". GAG. I do hope he was speaking of the victim, and not of DSK. Unless his tragic flaw is being a rapist.

Everybody wants to play footsie with Borloo. Just why I have yet to figure out.

The government keeps fiddling with the wealth tax (it's like a living estate tax). They are considering re-including works of art in the calculation of the tax base. In a man-in-the-street interview, we get some gems, including this one from Dorothée Leonardi, age 48, jobless:
"I'm against all attacks on liberty. For me, art is a form of liberty, as is the way one appreciates it. It's something that should stay outside our norms and not be caught up in economic or tax considerations. And I think it would create suspicion for people who have owrks of art. Everyone would wonder if they declared them or not."

Stupid cow.

It's dictionary season, and among the English words entering common dictionaries are the noun "tweet" and the verb "tweeter", "e-learning", and "cougar". The article is total crap, because their "expert" says he doesn't mind the "e-" prefix, as long as it's not mixed with a French word, as in "e-commerce". Which is of course a perfectly English word. And "Le Parisien" explains that "cougar" is in fact a modified form of the word for the annimal, which they claim is "couguar", just like "jaguar". ("Couguar" is a French word, but so uncommon that Le Parisien gives the French definition, "puma"... and ignores the English "cougar" in this section about Anglicisms...)They have very commodious asses, these folks at Le Parisien, because they never fail to find things to pull out of them.

Le Parisien gives you advice about avoiding potentially harmful radiation from cell phones, including a recommendation that pregnant women avoid storing their phone in their vagina. Or something like that.

Le grand prix de la casserole parisienne... - Paris - France 3 Régions - France 3

2011-06-05T20:25:00.000+02:00

Le grand prix de la casserole parisienne... - Paris - France 3 Régions - France 3

FEMME FATALE C'EST CE SOIR

2011-06-05T13:23:00.001+02:00

Bande Annonce - Femme Fatale

5 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-05T13:14:00.001+02:00

Reading Le Parisien, and puking a bit. DSK is back in the news (I guess because his plea hearing is tomorrow), which gives us a two-pager "A DESTINY BROKEN IN 30 MINUTES". Yeah, and it took about the same time for him to choose to destroy a woman's life. I'm getting tired of the moaning over this creep. Let him be judged, but if the only way he is found non guilty is by attacking the woman, he is an even bigger creep than I think he is.

Elections now for the Muslim Council of France. It's a gadget invented by Sarkozy to make Islam more like other religions in France that have official organizations to represent them (although the logic of "laïcité" that Sarkozists use to attract far-right voters would presume that there be no religious organizations "recognized" by the State). Of course, it's very political. And crazy: delegates are chosen according to the physical size of their mosques (huh?). Because of course it's illegal in France to ask anyone their religion in a survey or census. It's craaaazzzzy.

Antiterrorism operation lead to arrest of some Kurds. Police chose to make the arrests during a festival, with kiddies doing traditional dances. The Kurds did not approve. Riots, great destruction.

Peeveroll

2011-06-03T14:44:00.000+02:00

My top peeve remains "I" for "me". With the recent example of "John and I's new boat", urgent action is needed.

Anne Louise Marquis's recent FB post from an article which used "misnomer" for "misconception" reminds me of this rarer but almost as annoying peeve.

I'm not a professional peever: I don't get hot and bothered about people using "decimate" to mean more than the destruction of 1/10 of something. I am a fan of the singular "they". And I certainly don't go for supporting rules that were made up recently on the basis of nothing more than a whim, like ending sentences with a preposition or splitting infinitives.

So trust me when I peeve!

3 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-03T12:12:00.000+02:00

E-Killer-Koli is the top story. Yikes!

Advice Illustrated: not much to add

2011-06-02T14:27:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a woman whose family was the victim of a CPS investigation thanks to the neighbor girl who said that she and LW's daughter did some naughty things. The families were cleared, but LW is angry that the neighbors knew about the accusation and said nothing. She doesn't want to take the risk of further trouble. Her husband says bygones. Prudie agrees the risk is to great, and to limit contact with the family. I agree. There are plenty of children to play with, and this one is just too great a risk.

Video letter is from a guy who has a great personal trainer with bad breath. Prudie says not to worry about hurting her feelings. Tell her she needs to chew some minty fresh gum. I say: yeah. And it's good for her business to tell her this. Many potential clients would simply not use her services.

Letter 2 is from someone whose great aunt is dying, and doesn't mind it so much. Great aunt wants a fun funeral, including party hats and confetti. Many family members are horrified. Prudie says to find a happy medium. So do I.

Letter 3 if from a stupid woman who lived with a guy for five years before discovering that he was two-timing her in a huge way. It's now one year on, and she claims to have forgiven him, and to accept that he is trying to be a better person. She claims they are friends again. But sometimes her pain comes back and she lashes out. He is confused, because she claims to be over him. Prudie says he has no place in her life, and to DTMFA. I agree. But since she seems to be enjoying causing herself pain, maybe she should keep the louse in her life just for the fun of it.

Letter 4 is from a job-hunter who has a typo in their CV (2010 for 2011). Prudie says to send a correct version to those who received the wrong one, explaining that no-one is perfect but they're constantly striving to get close. I say, yeah, if it's important, what else are you going to do? The only way it would be significant is if you indicated a job ended in February 2010 instead of February 2011, which would lead them to wonder what you were doing for a year. In fact, you are so stupid, you shouldn't get any job.

2 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-02T13:47:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien...

The DSK and Georges Tron affairs have liberated women to speak out against sexual harassement and violence. Yvette Roudy, the creator of the short-lived Ministry of Women's Rights, explains that the reaction is not so much to DSK's arrest, but to the sexist reaction of male politicians and others to the arrest. In their "man in the street" interviews, one of the responders is an Englishwoman who lives in France. Her name is given as "Miranda Hobbs". Any similiarity of SATC's Miranda Hobbes is surely a coincidence. The issue of sexual harassment and violence does get two pages. Not bad.

The next full page is devoted to clunt "philosopher" Luc Ferry, who is now part of the investigation he launched by claiming that a former minister was caught in a pedophiliac orgy in Marrakesh. He keeps trying to dig himself out of his own hole, but just keeps making matters worse. He says that to make an accusation without proof is diffamatory... and then says that if he refuses to name names, it's because he has no proof.

Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin, graduate of Sciences Po and ENA, says that the caste system is too strong in France. Spitting up. Hold on.

There is an odd practice in French politics where you don't have to live in a place you represent. And where people are "parachuted" to safe seats, or to further their career. People don't seem to mind that these elected officials don't actually live, or haven't lived long, in their district. And you even have cases where politicians are elected simultaneously to two different offices in two different locations (for example, Jacques Chirac, mayor of Paris and MP from Corrèze). Anyhow, François Fillon is thinking about running for Mayor of Paris, and so is leaving the Sarthe where he has always been elected. But where to run? After redistricting, there's a new seat in the 7th that's ultrasafe for the UMP. But Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th and MEP, also is keen to run for the French National Assembly, and reckons that the seat has her name on it. So the latest idea is this (hold on to your hat): there are new seats for overseas French in the National Assembly. Finance Minister, Member of the City Councils of both Paris and the 12th Arrondissement, and bocce player Christine Lagarde looks to be heading to Washington to replace DSK at the IMF. She was lined up to hold the seat of representative of North American overseas French, so that seat is now "open". So let's get Pierre Lellouche, who currently holds a seat in the 8th Arrondissement, to take that North America seat, and let Fillon take his seat in the 8th. It's all so democratic!

Speaking of Rachida, she's holding a film festival in the 7th! And her special VIP guests include Gérard Depardieu, Vanessa Paradis,Michael Lonsdale, Nicole Garcia, Jean Rochefort, Xavier Beauvois, François Ozon. Or so she says.

A decision never seen before in France, as far as I know: a primary school in the suburbs has banned recess because of frequent gunfire and fears of a stray bullet injuring a child. The shooters are drug dealers who control the neighborhood.

The city wants to buy the abandoned stations on the abandoned Petite Ceinture line. My windows look onto the only open air bit of the line in the 20th.
Aujourd’hui désaffectée, la ligne de la petite ceinture fait le tour de Paris. Avec ses vingt-neuf gares, dont la plupart sont à l’abandon (d’Auteuil à Courcelles, jusqu’à l’avenue de Clichy, Ornano, avenue de Saint-Ouen, jusqu’à Vincennes, Ménilmontant, Maison-Blanche et Point-du-Jour), elle servait autrefois à affiner la desserte des quartiers parisiens.
La voie ferrée, d’une longueur de 32 km, située à l’intérieur des boulevards des Maréchaux, servait uniquement au transport des marchandises entre 1852 et 1869, puis fut ensuite ouverte aux voyageurs. Détrônée au profit du métro, cette ligne de petite ceinture est finalement fermée en 1934, puis interdite aux marchandises dans les années 1990. Désormais, Paris veut reconquérir ces gares et ces talus, en les transformant en jardins partagés, dont certains sont réalisés par des chantiers d’insertion.
The station Charonne, rue de Bagnolet, is the charming and popular live music venue known as the Flèche d'or. I wish the city good luck, cuz RFF, the government-owned entity that owns the tracks and stations, is very, very greedy, and use claims of wanting to reuse the line to prevent any conversion of the line or stations for public use (gardens, for example). We have a project for a community garden on our bit, but RFF is asking for thousands and thousands in annual rent for the land (which currently produces no income at all).

Local public transport prices go up soon, with a large hike for all, except those in zone 6, which will merge with zone 5. The region is divided into several concentric zones: the more zones your pass covers, the more you pay. The Greens pushed an incredibly stupid idea of a single price for all. It's expensive, and not at all ecologically sound. All that happens when you reduce the cost of travel from the distant suburbs is to increase the attractiveness of those suburbs, at the expense of denser and more environmentally friendly housing and business development. A fausse bonne idée if there ever was one. Fortunately some Greens are seeing the light and are contesting such plans.

1 June 2011: News of the day

2011-06-01T14:25:00.000+02:00

Le Parisien leads with the new Socialist frontrunner, the formerly fat François Hollande. Le Parisien does these panel things where readers of the newspaper interview a news personality. It's dumb. In the local section, his first rally at La Bellevilloise is an opportunity to look at the fashion among politicians to use this venue just up the street for me for their meetings and events.

I hate to say it, but the loudmouth demagogue Lefebvrree is turning out to be a pretty good minister of consumer affairs. A new law will improve things for subscribers of mobile phones and internet, renters, etc.

Drought! Limited restrictions so far in Paris. We are told to avoid taking too many showers. So the Parisians will be stinking more than usual.

Time to stock up on veggies: everyone's afraid of the killer bacteria, originally thought to be from Spanish cucumbers. What's really scary, is that it appears not to be from the cukes, so where's it from???

The biggest news from me is the accusation on a TV show from Luc Ferry, former Sarkozy minister and "philosopher" and TV personality. He claims that a former minister was caught in Morocco in an orgy with young boys. But he won't name names. He claims that he had confirmation of this story from a "prime minister". He says he won't name names, because he'll be the one sued. As it turns out, he may still be prosecuted: it is illegal in France to not denounce a crime. If he believed a crime had been committed, he had a duty to report it at the time. The penalty is three years in jail and 45,000 euros in fines. (BTW, there is a consensus on who it is... and if it weren't for the word "former", we could assume that he was talking about current culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand, who has written about his taste for minors.)

A curious story of a retired German teacher who was stabbed by a former student. The student's a bit of a loner, and a good student, but had horrible grades in his German class. He had accused the teacher of fondling him, but there was insufficient evidence to charge the teacher. Nowhere does anyone in the article suggest that this was a gesture aimed at getting justice where the justice system had failed.

Homemade bombs went off in Ikea stores in the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France... So many reasons to hate, so many reasons to love.

We have yet another story on Borloo: will he or won't he run for president? Sarkozy is doing his best to dissuade him. Since he can't win, I don't get it. Everyone in France can be and wants to run for president.

We get a comment from Gérard Longuet, minister of defence, about his holiday in Tunisia. But interestingly, no mention that he was accompanied by a "journalist" who also paid nothing... Got to preserve the wall between politicians and journalists (that's the "wall" that prevents journalists from writing about how close journalists are to politicians).

Qatar has bought the PSG. I wonder if they will maintain the club's actions against homophobia?

A strange and revolting ending to the racism of the French Football Federation: the only significant punishment (a 6-day suspension) is for the official who received the secret audio recording of the meeting where ethnic quotas were discussed. No punishment for those who proposed the quotas...

Coverage in the local section on the event last night where the worst urban renovation project under Delanoe was chosen: the destruction of the Auteuil greenhouses and gardens to extend Rolland Garros. A good choice, but my favorite is still the destruction of the Grand Ecran cinema complex.

31 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-31T13:02:00.000+02:00

In Le Parisien, the top story is about the SNCF's efforts to fight fare dodgers by creating bonuses for controllers who rake in the fines. The French don't like quotas and targets for meter maids and the like, just like they don't like speed radars. The fact that you can avoid any problems by paying for your train ticket, putting money in the parking meter, and driving under the speed limit hasn't occurred to them.

But one of the problems with this is that the controllers go after the easy targets. In ambiguous cases (like if it's well known that the vending machines in a station don't work, and you go to the controller when you board and explain that you weren't able to buy a ticket, they will apply a penalty when they sell you a ticket) they'll go hard on you. And they refuse to go after young people, especially young men, especially young men from bad neighborhoods, who risk to react violently (despite the fact that they are very likely to have boarded without a ticket).

A sales clerk in a department store has been fired after insulting Nadine Morano, the fishwife-cum-junior minister. Morano complained to management of the store after the clerk cried out "Morano's in the house! Who wants to punch her out?" Clerk claims it was a joke, proof again that humor should be left to professionals. Sarkozy and friends have been very prompt to use laws more suited to the Ancien Régime's crime of lèse-majesté (including suing the guy who made the Sarkozy voodoo doll, or the guy who brandished a sign saying "sod off, you asshole" during a visit by Sarkozy, using words Sarkozy himself had earlier used during a visit to the national farm show), but I'll give Morano a break here. Calling for physical violence against a person in the store is probably a firing offence.

The employers' union is firing full bore against Sarkozy's demagogic "dividend bonus", requiring firm that increased their dividends last year to talk about maybe paying a bonus to well-paid employees. The labor unions are also opposed, because these bonuses will treat employees very differently depending on whether their employers are listed firms or not, whether they paid dividends or not, etc., and will also give employers an argument to be stingy in general pay rises that are distributed more fairly.

An interview with Carlos Ghosn who says he'll be spending more time in France, after several black eyes for Renault. While waiting for a blood test, I read an oldish news magazine with an interview with Ghosn about the accusations of industrial espionnage against some employees. They were very serious accusations, and Ghosn was defending the firm and himself by claiming that they weren't amateurs. As it turned out, it was a complete fake, and Renault were total amateurs playing at James Bond, and they had to issue public apologies to the employees in question and will be paying out millions in damages... But Ghosn is a pro, for sure.

The right-wing guilt trip tax of making workers give a day's labor for free is still causing problems, particularly in schools. The default day is Ascension (this Thursday). Example in Paris: primary schools will be open Wednesday (usually a day off) and will be closed on Thursday for the holiday, and Friday to make a long weekend (a day replaced by Wednesday). And for older children in junior high, the choice of having Friday off or not is made by the school principal. As for high schools, they will all be open on Friday. So tough luck for families who want to go away for a long weekend. For the future, it's all part of another major change in school schedules, to move away from the stupid, stupid, stupid four-day week (kids never had school on Wednesday, but had a half day on Saturday, which was hated by some parents, loved by others who got their weekly nooky then).

Police used tear gas on people protesting the killing by a gendarme of a child (and the wounding of many others) when his vehicle hit a group of students crossing a road to play rugby. Lots of BS from the gendarmes on this one: he was coming back from the G8 (no he wasn't), he was in an official vehicle (yes, but unmarked), he slid on an oil slick on the road (which doesn't seem to exist)... How about he didn't give a shit, and at worst will get a suspended sentence?

Some French scientists have made a Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak. Put a rabbit inside this ring, and you see through the ring and the rabbit to objects beyond.

In Nice the banks are carrying out a pilot project for RFID credit cards that can be used without a PIN for transactions up to 20 euros in value. Interesting.

Major drama backstage at the Line Renaud concert at the Olympia. Johnny Hallyday, our national treasure, tried to say hi to Line before her show. Her producer, Jean-Claude Camus, didn't want her disturbed and blocked access to her dressing room. As it happens, Camus was also Johnny's producer and best friend until a dramatic break up a matter of months ago. Johnny tried to force his way into the dressing room, Camus blocked him, Johnny's entourage pulled him away. Wishing Johnny would just go away.

The contract for the new defense ministry at Balard has been signed. Called the "French Pentagon", the buildings will be shaped like a hexagon, an homage to both the nickname of France (supposedly shaped like a hexagon) and the US Pentagon.

Story on the satirical award to be given tonight to the worst urban development project in Paris. I'll be there, voting (probably) for the Grand Ecran Italie. I'm close to "Sauvons le Grand Ecran", but there are plenty of other doozies, including the Halles, and the Jean Bouin stadium (great to have a spanking new rugby stadium, but will harm local sport, and is crazy because there's the Parc des Princes available next door... Jean Bouin would make some sense if it could be used for the French Open tennis tournament, but that's not the case).

A landlord has not been paid since January for a dwelling occupied by a gendarme. After getting no response from the ministry, the agency in charge finally hired a lawyer. The ministry claims a "computer problem" delayed payments... but still hasn't paid.

Once again, modern art at the palace of Versailles is causing the conservative creepos greybeards of the town to get all hot and bothered. This time it's a temporary installation of works (gigantic, to be sure) of Bernar Venet that are getting them all ready to protest and sue and whatever (and lose, again). The retrograde folks would be happy if only white people with de's in their names were allowed to set foot on the grounds. Their defense of a non-existent purity of Versailles is laughable. Expo info HERE.

The city of Fontenay aux Roses is owed 16 million euros from the government for unpaid local taxes by the Atomic Energy Commission. Heee.

And in the stupidest news of the day, French TV channels are now banned from saying "follow us on Facebook" or "our Twitter address is @xyz". Apparently the CSA, the equivalent of the FCC, thinks this is advertising, which is banned within programs on French TV (except when we do an entire show on the latest Airbus jet). So by this logic, they can't do shows about the latest Renault, etc. They are seriously fucked up at the CSA.

csa

30 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-30T12:45:00.000+02:00

In the local section of Le Parisien, we have the complaints of neighbors of Les Halles, where the wasteful, useless exhorbitant destruction/renovation is taking place. They managed to get the workers to avoid using jackhammers before 7am. I work at home so get up after 7am most days. I wouldn't be happy waking up each morning to the sound of jackhammers, for months on end. (And since most people don't have A/C, you keep your windows open all day).

It's the 50th anniversary of the first fast food in Paris. It was a Wimpy. What happened to Wimpy in France? I first saw them in Quebec City of all places.

The big story is the latest fad diet, that of "Professor Dukan". It sounds like Atkins with more carbs. And he is particularly tough on pregnant women, who become "obese" because they gain weight during their pregnancy. He recommends lots of fish, whereas public health authorities recommend that pregnant women eat as little fish as possible, in particular fatty fishes, which accumulate heavy metals, mercury, etc.

So Georges Tron is out as minister, but is hanging on as mayor. The opposition calls for the State Prefect to take over the admnisitration of the city of Draveil, because many of the victims or witnesses are employees of the city, hired by Tron. Meanwhile, Tron claims that it's all a put up job the National Front. He claims that a local group that opposes his development projects is a front for the National Front (when in fact, this group ran candidates against the National Front in the last elections). And that the lawyer for the women accusing him is Gilbert Collard, notorious media whore, and close to the National Front.

The Tron story gives an opportunity to look at sexism in the National Assembly, and it's not a pretty sight, with comments like "Dressed like that, you're gonna get raped", from a male MP to a female MP wearing heels, or a male MP responding to a request to pass her a file that he will if she fucks him...

The national consumer protection agency has found (surprise!) that oil companies raise prices when crude oil goes up, but barely lower them when prices go down. The government says it may intervene to force the companies to lower prices. I'll believe that one when I see it.

The great 2010 Love Lock mystery remains unsolved. A year ago, the love locks on the Pont des Arts were removed overnight. The city claims it had nothing to do with it, despite complaining about it. Now the favorite spot is the Pont de l'Archévêché behind Notre Dame, followed by the footbridge between Tuileries and the Musée d'Orsay, where people place them in straight lines. It looks nice (see photo above, and more HERE.)

I had a dream, and so did Jimmy

2011-05-29T23:35:00.000+02:00

My strange dream, and Jimmy's strange dream, part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

29 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-29T12:53:00.000+02:00

How do you know the DSK story's going cold? Cuz mass murderer of his family, the heterosexual Xavier de Ligonnès is back as the top story. Guess what: there's nothing new. But we still get to learn that he might have gotten away with offing his family if the police hadn't been so thorough in searching his home.

We learn that his wife (whom he killed) may have been aware of the plan to disappear. A supposition based solely on the fact that one of the letters used by Ligonnès to announce the family's departure was a typewritten letter signed in her hand. Let's see: manipulative murderous liar gets his wife to sign a blank sheet of paper, or she is an accomplice in the murder of her children. Hmmmm....

Also suspect, his mother, the founder of a Catholic apocalyptic sect.

It's Mother's Day in France. Did you know that every single asshole in the world had a mother?

DSK coverage focuses on the fortune of his wife, Anne Sinclair, whose grandfather Paul Rosenberg was the art dealer who was already very successful before fleeing France for NYC during WWII.

Foot-fetishist/minister/reflexologist Georges Tron is going to have trouble hanging on as minister and mayor. Hee.

In France, only close direct family members can be a living organ donor (kidneys for example). That will change with the new bioethics law, which extends the scope of possible donors to people with a close connection. It's amazing how regressive the French are with organ donations, blood donations, insemination, surrogacy, etc.

28 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-28T19:10:00.000+02:00

Reading the good ol' Parisien.

The bowling alley at Porte de Champerret is in danger. Bowling alleys use too much space to be profitable within the city. Two have closed already, and the largest, Porte de la Chapelle, is under threat from urban renewal plans (and would already be gone if Paris had won its bid for the Olympics).

Reflexologist/foot fetishist minister and mayor Georges Tron gets two pages. Not quite DSK-levels, but still not bad. He's probably gonna have to resign, to avoid more embarrassment for the government.

Other ministers are joining in on the attack on immigrant children. Surprise!

27 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-27T13:37:00.000+02:00

Top story: French youth no longer no how to drink, they get sopping drunk and die. I say: Darwin Awards for all (except for the innocents killed by drunken youth drivers).

Racist minister of the interior (police) Claude Guéant continues dog whistling (well, more like wolf whistling) to the fascist xenophobes his master Sarkozy needs to win the elections next year. One of his new lies is about the educational failure of immigrant children. First he claimed that two-thirds of school failers (whatever that means) were children of immigrants. Now he claims that it's two-thirds of immigrant children who are school failers. Neither "statistic" comes from anywhere other than his ass. A report from the OECD points to the poverty of immigrants, and the failure of the State (ahem, run by Guéant and friends) to educate them properly. In fact, when correcting for socio-economic status, immigrant children do better than natives.

The big story from the G8 in Deauville is that Carla Sarkozy is preggers, and is showing off her "baby bump" right and left. VIDEO SPECIAL IN LE PARISIEN: "Carla at the G8, visibly pregnant!".

The French have discovered PACs, or as they call them, "micro-parties". They make it easier to raise money for campaigns, but are criticized for their lack of transparency. They first made the headlines when we learned that former budget minister and friend of the rich Eric Woerth had a few.

The Socialists decided to have "American-style" primaries for their presidential candidate (be careful what you wish for). But these elections won't be run by the municipalities, as are all other elections; they'll be run by the part itself. But they somehow thought that they could get free access to the polling places and the electoral lists. Now some cities and the State prefects are being less than cooperative. While they are being uncooperative for political reasons, just what made the PS think they could make this happen?

Frozen embryos are causing problems. Even non-religious folks don't want the unused embryos they suffered so much to produce to be destroyed (or even donated). And the parliament has voted against using them for scientific research. The French are supposedly so advanced, but in anything to do with "families" they are very Catho-retrograde. Vasectomies were long illegal. Surrogacy is banned. Gay marriage remains illegal in large part because they don't want to allow gays to adopt. And so the "bry-brys" and the "little Birdseyes" remain in the freezer. This is all too gross. In other European countries, including Germany, they simply don't freeze embryos. You have to use them or lose them.

In DSK news, his luxury town-house-arrest irritates some, including Socialist troublemaker Arnaud Montebourg, who is SHOCKED SHOCKED that rich people have it easier than poor people. As if in France your wealth has nothing to do with the way you deal with the justice system. A kid steals a motorcycle, he gets a year in prison. A politician steals millions from the government, he gets a suspended sentence.

In the local section, a story on the illegal cigarette vendors at Barbès. Many buyers assume these are real name-brand cigarettes, smuggled to avoid French taxes. In fact, they're usually counterfeit cigarettes made in China.

Advice Illustrated, 26 May 2011

2011-05-26T16:38:00.001+02:00

Letter 1 is from a college student who walked in on his cousin practicing autoerotic asphyxiation. Should he tell his aunt and uncle? Prudie says YES (and the cousin). I say NO (talk to the cousin). Sheesh.

Video letter is from a woman whose BF is a male slut. Every woman in his hometown is an ex paramour. How can she get over this? Prudie says it's odd that she would know this info, but even if it's true, what is important is that he chose her. I say: pictures please of the hunk.

Letter 2 if from an American who found a job in Bahrein. Should he have his family join him in this wonderful land of repression and torture? Prudie says all he needs to worry about is his family's safety, since, after all, the USA has a naval base there, so it must be A-OK. I say that you have to accept some responsibility when you support a regime that is committing atrocities in front of you. Just because you're safe doesn't mean you're pure.I wouldn't say he absolutely has to leave, but bringing his family is definitely a vote of confidence in the regime in place.

Letter 3 is from someone whose BIL has Alzheimer's. Should he say "goodbye" while the guy still has some brain function? Other family members want him to STFU. Prudie says to make it a family celebration of his life. I don't know.

Letter 4 is from a woman who was left paying the very hefty bar tab from a date with a drunk who got kicked out of the restaurant. Should she ask him to reimburse her? Prudie says yes. I say duh.

26 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-26T16:17:00.000+02:00

Lead story in Le Parisien, a case of industrial pollution.

And DSK isn't even the second story: that honor goes to the RADAR issue, with various members of Sarkozy's government making contradictory statements about removing warning signs for radar guns. Part of the problem is that before becoming Minister of the Interior (law enforcement), Claude Guéant was Sarkozy's closest advisor, with a history of undermining the Prime Minister.

A Sarkozy MP created a stir during discussion of a bill for marriage equality by saying "What next? Marriage between animals? Polygamy?" She now has apologized, and claims she was "joking". You're a stupid vicious cunt, Brigitte Barèges. Just joking! Sorry!

So Christine Lagarde, ultraliberal finance minister, is going to replace DSK at the IMF? Looking forward to her resignation when the "abuse of power" case against her moves forward. To replace her as finance minister, the current budget minister François Baroin is not in the running, partly because he doesn't speak English well enough, a key skill in thie G8/G20 year.

Foot-fetish/sexual predator/Mayor/Junior Minister/Reflexologist Georges Tron is still in the news. Apparently his foot fetish is general knowledge in the town where he serves as mayor.

The latest victim of Belgian (Flemish) linguistic BS: The Bruxelles metro will no longer be playing French music on the loudspeakers, due to protests from Phlegms that they deserved equal time. I guess that would be possible if there were actually things worth listening to from Flemish musicians.

Christine Ockrent has finally resigned from her job as the sort-of-head of news channel France 24. There's a great rivalty between her and her boss, everyone hates her, and she's been accused of spying on staff. Of course, one wonders why the wife of the minister of foreign affairs, a ministry that finances the network was even working there at all in the first place.

One wonders if once she's in Washington, Christine Lagarde will still pretend to be a member of the Conseil d'Arrondissement of the 12th and the Paris City Council. It's not like it would make a big change, since her duties as finance minister have served her well until now as an excuse for not showing up to council meetings or doing any actual work as a council member.

The Banque de France is converting a former branch office in a beautiful townhouse to the the City of Money and the Economy, aimed at explaining to us poor taxpayers how the economy works. Hah!

25 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-25T17:47:00.000+02:00

Local news: The "zone non aedificandi" was the area around the 19th-century fortifications of Paris. The ban on construction was aimed at protecting the wall from attacks, and allowing defenders a clear view of any approaching enemies. Even after the destruction of the wall, and until the construction of the belt of public housing and sports grounds that followed, the area was a no-man's land, with cardboard shacks, ragmen, and bistros that sought to escape the octroi, the internal customs duty that served as the local tax for Paris.

Thus "la zone" became, and remains, the name for a place of ill repute, abandoned, dangerous, slummy. A legacy of the original "zone" was the "boulevard de la zone", between Paris and Ivry. On the Ivry side, the boulevard was renamed in honor of a communist WWII resistance figure, while Paris kept the original name. And under the former right-wing mayors of Paris, steps were taken to force the people and businesses on the boulevard (all of which are located on the Ivry side) to use the Paris name (because the entire boulevard itself was actually on the territory of Paris). This resulted in a loss of 30% of property value, just because of the name. Under the new Paris administration, measures were taken first to stop the efforts to force Ivry-side owners to use the Paris name, and now, to change the name on the Paris side to match the name used by Ivry. Ooof.

The foolish and wasteful project for the renovation of Les Halles has a key element, the Canopée, a glass structure that covers the old Forum and replaces the "umbrella" structures the housed various public facilities at the ground level of Les Halles. Now a call for tender to the major construction companies of the country has prooved fruitless: nobody can build it within the already generous financial constraints of the project. Oops! The architect is brilliant, and has won lots of prizes, and did a great job on our neighborhood sports complex. He himself lives in the neighborhood here. I served with his daughter on the neighborhood council. But the project is nutso megalomania, and pretty useless.

Prime Minister Fillon has backed down on the radar issue, while claiming he hasn't. But since the radar warning signs won't be removed, we're gonna call Mr. Fillon a liar.

A quietly announced verdict from the Cour de Cassation, the highest court in France for civil affairs, could have a huge impact. The demagogical "solidarity day" (i.e. tax on workers to punish them for not working enough, imposed when the government failed to act to prevent deaths during the 2004 heatwave) is unconstitutional. Ooops. Several billion euros could be refunded to workers forced to fork over a day's pay.

24 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-24T15:10:00.000+02:00

Big story for Le Parisien is the latest attempt by right-wing interior minister Claude Guéant, Sarkozy's closest advisor, to fish for National Front votes. This time, given the failure to stop illegal immigration (because that would involve doing things like sending Sarkozy's buddies in the construction industries to jail for employing undocumented workers), the target is legal immigration, which is generally agreed to be necessary for the economy, and a net plus in terms of public spending.

DSK is down to two pages, unless you consider the page devoted to the "anyone but Hollande" attempts to prevent teddybear François Hollande from taking DSK's place as the Socialist candidate next year. As for DSK, he really is a total creep. And I fear the only chance he has to defend himself is to attack the victim, which is totally gross and vile. Another interesting tidbit is that it appears that Sarkozy had lots of dirt on DSK, including a police stop when he was using the services of a (low end) prostitute.

The leading lights of the web are in Paris for a pre-G8 summit. It's in the Tuileries, according to the paper. Maybe go see how they've set that up?

And the scandal of the day for me: Engineering firms are recruiting using poker. Yes. The French love using bogus recruiting methods (psychological tests, astrology, graphology...), but this is a new one. One of the managers using this "technique" (ie, PR stunt) says: "After all, many engineers also play poker". To which I respond: all of the (male) engineers jerk off. So why not have a contest to see who can cum the fastest or the most, or who has the biggest cock? Creeps.

Under the leadership of convicted homophobe MP Vanneste, the UMP MPs continue to protest the removal of radar gun warning signs. (Update: they won.) I'm not too surprised that this is the only debatable measure taken by the government that MPs bother to protest. Useless parasites.

In today's issue, Le Parisien, always with it, discovers Twitter.

23 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-23T12:44:00.001+02:00

Joke of the day: Minister of the interior says that France would be happy to support a request from DSK to serve his sentence in France, in the context of the exchange treaty between France and the USA. As if the USA will allow him to serve his sentence in France, where he's certain to be released after a few months. It's a pity that France's pathetic history in this area spoils the chances of legitimate cases to benefit from such measures. In any case, why is the Minister of the Interior talking about such things now?

Sarkozy's MPs are unhappy with their formerly beloved Prime Minister, who for some reason has managed to stick around at every government cabinet reshuffle. Usually Prime Ministers take the heat for the President and get replaced regularly... they are considered "fuses" that blow to protect the President. But partly because he has been more popular than Sarkozy, who has sought the exposure usually taken on by the Prime Minister, Fillon has stuck around. Now MPs are finally getting tired of him, because he doesn't listen to their concerns or consult them. This is amusing, because the French parliament is mostly a decorative make-work place that rubber stamps the cabinet's bills. Now they want some consideration! A sore subject at the moment is the government's decision to remove the automatic radar gun warning signs.

Are the protests in Madrid getting any attention where you are?

The French post office used to run the telegraphs and phone system, before the telegraph died and the phone system was spun off, then privatized, then opened to competition. Now La Poste is getting into phones again as a MVNO in partnership with SFR.

French schoolchildren provide all their school supplies. To help keep down the costs for parents, a list of essential items was negotiated with major retailers and the Ministry of Education. But no more! The two parties couldn't agree on including satchels among the essentials (they can always use garbage bags, after all!).

Cannes is over, time for Roland Garros to begin! And when that's over, we'll have a couple of weeks before being expected to care about the Tour de France.

22 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-22T13:03:00.001+02:00

Reading Le Parisien Dimanche...

DSK of course is still a big story, but a normal big story.

According to Le Parisien, DSK is living at "71 Broadway Street". They add "street" to show how in-the-know with all things American they are. They are dipshits.

DSK is allowed 4 visitors. Yesterday, that was his wife, two lawyers, and probably his daughter. Now it's 4 persons in addition to his wife and lawyers. Which is it, Le Parisien?

Like just about every French media outlet, Le Parisien keeps telling us what the US justice system is like, and how it differs from the French system. Among the signs that they are talking out of their ass, is the fact that they keep talking about "US law" and "US justice", when DSK is being tried in a NY State court, under NY law. And they say crap like: "Dans le système américain, c’est à l’accusé de contribuer à apporter les preuves de son innocence." They point this out, because for some laughable reason, they are convinced that the French justice system has an impartial agent searching for truth, when in fact, it's all one big set up against anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted by the "justice" system. (This is even more true since a recent reform designed to "streamline" justice, by which they mean steamrollering the accused.) In any case, they don't get that in American justice, the State has to prove its case, and the defendent has no requirement to prove his innocence.

Christine Lagarde is favored as the "European" candidate for DSK's old job at the IMF. That of course will not (in any case should not) happen, as she is under investigation for abuse of power in the Tapie case. And frankly, why would Europeans trust a French candidate? In any case, Lagarde is the most American of Europeans, having spent her career in a top US law firm.

Avignon has created a "sidewalk tax", aimed first at the sandwich shops where customers make their purchases (and often eat) on the public domain. The new regulation applies to banks for their ATMs. I like it: they're using public space to do business, they should pay for that use. But if the system is anything like the Paris regulations on the use of public space by businesses, they won't be respected by businesses, and won't be effectively enforced by the city. (The Avignong tax is pretty high. A sandwich shop claims it's 900 euros a month for him, and an ATM costs a bank 1500 euros a year.) Shops claim that it's all because the right-wing mayor wants to limit the number of kebab shops. They are smelly, dirty, their clients create noise for neighbors, they leave their litter everywhere... I'm for restricting them too.

21 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-21T12:48:00.000+02:00

No news yesterday, because Le Parisien is crap and I only got the PDF in the evening and was already too bored to post.

Today will of course be the last post, as I intend to be raptured.

Good news! DSK is no longer the top news, although he rates a mention on the cover, and pages 4 through 9 of the paper (the last one is more French politics, aka P12 for the 2012 presidential election, with Sarkozy now taking aim at the surprise frontrunner after DSK's political demise, former Socialist general secretary François Hollande).

With regard to real DSK news, some was actually interesting. For example:
I didn't know that DSK's third and current wife, Anne Sinclair, had a huge personal fortune (lucky him!). She is the heir to an art dealer, and has a large art collection worth millions of euros. I only know her as a TV journalist and host with particularly beautiful eyes and chunky legs, and as a woman who blew me off when she spoke at a panel my association had organized. DSK's house arrest (and his defense) are going to cost a fortune, so it's great that Anne Sinclair is standing by her man.

The paper also claims that the victim lied to immigration authorities, which could make her a difficult witness for the prosecution.

More interesting to me is the case of the journalist who claims DSK tried to rape her in 2002. Her mother, a Socialist elected official, claims that she told François Hollande, at the time general secretary of the party, and local bigwig Laurent Fabius. Now she's changed her tune: she assumed they knew. Huh? And she is the one who convinced her daughter not to file a complaint against DSK back then. Now the journalist is playing coy about filing. She says she didn't do it earlier because no one would have believed her. But not so long ago DSK was already involved in a sex scandal. If she really wanted to file a complaint, she could have now. And now she says she's hesitating because she fears being drawn into the US trial (can a US court for a foreign national to testify? If France doesn't allow the extradition of the accused, why would they cooperate with the extradition of a witness, and a victim, no less). It all seems fishy.

In a story about the lack of women on prime-time radio, there's a sidebar explaining what an "anchorman" is. Le Parisien, fuckwads that they are, say that "The word 'anchorman' literally means 'tree-trunk-man', because you never see their legs." Really.

French taxpayers have the pleasure of paying yet again for the Palais de Tokyo. 20 million euros to make it a center for young creation. Whatever that is. And despite the fact that they've already spent tens of millions to make it a center for young creation. Whatever that was. And before that, more tens of millions to make it the center for cinema. That was before spending tens of millions to convert the former American Center into the Cinémathèque. When the State can waste money like this, please don't tell me that there is a budget crisis and no money for useful things.

Advice Illustrated: They tire me this week

2011-05-19T16:35:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from some crazy and I just don't get it at all. Prudie is also confused, but ends up giving good enough advice (the best advice would have been: go away you nutjob!).

Video letter is from a pediatrician who wonders if he should intervene when he's off duty and sees parents giving their kids food they could choke on. Prudie says to intervene gently. I say, yeah.

Letter 2 is from a woman who is being stalked by the young guy at the reception desk of her gym. Should she ignore the behavior? Prudie says to report him and get him fired. I say: Is he hot?

Letter 3 is a good one. It's from a 12yo whose mother confirmed that yes, she was an accident, and moreover, she had planned to abort LW. LW isn't overly upset by this. Is that a normal reaction? Prudie says it was a really bad idea for mom to speak of the abortion, but no, LW is not nuts for not freaking out about this. I say, yeah. I would have added: I'm sure most parents think about getting rid of their kids once in a while.

Letter 4 is from a woman who can't get to the point, which is: she's her mother's caregiver, and her mother wants to leave the house they live in to her. The problem is her sister is likely to freak out. Prudie says she shouldn't feel bad about getting the house, and perhaps her sister will realize she's earned it. I say, yeah.

19 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-19T12:47:00.000+02:00

Le Parisien devotes only the cover + 6 pages to DSK today! Of course, the big story for Le Parisien is "why are people so interested in DSK?" It probably has nothing to do with the fact that Le Parisien has devoted 8+8+9+6 pages to it so far...

Among the "reasons" pulled out of a "journalist's" ass, is that it's a story taking place in "puritanical America". Right. Only prudes get in a tizzy over RAPE.

According to DSK's lawyer, one of the biggest problems for DSK in prison is that he DOESN'T HAVE A WATCH! As Séguéla, former adman for Socialist François Mitterrand (and matchmaker for Carla and Nicolas Sarkozy) says: "If you're 50 years old and you don't have a Rolex, you're a failure."

In fact, French people don't care about DSK: they care about speed radar stations. In an attempt to lower road deaths, the government has decided to remove the signs warning that a speed radar was installed down the highway. Drivers are up in arms (just how they justify this is hard to understand... is there some inalienable right to drive too fast?), as are members of the UMP governing party (elections are next year!). Radar detectors will also become illegal (but 90% of those who use them will continue to do so). Yesterday a "demonstration" of drivers was organized by the manufacturers of radar detectors.

A story on the European Commission's plan to eliminate disposable shopping bags. They'll be illegal in France by the end of this year. Many stores are charging for them, usually 3 cents each. In Paris, this is total BS, because most people use their disposable grocery bags as garbage bags. I need to start stocking up.... because all that will happen when they're banned is that I will need to buy disposable garbage bags.

WWF has tested tap water and bottled water in various places in France, and found pollutants in all samples. If I'm going to drink polluted water, I'll do it from the tap, where it's cheaper and I don't have to schlep it up the hill. (But I might invest in a new Brita.)

Here in the 20th Arrondissement, a high school student has stabbed a classmate. It appears that the "victim" was a bully who was threatening the kid who stabbed him. In other crime news, the convicted drug dealing brother of Rachida Dati, liar, former Justice Minister, current bored MEP and easily irritated mayor of the 7th Arrondissement, has been arrested for sexual assault.

Story on how new stores need to be beautiful, with a focus on the new A&F store on the Champs Elysées (with the lovely shirtless sales staff). Yum. Other stores featured are Guerlain and Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysées, and Ralph Lauren and Hermès in St Germain des Prés. They all look lovely. Wish I had the taste and the means for these places. Given that I don't have the means, it's probably best I don't have the taste.

"La Conquête", a fiction about the presidential campaign of Sarkozy is out. Curious to see it.
Also in film news, Lar Von Trier says he's a Nazi, but he doesn't hate Jews, except the ones in Israel who really are a pain in the butt. Alas, I fear Mossad has better things to do than to knock of this shithead.

A story on diseases that are significantly more prevalent in the Paris area than in the rest of the country. Top of the list: HIV/AIDS, with 157% more cases than the national average! Also TB, with 93% more cases. In the city of Paris, there are 59 cases per 100,000 persons, compared with a national average of 10. Maybe the ban on blood donations from gay men should be limited to Paris...

More complaints about police abuse from the notorious Goutte d'Or police station... surprise!

Labor inspectors have sent warning letters to stores in Chinatown in the 13th (no news about our Chinatown in Belleville). They are all open on Sunday, which is not allowed. Panic! I am a big fan of laws limiting Sunday openings, but there are sometimes reasons for preserving the principle, while changing the date. I think, for example, of the covered market in the 19th that was dying until a Kosher supermarket opened up. But the City of Paris kicked them out, because the market had to be open on Saturday, according to city regulations. So the market is closed, no one can shop there, on Saturday or any other day.

18 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-18T14:58:00.001+02:00

Will you be surprised when I tell you that Le Parisien's cover is devoted to "The Prisoner of Riker's Island"? Thought not.

I thought the number of pages would go down, but it's up to cover + 9!

DSK had lunch with his daughter Camille. She's doing a "PHD" at Columbia.
One of the reasons DSK didn't get bail is because France doesn't extradite easily to the US. The French are always annoyed when other countries won't extradite to France, but delight in refusing extradition from France (think Ira Einhorn). Nice to see it bite them again.

Here're the articles:

DSK at Riker's Island
His daughter will be a key witness
Defence strategy (hints at "it was consensual")
What's Riker's Island like?
Testimony from a famous French criminal imprisoned there ("It's a dump.")
Story from victim's brother (in which victim's name is given)
Pilgrimages to the suite where it may have happened
Her neighbors like the victim
Face off between the DA and the defense attorneys
Definition of "rape" in US law (which of course in this case only means NY law, but the French don't get that each state has its own legal system)
Explanation of the Grand Jury system
Interview with a noted feminist lawyer in France
French feminists react to the sexist reactions to the story in France
Tasteless jokes on the web (no!)
How the foreign media judge the French media on DSK story
The images the French are supposedly so shocked by (perp walk) make for great TV ratings here
More reactions from the Socialists
Party leader Martine Aubry must take the lead in the presidential race says a friend of her
Ségolène Royal won't give up the primary race
The right wing parties are trying to find the right tone
The young UMPer who supports the conspiracy theory is trying to lie low, with UMP officials claiming they have never heard of him, despite the fact that he was a very public member of the party, in particular their youth movement.

The worst-kept secret in France, the pregnancy of Sarkozy's wife Carla, is out. Jesus H Christ, who cares? This would be the first baby born to a sitting president (except for all the bastards just about every president has sired).

The French are great innovators in retailing, at least in big box hypermarkets. A new upscale version of the Carrefour hypermarkets are being unveiled. There are a couple at the gates of Paris. I would be interested in seeing such a store (although if one of the "innovations" is freezer units with doors, that's been done by every supermarket (but hypermarkets usually use open chests). The face lift is of course aimed at the "ladies".

A new cooking show in France! It sounds like the French version of a British show I've seen here, where two people each open a restaurant for a night in their homes. The one that takes in the most money wins. I forget the French name, and never knew the English name.

Naming:

17 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-17T14:29:00.001+02:00

Reading Le Parisien, which offers a second day of cover + 8 pages on Dominique Strauss Kahn (DSK).

Among the highlights, noted homophobic prima donna creep right wing politician Bernard Debré claims that DSK often raped women in the NY Sofitel, and that the hotel routinely covered it up. I do hope someone will sue this guy. For pure form, the "journalist" asks the hotel for comment. Guess what? They deny this grotesque claim.

The papers can't agree on how many years DSK could get. Something like 74 now. That's pretty shocking for France, where rape will get you three years if you're unlucky. Or else a really heavy sentence (suspended). They are very tough with the suspended sentences here.

"Shock" at the images of a handcuffed DSK. Since 2000 this kind of image has been illegal to publish in France, after a series of perp walks shocked the public conscience as an attack on the presumption of innocence. Of course the French routinely handcuff and abuse prisoners, but what's important is to not show people in handcuffs. While the French moan about the lack of respect for the presumption of innoncence among Americans, they ignore the fact that almost everyone who goest o trial here is magically found guilty, and sentenced, miraculously, to time served. In a country that abuses preventive detention on a scale only found in dictatorships, this is very rich.

More on the "journalist and novelist", the goddaughter of DSK's second wife, who claims now that he raped her 10 years ago (she was an adult already at the time).

"He left his phone in the room! Proof he was trying to escape!" After leaving the hotel, he had lunch with his daughter in a restaurant. Just the kind of behavior of a rapist trying to run away.

France will open bidding for 18 4G mobile telephone licences. Goodness!

In the meantime, it appears that after all the hinting and leaking and whatnot, Carla Sarkozy is indeed pregnant. Another child for Sarkozy to abandon when he divorces his wife (actually he's pretty good with his kids, at least in terms of promoting their careers).

A cool exhibition Place Vendôme: giant inflatable "pearls" will circle the colonne Vendôme. When you look through the "hole" in each, you'll see a photographic exhibition on pearl jewelry production, from pearl diving to the finished product.

A

16 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-16T12:49:00.000+02:00

Well I guess I don't have to tell you what's in the news today. After telling us yesterday that Dominique Strauss Kahn (DSK) was still far above his rivals in the polls for Socialist candidate for the 2012 Presidential electiosn (P12), they now finally catch up and tell us that DSK has been arrested for attempted rape. And use the cover plus 8 pages to do so.

Here are the headlines:

DSK indicted in NYC
What happened, when
What he risks, the legal procedure
Internet conspiracy theories
Stupor and sadness among the Socialists
What does this mean for the Socialist primaries?
Reactions from politicians
Reactions from a radio broadcast partnered by Le Parisien
Man-in-the-street reactions
DSK, the pick-up artist
A past story of attempted rape comes out again
The "victim" could file a complaint (10 years later)
DSK's wife, former TV newscaster Anne Sinclair, in the front lines
A psychiatrist diagnoses DSK's sexual addiction
Emergency meeting at the IMF
Interim IMF director named
Bad timing for the IMF
Reactions in the world press
Other sex scandals in politics (including, of course, Bill Clinton)

But what does the lady who takes care of Anne Sinclair's cat when Anne's in DC think?

Guess who hates DSK today? Jean Louis Borloo who scheduled his big rally to announce he was leaving Sarkozy's UMP, and finds himself upstaged.

Drought will affect nuclear power plants. All this before A/C caught on in France, so when the weather is the hottest, the demand for electricity rises, but the nuclear power plants have to be shut down... A dual problem: not enough water for cooling, and the river water is so warm already that adding heated cooling water will kill everything in the river...

Some elderly travellers are suing Air France because the company lost their bags on a flight to Vietnam. Because the people had their medicine in their bags, they suffered throughout the trip. Worse, the weather turned cold and they had to buy some clothes.
1) Air France isn't responsible for the weather, and I assume that clothing is not too expensive in Vietnam in any case.
2) If it's important, you don't check it. Jerks.

The French defeat at Eurovision still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Rather like the loss of the 2012 Olympics to London, the French are now saying the other side didn't play fair, with the only example given being that of the official jury, where Sweden gave 2 points to France, while France gave 12 points to Sweden.
1) Maybe the Swedes thought Amaury was crap. I know I did.
2) Maybe it makes no difference, since Sweden didn't win, and France FINISHED 15TH!!!!

The City Council of Paris will vote today to approve a 700k€ annual grant to the association building the new Philharmonic at La Villette. Disgusting, wastefull boondoggle. Drives me nuts!!!!

For the first time, members of the City Council are being penalized for being absent at council meetings. The ones bitching the most about it are Ministers who are away for important government business. Which for me is proof that they shouldn't be sitting on the council if they have another job. Sheez!

Apparently the French are the largest consumers of chewing gum in the world, and it shows on the sidewalks, which the city works try their best to keep clean.

15 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-16T00:45:00.000+02:00

Reading Le Parisien from this Sunday morning, it's pretty clear that they didn't cry "stop the presses" when the news of the arrest of Dominique Strauss Kahn came out. The story that was the only thing on TV since the arrest of DSK during the night of Saturday to Sunday, NY time.

In fact, after the big story of the day (football, what else, with the cover plus three pages on the victory of Lille in some cup), the next pages were devoted to the continued high polls for DSK in the race for the Socialist nomination for the 2012 presidential elections. This, despite a pseudo-scandal of DSK riding in a... PORCHE! (The "guy whose Porche it was" gets a full page just for himself.)

Anyhow, nothing about the arrest for attempted rape. But they'll catch up tomorrow.

Several more pages on presidential election "news" (from now on, we'll call presidential election news "P12"), then a short piece on a rally of the UMP (Sarkozy's party). A Sarkozy minister of North African origin was outraged when a participant said "we have had enough of these towelheads*!'The party line is that everyone was offended by the words of the old man. In fact, independent sources state that at least a third of the audience supported the creep.

The term used was "bougnoules". Think "spic" or "kike" in terms of offensiveness.

A rather substantial article about the Mad Hatters, which drew my attention because this gang of pickpockets operates in Michigan. http://abcnews.go.com/US/sterling-heights-mi-mad-hatters-female-pickpocket-ring/story?id=13565233

The entertainment section is heavy on Cannes, of course, but also the fantastic failure of the French singer at Eurovision. Once again, commentators blame geographico-cultural block voting. Duh.

13 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-13T19:29:00.001+02:00

My comments as I read Le Parisien.

Well, for the last two days, Blogger has been offline at various points. This is a first, and surprising for a Google product. You can view Blogspot blogs, but can’t edit them (which is what Blogger is for).

Gosh, there must be nothing happening today in the world if Le Parisien can devote the first two pages of the paper to a major lead story: it’s Friday the 13th.

Another full page is devoted to the 500-day anniversary of the kidnapping of two French TV journalists (and their anonymous translaters, assistants, crew…) in Afghanistan. They seem to be the only kidnapped persons in the world, since we get an update on every newscast on every network every day. Not that this is unimportant, but the fact that the media is obsessed about the media to the exclusion of equally worthy stories.

On the political front, the somewhat-left-of-Sarkozy “Radicals” (that’s another story: the Radical Parties of France… you’ve got Radicals of the Right, Radicals of the Left, Radicals of the Center… they’ve merged and split and joined and unjoined for decades, nay centuries now) are leaving the fold, under the banner of the mysteriously popular Jean Louis Borloo, who remains popular (so the media tell us) despite not ever having done much when he was a minister, except marrying a sloppy newscaster and appearing slovenly and drunk in public.

Anyway, they look like they’ll be officially leaving Sarkozy’s UMP this weekend, a move precipitated by Borloo not getting the Prime Minister post in the last government shake-up/musical chairs. Who will join him? How many center-ish rivals does Sarkozy need in the 2012 presidential race?

An amazing number of former ministers close to Borloo have left the UMP, and suddenly discovered it is polarizing and anti-social (because in a government known for attacking the rights of workers, promoting the rich, etc., Borloo and friends somehow kept a “socially progressive” image).

Marine LePen of the National Front is using the language of the far left. Surprise! Populist extremist movements all appeal to the disaffected poor and working class.

There have been cases recently of fraudulent admission of Chinese students to French universities. Now a professor involved in short-circuiting the admissions process as part of this fraud has been punished: he is suspended without pay for three years. But afterwards, he’ll be welcomed back. Huh?????

Advice Illustrated

2011-05-12T13:06:00.000+02:00

Prudie may be found at Slate.com.

Letter 1 is from a man, with a graduate degree in theology no less (although there's nothing like a bit of real theology to turn you off religion), whose entire family, including his wife, are very Christian. A while ago he realized that the only thing propping up that worldview was a willingness to believe a bunch of nonsense. He doesn't want to suffer the consequences of telling them the truth.
Prudie tells him if he's fine playing along, he can, but it sounds like he doesn't want to hide the shameful secret that he is a rational human being from his wife. She directs him to some resources.
I say, do as you please. They are making believe there is a god as much as you are for the moment. But if you don't believe in god, what's stopping you from murdering, raping, stealing? If, as your family likely believe, fear of hellfire is the only thing keeping people in line, what's going on with you? In short: how is it that they can't tell you don't believe? Is it really enough just to show up in church on Sunday? I mean, if you worked out regularly, and then just went to the gym without actually working out, you would see a difference pretty soon. Shouldn't something similar happen to people who go to church without believing?

Video letter is from a pregnant woman whose female partner doesn't want to tell her temporary coworkers (she has two more years in medical residency) about her impending motherhood. LW makes a big deal about them being in the South. Coworkers know partner is lesbian and partnered, and partner is thrilled about impending motherhood with friends and family.
Prudie basically says the partner is mentally ill and needs immediate therapy.
I say, it's a bit odd that coworked know and accept that partner is lesbian and has a partner, but would freak out if they knew she was going to be a mother. But... these are people in the place she is forced to work. There is such a thing as private life. If at some point her private life intrudes in her professional life in such a way that it becomes easier to tell all rather than keeping matters private, then she'll deal with that then.

Letter 2 is from a privileged woman who is so proud to live in her McMansion on a cul-de-sac (you do know that means "bags ass"?) in a gated community so her precious offspring can be "safe". But, gasp! She has learned that privileged women who live in McMansions on cul-de-sacs in gated communities tend to drive... SUVs! Who'd've thunk it! And this generates some problems... like this one, about the husband of one of those Desperate Housewives: "He told me that his wife had nearly backed her car over our son when he fell off his bike trying to get out of her way. Tom stopped her in time. He was rude and condescending to me, repeatedly saying that my children are too young to play outside unattended." Now Tom Scavo (although Carlos seems more likely to make threats) is threatening to report them to Child Protective Services for daring to let their children play outside unattended by a personal bodyguard.

Can you tell I'm hating everyone involved?

Apparently this is no idle threat, and LW is now worried every time the doorbell rings, and has finally noticed that Tom keeps his beady eyes on all the kids playing outside.

Prudie says: "A pox on all your McMansions!" Basically, the Scavos are crazy and dangerous, but LW is wrong to let a 3yo play in the street.

I note that the LW "works from home". Bad mother! That is unsuburban behavior! You want to work, live in a brownstone somewhere where there are sidewalks for kids to play on, and where drivers know how to keep an eye out for street hockey.

Prudie concludes: "Try to short circuit the feud by telling him you want to express your profound gratitude to him for protecting your son, and that he's right, your kids are too young to be out alone." I would add: "And if you ever make your creepy psycho threats again, I will personally rip off those teeny tiny balls of yours, put a cocktail pick in them, and serve them with a nice martini."

Letter 3 is from an overweight 17yo girl who declines invitations to beach parties because she doesn't want to appear in a bathing suit. Prudie says she is likely exagerating the situation, and she needs to get fit, like her body whatver its size, and find ways to be comfortable enjoying ordinary pleasures like a day at the beach.
I note that she is invited to these events, that she is teased until she gets into a suit and into the water, etc., which for me, means that nobody cares about her weight, and they want her to be part of the fun.

Letter 4 is from a woman who was given a set of pearl earrings and necklace (a set of jewelry is called a "parure" in French, which is a rather nice word... it's related to the verb "to adorn") from her MIL. The parure was designed by MIL for herself 20 years ago (sooooo old fashioned!). While LW loves the necklace, which she can wear anywhere* (which is why wise ladies tell young women to get a simple chain of pearls), the earrings are fussy and no longer in style. Can she get the pearls reset without offending her sensitive MIL?
Prudie says she can, but is it worth the aggravation? Prudie says to find another pair of earrings that go with the necklace, and wait for the earrings to come back in fashion.
I find this such a stupid question I'm done with it.

*I first typed "anywear". And I thought: "That looks wrong. Oh yeah, of course, it's 'anyware'." I am getting old.

12 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-12T08:54:00.000+02:00

What piques my interest as I read Le Parisien:

A report calls for a reform or the abolition of personal income tax in France. Because of various tax breaks, it is far from the progressive tax it was supposed to be. Half of all households don't pay anything. This is due in part to some 500 tax breaks worth 50 billion euros, partly to the "shares" system. Unlike the US personal exemption, a fixed amount per person that deducts income from the household's taxable income, France has a system of "shares", where the household income is divided by the number of members of the household, and the tax rates are then applied to the result. For households with children, this means that they quickly fall under the threshhold for taxable income.
IMO it's not going to happen though: those tax breaks are any government's favorite way of claiming to take action on an economic or social problem.
One of the sidebars shows that Le Parisien is, as we know, full of crap. It gives as an example of a progressive tax the income tax (true, in theory), of a proportional tax that CSG (true, it's a fixed amount of all sources of income), and of a regressive tax the VAT. That's true in terms of household income as a whole, but certainly not true in terms of the tax itself: a 19.6% VAT is perfectly proportional.

Our favorite proponent of workfare, Laurent Wauquiez, promised 10,000 job creations in call centers. Guess what! He failed. With regard to workfare, Sarkozy has given Waukie a good talking to.

The fact that potential Socialist presidential candidate Dominique Strauss Kahn was photographed driving in a Porsche continues, for some reason, to agitate the press and the political class. I don't get it.

A new law on immigration has been voted by the Parliament. It must be a very good one, since it's only the SEVENTH law on immigration made by Sarkzoy. Someday he'll get it right.

A burglar was crushed when the safe he and his accomplices were stealing from a restaurant fell on him.

Lots of noise about the choices of the coach of the French national rugby team for the World Cup selection. Poor freak Chabal wasn't chosen, which makes lots of people angry. If it helps reduce his attractiveness for marketers, I'm for it.

After the deadly fire a few weeks ago in my neighborhood, the survivors face another trauma: all their belongings have been stolen. The investigating magistrates would not allow them to return to their homes, and no security was in place, even after the first burglaries. Computers, TVs, etc. have all disappeared now. Vive la France, vive la justice.

11 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-11T09:49:00.000+02:00

While reading Le Parisien...

Nothing to speak of in the Paris section.

In the national section, more on the "Sarkozy Bonus". France already has two forms of profit sharing, one mandatory and the other voluntary. Now Sarkozy is stealing money from large-ish firms (50+ employees) that pay dividends. If the dividend last year was more than the average of the previous two years, some sort of exceptional bonus must be paid to employees. It will be (mostly) free from payroll taxes. So, if you happen to work for a company that paid a dividend, you get a taxpayer-supported bonus, but if you don't, you'll just pay for it. Demagogy at its peak.

Another full page on the anniversary yesterday of Mitterrand's first election as president. Yawn.

I'm glad to see the nasty Finance Minister Christine Lagarde finally getting caught in her double dealing with regard to Bernard Tapie. Tapie is the Trump of France (sort of), and lost a lot of money by fraud on the part of his bank, the state-owned Crédit Lyonnais. He won his case against the bank, but lost on appeal to the high court, which sent the case back to be judged again in the normal appeals court. Instead, the parties agreed to arbitration, and Tapie was awarded a huge sum. The question is now why Lagarde as Minister of Finance allowed this arbitration (never before used in a case involving the State), and more important, why she did not appeal the arbitration decision, as she could have, with a good chance of winning, given the grossly excessive damages awarded to Tapie. Lagarde is now being investigated for "abuse of power". Why would she have done this? Because Tapie is an annoyance to the left, and giving him some cash kept him sweet on Sarkozy... and it's not Sarkozy or Lagarde's money, so what do they care?

Chantal Joanno, Minister for Sport, who I appreciate for her stand on homophobia, seems much more tolerant for racism. After coming out strongly against the discriminatory projects of the French Football Federation, she has used her ministry's internal investigation of the matter to make it all go away. Boo!

It's the Cannes Film Festival, and once again, we're supposed to care. The Woody Allen film is getting a lot of attention. I may break my rule of never ever seeing a Woody Allen film again. Or maybe I'll just watch Thor.

Once again, French TV is killing a TV series: TF1 bought ABC's FlashForward for a very high price, but is now broadcasting it Wednesdays at 11pm. When no-one watches, they'll cancel it after four weeks. Or just move it to Sunday morning at 6am, right after the hunting and fishing show.

Will there be a crazed mob at the illegal market in Belleville?

2011-05-10T21:27:00.007+02:00

I'm a former council member, and still an active participant, in the Conseil de quartier de Belleville. A conseil de quartier is a neighborhood council or community board which seeks to link inhabitants, businesses and visitors to a neighborhood with the local government and other official bodies. It is supposed to propose projects, bring people together, let grievances be heard, suggest solutions, organize concrete actions. Belleville is one of the 7 Conseils of the 20th Arrondissement of Paris, and covers a territory with over 20,000 people. Members are volunteers, drawn from among the lists of registered voters, designated by local associations, named by the political parties present in the Conseil d'arrondissement of the 20th.

About three times a year a public meeting is held. They usually attract a group of 50 regulars, sometimes the double if a point of great public interest is on the agenda. More often than not, these become occasions for residents to complain about crime, violence, dirty streets, dog poop, and the like, taking advantage of the presence of local elected officials, usually including the mayor.

The agenda for tonight's meeting didn't look very attractive, so I didn't anticipate to find many people in the elementary school activities room. To my great surprise, it was packed with hundreds of people, more than I've ever seen at a public meeting in the 20th. The reason was not a status report on construction projects in the neighborhood, nor an update on outstanding grievances, but rather, the "marché de la misère".

I write "marché de la misèré" but in doing so, I'm making a political choice. This "market" is located on the boulevard de Belleville and surrounding streets. It is an illegal market that began as a "marché des biffins". Biffins or chiffoniers are scavengers who resell "found" objects from the street and garbage cans. Among them you can also find old people who slowly sell off their meager store of personal effecst to earn a few euros.

That's how this market started about three years ago, with a push from the great recession. In our neighborhood, there are some "traditional" biffins, but the ones I see in the garbage cans of my own building are Chinese, illegal immigrants who earn a pittance by finding objects in the garbage, cleaning them, fixing them, and selling them on the street.

Once they settled in, supported by many soft-hearted people who couldn't imagine depriving poor people from making a few euros, and offering other poor people clothing or other items they could never afford new, they were quickly overwhelmed by other kinds of merchants, selling stolen goods, contraband (cigarettes, in particular), drugs and more. They have invaded the center platform of the boulevard and the wide sidewalks on either side. They threaten local people, they have caused great harm to the already suffering businesses located on the boulevard, they fight among themselves, the shit and piss on the street or in the lobbies of the surrounding buildings, they leave the streets covered with waste, spit, vomit, and worse.

The neighbors, as you can imagine, are irate. Last year, after many protests, the French government in the form of the Police Prefect finally sent in the riot police, bringing a brigade from far-off Montauban to provide a non-stop presence on the boulevard. The illegal market moved, until the riot police left. After that they quickly returned, first to the area around the Belleville métro station. When the Police Prefect finally decided to react to ongoing problems of the neighborhood around the métro by creating a special territorial brigade, the illegal market simply moved down the boulevard a bit, away from the territory covered by the new brigade, which in any case lacked the numbers and equipment to dissuade the "merchants" from setting up shop ("shop"is usually a dirty sheet on the pavement, where goods, which now include raw meat, are sold off the ground).

It's a situation totally out of hand, made worse by a legitimate feeling that it would never be allowed in the wealthier parts of the city. Poverty and crime are acceptable in the East, unimaginable in the West. Nor are people satisfied with the hot potato treatment this matter receives. The boulevard divides the 11th and the 20th, and on the otherside of métro Belleville you find the 10th and the 19th. The special police brigade can't act, the police of the 11th tell the police of the 20th to act, the police say they can't act anyway, since this activity is only a "contravention" and not a "délit", limiting the kind of response they can make. The mayor of the 20th asks the mayor of Paris to act, the mayors respond that they don't have control over the police (which is true: Paris, Lyon and Marseille don't have local police, but only national police, under direct control of the Ministry of the Interior), the police say they don't have the resources, bla bla bla and in the meantime the people are getting angry.

And so a huge crowd was present tonight, and the regular agenda was swept away by a giant bitch fest. What was done in the period when the riot police were present to ensure a long-term solution? What solutions does the mayor have?

Among those speaking, we heard a Green party member. They are among the softies the mayor laid into in her opening remarks, saying that there were dissensions in her majority, which includes the Greens. When the Green guy said that they had been talking to a variety of people, and he said that among those persons were "researchers in social sciences", the room started to boo. American-style anti-intellectalism? Perhaps. Certainly frustration that this was not a situation to be studied, but a problem to be solved. Local business threatened to close shop for a day: Belleville, quartier mort. Others brought up the coming elections next year, and threatened that Belleville, which has been a stronghold for the left, would abandon both the city's socialist majority and the state's Sarkozist majority, and vote for the neofascist right. It's not an idle threat: there is such great frustration with the parties in power locally and nationally, that an extremist vote is quite possible, even here.

The mayor of the 20th offered her "solutions". First, to get the riot police back. To do so, she is supporting the "Belleville quartier mort" plan, and calling for a mass demonstration against the Police Prefect and the State Prefect. She has obtained funding for a "ressourcerie", a recycling center that would be located at the Porte de Montreuil, the other part of the 20th affected by this problem. And she is seeking funding for a renovation of the boulevard, which the Conseil de quartier has been calling for for over three years, and for which we have organized any number of public meetings and workshops, carried out a survey, held a street party, etc., and which the mayor of the 20th has consistently ignored, claiming that the city of Paris has no money (a lie).

I left the meeting at this point, in part because I feared fainting in the stifling heat of an unseasonally warm spring day, in a room stuffed with hundreds of people instead of the few dozen children who usually occupy it.

And I can't help but fear that sooner or later, if the situation doesn't change, the locals will get out their crowbars and baseball bats, and blood will flow...

http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75011/belleville-excede-par-le-marche-de-la-misere-09-09-2009-632107.php

http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-75011/le-marche-clandestin-de-belleville-interdit-08-10-2009-666534.php

http://www.leparisien.fr/abo-paris/les-marches-de-la-misere-de-retour-a-belleville-28-03-2010-865912.php

http://www.bellevillecouronnes.com/

http://www.evous.fr/Paris-Belleville-dans-la-tourmente,1145314.html

http://www.le75011.fr/paris-XIe-75011-11e-arrondissement/vie-locale/economie/3571-marche-sauvage-biffins-rue-faubourg-temple

http://www.bastamag.net/article1432.html

10 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-10T09:18:00.000+02:00

I'm reading Le Parisien, and here're my reactions:

It's "le dix mai" (May 10), a date that needs no year. It refers back to 1981 and the first victory of the left in post-war France, with the election of François Mitterrand. We've had an onslought of media coverage of the 30th anniversary. Le Parisien even does a story about his legacy in the little street where he had his private apartment.

A profile of Jeff Mills, "the king of techno", a Detroiter based in Chicago who after living in Berlin has now moved to the ultrachic 7th Arrondissement of Paris. He says that he is a victim of racism in the US, where blacks are only allowed to do rap. (?) He is well known in France, and is doing a live musical accompaniment to film The Fantastic Voyage at the cité de la Musique. (Kind of pricey, but I would like to see that... I love the film!)

Uproad over Laurent Wasquiez's trial balloon for workfare. The founder of the current general assistance program (RSA), a nice guy who let himself be used by Sarkozy, slams Wasquiez: cities can offer part-time work to people on RSA, under normal legal conditions. Wasquiez should know this, as he (like just about every other minister) is a mayor of a town. Nor is it true that you can earn more on RSA and other welfare schemes than by working at the minimum wage, as Wasquiez claims. The minister who is supposed to deal with these things, the wonderful Roselyne Bachelot, also puts Waskie in his place.

In the ranking of commercial brands (the one where Apple topped Google), France saves face thanks to luxury brands. Well, if they HADN'T what would that have meant?

More on the police officer stabbed yesterday. Disgusting. The victim of the theft and the policeman chasing the thief were mobbed by the sellers of black-market cigarettes. Of course, the sellers wouldn't be there if there were no customers...

Omar Haddad, found guilty of killing his employer in a kangaroo court (the only "proof" was a message on the wall of the cellar where the woman was killed, written in her blood, saying "Omar ma tuer" in bad French, had his sentence reduced by the president. But there's now hope for a retrial, with a court accepting his lawyer's request that the blood samples be reanalyzed. Apparently there was the blood of a man mixed with that of the victim, but the French "justice" system never bothered to require a DNA analysis...

The appeals trial of the beautiful scumbag Villepin continues, with important testimony that shows he has committed perjury.

The affair of racism in the French Football Federation will be quietly snuffed out. A scapegoat will be mildly punished, as will the whistleblower. All is well. Move along, folks.

Apparentl students who have done literary studies are now attractive to corporations. This would be a big change in France, where engineering degrees via the parallel system of Grandes Ecoles have always dominated hiring and management structures. The are more flexible, more autonomous, more open, than engineers. They are better analysts, and are better able to summarize situations.

We learn more about the "tubes de l'été". This is a French tradition in which TV networks choose a song that they will promote the hell out of to make the hit of the summer. I don't get it.

TF1 abandons tropical rythyms (sp) for (crappy) Breton sea shanties:

Les Marins d'Iroise: LA MER TAPE FORT par basquin

France 3 has chosen Jehro:

9 May 2011: News of the day

2011-05-09T10:59:00.000+02:00

What I've seen in Le Parisien today.

Velcom, the free bike rental scheme in the northern suburbs of La Plaine Commune (St Denis and surrounding towns), is a flop. Vandalism and theft resulted in all bikes being removed from stations a few months ago. The ones in good shape were put back recently after having computer chips installed to help track them (not sure how that works). They, too, are being vandalized and stolen, so it looks like the whole expensive scheme is going to be put to an end. Even in moderately more civilized Paris, Vélib suffers far more vandalism and theft than planners expected (but less than Jimmy said would happen, but he's very pessimistic about people in general and Parisians in particular).

A policeman, chasing a purse snatcher, was stabbed (as was the victim of the purse snatching). Took place in the capital of Parisian crime, contraband, drug dealing, etc., Barbès.

French notaries do far more than just witness signatures. They are more like lawyers, in charge of all matters dealing with real estate, inheritance, etc. There are less than 10,000 notaries, but they do more than 5 million euros in business each year. Their use is required in many types of contracts. They are private, but operate under a public mandate, and are often accused of cheating, lying, embezzling, etc. They are a clique subject to their own rules and their own justice system. A new book is out claiming that recent government procedures granting notary status to people were illegal (mostly for technicalities), meaning that the people named as notaries aren't notaries, and that all the contracts they've worked on can be contested in court.

The very studly minister for European Affairs Laurent Wauquiez wants to introduce workfare in France. Why not? Except of course that it would cost a fortune to administer it.

Italians fear a huge earthquake in Rome on Wednesday, based on the prediction of Mussolini's astrologer or something. Hee.

François Blaquart, the national technical director of the French Football Federation, is very hurt that people would take his racist proposals for French football as meaning he is a racist. He might even let himself be fired!

Le Parisien give suggestions to national team coach Laurent Blanc on how he can defend himself during his deposition in the investigation on the racist quotas in French football. Thanks, Le Parisien! That's certainly the role of a newspaper.

In a solemn and emotional ceremony, the Mayor of Rouen presented the NZ Ambassador to France with a mummified Maori head from the city's museum, so that it can be returned to Aotearoa to be buried in its tribal lands.

A group of buildings in the very chic St Germain des Près neighborhood, formerly occupied by the French Customs service, have been sold to private investors. The buildings included listed monuments, and have been carefully restored, but with the most modern equipment (raised floors for AC and cabling, etc.). The architects note that the government agents were very hard on the building, requiring a large investment to restore the buildings. But I thought that only public ownership was able to preserve France's historical heritage??? Private bad, public good, right? Note that the new owners are not only private, but they're a private equity fund, the Carlyle Group, from AMERICA! Horrors!

A tale of two accents

2011-05-08T17:38:00.001+02:00

Listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation, and have heard two guests with strange accents.

The first is military historian Jim Lacey, who has written about the battle of Marathon. He speaks with this ztrong urban (Brooklyn? Joisey?) accent*, and insists on saying "calvary" for "cavalry". There's really a shocking contrast between what he's saying and his accent. He is a former infantry officer, so came to his position in writing and academia in an untraditional fashion.
Listen HERE: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/25/135710868/the-clash-at-marathon-shaped-greece-and-the-west

The second is Francis Everitt, who has the plummiest of English accents as he discusses his reasearch proving Einstein right. He seems intent on stuffing as many "ones" as possible. He sounds like Prince Charles' scientifically sound (but equally pompous) twin.
Listen yourself HERE: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/06/136057344/proof-that-einstein-got-it-right

*It's Brooklyn.

Slate Corrections scorecard

2011-05-06T14:07:00.000+02:00

http://www.slate.com/id/2293108/

In the May 4 "Politics," John Dickerson incorrectly described President Bush's 2004 poll numbers as being from 2003.
Corrections guy gets 12/10 on the Doofometer cuz the MISTAKE HASN'T BEEN CORRECTED:
In the text: "In December 2003, Americans were concerned about the economy but their mood was improving.*"
At the bottom of the page: "Correction, May 5, 2011: Originally this article incorrectly stated that the Bush poll numbers were from December 2003. (Return to the corrected sentence.)"
Dickerson gets a 6/10. I don't think it changes much to his story, but since the whole point is about comparing poll numbers for different presidents at different times, he needed to be careful.

In the May 4 "Press Box," Jack Shafer misspelled the last name of Neda Salehi Agha Soltan.
Doofometer: 1/10. Weird name, it's OK to get it wrong.

In the May 3 "Jurisprudence," Simon Lazarus incorrectly referred to Rep. Paul Ryan's budget resolution, passed by the House in April. All such references should have been to Ryan's "Roadmap for America's Future," an earlier proposal that is more detailed than the budget resolution.
Doofometer: 9/10. I can see the mistake, but the entire article was about this document. Do you not know what document you were analyzing???

In a May 3 "XX Factor" post, K.J. Dell'Antonia misspelled the name of Atlanta law firm King & Spalding.
Doofometer: 4/10. I would give this a lower score, but how hard is it to spell "King & Spalding"? What did she write: Spaulding?

In the May 2 "Explainer," Brian Palmer incorrectly identified Yuri Andropov as Soviet premier in 1970. In fact, he was head of the KGB at that time, and did not become general secretary of the Communist Party until 1982.
Doofometer: 5/10. I would think that the beary presence of Brezhnev would have burned itself into ones member over the period 1964 to 1982 (then again, for a person my age, Brezhnev was the about the only premier we ever knew).

In the May 2 "Politics," John Dickerson described Osama Bin Laden's compound as being "35 minutes outside Islamabad." It's 35 miles from the city but would require a considerably lengthier trip.
Doofometer: 7/10. There was another error, where he said it was 90 miles from Islamabad. I give this a high score because "15 minutes from" means something when you say "by car" and its "from Slate HQ in Washington". It could be 15 minutes but a fast car, or a slow helicopter, or by extreme pogosticking...

In the April 29, "Science," Brian Palmer noted that, in the development of written communication, individual characters eventually came to stand in for "letters" rather than syllables. To be more precise, individual characters came to stand in for the sounds with which modern speakers identify letters.
Doofometer: 2/10. We knew what he meant.

In an April 27 "XX Factor" post, K.J. Dell'Antonia misspelled the first name of Garry Trudeau.
Doofometer: 4/10. A minor error, but the guy's name is in your magazine every single day.

In an April 26 "XX Factor" post, Jessica Grose misidentified the Beastie Boys album Licensed To Ill as License To Ill.
Doofometer: 1/10. Who wouldn't make this mistake?

Advice Illustrated: Mother's Day

2011-05-01T22:03:00.015+02:00

Letter 1 is from a woman whose mother is a racist, obnoxious, vulgar and ill-mannered boor who's having a bad effect on LW's children. Prudie says that LW is doing the right thing to teach the kids that they can love their grandmother without approving her manners. But the racism is a big no-no. If she opens her racist mouth, she's not seeing the kids. I say, yeah.

Video letter is from a woman who owns two cutesy doggies and is irritated by the people who comment on them when she walks them. Prudie tells LW she knew what she was doing when she acquired the cute doggies. I say: Find that neighbor who sat on the out-of-control dog and your problem will be solved.

Letter 2 is from a mother whose adult daughter is unresponsive to her attempts to communicate. Prudie says to send a last email saying LW will no longer bother the daughter, but is looking forward to daughter initiating contact again. As for me, I wonder about those gifts. Those are fabulous, touching, heartfelt gifts. I wouldn't know how to equal them. Could it be as simple as that? You gave excessively awesome gifts.

Letter 3 is from a guy who knocked up a colleague and married her. Wife is bat-shit crazy about his mother, who is a perfectly nice woman. Prudie says he needs pschological support, and to acknowledge to his mother that his wife is nuts. I say: Men, use the damn condom and make sure the woman you bonk is using something too. No kid, no marriage to crazy women, no MIL issues. But now that you're married and a dad and all... but why is the assumption that MIL is innocent? Some people are capable of being really nasty out of sight when they need to be. And in this case, I can imagine MIL thinking: "The bitch trapped my baby boy!", and behaving accordingly.

Letter 4 is from a woman who doesn't get along with her mother. But her father's partner is adorable. Can she give this woman a mother's day gift? Prudie says, yes, but this can also be an opportunity to reach out to her mother. I say: Give it up Prudie. She said nothing about wanting to be in contact with her mother. And yes, your mother is the person who mothers you. (That's for Cam on Modern Family).

Slate Corrections scorecard

2011-04-29T17:12:00.000+02:00

Week 17 of 2011
http://www.slate.com/id/2292400/

In the April 28 "War Stories," Fred Kaplan wrote that Gen. David Petraeus would soon resign from the military. Petraeus will soon retire from the military.
Doofometer score: 3/10 He's leaving, and that's what's important.

In an April 27 "Politics," David Weigel referred to big Republican wins "in 2011." The party's gains were in the 2010 election.
Doofometer score: 4/10 Weigel's a political commentator, so he knows when elections take place. But the effect of those elections was in 2011, and I don't see much harm.

In the April 26 "Green Room," Matthew Fuhrmann mistakenly stated that an accident at India's Rajasthan Atomic Power Station released radioactive helium. The helium was not radioactive, though the accident did release heavy water.
Doofometer score: 9/10 Radioactive isotopes of helium decay instantly. There is no connection between heavy water and radioactive helium. Lame, wrong, and kind of pertinent.

In the April 26 "Project Syndicate," Simon Johnson misspelled the last name of former Citigroup chairman Sandy Weill.
Doofometer score: 2/10 Weil, Wyle, Weill...

In an April 26 "Slatest" item, Josh Voorhees stated that Tim Pawlenty is the former governor of Pennsylvania. He is the former governor of Minnesota.
Doofometer score: 6/10 Kind of basic info.

In the April 25 "Politics," David Weigel misstated the university that hosts the Scripps Survey Research Center. It is Ohio University, not Ohio State.
Doofometer score: 4/10 Significant, but Ohio shares the blame: normal states (like their neighbor to the north) have University of X and X State University.

In the April 20 "Technology," Steven I. Weiss incorrectly stated that David Hobby's cross-country tour was sold out. It was nearly sold out.
Doofometer score: 1/10 Not important, and not a big mistake.

Advice Illustrated: Can't see the common thread

2011-04-28T13:52:00.000+02:00

Letter 1 is from a woman with a medical condition that makes her look like a child. When she travels with her husband, they often have to deal with the police and others who think he is a pedophile, in part because of their different ethnicities. Her husband no longer wishes to travel. Prudie says to travel, to be prepared with the proper documentation, and to remain calm.
I say: Yeah.

Video letter is from a woman who read her BF's diary, where she found an old entry about his dissatisfaction with his life and his attraction for his boss. Prudie agrees that the open diary in their shared office was too tempting to resist. Tell the BF and ask if they need to talk.
I say: This is why we have repression. Repress!

Letter 2 is from a woman who donated bone marrow for a transplant. Her donee keeps contacting her to thank her. She's getting tired of it. Prudie says to tell him to lay off.
I say: I thought these donations were anonymous?

Letter 3 is from a guy who dates a lot and is getting tired of picking up the tab. How can he suggest splitting the bill without looking like a creep? Prudie says that if he's asking out and choosing the restaurant, he should pay for the first date, and that it's a good investment. By the third date, if she's not offering to split the bill, he should say: "Shall we split the bill?". (Was that so hard?) Prudie can't resist making him sound like a creep because he goes out with women he's not serious about, which she interprets as him just wanting to bonk them.
I say: Prudie, get your dirty mind out of the gutter. A gentleman can enjoy the company of a lady without being obsessed with getting laid. There is a middle ground between sex addict and husband, and we would do well to give space to it! Prudence is caught in a narrow world between prudish monogamy and bestial sexuality. Grow!

Letter 4 is about a wedding, so I'm tempted to ignore it. But the woman is soooo crazy... Anyhow, LW was a bridesmaid 5 years ago. Last year she had her own, smaller wedding, and invited her friend, but without asking her to be her bridesmaid. Non-BM claimed illness to not attend wedding, and cut off all contact. LW has now learned from her that non-BM was horribly, horribly hurt by not being asked to be BM. Prudie says to drop the crazy lady.
I say: So do I. Is there such as thing as a non-bridesmadzilla?

Advice Illustrated: Make hay while the fat lady sings

2011-04-21T13:41:00.001+02:00

Letter 1 is from a guy who met a great woman online. When they met, he saw she was overweight, which is not attractive to him. Prudence says to talk about it, and gives some gambits, and to give it a chance. I say, yeah. If it was really a deal breaker, you would have already broken the deal.

Video letter is from a woman who's moved to suburbia, where a neighbor mows unmown "tree lawns" (new term for me) in the neighborhood. This takes place a lot for LW, cuz she and BF work "very demanding jobs". Neighbor is now hinting that she wants to be paid for this service. Prudie compares the lady to a squeegee guy, and tells LW to mow her own damn lawn.
I say yeah. And your punishment for the "very demanding jobs" BS is to mow your lawn with a pair of cuticle scissors. Living in suburbs = mowing lawns. New excuse: "I didn't know these American mores because I did very demanding studies and never watched TV or went to the movies."

Letter 2 is from a frail fragile wisp of a woman whose Amazon SILs mock her when she doesn't haul enough hay on the two weekends a year she's expected to work on her husband's family farm. She's already run out on the other physically demanding family traditions, like running marathons, and would like to find a way to dump the hauling. Prudie says she's a grown up and can do as she pleases. It would be nice for her to do what she feels up to, but she is free to bail and head to the porch swing to sip some homemade lemonade.
I say: does she benefit financially from this farm? If so she should do something. If it's not hay hauling, let her find something else. Her husband knew he didn't marry a jock, so he should support her on this.

Terrorist

Letter 3 is so revolting I don't want to talk about it. My take: This is not a friend. You are stupid.

Letter 4 is tenant drama. LW's BF sat in an old chair owned by the landlord, and broke it. Several months later, the landlord is asking for the chair, purchased used for USD 30, to be replaced at a price of USD 300. She's offered to reimburse him for the original price. Is LW a jerk? Prudie says, no, and she owes him nothing. I say, you are not a jerk, but you are a fool. If you do have a lease and security deposit, prepare to fight to get it back. My suggestion is for your BF to finally go to the doctor to see about that debilitating backpain he's been having ever since he sat on the defective chair provided by your landlord.

Top Chef: The Shock of the Champions

2011-04-18T14:04:00.001+02:00

A bit of a surprise, a week after the live finale of French Top Chef, M6 proposed a second live event, a face-off between Romain, the winner of season 1, and Stephanie, the winner of season 2. It took place over more than three hours at the Cabaret Sauvage at La Villette, a circus-type venue. In the center ring, each of the cheftestants had a kitchen. Opposite, a jury that would do a blind tasting of the two dishes made in each round. The judges changed for each round, but in each, the three judges were one cheftestant from each season, along with one of the four chef judges.

Round one in 25 minutes: make a dessert using bell peppers. But of course, there's a "twist'. A viewer calls in and gives one of the chefs a handicap of 5 minutes off the alloted time. For some reason, the first caller gives Romain the handicap, claiming it's because Romain hasn't been in a cooking contest since one year ago, which puzzles everyone, since this is already a factor in his disadvantage. The main reason for this is that it generates cash for M6 via text message fees. But if Romain wins despite the handicap, he gets two points, whereas i Stephanie wins, she gets only one point.

The dishes are presented to the judges for the round, who have been sitting back to the cheftestants, with headphones on. They each taste the dishes, but don't discuss them, then vote electronically for their preference (A or B).

Romain's dish is crap: strawberries on a bell pepper coulis, with a crispy thing on top. Stephanie's seems better: she too did a coulis, but more substantial in volume, with a roast pineapple and whipper cream on top.Stephanie wins all three votes.

I would have preferred Richard Blais doing a nitro bell pepper ice cream.

Round two is to make a 3D carpaccio in 20 minutes. Again, a view gives Romain a 5-minute handicap. Romain makes a maki of veal carpaccio, while Stephanie makes a disgusting-looking ballotin of Oriental vegetables in a beef carpaccio, with the ball placed on a base of mango slices and fried noodles. It looks like a giant turd on something dead. And yet, she winswith three votes from the new series of judges, including the lovely one-armed Gregory.

Round three is to make a savoury fondant in 20 minutes. At last, the viewer gives the 5-minute handicap to Stéphanie. This seems hard. Usually a fondant or moelleux is made with chocolate. How can you have a cake-like exterior and a soft, flowing interior? My choice would have been to use a foie gras cream or something. Chef judge Piège shows his attempt: he made some crushed herb potatoes, filled with a frozen cube of a scampi cream. He then just reheated the ring enough to melt the cream inside, and topped it with caviar. I'm calling shenanigans, since they don't have the time to freeze anything, which would seem to be the only way to have a firm outside and a liquid inside.

In any case, the cheftestants produce some unsatisfying dishes for this impossible challenge. Romain's is a crab tartare with a crab mayonnaise center. The director doesn't really show the center flowing, despite the MC claiming they have. It's not very appealing. Stéphanie's looks like vomit. Really. It has no firmsness at all, and when she removes the ring, it just oozes all over the plate. The MC says; "Stéphanie, you look distraught". And she does. It's gross. I'm not even sure what it's made of. Romain wins all three votes. The score is now two points for Romain, one for Stéphanie.

A great taped sequence shows the chef judges' tricks of the trade, a series of cooking hints that made me say, that's clever! that's cool!

Round 4 takes place in 30 minutes, and is judged by the four chef judges. Romain has the handicap, and he lacks time to plate his dishes. They have to get their first course out in 20 minutes. It's not a blind tasting (which was criticized in the finale of season 2, where the less-nasty Stéphanie took the win over Fanny, possibly because she is less unpleasant a personality). The challenge is to make a first and main course using chocolate.

The first courses aren't really presented. Romain uses shrimp and calamare in a bouillon, with chocolate and foie gras in a bouillon. Stéphanie's is a mystery. Pan-fried foie gras and cacao powder.

.Romain's main course is a black-and-white cod, using dark chocolate and charred eggplant for the black, and the poached cod for the white. Stéphanie's dish is pan-fried cod dusted in cacao powder.

The scoring is like the Dating Game, where the last question counts as much as all the others combined, and I hate it. Stéphanie gets 4 points for her first course, and 4 points for her main course.

Basically they appreciate Romain's creativity and graphic design, but keep going back to the basics of Stéphanie's expert seasoning. And it's just unfair: the chef judges say they prefer Stéphanie's use of cacao powder as a condiment to Romain's use of real chocolate. Bullshit.

At least Romain got to promote his new book.

IT'S ALL IN THE SEASONING!

Tonight, the debut of French Kitchen Nightmares.

Advice Illustrated: Hairy tater tots on menu for Easter dinner cum graduation party for ungrateful DIL

2011-04-14T15:01:00.001+02:00

Prudence resides on Slate.

Letter 1 is from a woman whose fiancé only eats kiddy food. She gives lots of reasons why this bothers her. He says it's a "problem" but refuses to do anything to change. Prudie says lots of stuff. I agree with this bit: is this a deal breaker? Yes or no.

BTW: "my husband is a picky eater" yields over 400,000 Google hits.

Video letter is from a person whose colleague wears low-cut tops showing off her hairy chest. LW hates the mocking and gossip this generates from her colleagues. How should she approach this problem? Prudie says to ignore the problem, or talk to HR ("in the name of office productivity"). I say the people to talk to are the gossiping and mocking coworkers.

Letter 2 is from a student graduating from medical school whose older brother won't come to the ceremony, and who has never visited LW in all the years spent in med school. It's not a money problem, since brother and SIL go on exotic vacations often. LW has visited brother several times on own dime. Prudie says to speak up on how hurt this makes LW, then say no more, and determine if LW wants to keep up the traveling in future.
I say we lack enough background, but yeah, what she said.

Letter 3 has been invited to Easter dinner along with a friend who proved not to be not much of a friend in a difficult moment. She doesn't want to spend the event with him. Prudie says to tell her hostess, but that she wants to make the best of it and give the guy a chance. Prudie says there are ways to understand his bad behavior, and she might just end up liking him again. I say, sure.

Letter 4 gets USD 80 from her FIL each year for her birthday, while her husband gets USD 100. It irks her. Should she ask him why? Prudie mockingly suggests a snarky attack on the FIL, showing the LW to be an ingrate and a dolt. I say, the LW is an ingrate and a dolt. Maybe when FIL dies, she and hubby can offer separate wreathes, and hers can be 20% smaller than his.

Bureau des fantasmes urbains

2011-04-09T21:53:00.001+02:00

Ornic’art - collectif de performers indisciplinaires issu des arts visuels, de la vidéo, du théâtre et de la danse sort de sa Friche la Belle de Mai (Marseille) et vient en résidence à l'usine de TRACES etinstalle son BUREAU DES FANTASMES URBAINS dans la boutik associative de la Maison de la Plage.

Voici le questionnaire qui peut vous aider à définir vos fantasmes urbains qui seront ensuite réalisés par Ornic'art du 2 au 7 mai 2011 dans le quartier Belleville.

Vous pouvez déjà répondre à ce questionnaire et l'envoyer à ornicart@lafriche.org.

1) Qu'est-ce qui vous paraît impossible dans une ville ?

2) Que faites-vous dans vos rêves que vous ne faites pas dans la réalité ?

3) Quel interdit aimeriez vous transgresser dans une ville ?

4) Que feriez-vous dans une ville si vous ne craigniez plus le regard des autres ?

5) Que faites-vous chez vous que vous aimeriez faire dans l’espace public ?

6) Si vous étiez une ville, qu'aurait-elle de particulier ?

7) Si vous pouviez ressusciter, comment aimeriez-vous vous suicider dans votre ville?

8) Si vous étiez une voiture, qu'aimeriez-vous - faire ? - qu'on vous fasse ?

9) Si un passage protégé ne servait pas à traverser, à quoi pourrait-il servir ?

10) Quel élément du mobilier urbain vous paraît érotique ?

11) Si je pose une échelle au milieu d'une rue, où pourrait-elle me conduire ?

12) Si vous disposiez d'une bombe, qu'en feriez-vous ?