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:
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