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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 13, 2022 11:05:06 GMT
I can't stand the total arrogance of Obono, but I suppose that is what her supporters like.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 13, 2022 19:03:12 GMT
To add to what I said about Obono, I do understand (I think) why she behaves the way she does. In this continent ruled mostly by white men, women have a hard time getting into politics. Now, many of our countries have parity laws to make sure that women get an (almost) equal chance of representation, but black women politicians have to be much more forceful, determined, aggressive to get people to listen to them. Racism is still a major factor in European politics.
But I still don't approve of a number of her ideas which seem to me to be dogmatic and too obedient to the party line. Absolutely no independent ideas.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jun 20, 2022 11:29:31 GMT
It all looks a bit of a mess....
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 20, 2022 13:42:31 GMT
But it's going to be a lot of fun as it plays out. The far right are as amateurish as ever and know nothing about any of the issues, so they should be dropping like flies just like they did last time. And the leftist coalition is made up of 4 factions that absolutely hate each other but who finally understood they would never win any elections unless they put up a façade of unity. The presented a programme of more than 650 propositions and you can bet that the voters only know about 3 of them (do not raise retirement age, raise minimum wage and stop inflation immediately -- ha ha, good luck with that).
To be continued...
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Post by bjd on Jun 20, 2022 15:17:13 GMT
Yes, I was wondering too how long the left coalition is going to last. But this is going to be rather a mess, as Mick says. I am upset at how many seats the far right has though, given their total incompetence in every town where they run things. More interested in poltical ideas than in administering the towns.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 20, 2022 15:25:38 GMT
We can actually blame the left for many of the right wing seats. They have such a hatred of Macron (just like the far right) than in the second round many of them preferred to vote completely on the other side so as not to support Macron.
A large number of the extreme supporters do not seem to have any sort of political culture and believe that wanting something makes it possible just by voting. Lower petrol prices, higher salaries, early retirement, lower taxes, cheap food, no more unemployment, etc. And of course none of this would cost them anything since the rich will pay.
I am expecting to be dazzled.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 20, 2022 18:11:21 GMT
Just one day after the election, the unity of the left is already crumbling. Mélenchon wants just one parliamentary group to represent the left. The socialists, communists and greens totally refuse, leaving Mélenchon's party (LFI) on their own....
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Post by bjd on Jun 20, 2022 18:21:31 GMT
What a surprise! Anyway, I think Mélenchon still wants to be head of something even though he didn't stand for election. Surely the head of a political party who doesn't have a seat in the legislature has less influence than someone within the parliament. Even if members of Nupes are on commissions, are they supposed to ask Mélenchon how they are supposed to vote.
I just heard on the news that he wants Nupes to call for a no-confidence vote on July 5.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 20, 2022 18:38:19 GMT
Posturing is always a tool of blowhards.
For people a bit confused about leftist politics in France and why can't they get along? -- just take nuclear energy as a start. The communists and most of the socialists are in favour of it. The Greens are totally against it of course as well as most of LFI (Mélenchon). So just imagine the "group" needing to vote on that subject...
Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that Le Pen is completely against wind farms and at one point promised to dismantle every single one of them in France (they prevent people from sleeping, the cows produce less milk, they are a visual abomination, the ones at sea destroy marine life and prevent fishing boats from operating... etc.). Then the polls showed that most of the French support them, and she shut up. When pressed to give a statement about them, she just said that the "harmful" ones would be removed.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 20, 2022 20:19:23 GMT
Just one day after the election, the unity of the left is already crumbling. Mélenchon wants just one parliaentary group to represent the left. The socialists, communists and greens totally refuse, leaving Mélenchon's party (LFI) on their own.... That is good news, and something i am hoping for. As for the votes, i saw that all circonscriptions in Paris fought between Macron and Nupes, maybe 2 LR. In the var, 7 out of 8 circonsciptions voted RN, the bitch of Le Pen. I live there surrounded by far right, among which a lot of racists, facists, sexists, ...ists, ...phobes.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 28, 2022 17:52:16 GMT
After Biden's somewhat questionable visit to see MBS in Saudi Arabia (in spite of his promise to never do such a thing), MBS is having dinner with President Macron tonight in Paris. Realpolitik has returned to the world.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 15, 2022 20:03:12 GMT
The French military ended its 9 year involvement in Mali today. It has been relaced by the loving arms of the Russian Wagner mercenary group that the new regime prefers. Last group of soldiers has left Mali
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 15, 2022 18:36:55 GMT
The French government cannot help but be satisfied that it has now come to light that the huge submarine contract that was snatched away from France by the United States and Great Britain cannot be honoured before.... 2040. It appears that Australia is now negotiating with France again to get some submarines more rapidly, at least 4. What with all of the tension in the Pacific, they don't want to wait until 2040 to reinforce their navy. So Macron will be going to Canberra in November to talk business.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 7, 2022 3:51:07 GMT
Very well informed rumours have it that Macron is planning on dissolving the National Assembly and calling for new legislative elections. This can be very tricky business and has not been done since Chirac did it in 1997 and lost his majority.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 27, 2022 21:35:27 GMT
So, on Tuesday, President Macron becomes the first French president to make two state visits to the United States. (We all know that he made a delightful visit to President Trump's country a few years ago.) Anyway, this is President Biden's first state visit so I suppose that it is supposed to mean something diplomatically. I just assume that this is just a simple "safe" visit that should not ruffle any feathers on either side of the Atlantic. It's too soon for King Charles III to go prancing around, the other leaders of Europe are insignificant since prime ministers are not eligible for a state visit and probably the only competition would be President Zelinsky who can't really go anywhere right now.
So Macron it has to be.
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Post by casimira on Nov 28, 2022 16:21:21 GMT
I believe Macron is due to be in NOLA this week.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 28, 2022 20:41:10 GMT
I saw this on Google News.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 28, 2022 23:09:11 GMT
Hmmmmmmmmm. I would almost swear that de Gaulle was in Louisiana? the US? during Earl Long's time in office. *off to google*
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 28, 2022 23:20:38 GMT
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Post by bjd on Nov 29, 2022 7:08:00 GMT
Given the sorry state of the French education system at the moment (underpaid teachers and the latest survey showing how many kids are behind expected levels as they enter middle school), Macron would do better to fund education at home.
Is there are Lycée français or a French cultural centre in New Orleans?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 29, 2022 14:34:29 GMT
Bjd, there is a good bit of that sort of thing -- linkCasimira could give you a more contemporary answer, but when I lived there French culture was more of a historical thing. When my son was in early primary school back in the 70s, there was a push to revive the French language as part of the culture. This was considered somewhat amusing in the sense of ignoring the myriad of cultures that formed the city and state. Even the French Quarter should properly be called "the Spanish quarter" in terms of history and architecture. At any rate, a program was set up back then and teachers were brought from France. To this day my son can say "Claude" (his teacher's name) or "bon jour" in an impeccable French accent.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 29, 2022 15:13:18 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 29, 2022 17:01:35 GMT
That's it!!! As soon as I read it, I recognized it. But I could not have come up with it at the point of a gun.
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Post by casimira on Nov 29, 2022 17:23:34 GMT
I'm glad you saw that first Bixa because you may recall that our dearly departed friend Joe N. used to recite a "story" about there being a hit job to assassinate de Gaulle that was in play until the last minute. The assassin's "nest" was reported to be in one of the Pontalba apartments in Jackson Square. Of course, Joe was in the know on all these types of things. T. remembers de Gaulle's visit well. As for Lycee Francais schools, there are quite a few. The committee that I sat on for 3 years to decide the fate of the old Priestly school on Leonidas Street in our neighborhood finally did become a Lycee Francais.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 29, 2022 20:28:31 GMT
I was lucky enough to be taught French by native speakers. I have no idea how they wound up teaching in the US.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 29, 2022 21:06:26 GMT
I think that lots of French origin teachers would love to teach in the United States (prestige). But in most of the country, there is not much demand for them. Everywhere I lived (Mississippi, California) the general sentiment was "I might go to Mexico some day, so I should take Spanish."
And that was only the most enlightened ones, because the others thought that if they had the misfortune to suddenly be in a foreign country, they could force the locals to speak Engish.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 30, 2022 11:41:42 GMT
And that was only the most enlightened ones, because the others thought that if they had the misfortune to suddenly be in a foreign country, they could force the locals to speak Engish. We have guests that have just returned from a short holiday in Reunion. They loved the island but moaned that nobody speaks English. They are Dutch but can't speak French either. We said Au revoir to another French couple of guests this week that live on Reunion - they wrote the Air bnb report in French, but when texting us on our phones they wrote in English thanks goodness..
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Post by bjd on Nov 30, 2022 14:50:33 GMT
To this day my son can say "Claude" (his teacher's name) or "bon jour" in an impeccable French accent. That's interesting. I guess they adapted to local habits because at the time in French schools, and even decades later, schoolchildren never called teachers by their first names. They do now, at least in nursery school and perhaps at the beginning of elementary school.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 30, 2022 16:30:44 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 30, 2022 16:42:59 GMT
Wow -- thanks for that news and video. I was in the process of reading the NYTimes when I came over to anyport to share a link. Upon seeing the video of Macron's visit, I realized that the story was not on the front page of the Times, nor The Guardian, the Washington Post, nor the BBC. Nothing like hearing it here first! To this day my son can say "Claude" (his teacher's name) or "bon jour" in an impeccable French accent. That's interesting. I guess they adapted to local habits because at the time in French schools, and even decades later, schoolchildren never called teachers by their first names. They do now, at least in nursery school and perhaps at the beginning of elementary school. At that time, US schoolchildren did not call teachers by their first names. I do remember the CODAFIL teachers being quite young -- I think younger than the average college graduate, but surely they must have seemed like grownups to primary school kids. Perhaps Claude was just forward-looking.
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