Them & Us?

The news reported today - in this case by the BBC - about French President Sarkozy's Presidential Aircraft had me spluttering over my coffee this morning.

With breathtaking arrogance, the aircraft's specification includes an "air-conditioned" smoking room. I should state here and now, that I am entirely in favour of air-conditioned smoking rooms being installed everywhere, but it seems unlikely to happen in France, where just as in the fascistically oppressive UK, smoking is banned in all public places (since January 2nd 2008) and in the workplace (since 2007).

Since the presidential aeroplane has cost the French taxpayer about €180 million, one is entitled to believe that the aircraft constitutes - at least part of the time (as does the Elysée Palace for that matter where the President is known to enjoy his cigars) a "workplace."

Personally I hope the President enjoys his cigars; it's just that I don't understand why he is the only citizen of France who is permitted to smoke at work, the rest of us having to put up with cold/rain/snow/ice/wind for our rather long winters here, for which, no doubt, that arrant bullshit "global warming" is to blame.

In "Tobacco News" meanwhile I have found a splendid article about the arrogance of our rulers here concerning a State Secretary (= Junior Minister) one M. Christian Blanc, who was caught having spent €12,000 of public money on fine Cuban cigars. Generously the article adds, he sent a cheque for €3500 "for the two boxes of 25 he smokes each month" whilst being unable to account for the remaining €8500-worth.

Even more intriguing, is the reference to the practice which ended in 2001:

In Scandinavia, Germany, or even in Britain these days, Blanc would now be looking for a new job. The opposition is spluttering, but he will no doubt just be rapped on the knuckles by François Fillon, the Prime Minister, and left in peace. Until recently, no-one bothered much about the huge sums that are spent on the comfort of the state nobility. Only in 2001, did President Chirac end the practice under which all ministers were given a monthly suitcase of cash, known as ‘special funds’, to spend on whatever they liked.

This merits further investigation I think.

Until the next time.

A bit more on the "Lemmings"

A scene from today's France
Source

From today's DailyTelegraph website:

"The barricades are up, acrid tear gas is filling the streets, angry hordes of striking workers and students are preparing to do battle against a common enemy. Eh oui, the French are at it again. In the past, I have found the Gallic shrug the best response to the country’s trigger-happy strike culture – it’s just something you have to learn to live with. This time, though, I’m finding it difficult to shrug off – and I am not alone. "

The article finishes with the following paragraph:

"But it will be like facing an incoming tide. As Le Monde pointed out yesterday, France is a very conservative country “hell-bent on keeping the status quo and acquired (social) rights, with history used as a windshield against reality”. Even the Iron Lady might have resorted to a Gallic shrug at the thought of trying to break the Frenchman’s bond with his placard. "

Since his election in 2007, President Sarkozy has attempted, at least from time to time, to introduce a few reforms. There was the idea for example, to allow minicabs to operate; this resulted in total chaos in Paris as the taxi drivers mounted a very large protest. And there ere the 2006 student protests referred to in the Telegraph article.

It is important to understand how different certain things are in France. You cannot buy cigarettes or aspirin in a supermarket, why? Because the Tabacs and the Pharmacies are cartels; the taxi-drivers are obviously another example, even if their cartel is an unofficial one. Such privileges are jealously guarded by the (very conservative) French.

(Those of us who are fortunate enough to live close to the Swiss border are able to circumlocute some of these inconveniences - and often save money too. Near where I live, there is a bar right on the border. There one can buy half a litre of beer for four Swiss francs - about €3.10 whilst less than 100 metres away in France one pays €2.50 for a quarter of a litre. The best thing is that when drinking my near-pint of Feldschlossen on the border, I can sit in the bar and SMOKE - hurrah!)

Any suggestion that M. Sarkozy can follow in the steps of Mrs Thatcher would seem to be doomed to failure: in 1984, Mrs Thatcher had to deal with a very determined National Union of Mineworkers; Sarkozy has to face, it seems millions of angry - and misguided - people ranging from schoolchildren to pensioners.

Perhaps France itself is doomed?

Until the next time.

Free Speech: President Sarkozy Eats Babies!

                                                                                                                                                                     

It is reasonable for a reader to ask whatever prompted me to compose the eccentric headline above.

Well I am simply exercising my right to free speech, supposedly guaranteed by the United Nations, The European Union, and by all the countries that subscribed to the Helsinki accord.

You could argue that by making such a childish statement (sorry for the pun) I am abusing my right of free speech; of course it was inspired by the nonsense propaganda that circulated in England during the First World War concerning Kaiser Wilhelm II.  Further than this the real prompt was quite another matter.

A friend has sent me a news item from PCinpact.com concerning an appointment at the Elysée Palace - the official residence of the President of the Republic of France.  The appointee is a 24-year-old, Nicolas Princen by name; he was appointed last March.

His function? To monitor blogs, websites etc. for "false rumours and misinformation" concerning le Président de la République.  The Elysée helpfully commented that it is quite normal for the République to monitor such things, as it does with press and radio etc.  Apparently there is no plan for a particular course of action in the event of abusive content: the function of this office is merely to inform...

However the plot thickens.  The French Ministry of Education has issued an invitation to tender for further monitoring, including identifying the themes and assessing the likely impact and many other criteria, including "locating the opinion leaders" and "to alert and make recommendations."

Now on the face of it this doesn't seem so terrible, but having reported British plans connected with the Internet, let us say that I am at least sceptical if not downright suspicious.

So I shall just wait and see if my silly headline causes panic at the Elysée...

And by the way, it's not just the politicians and departments of state: a while back I wrote a piece about the Raytheon drone "Killer Bee." And the very same day, I found that my blog had been visited by someone in the corporate offices of Raytheon itself; my hopes that I had a new loyal supporter in high places were dashed however, as I do not think they have ever come back for another look at all the wonderful stuff I post here.  So disappointing...

Until the next time