France General Discussion

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Not exactly related to French politics, but still interesting...

Singer-songwriter Charles Aznavour has accepted to serve as Armenian ambassador to Switzerland. Aznavour was born in France in 1924 to Armenian parents. He strongly identified with Armenia, and obtained Armenian citizenship two months ago.

Euh... Cool. In Switzerland?? Sounds a prestigious retirement pension. I hope he suits to the job and that this is not just this and for the media.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Segolene Royal wants to be in charge of the DOM-TOMs in the PS, in the wake of the massive strikes in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Her reason: She lived three years in Martinique. 1960-1963, or from age 7 to 10. Now, that's some real experience!

No, no, that's not her reason, and you probably knows that the reason is surely before in your post (underlined).

No. She actually boasted her 3 years in Martinique as a reason she should get it.

Yeah, but we both know that's just the official reason. Right?

That said, she dared claiming it for the reason you quoted!

(Luckily it has not a big media noise, otherwise, I wonder how people in French Antilles would appreciate it, those who are in genuine problems).

She wants a job. Poitou-Charentes must be too boring.

Hehehe. Maybe. I think she likes to be at Poitou-Charentes, it makes her being close of the "down France", the "France which works and suffers", this "traditional lovely France". Poitou-Charentes is a perfect place for her for this.

Antilles? Well, she might also have felt that they are maybe more receptive to her televangelist side.

Speaking about Antilles. Reunion (not in Antilles but an other DOM) decided of a day of general strike on March 5th. Guadeloupe radicalized the movement and continue the strike with Martinique. They call to general strike on all territories of France, home-country included.

Frankly, if the govt doesn't well manage the thing, it could spread because in home-country and DOM-TOM they all have a common strong claim: increasing of salaries.

Yves Jego, who doesn't really seem to be the right man at the right place, said force could intervene if the movement was more radical, which of course appealed a radical reaction of the leader of the protest, Elie Domota, all of this with the old passions of the former colonial background of these areas. This plus the anger in the home-country, the govt will have to be really smart in negotiations, in DOM-TOMs and in those of the 18th of February.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

The new map.



A mixed bag. Firstly, one excellent thing: the "Pays de la Loire" atrocity disappears and Loire-Atlantique rightfully rejoins its real historical region, Breizh. Also nice to see, the reunified Normandie.

Some not so good stuff. The extended Champagne, the Auvergne-Limousin merger.

And truly awful stuff. The new Alsace-Lorraine, which kills our dear Elsass! The awful new Ile-de-France. The disappearance of Picardie, the Poitou-Aquitaine atrocity, the huge Val de Loire thing, and the Nord-Picardie region.

Well, nothing is done yet. That's just the result of the commission. Now the govt will have to deal with the reality of the ground.

Yes, some stuff seem awful, like that huge Poitou-Aquitaine. I like Limousin-Auvergne, that's homogeneous, they could call it "Massif Central".

I find the new Ile-de-France more logical. Val de Loire too. Concerning this map, IIRC, I heard on France Info that Aisne were going to be in Champagne unlike on the map. Concerning Alsace-Lorraine, if the project is confirmed, I would be curious to see the score of "separatists" at the next regional elections. Concerning Bretagne, I note there would be 2 big cities Rennes and Nantes, which one to lead?

I also like the new status of the 8 biggest cities outside of Paris, and also the status of Great Paris.

One problem, I heard still on France Info that they decided to keep the scale of the "département" and the "conseils généraux". So we keep that level of decision which might be too much, especially for costs.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Yes, sadly. The Vichyist Pays de la Loire councillors will vote against a rightful reunification.

Please stop it. It's a terrifying vision to all my fellow Angevins to be merge with the Centre which is nothing more than a desert...

People of Tours, Orléans, Blois, Chartres, Bourges, etc, would certainly love the statement. Frankly, Pays de la Loire was as a desert as Centre, look Mayenne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Vendée!

Anyway, outside of Paris, Lyon and Marseille's areas, France is not a dense country as much for the repartition of population as for the repartition of the economical activities.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Yes, sadly. The Vichyist Pays de la Loire councillors will vote against a rightful reunification.

Please stop it. It's a terrifying vision to all my fellow Angevins to be merge with the Centre which is nothing more than a desert...

What is Vendée if not a flat desert?

The kingdom of Philippe de Villiers. His army is based at Puy-du-Fou.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Olivier Besancenot part of the 50 people who would be "the most influential in shaping the world debate", according to the Financial Times.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f6f08da-0d7d-11de-8914-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

The ambiance in France nowadays:



The slogan say something like: "Piss off bloody jerk" and is directed toward to Sarkozy. That's what Sarkozy said to a guy about one year ago, what has been filmed while he wasn't aware about it. The video is famous in France.

The "Parti de Gauche" made a sticker of it and it seems it has been massively spread during the last big protest.

Not that I assume that slogan, I don't like that kind of vulgarity, but I tend to think it well sums up the ambiance in the country.

If we continue with bad economical news, if Sarkozy doesn't come back from G20 with good news, and if Besancenot knows how to benefit of that context, well, things could drive serious.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

A poll which is not very fresh, I heard last Thursday, but which is interesting, it's from BVA poll institute:

Question: Who do you trust to lead you in this time of crisis?

Answers:

Sarkozy 38%
Besancenot 35%

For the record, Besancenot is an actual hard-lefty.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Great news for democracy!

When 10 deputies have to hide behind some drapes and to ... TADAM...! Suddenly come from behind them in order to be more than the right deputies, I wonder how much of a great news for democracy it is...

The working of our parliament in general, not only this event, its rules, its place, is a shame for our democracy, and its last lifting is a joke.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

In homage to Maurice Druon who died today:

Ami entends-tu...

It's not the best version of this song but this one has English lyrics. It's the most famous song of the Résistance. Maurice Druon, through other things, wrote this song with Joseph Kessel.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

It's easy for Chirac to be seen as a great president now we can see what is Sarkozy as president.

Plus, "c'était mieux avant..." (for translation, in France the sentence is used to express the fact that the situation was always better in the past).

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Marine Le Pen stated on LCI that instead of sequestrating their bosses and their executives, people should sequestrate their deputies.

Cool, thank you Marine, we needed this to improve things. I tend to think that kind of statements from FN are not that significant but well, it's better without, and it goes in current trends of violence.

Plus, in "Les Echos" a poll said that 55% of people think that these sequestrations are "justified". When the preceding poll on the question just said that 45% of people "understood" that sequestrations. The most recent poll is from BVA.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

The most recent poll is from BVA.

Gah.

Anyways, polls are never perfect, especially not these where the pollsters can toy around with the question a lot. People should stop citing them as proof for life on earth.

No matter the relevance of differences between such 2 polls, outside of what they can say, what is important is also the fact that what they say is aired and can have an influence.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

The problem with OpinionWay is that they really seem to be a Sarkozist pollster. The fact they are here with Le Figaro and LCI goes in that sens. What do you mean by interwebs? Polls where anybody can vote, like they do on 20h on France2 each week?

Personally, a poll that would interest me before the eventual candidates' results, is:

Would you like some presidential elections being held soon?

And, their poll tends to be particularly stupid in the sens that they deliberatively choose Royal for PS, something way not sure.

That said, considering it could be a Sarkozist poll, it's interesting to note that the left wins... I put Bayrou on the left, obviously.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I mean, they could poll the EU elections or something instead of doing "what are you talking about nowadays?" and presidential election polling that is flawed to begin with.

Maybe that's to distract attention from European elections. I don't know. Anyway, no matter who they are, sarkozist or not, I didn't really learn something interesting with that poll.

That said, when we read their methodology they sound serious, and not less fallible than those who do that by phone. I've already been polled by phone, and by one of those you like (was Ipsos or Ifop), and I could have lied the hell what I wanted concerning my identity.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I mean, they could poll the EU elections or something instead of doing "what are you talking about nowadays?" and presidential election polling that is flawed to begin with.

Maybe that's to distract attention from European elections. I don't know. Anyway, no matter who they are, sarkozist or not, I didn't really learn something interesting with that poll.

Why would they want to distract attention from the EU elections?

I said that in the sens it would be better for the sarkozist poll they are to distract people attention from this elections, because results might not be good. But maybe that's a stupid supposition, and I frankly don't really care about their purpose and if are actually or not sarkozist. The main point is that I find their poll is not interesting.

That said, when we read their methodology they sound serious, and not less fallible than those who do that by phone. I've already been polled by phone, and by one of those you like (was Ipsos or Ifop), and I could have lied the hell what I wanted concerning my identity.

You can certainly lie on the interwebs too, you know. Internetz polls are always worse than phone polls. Look at Zogby Interactive.

Yes, yes, we can lie on both, that's why I don't see the inferiority of interwebs poll, I've tried some for consumptions surveys, just to see how it happens, well, frankly the only difference is that you don't give your identity and answers by voice but by typing.

The shame would be they use polls like the 20h on France2 uses each week, or a lot of other websites do, because here they don't ask identity. On the other hand these other kind of poll are less rigorous but they have the advantage to earn far more votes than normal polls.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Les Info's ranking of MP's activity in the Assembly, from least active to most active.

http://www.philippe-folliot.com/images/PDF/activitesdeputes.pdf

Yes, yes, I know that, and be sure Phillipe Folliot didn't forget to signal us he was in the most active in his newsletter!

That said, and as he said in this same newsletter too, this classification is just a kind of image, it doesn't take in count all the aspects of the deputation, on "C dans l'air" on France5, you might know, they made a report on the guy who was the last but one of this classification, and the guy clearly shew he made important things for his job of deputy.

Personally, that is one of the big problem of this assembly to me, I would like full time job deputy, and it suits with my other claim which would be a proportional assembly.

I would prefer that what we have as national assembly became our senate, with a bit of more power than the current senate, and that the national assembly was fully proportional, and keeping the presidential elections.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Les Info's ranking of MP's activity in the Assembly, from least active to most active.

http://www.philippe-folliot.com/images/PDF/activitesdeputes.pdf

Damn, after having watching the classification, I seem him 538th, hell, that's not what he told us in the newsletter IIRC. I've to find this back.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I've effectively found it back, and he effectively tells us he is 39th on that same list from "lesinfos.com". Damn.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

I've been too fast. Thanks.

That said, weird way of classification.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

It's easy for Chirac to be seen as a great president now we can see what is Sarkozy as president.

Plus, "c'était mieux avant..." (for translation, in France the sentence is used to express the fact that the situation was always better in the past).

Yes. I personally find it a bit ridiculous how Chirac is overestimated. They just forgot that he was a liar and a corrupt, though Sarkozy is even worse...

Ow, he wasn't only that. Plus that was more symptomatic of an epoch in which both sides were involved, you might know PS had its lot of corrupt.

Chirac was kinda awful at home, but concerning foreign policy, he was one of the best if not the best of his time.

Plus, it seems to be a guy of quality. And comparing personalities, values, I prefer Chirac way than Sarkozy.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

He was a great politician, sure. Not a great president.

He had clearly the size for the chair, and he passed strong things.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

But they are far overweighted by bad points.

The most you reproach to Mitterand is part of French political traditions, then you didn't like the most he did doesn't mean it was bad, you just didn't like it. For you the glass is more empty than full, for others it's the opposite.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Well, the Assembly adopted the Hadopi internet fascism law yesterday, after the humiliation in the last week or so.

I consider it as a bad law, but we can't really say that's fascist.

Personally I root for "License globale", which seems to be, by far, the most interesting regulation we could have here, it could develop a totally new economic model for creation, that could be pretty interesting.

[Bunwahaha [still dunno why, but well, so be it]]

Julien Coupat is free!