France has Le Pen - well the US has Larouche (sounds a bit French!) He has declared war on the British Empire and his followers have been distributing pamphlets on why the empire must be destroyed. His web site is here for your perusal of how democracy allows extremists to express themselves. Nice to receive this as you get on the metro in the morning.
Meanwhile FOX News continues to attack the Obama administration with incredible vigour. I find it difficult to watch FOX but as one of the most popular channels it becomes frightening to think what Joe average really takes in from the TV.
What do they do to their organic material here? The fruit doesn't rot like in Europe and the cut flowers never drop their petals. It looks like the cherry blossom actually falls so whatever they do to the cut flowers they have not perfected the process on living material - yet... Botoxed tulips it seems.
The French have privileges in Virginia. How did I find that out ....well. My wife tried several times to get a French driving license from the prefecture in Fontainebleau - without success - even though the British license she has is no longer valid - wrong address and no photo. On a final attempt the parting comment from the fonctionnaire was - unless you have a traffic offence that requires points on your license. It so happened my wife had a contravention with two points for speeding. So she returned to the Prefecture with the evidence and was immediately given a French license. We get to Virginia - some fellow Brits (happens to have been a controller at Maastricht and had driven in Europe for several years but always with a British license) told us that we would need to take a driving test and a traffic code test. He had just failed the driving and was not very happy. So we set off to start the process. At the licensing center we showed our French licenses and the reply was - no tests required we just confirm the status with the French authorities and you can have a Virginia license. That's how I know the French are privileged in Virginia....
Friday, April 24, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Its Cherry blossom time in DC - colour everywhere. Osprey are nesting on a rail bridge clsoe to the Capitol - a rare bird requiring 24 hour protection when in nests in Scotland. Here nature is so close to the city.
Still less than a 100 days gone and the impacts of Obama continue at a pace. Last week during the G20 meeting the biggest discussion point here was about GM. Obama fired the CEO and laid down conditions for the bail out that required more time for GM to prepare its package of changes to become more competive. The strange thing is that this is getting so much criticism in the media from the point of view of too much Government control - let the markets decide is the call from many. However its clear that they have not looked at the UK car business where the market decided that the UK would no longer build cars. If GM were to be bought up by the Chinese the repercussions could see the end of Obama. So the Governemnt continues to support a lame duck and continues to draw critcism about intervension. The very function of Gorvenmant is being debated..
That issue has suddenly been overtaken by the words of Obama about Americans sometimes being too arrogant and not appreciating the role of Europe. Those that control the media here are spending much air time criticising Obamas position of doing down the American people. It is clear that those who have access to the media are not the majority that voted for Obama.
Another challenge to Obamas cultural revoloution is the request by Notre Dame University for him to make a speech in the way that all previous Presidents have done. Due to his pro-abortion stance and his support for stem cell research the catholic community is up in arms. I am not sure if the American people really comprehend what Obama stands for - a return to fundamental and honest principles. The next few months will be very challenging.
On another note I visited San Diego - there is a headland where the Portuguese explorer Cabrillo (Cabrilho) landed in 1542. A beautiful location - but what is striking is that the property on the headland is extremely expensive. $3million gets a three bed house made of wood in a small garden. Yet a large part of the headland is set out to military graves. It seems that the only way to get a spot on this beautiful coast is to be very rich or die in the military.
In a park in San Diago is a fantastic statue of a sailor and a girl kissing taken from a photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Its a striking photo and a striking statue. I checked up - Doisneau's photo was in 1944 - Eisenstaedts 1945 - plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. The US and France have a love hate relationship that manifests itself in so many small ways.
Still less than a 100 days gone and the impacts of Obama continue at a pace. Last week during the G20 meeting the biggest discussion point here was about GM. Obama fired the CEO and laid down conditions for the bail out that required more time for GM to prepare its package of changes to become more competive. The strange thing is that this is getting so much criticism in the media from the point of view of too much Government control - let the markets decide is the call from many. However its clear that they have not looked at the UK car business where the market decided that the UK would no longer build cars. If GM were to be bought up by the Chinese the repercussions could see the end of Obama. So the Governemnt continues to support a lame duck and continues to draw critcism about intervension. The very function of Gorvenmant is being debated..
That issue has suddenly been overtaken by the words of Obama about Americans sometimes being too arrogant and not appreciating the role of Europe. Those that control the media here are spending much air time criticising Obamas position of doing down the American people. It is clear that those who have access to the media are not the majority that voted for Obama.
Another challenge to Obamas cultural revoloution is the request by Notre Dame University for him to make a speech in the way that all previous Presidents have done. Due to his pro-abortion stance and his support for stem cell research the catholic community is up in arms. I am not sure if the American people really comprehend what Obama stands for - a return to fundamental and honest principles. The next few months will be very challenging.
On another note I visited San Diego - there is a headland where the Portuguese explorer Cabrillo (Cabrilho) landed in 1542. A beautiful location - but what is striking is that the property on the headland is extremely expensive. $3million gets a three bed house made of wood in a small garden. Yet a large part of the headland is set out to military graves. It seems that the only way to get a spot on this beautiful coast is to be very rich or die in the military.
In a park in San Diago is a fantastic statue of a sailor and a girl kissing taken from a photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Its a striking photo and a striking statue. I checked up - Doisneau's photo was in 1944 - Eisenstaedts 1945 - plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. The US and France have a love hate relationship that manifests itself in so many small ways.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The first 50 days
Getting away from London back to Paris to start our trip to DC was an event - the 5 inches of snow stopped the trains, buses, taxis, closed Heathrow and all but one Underground line. Eventually we got from Guildford to St Pancras for the Eurostar - which ran to time - the only transport system running that day.
So we have arrived in DC at an interesting point in history. The first 100 days of Obama's term. The exposure of Obama on the TV and in the press is amazing - the guy seems to spend several hours each day talking his policy and actions through. As an alien I look at this with open eyes - but not without my own prejudice. I believe the American Dream has morphed during the last 10 -15 years into a dream based on greed. Obama is trying hard to get that dream reset onto ideals of honesty, integrity, due reward for due effort, equality and accessibility for all. Its going to be very tough because so many are already tainted by the outgoing American Dream. There are contradictions when you see notices by the cash tills that ask you to pay $1-$5 extra on your bill to empower the poor when the banks are taking tax payers money for bonuses and the TV's and newspapers run massive ads for cheap homes (foreclosures). A big play is made on this re-birth of the American Dream - I got lost in the Senate buildings and ended up in a Commerce Sub-Committee hearing led by J. D. Rockefeller where blessings were given to the new Commerce Secretary Gvnr Locke - whose grandfather arrived as a Chinese immigrant - many references were made to Gvnr Locke being an example of how the American Dream can work.
The sense of history is strong - the parallels contrasting the current crisis and Obama's task with Lincoln and his task around the civil war are everywhere.
The other aspect that hits you is the military presence around DC. I was relieved yesterday to see that debate is quite open - I read in the Washington Post an article started by a concerned father asking readers what he should say to his 19 year old son who wanted to join the military. There is no conclusion - but the debate was refreshing - although for 19 year olds the lure of a paying job is strong. And the publicity is very glamorous.
I managed to get a visit to the Capitol - the intro. made special reference to the war of 1812 when the British burned down most of the Capitol;-( Its so tough being British. And how about the early prototype of the Capitol.
Here's an interesting cut on customer relations
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