“This small city in northern France has few immigrants and little crime. But in the last local elections here, the candidate of the far-right National Front eliminated the standard-bearer of … [Keep reading >>]

I was propelled into a reading and movie watching  frenzy to make up for my sketchy knowledge of World War One after reading To End All Wars by Adam Hochschild. … [Keep reading >>]

From France and Colorado the warnings come: the wildflowers are in serious retreat.  In France the cause appears to be intensive, chemical based, farming.  In Colorado, the shifting of the … [Keep reading >>]

Monday night, October 17, was our last night in Paris, and as it happen, my birthday.  Near the end of the must-do boat tour of the Seine after dark, we … [Keep reading >>]

Not finding this in the on-line US sites this morning, so I’ll contribute:

Of the remaining two candidates, François Hollande and Martine Aubry, Hollande, nicknamed Monsieur Normal, convinced a good percentage … [Keep reading >>]

I’m still in Paris.  The headlines in Le Parisienne and the Herald Tribune both flew DSK’s [Dominique Staruss-Kahn] escape from criminal charges for an alleged rape of a French woman, … [Keep reading >>]

Sunday was voting day for the Socialist party in France.  We didn’t see lines at polling places but apparently the 1 million turn-out made it a happy day for the party.   It … [Keep reading >>]

Immigration is big in the news these days – mostly the opposition to it– around the world. It is absolutely the case that most people welcome immigrants when … [Keep reading >>]

We took a flyer last night on Potiche – Trophy Wife, based on Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu being the leads. Neither are in their glorious prime but … [Keep reading >>]

The US isn’t alone in its drawing up the pale to exclude those not like us.  In fact it’s a pretty near universal emotion.  When emotions get high pull back … [Keep reading >>]

Austerity for  the workers but keep paying interest to banks and bond holders: finance as usual.

Commuters faced major headaches getting to work in London and across France on Tuesday … [Keep reading >>]

Soccer is in the international news today because of several furors –none, seemingly, involving religion and  two leading to high level diplomatic face-slaps.

In Europe, the Irish are absolutely livid that … [Keep reading >>]