Nous sommes vraiment français

Dear Friends,

Today was a true French day.  As I do most mornings, I walked up to the patisserie but this morning I got 2 pain au chocolat to have with our breakfast.  After breakfast and reading The New York Times, we left to play pétanque with Jean-Paul and several other people who are renting apartments from our landlord, Shelley.  We walked for about 10 minutes past the old citadel (built in the 1500s) and past the fancy Club Pétanque with its wonderful well groomed pétanque field to a public area that is used by the general public to play pétanque.

The game can be described fairly easily.  The area that it is played on is sand and gravel (in our case also some rocks).  You make a circle big enough for a person to fit his/her feet in then one person throws a small wooden ball (le cochonnet as in piglet).  The goal is to get the hollow metal balls that you throw/roll as close as possible to le cochonnet.  In any case Jane, Jean-Paul and I got there first followed quickly by another couple.  We started a game in which Jane was starring and leading.  When others arrived we had teams and started a very serious game.  Jane dropped out after a while, giving her place to another person.  When she did that, her team was ahead in large part because of her playing.  However, at the end of the game my team won.

Here I am coaching our friend, Joan, who is on the other team.

And here are the players with the winners kneeling in the front.

After playing pétanque, we returned to our apartment just in time to do our laundry.  One load was ready to be hung up outside our windows that face the street.  We did a second load as well.  You can see that we are truly French as here is a picture of our laundry hanging out our window.

After doing our laundry we had to leave for lunch with two students that we met last year when we were here for school and a couple that were friends of theirs.  We sat outside by the water in the sun and enjoyed a leisurely French lunch that lasted 3 hours, the antithesis of American fast food.  I had hake that was poached with limes and of course un verre de rosé.  You should know that if you meet someone for "un verre" that means that you are meeting them for a glass of wine but in reality you can have as many glasses of wine as you want and you still say "un" (one) verre.  It is a nice way to avoiding having to say that you had many glasses of wine, but I don't think that anybody would believe me if I said I went for un verre and came back three hours later and said that I had un verre.  Fortunately, in France you are not questioned when you say that.

We got home from lunch at 4:00 pm.  After a short rest, we had to go shopping for dinner.  So we walked to the butcher to get some beautiful looking pork chops, then to the vegetable guy for a leek, some mushrooms and some potatoes, then to the patisserie for a chocolat éclair to finish the meal.  

I cannot imagine a more French day.  

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Charlie Hebdo, Hatred, Disrespect and Loss of Community

Dear Friends,

The news here in France is all about the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo.  In Villefranche-sur-mer, where I am, a small town far from Paris, a special ceremony to greet the mayor has been cancelled and all the townspeople are being encouraged to go to Nice for a silent vigil tomorrow.  There are flyers and signs everywhere in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, the victims and their families.  They all read something like "Nous sommes tous Charlie." It is the worst terrorist attack on French mainland soil for 50 years.  I cannot help but feel the pain that the French are feeling.

Unfortunately, I also cannot help but think that those within France, the United States and other places that thrive on and encourage fear, hatred and disrespect play a role in the breakdown of civility which can lead to this type of attack.  These attacks are not attacks on free speech. They are part of a larger war by fundamentalists and extremists who are the subject of hatred, discrimination and disenfranchisement, none of which justify the actions but certainly explain why radicalisation occurs.

The far right in France, personified by the Front National, its most popular far right party that polled around 25% in the last elections in which the turnout was very low, has been fanning anti-immigrant, anti-Islam and anti-Semitic sentiments which has lead to a recent increase in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks across France.  The other political parties are excluding the Front National from the idea of French unity after the attack and apparently did not issue an invitation to the FN to a public rally to show unity in the face of the Charlie Hebbo terrorist attack.  There is a significant feeling in France that it is the disenfranchisement of the immigrants, caused by the fear and hatred encouraged by the NF,  that has made it easy to radicalise people.

Even though the NF has been excluded, there is an incredible sense of solidarity in France in the aftermath of these attacks and the subsequent hostage situations that have just been resolved.  I only hope that in the days ahead, this unity is not squandered as it was in the United States after the 9/11 attacks.

Of course France is not the only country in which the far right relies on fear and hatred of those that are "others".  The far right in the United States does exactly the same thing.  A significant part of the Republican party does everything it can to make people afraid and particularly afraid of anybody that is not a "white American".  This approach is clear in such things such as immigration, but it is just as present in the economic discussions when the "others" are the poor and those who receive government assistance, a majority of which are non-white.

Republican candidates for President have dropped any pretence of being "compassionate conservatives".  Uniformly they are opposed to an increase in the minimum wage, they support the repeal of Obamacare, they oppose immigration reform, they are in favour of lower taxes on the rich, they are opposed to any effort to reduce the immoral economic gap between the rich and the poor, they want to suppress the vote of those that are "other", they want to eliminate the economic safety net, and the list goes on and on.

Relying on fear and hatred to obtain and retain power, leads inevitably to a complete lack of respect for those that are "other".  Representative Joe Wilson's shouting of "You lie!!" at President Obama during his State of the Union address, is a comparatively mild example of the disrespect that is engendered by the Republicans and others that stoke fear and hatred of "others".  Unfortunately the examples of public disrespect have been increasing including the recent disrespect by some of the New York City police who have turned their backs on Mayor de Blasio.  There can be no debate that disrespect has become epidemic in recent times, and I believe that the public stoking of fear and hatred is largely responsible for this epidemic.

The fear and hatred stoked disrespect for "others" leads to a lack of outrage when violence is committed against "others".  The incredible overreaction and use of excess force by police when a young black male is involved demonstrates a complete lack of respect for them as individuals and human beings.  If young white males were killed by police at the same rate and under the same circumstances as young black males, the public outrage would put an end to that practice immediately.  The same can be said for the number of innocent civilians being killed by the United States drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, etc.  If the United States were killing that many civilians who were of northern European descent, the outrage would be immediate, intense and incredible.

This lack of respect has lead to a breakdown in the idea of community in the United States, and I am afraid throughout the world.  At the end of the day, it can only be a feeling of true community with all others throughout the world that can put a stop to this senseless violence.  We must remember that we are all human beings, and we must act and react accordingly.  We must not disenfranchise, hate or fear the "others".  We must embrace all, even and perhaps especially those that we disagree with.  If we can truly love and respect each other, the process of radicalisation can be dramatically slowed or maybe even stopped. We are all Charlie.  We are all Eric Garner.  We are all Michael Brown.  We are all Tamir Rice.  We are all the innocent people killed by drone strikes.  We are all each other.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Our Day Off

Dear Friends,

We have tried hard to keep Wednesdays free from any schedule and so far so good.  As a result, today we slept in a little had a nice long breakfast reading the New York Times gazing out over the bay.  It was a little cloudy this morning so the sun was not too bright which made both the reading and the gazing more enjoyable.  Never fear by lunchtime the clouds had disappeared.

After breakfast we worked on our French.  Both Aude our tutor and Jean-Paul our conversationalist gave us homework which we skipped the first time it was given.  Today we did our homework for Aude and I worked a little on the homework from Jean-Paul.

After that difficult morning we decided to walk to Beaulieu-sur-mer, the next town east, about a 2 mile walk.  It is a beautiful walk.  Some of you may be interested in knowing that whenever we walk east, when we get to the base of Cape Ferrat, we pass a mansion called "Nellcôte".  Here is the beginning to the Wikipedia entry about it.

Nellcôte (often referred to as Villa Nellcôte) is a Belle Epoque 16-room mansion on a headland above the sea at Villefranche-sur-Mer on the Côte d'Azurin southern France. Nellcôte was leased from April 1971 to March 1972 by Keith Richards, guitarist of The Rolling Stones, and recording sessions for their classic 1972 Exile on Main St. album took place in its basement.^[1]

What the entry does not say is that the Rolling Stones were doing so many drugs that they were told to leave town or they would all be arrested.  Anyway that is the local folklore about the Rolling Stones and Nellcôte.  We can wave at the cameras as we walk past.  The number of incredible mansions on Cap Ferrat is mind boggling.  There is also constant construction.  All the real estate signs here are in French, English and Russians.  The locals say that the Russian oligarchs are buying up everything.

Anyway, our plan was to eat lunch at the Gran Caffé, an Italian restaurant on the main square of the town.  It had been recommended to us by several people.  We thought that we had eaten there last April when we were here, and we were right.  The food is basically Italian comfort food.  We sat outside and enjoyed the food and people watching.

Following lunch we went to the Super U, a huge grocery store with lots of other things as well.  We bought a couple of supplies that we could not find in Villefranche.  To prove that we were truly French we then used the self-check out lane.  We only had to ask the attendant twice for help and both times it was accomplished in French.

It was almost 5:00 pm when arrived back at our apartment, and we still needed to shop for our dinner tonight.  We wanted to go to Picard Surgéles.  It is a great store with everything you could ever want frozen.  We stocked up on soups and blueberries.  We then stopped at the vegetable market for some clementines and lettuce before heading to the delicatessen for a little blueberry tart.

As you can see, living on the Côte d'Azur is very difficult.  Now we must make our dinner.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Une Promenade Formidable!!

Dear Friends,

Today we went for another two hour walk with Jean-Paul, speaking French, as we went.  Much of the discussion involved politics as we have discovered that while Jean-Paul voted for President H.W. Bush, he now thinks that Senator Warren is great.  We have much in common.

We walked part way out Cap Ferrat and then cut across the peninsula and back to Beaulieu.  Along the way we came upon the house of David Niven.  Here is a photo of a sign to give you a sense of where you are and which way to go along this beautiful walking path.

Here we are leaving Jean-Paul to visit our good friend David.

And here is Jane with Jean-Paul.

After our walk today, we went shopping for dinner.  First we went to the butcher shop and got some chicken breasts.  Then we went to the vegetable man who puts his vegetables out on a square.  We got endive, mushrooms, red pepper and potatoes.  Finally we went to the delicatessen for an apple tart.  I had already purchased a baguette this morning from the bakery.  Of course we conducted all this business en français.

We are now off to a soirée to meet the other clients of our landlord, Shelley.

Bonne Journée.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal

Learning and Speaking French

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we had our first session with our French tutor, Aude.  She is about the age of our children and has a child almost exactly the same age (2 years) as our youngest grandson.  She is very nice and a great teacher.  About 10 years ago she taught at the French immersion program at Edina's (suburb of Minneapolis) Valley View school so she is familiar with the Minneapolis area.  Our sessions are much more informal than at l'Institut because there are just the two of us so we can stop to learn vocabulary and better understand the various rules.  Yesterday we spent a lot of time just talking so that she could assess our level of incompetence.  She also had us listen to a news report to see what if anything we could comprehend.  Our session with her was three hours in the morning.

After a lunch in our apartment of a delicious fresh baguette sandwich and fruit, we met for the first time with Jean-Paul.  He speaks French with us.  We all like to walk so we walked for two hours, talking all the time.  Our conversation ranged from understanding how to buy a ticket and read the schedule for the train as we walked by the train station to a comparison of the French and American healthcare systems as we walked along the beach.  We all agreed that the French system was better.  Jean-Paul is French but he spent a year or so in New York so his English is quite good but he makes us speak French.  His last name is LeComte which means nobleman so he says that he is the Count of Monte Cristo.  So you could say that we walked and talked with the Count of Monte Cristo.

We met our friend Joan who was also a student at l'Institut last year.  She is rare breed - a Democrat from Wyoming.  Last year was her second year at l'Institut, and she was a class ahead of us.  She has decided that she likes to spend the winters here so she is here for 7 weeks. She is not going to l'Institut.  She will have sessions with both Aude and Jean-Paul but not at the same time as we are.  Anyway we have kept in touch with her for the last year, but we still had a lot to talk about so we meet her for un verre (de vin) at 5:30 pm but did not leave her until about 8:00 pm and deux verre.
Unfortunately by that time all the stores were closed so we could not get any groceries for dinner so we ate at a very informal restaurant called Les Palmiers.  It was a fun evening but we did not get to bed until 11:00 so we failed to complete our homework assignments from both Aude and Jean-Paul.  Quel dommage!!

The weather here is fantastic. Every day is sunny with a slight breeze and a high temperature in the low 60s.  Apparently last year, when we had quite a few rainy days, was unusual.  This year the high temperatures are unusual, but the sun is not.

I need to get ready for another walk with Jean-Paul now.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Dear Friends,

I watched Meet the Press from last Sunday and was very disappointed in Senator Klobuchar in her response to where she stands on the Keystone XL Pipeline.  Here is her response:

Well, I believe that this project has merit. But I still don't think that Congress should be in the business of deciding where a pipeline is located. I think the president needs to make a decision. A lot of us are frustrated that it has taken this long.

I believe the proper response to that question is "I oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline because it is terrible for the environment, it will not provide any energy independence, it will only provide 35 permanent jobs, and it will raise gasoline prices in Minnesota."

Senator Klobuchar also failed to correct Senator Barrasso's statement that it would create 42,000 new jobs.  The statistic that he was referring to has been proven to be incorrect many times and refers to job years created during the construction period and is about 35,000.  A job year is one job for one year so if the job exists for three years of construction that was counted as three jobs.

Senator Klobuchar said that she was frustrated that it has taken so long to make a decision.  I am frustrated that President Obama has taken so long too, but I am willing to say he should reject the pipeline.  Senator Klobuchar simply says he should make a decision.  Apparently she has no opinion on the pipeline other than it has merit which sounds a lot like support.  I think that she has a bad case of now I am in a leadership position so I should not say anything too definitive.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Dear Friends,
The following letter from Senator Sanders to Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative speaks for itself.  There can only be one reason to keep the proposal secret from the public is that the TPP benefits the giant multi-national corporations but not the average American.



Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Pain au chocolat

Dear Friends,

It is Sunday morning here.  The sun is shining brightly through the French doors to our balcony facing the bay.  The flashing white light from the lighthouse on Cap Ferrat has given way to the bright sun rising.  While the temperature is 52 degrees, it feels much warmer because of the beautiful sun and lack of wind.  I walked up the hill in my shirt sleeves to the pâtisserie to get two pain au chocolat for breakfast.  Here they are on the coffee table in our living room.  Note the tulips.

The entire transaction was conducted en français as were all the other transactions while I was in the shop because all the other people were French.  Of course I did this after I hung the wash on the clothes line outside the bedroom window.  We are really French now.

As I walked home past the church, I heard the choir singing as I gazed at the beautiful bay in front of me.  Life is really great.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal

Hillary Clinton and Wall Street - Antonio Weiss

Dear Friends,

Secretary Clinton's close ties to Wall Street pose a very difficult issue for me.  Since her ties to Wall Street are many and varied, I will discuss them in several blogs.  This one will focus on President Obama's nomination of Antonio Weiss as Under Secretary for Domestic Finance.  As a result of the efforts of Senators Warren, Durbin and Sanders; Move-on.org and other liberal groups and Independent Community Bankers of America, Mr. Weiss's nomination has become a controversial one with many people and groups making their views known.  Secretary Clinton has not commented publicly on President Obama's nomination of Mr. Weiss.  Unfortunately, her lack of public comment is consistent with how she is handling all important issues that are in the public's eye today.  Since I see the case against Mr. Weiss's nomination as being very strong, I think that Secretary Clinton's failure to speak out is clear evidence of her unwavering support of Wall Street.

Senator Warren's criticism of Mr. Weiss's nomination focuses on three main issues.  She sets forth her case against the nomination in a piece in The Huffington Post (here).  The first is that Mr. Weiss is not qualified for the job.  Mr. Weiss has spent years doing international mergers and acquisitions.  The job is for domestic finance.  Just because Mr. Weiss is good at international mergers does not mean that he would be good at dealing with domestic finance policy matters.  The second issue is Mr. Weiss's involvement in the Burger King tax inversion merger with Tim Horton's.  A merger that moved Burger King from an American corporation to a Canadian corporation greatly reducing Burger King's US tax bill.  The third is the constant revolving door between Wall Street and the government.  The influence of Wall Street on Congress might be better described as the control of Congress by Wall Street.  The push is to put a Wall Street person into every power position in the government regardless of qualifications.  In addition, Mr. Weiss is receiving a golden parachute from Lazard for going into government service of over $20 million.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal