In Paris, where the cliche image is that of a literary set gathering over Pernod to loathe globalization and its American antecedents, one of the most depressing signs of cultural defeat to many is the presence of Starbucks. The coffee chain has opened three stores in Paris and has ambitious plans for a dozen or […]
(click on post title, or here, for the rest)Fortunately one of Independent Sources’ favorite econoblogs caught the story below from the Scotsman which we might have otherwise missed.
FRANCE is facing an unprecedented new-generation exodus as many of its disillusioned younger people leave in search of a better life abroad.
Fed up with a country they describe as rigid, racist and old-fashioned, French youngsters are […]
(click on post title, or here, for the rest)French people, don’t fret. Things are going well. Just read Paul Krugman’s column in the New York Times and you’ll see that your stagnant ecomomy is actually doing great … even if you can’t find a job!
You’ll also learn that Krugman assumes you’re happy — even when you tell pollsters you’re not.
Krugman kicks off today’s […]
The news has already quickly faded about French President Jacques Chirac’s comments about Finnish cuisine being the “worst food,” but this story deserves more attention. After all, it’s already had geopolitical impact: it’s been reported that two Finns who sat on the IOC committee making the decision on London vs. Paris as a 2012 Olympic […]
(click on post title, or here, for the rest)Jacques Chirac used the Bastille Day holiday to insist that France is better off than the UK:
President Jacques Chirac celebrated Bastille Day yesterday by insisting that France had no need to “envy or copy” Britain. Whether the point of comparison was food, health, education or science, France was in far better shape than its old […]
A French bus company is pursuing a suit against a group of cleaning ladies because they found a better way to get to work:
…a group of French cleaning ladies who organised a car-sharing scheme to get to work are being taken to court by a coach company which accuses them of “an act of unfair […]
The French are accused of being a lot of things..arrogant, odorous, backstabbing, and so forth. But paranoid? That’s a new one. After our last French posting, we were directed to a website that is focused on attacking anti-French opinions in the United States…and they are surprisingly serious. Their site even has a diagram showing the history of […]
(click on post title, or here, for the rest)Independent Sources is proud to bring you our special coverage of the 2005 Tour de France via our own Luke the Drifter:
THE SAD FRENCH FANS DON’T EVEN HAVE A ‘CLOWN’ TO CHEER ON
The Frenchies are desperate for something to cheer for. After tomorrow’s big mountain day it is unlikely that any French rider will be […]
Here’s a look at Tour de France performance through stage five by country of origin, for countries with over five riders:
I put this forth not to emphasize how well the U.S. is doing so far, but to ask about France. What is up with the host nation performing the worst of all the major contingents?
My […]
Senior Administration Official, Luke The Drifter, and Insider all wish you the very best for this 4th of July holiday. I would include Inhouse JD but he’s gone AWOL on us. Hopefully he’s okay.
On this day of our nation’s birthday, and across our vast and beautiful country, Americans will be going to beaches, lakes, parks, and backyards to celebrate and to […]
A little off topic for us, but this year’s Tour de France promises to be an epic race as well as the last TdF for the great(est) American cyclist Lance Armstrong. So courtesy of our Independent Sources’ occasional contributor, Luke the Drifter, we bring you his pre-race analysis:
With regard to Jan Ullrich, no one should be 100% […]
Mark Steyn in the Chicago Sun-Times uses the occasion of the “non” vote in France to comment on a book by Guardian UK columnist Will Hutton. His column reminds us of what makes European economic philosophy so wrong to us:
(Hutton) is not arguing that America is betraying the Founding Fathers, but that the Founding Fathers […]
More on what the EU Referendum in France is telling us:
The French “no” highlights a basic challenge for France. French voters liked the added leverage that they got as being part of the EU, but now that it might threaten what the French perceive as their God given right to high pay low productivity, all […]
French voters rejected a proposed European Union constitution Sunday, igniting a political crisis in the alliance and dealing a sharp blow to French President Jacques Chirac.With nearly all ballots counted, the Interior Ministry reported that 55.5% of voters had rejected the constitution and 44.5% had approved it.
Why is this funny?
Let’s remember that France is one […]
The BBC reports that the French government is asking state sector workers to report to work on a traditional May holiday — and work for free that day. The “Day of Solidarity” will replace the traditional post-Pentecost Monday holiday this May 16. The move is supposed to raise money for the national health care system […]
(click on post title, or here, for the rest)