12-12-07
225. France's ongoing motto: "working more for earning more"
Heard this afternoon on BFM radio from the French right-wing leader (the party of the president):
"The demand of purchasing power from the working-class (workforce) is so strong that it motivates us and also gives us a sense of responsibility.
We have to make bigger efforts towards small salaries. 20 % of the weakest incomes have just seen their incomes improved thanks to the benefits in France. There are people who wonder: 'if I make overtime to earn 100€ more a month, I will lose the APL (the French housing benefit for very small incomes), and the bursary of my children, etc... Such a result will lead me to lose more than I'd really be allowed to earn... So is it useful to make overtime?'
We must find solutions and we must help to raise the modest salaries. 6 million of employees have just stated that their pay increased in October. Soon, from 4 to 5 million can hope to see an improvement of their salaries thanks to the monetization (payment) of the RTT (French system of rest, resulted from the 35 hours/week system).
For the other employees, it is necessary to enable wage negotiations to give employers the freedom to organise overtime. We have to aim the passage from the ongoing 8 % of unemployment to 5 % ."
"Il y a une demande de pouvoir d'achat de la part des salariés qui nous motive et responsabilise. Nous devons faire de plus grands efforts pour les petits salaires. 20% revenus les plus faibles voient leurs revenus améliorés grâce aux prestations en France. Il y a des gens qui se disent si je fais des heures supplémentaires pour gagner 100€ de plus par mois, est-ce si intéressant si je dois perdre l'APL, la bourse de mes enfants, etc..., à quoi ça sert? Nous devons aider à redresser les salaires modestes. 6 millions de salariés ont vu leur fiche de paie augmenter en octobre. 4 à 5 millions peuvent espérer voir une amélioration grâce à la monétisation des RTT. Pour les autres salariés, il faut permettre des négociations salariales avec ls employeurs pour donner + de liberté à faire des heures supplémentaires. Nous devons viser les 5% de chômage."
19-11-07
204. "Michelin crowns Tokyo world's new culinary capital"
Move your mouse over the underlined words to see the translation into French
Flood of awards for Tokyo from the French guide Michelin: from now on, the Japanese city is the worldwide capital of the gastronomy with 197 stars.
Paris is ranked 2 with 97 stars, New yorks totals up 54.
It is said that Japanese restaurants are slightly less expensive than ours in Paris but over there you have to pay cash, never any card payment!
Read here.
02-11-07
187. Unusual economic news item
Move your mouse over the underlined words to read the translation into French
Here is the sole news I've found in English about this unusual economic news item
A Tasty Pay Rise Oct. 23, 2007 DailyRecord
A pasta factory owner has given all his workers a 20 per cent rise after trying to live on their salary for a month.
Enzo Rossi, 42, tried to survive on the equivalent of £700 - the wage he had paid his 140 workers in Campofilone, Italy.
But he gave up after having to buy special offers in the supermarket, ditch his chauffeur for public transport and drink the cheapest chianti.
In French:
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/economie_terre/288639.FR.php
19-10-07
173. Elephants never forget the smell of a tribesman
Title and following article from The Independent
Put your mouse over the paragraphs: the French translations will appear
Elephants mourn their dead and engage in long-distance communication using barely audible, low-frequency growls. Now they have been shown to be able to distinguish between different human tribes based on the smell and colour of their clothing.
It is believed to be the first time that any wild animal has been found to have the ability to categorise different sub-groups within the same species depending on the potential threat that they pose.
A study of elephants in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya has found that they react differently to members of the Maasai, cattle-herding pastoralists, whose young men sometimes spear elephants to prove their virility, and the Kamba, who are village-dwelling farmers who pose little threat to elephants.
Scientists from the University of St Andrews and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in Nairobi conducted field experiments which have shown that the elephants base their distrust of the Maasai on the colour of their traditional clothing – red – and their body scent.
Anecdotal evidence gathered over the past 35 years suggested that the elephants might be able to distinguish between the Maasai and the Kamba, which led the scientists to devise an experiment based on clothing worn for five days by members of each tribe.
"We expected that elephants might be able to distinguish among different human groups according to the level of risk that each presents to them, and we were not disappointed," said Professor Richard Byrne, who led the study published in the journal Current Biology.
"In fact, we think this is the first time that it has been experimentally shown that any animal can categorise a single species of potential predator into subclasses based on such subtle cues," Professor Byrne said.
The scientists subjected elephant herds to different garments vêtements – both worn and unworn cloths – and observed the reaction of the animals. The elephants became significantly more nervous and travelled more quickly away from the Maasai-worn clothing than the clothing of the Kamba. The animals were most relaxed in the presence of unworn cloths.
A typical reaction in the presence of the Maasai clothing was for the elephants to raise their trunks above their heads in the direction of the scent and then move directly downwind contre le vent of the scent. They did this even when the clothing was too far away to be seen so the reaction must have been based on smell alone.
[...]
Lucy Bates, a member of the research team at St Andrews, said that the elephants appear to be able to assess the level of risk posed by the members of each tribe and adopt the appropriate behaviour based on this assessment. "With any scent present, fear and escape reactions seem to dominate anything else," she said.
Elephants are increasingly becoming a nuisance for farmers in Africa because of the expansion of the human population, and with it agricultural land, so the findings could be useful in terms of helping to avoid future conflicts.
"While elephants can undoubtedly be dangerous when they come into conflict with humans, our data shows that, given the opportunity, they would far rather run away even before they encounter the humans in person," Professor Byrne said.
"We see this experiment as just a start to investigating precisely how elephants see the world, and it may be that their abilities will turn out to equal or exceed those of our closer relatives, the monkeys and apes."
Also:
University of Saint-Andrews
18-10-07
172. "Disliking the McCanns is an international sport"
Put your mouse over the underlined words: the French definitions/translations will appear
You wonder who could have dared to say that? Many people outside the boundaries of UK are really weary by the way the McCanns act and above all by all their media show. So imagine the way most Britons feel...
The author of this sentence is not famous -- or wasn't until last Tuesday when she won the most famous literary prize in UK. Indeed Anne Enright won "The Man Booker Prize" for her novel "The gathering" -- the equivalent of our French Prix Goncourt -- but wrote the complete "attack" about the McCanns before she was given the prize.
The text appears on a blog on the 6th october, entirely resumed by the blogger: bear in mind that at this moment there were no comments... But since the Prize was given last Tuesday, the newspapers mentioned the link and comments rained...
In the text here, the writer depicts how she dislikes the McCanns. Unlike most people, she doesn't blame the mother but the father. In France we would call this sort of text "a bomb". Is it unfair, obscene, legitimate, necessary?
By the way, make your own impression from these astonishing quotes:
"I disliked the McCanns earlier than most people (I'm not proud of it). I thought I was angry with them for leaving their children alone."
"In fact, I was angry at their failure to accept that their daughter was probably dead. I wanted them to grieve, which is to say to go away. In this, I am as bad as people who complain that 'she does not cry'."
"Most of the animosity against the McCanns centres on the figure of Madeleine's beautiful mother. I am otherwise inclined. I find Gerry McCann's need to 'influence the investigation' more provoking than her flat sadness."
"The sad fact is that this man cannot speak properly about what is happening to himself and his wife, and about what he wants.
"The language he uses is more appropriate to a corporate executive than to a desperate father. This may be just the way he is made. This may be all he has of himself to give the world, just now.
"Then I go to bed and wake up the next day, human again, liking the McCanns."
Anne Enright is Irish, wrote 4 novels, has two little children, was formerly an Irish TV producer. Though she was the outsider, she won the Man Booker Prize 2007, unexpected event that discountenanced and bothered many newspapers, like the Telegraph in where it was written that the Enright's surprise was "a major upset"...
11-09-07
135. Anita Roddick, a great Dame passed away
Her death happened extremely suddenly: after she complained of a violent headache, she was admitted in hospital and then died a very short time later. She was suffering from an hepatitis C that she caught during a blood transfusion in 1971, during her last maternity.
Anita Roddick's life wasn't a fiction: through her, we now know that concept and behaviour of "good business" are possible.
Although I already knew very well Body Shop, its products and its campaigns, I only heard of Anita Roddick when I decided to learn English via English-speaking newspapers and it was 2 years ago. I still have got the photocopy of the paper... 
In there I've read for the first time that a very wealthy people wanted to spread her fortune. I was both scared and fascinated by her decision to give away her whole personal fortune.
I think environment and pre-industrial peoples had lost one of their main activists and supporters.
In her website, Anita Roddick told how fully committed she remained to "environmental and social change", how determined against the powerful oil companies which are the first ones to use "destructive practices", to be harmful and to act toughly against environment and all kind of peoples, only in order to make more huge profits. In her own life, "campaigning and good business" went together. She always encouraged sustainable development and tolerance to any kind of body size. To my mind, that's why she was so modern and for sure she belongs to visionary personalities.
Her first job was in Paris and that explains to me her use of French words with their proper accents. She certainly spoke French.
As you'll see in her website, the lines she wrote about her life and actions convey pride simplicity and vivacity. However, you'll find none statement about her death yet.
May she rest in peace and... also see the light over there. (You can read her highlighted post "seeing the light") 
Her sites:
Welcome to AnitaRoddick.com by Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop.
http://www.takeitpersonally.org/index.php
Her death:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3L54zox0XO69d_erQcDf_oIIK1Q
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2426935.ece
09-09-07
132. Missing Madeleine McCann -- her parents ??!!!!
Here is an article from today, accompanied by my own translation.
In dark pink: I'd appreciate any help from you reader in order to shed some light on these sentences: I'm not sure to have properly understood.
In flashy red: I didn't translate but if you have any idea, please feel free to suggest it
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/tragic--chain-of-events-with-a-sting-in-the-tale-1074435.html
Tragic chain of events with a sting in the tale
Un enchainement tragique d'évènements avec une mauvaise surprise au bout
In the McCann case, the public are being forced to face what they didn't want to contemplate, reports Larissa Nolan from Praia Da Luz -- The Independent (Dans l'affaire McCann, le public est forcé de regarder en face ce qu'ils ne voulaient pas voir)
Sunday September 09 2007
For four long months, it was clear cut. Now it is incomprehensible. Until last week, the facts were hard to digest, but they were straight. Depuis 4 longs mois c'était net et précis. Maintenant c'est incompréhensible. Jusqu'à la semaine dernière, les faits étaient durs à digérer, mais les faits étaient honnêtes.
Madeleine McCann vanished from her hotel room in the quiet resort of Praia da Luz, Portugal; her parents Kate and Gerry so distraught by her disappearance that they launched an international campaign to find their beloved daughter. MMc a disparu de sa chambre d'hôtel dans le centre de vacances tranquille de Paria da Luz au Portugal; ses parents K et G furent si desespérés par sa disparition qu'ils ont lancé une campagne internationale pour retrouver leur fille adorée.
It was a terrible tragedy, but one we could at least try to get our heads around. C'était une tragédie terrible mais de celles dont on peut au moins donner de la tête (???)
Locals in the Algarve were sympathetic and supportive; they cheered Kate when she turned up for news conferences pleading for Maddy's return. La population d'Algarve offrait sa compassion et son soutien; ils ont encouragé K quand elle a redonné de nouveaux entretiens, implorant le retour de Maddy.
But events took an astounding turn this weekend with news that Portuguese investigating police had officially named both Gerry and Kate McCann as "formal suspects" in the death of the four-year-old whose angelic-looking face has become familiar from the "Have You Seen Maddy?" missing posters. Mais les évènements ont pris un tour renversant ce week-end avec la nouvelle que la police d'investigation portugaise has officiellement déclarés suspects les époux McC concernant la mort de leur filette de 4 ans dont le visage angélique s'étalant sur les affiches de recherche "Avez-vous vu Maddie?" est devenu familier à tous.
Now, with the latest police statements, all has changed. Kate and Gerry have gone from being the victims to being the suspects. When Kate appeared for questioning, locals jeered instead of cheered. Maintenant, avec les dernières déclarations de la police, tout a changé. K et G sont passés de victimes à suspects. Quand K s'est présentée à l'interrogatoire, la population locale s'est gaussée au lieu de l'encourager.
The international media is still hanging on here in the police epicentre of Portimao, all waiting to hear if, or when, they will press charges on the couple. Les médias internationaux sont restés encore sur place dans l'épicentre policier de Portimao, attendant tous d'apprendre si, la police portera des accusations contre le couple.
The public is being forced to face the unbelievable. Le public doit faire face à l'inimaginable.
Surely, this is all just a horrible mistake that the McCanns are now being put through the horror of the accusation of killing their daughter, after losing her in such a terrible way. C'est sûrement simplement une effroyable erreur que les McC soient maintenant placés dans l'horreur de l'accusation d'avoir tué leur fille, après l'avoir perdue d'une si terrible manière.
But could the McCanns be somehow culpable? It's a case that could destroy society's faith in human nature. In contrast to the positive press in Ireland and the UK, newspapers here in Portugal spare no feelings. Mais les McC pourraient-ils être d'une manière ou d'une autre coupables? C'est un cas tel qui pourrait détruire la foi de la société dans la nature humaine. En contraste au soutien positif de la presse irlandaise et britannique, les journaux ici au Portugal ne font aucun sentiment.
The front-page headline of yesterday's daily newspaper Correio de Manha was just one word: "SUSPEITOS". La une en pleine page du journal d'hier "Correio de Manha" consistait en un seul mot: "suspects".
The Policia Judicial, based 20kms from Praia da Luz in the town of Portimao, say the McCanns are suspected of "crimes of homicide through negligence" and of "hiding the body''. La police judiciaire, basée à 20kms de Praia da Luz dans la ville de Portimao, dit que les McC sont soupçonnés de "homicide par négligence" et d'avoir "dissimulé le corps".
Put bluntly, they believe Kate McCann accidentally killed Madeleine, by administering an overdose of sedatives to ensure she slept soundly alone in the hotel room through the evening, while the couple dined in a restaurant a minute's walk away.
Dit brutalement, ils croient que Kate McC a tué accidentellement Madeleine, par l'administration massive de sédatifs afin de s'assurer qu'elle dormirait sagement seule dans la chambre d'hôtel dans la soirée, pendant que le couple pouvait dîner au restaurant situé à une minute de marche.
Gerry McCann is suspected as an accessory. G McC est soupçonné d'avoir un rôle accessoire.
The suggestion is that they then hid, or disposed of, the child's body and made it look as though she was abducted. L'hypothèse est donc qu'ils ont caché, ou jeté, le corps de l'enfant et qu'ils ont fait en sorte qu'elle paraissait avoir été enlevée.
Their theory looked at one stage to be backed up by forensic evidence, believed to include traces of Madeleine's DNA found in the car the McCanns hired 25 days after her disappearance on May 3. Now doutbs are emerging about that evidence -- with reports that matches were both incomplete and not perfect.
Leur théorie examinée lors d'une étape de l'enquête pour être retenue par le service médico-légal, a inclus les traces d'ADN de Madeleine trouvées dans la voiture que les McC ont louée 25 jours après sa disparition ayant eu lieu le 3 mai. Maintenant des doutes se dégagent au sujet de cette preuve-- avec un assemblage de rapports qui sont à la fois incomplets et non rigoureux.
But the general feeling among many locals in Portimao is that the police must have some reason to make them suspects. Mais le sentiment général parmi plusieurs personnes de Portimao est que la police doit avoir une raison de les soupçonner.
Questions about their behaviour before and after Maddy's disappearance are coming to the fore. Les questions au sujet de leur comportement avant et après la disparition de Maddy émergent.
While it always rankled how an educated couple like the McCanns -- Kate is a GP and Gerry a heart surgeon -- could leave a child alone in an apartment, no one liked to harp on about it, considering the horrific outcome of the decision. Alors que reste toujours en travers de la gorge le fait qu'un couple aussi bien éduqué que les McC aient laissé un enfant seul dans un apparetement -- K est médecin généraliste et G un chirurgien du coeur -- personne n'a souhaité le ressasser, étant donné l'horrible conséquence de cette décision.
But instead of being openly remorseful for leaving her, as most parents would be in the aftermath, they have consistently maintained they acted as responsible parents at all times. Mais au lieu d'être ouvertement pleine de remords de l'avoir laissée, comme la plupart des parents le regretteraient après coup, ils ont systématiquement maintenu qu'ils avaient agi tout le temps en parents responsables.
???Their threats to sue a paper who suggested their culpability, and their suggestions that any police evidence that turns up against them will have been "planted" is also odd behaviour. Leurs menaces de poursuivre un journal qui envisageait leur culpabilité, et leurs propos comme quoi tout indice ou toute preuve contre eux de la part de la police aura été semé, tout cela est aussi un curieux comportement.
The McCanns say they will refuse to accept any evidence against them, with Kate's mum Susan Healy saying: "Kate knows that if this evidence exists ... there is someone in the police department who has planted it.'' Les McC disent qu'ils refuseront toute preuve contre eux, d'après ce que dit la mère de K, S.Healey: "K sait que si ces preuves existent, c'est qu'il y a quelqu'un de la police départementale qui les a semées."
Expat John Gilbert, who runs The Wine Bar pub around the corner from the somewhat rundown Policia Judicial offices, says the overwhelming feeling in the area is one of confusion. John Gilbert un expatrié qui gère le Wine Bar, un pub à l'angle des bureaux quelque peu décrépits de la Police Judiciaire, dit que le sentiment prédominant qui règne dans les parages est celui de la confusion.
He has become used to the media circus swarming the area, with their microphones and their cameras and their satellite dish vans a constant fixture. Il est devenu habitué du cirque et de l'essaim médiatiques dans le coin, tous affublés de leur microphones, de leurs caméras et de leurs estafettes à antennes paraboliques [a constant fixture: not translated, I need some help].
"There's just total bewilderment. You read all the things in the paper but no one knows the truth, everything is speculation.None of it will bring the little girl back. Il y a une telle perplexité totale. Vous lisez tout et n'importe quoi dans le journal mais personne ne connait la vérité, tout est spéculation. Rien de tout ça ne ramènera la petite fille.
"In Praia de Luz where Maddy went missing, the place is in shock. Nothing has ever happened like this before.'' A Praia de Luz, où Maddy a disparu, on est sous le choc. Rien de tel n'était arrivé auparavant.
The fear is apparent. On the streets of Praia Da Luz and of Portimao, parents are more watchful of their children, anxious about keeping them close. La peur est visible. Dans les rues de PdL et de Portimao, les parents sont plus vigilants concernant leurs enfants, anxieux de les garder bien près d'eux.
A woman having friendly chat with a child in a hotel lobby is frowned upon(1) by his mother, who whisks her son away. Another parent runs screaming after a little girl who has broken free of her hand and made off round a corner. Une mère regarde de travers une femme ayant une conversation amicale avec son enfant dans un hall d'hôtel et éloigne immédiatement loin d'elle son enfant.
One thing is certain, no one will ever leave their child in an apartment or hotel alone after what happened to Madeleine. However, John Gilbert said, with the soap opera continuing to play out, the vultures are circling. Une chose est sûre, personne ne laissera plus jamais son enfant seul dans un appartement ou dans un hôtel après ce qui est arrivé à Madeleine. Cependant, J. Gilbert dit, avec le succès des soap operas, les vautours rôdent.
"Film makers are licking their lips of the prospects of making this into a movie. It's got everything," he said. "Les réalisateurs de films se pourlèchent les babines dans la perspective d'en faire un film. Tous les ingrédients y sont.", dit-il
Another local, one of the dozen or so crowded around police headquarters yesterday, said no one can fathom what happened. Un autre habitant du coin, l'un des badauds parmi la foule entourant le siège de la police hier, dit que personne ne peut comprendre et sonder ce qui s'est produit.
He said: "We cannot just blindly accept parents have nothing to do with it. No one wants it to be true -- it's just too much for people to take in." Il dit: "nous ne pouvons simplement pas accepter aveuglément que des parents n'aient rien à voir avec tout ça. Personne n'espère que ce soit vrai -- disons que ce serait carrément trop dur à digérer."
16-08-07
108. The two facets of the Casimir force / Levitation
This month new discoveries in the field of atoms are reported in the press. These discoveries were accomplished by a team of scientists who found out the secret of invisibility, several weeks ago. This time, it's about levitation.
Indeed, the Casimir force which usually attracts objects enables also them to levitate thanks to the action of subverting the attraction force by its opposite effect: the repelling force.
But this is possible only in theory and only on very small objects (nanotechnology); only in theory because the scientists who worked on that idea didn't manage to obtain any practical demo. Unless my understanding is not good, I've caught that the levitation is due to the absence of any friction between two objects. Remove any friction and you'll get a levitation, provided the object is tiny, for example a lens.
In French it's quite difficult to define and to describe the quantum mechanics, so it would be "mission impossible" for me to do it in English at that stage of my learning. That's why I mention several links: two links in French for the French readers and obviously the necessary English link that I hope you'll also read because I find it more accurate, slightly closer to Professors Leonhardt & Philbin's works, less evasive than the French newspaper I've found. (Click on the following links)
Physicists have 'solved' mystery of levitation - Telegraph
La lévitation à portée de la physique, MECANIQUE QUANTIQUE
Scio :: Mécanique Quantique :: Introduction
10-08-07
102. Faith, difference and tolerance
“For me, this nomination was as if all of a sudden the crucifix began to wear a yellow star.” Jean-Marie Aaron, Cardinal Lustiger
Picture from the French newspaper LA CROIX - click on it
I feel deep admiration and respect for Cardinal Lustiger, though I'm not really religious nor even of christian origin. Maybe I admire him because he was out of the ordinary, both in the society and in the church, both clever and full of affection, both religious and political minded, both a believer and a convinced "laïc" (in English, you say "non religious" regarding the way to gather smoothly different religious beliefs and how to make a society working without any religious rules above the political power). He was both a thinker and good at communication. I find we have the luck, in France, to live in a "laïc" country.
You can read beautiful words from him in this article in the Times: here
07-08-07
99. Handcuffs and Beijing 2008
My contribution to the militance in favour to human rights and to denunciation of the dangerous Chinese government which punishes and sentences freedom of speech and expression. Look carefully at the picture and you'll spot the handcuffs (menottes) at the bottom of the display (affiche)...
