Hey look, he's just like you and me...

President Sarkozy has been busy lately, running the country, serving his people, and apparently, updating his Facebook page. His new profile photo shows him tanned and casually dressed; the only thing missing is the sign of an out-stretched arm giving away the fact that the photo was actually taken by himself.

There is, however, a link to a video made by the French magazine, Femme Actuelle, which shows him waltzing in during an interview by the magazine with his wife, Carla Bruni. He chats (in a slightly flirtatious way) with the group of women, sits on the arm of a chair next to his wife, kisses her, talks about how he has just showered after exercising and then throws in the fact that he has just met with the Iraqi president.

The whole thing feels slightly embarrassing to me, not only because it all feels a little staged, but also because I guess I'm a little old school in that I like to see my world leaders doing some sort of leadership kind of thing, not hanging out with people and chatting.

I know it's the world we live in now. Politicians feel the need to communicate with their people by every means possible. As a registered member of Democrats Abroad, I regularly get emails from President Obama 'himself', which always feels a little surreal when I see them in my inbox.

This is where Facebook gets a little weird for me. Love seeing people and what they're up to in general, not so keen though on reading that they are eating an orange and it's the best orange they've ever eaten. But after the initial befriending of someone, this is what Facebook boils down to; knowing the minutiae of other people's lives. Is it really the appropriate venue to read about what our world leaders are 'up to'?

Just one of the rather long list of things that annoyed me about Sarah Palin's whole campaign was how she was always referred to as 'a regular gal', just like you and me. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want myself anywhere near the red phone, let alone the red button. I don't want to think that just any Joe Schmo can be involved in running the world. I don't want to know they've just been for a run, are possibly a little sore, maybe need to cut back their carb intake, or anything other than what they are doing about sorting out the plethora of hugely important problems facing the world.

Next thing you know we'll be watching former world leaders enter the Big Brother house...

Dishonesty in the media? I can't imagine...

Rachida Dati has made the headlines again in France, but this time it wasn't because of something she said. Ms Dati has been in and out of the news since her appointment as Minister of Justice in 2007, which made her the first woman of North African origins to hold a top government position.

Recently she's been in the news for her controversial initial response to the Virgin Bride trial, and before that she made news when she announced that at 42, she was pregnant and that she would remain single, without disclosing who the father was.

She's back in the news again, or rather, her jewelery has made the news. The French national paper Le Figaro has been accused of retouching a photo of Madame Dati, erasing a 15.000 euro ring from her finger which appeared in the original photo. It is being said that the newspaper did this to combat the criticism Dati gets for her preference for designer clothes and for appearing in glossy magazines. They said they didn't want the ring to take attention away from the real story. Oops, guess that backfired.

Of course the serious question this raises is whether or not the media should be able to manipulate images and present them as reality. I mean, I know this is the first time this has ever happened, and I hope it will be the last. We can't be having re-touched photos in the media; that would just be dishonest.....

To Be American in France.....

It's not always easy being an American in France. As patriotic as I am, there are times when it's just easier to nod my head when I'm lumped with 'les anglais', as most French people round here tend to call any foreigner who speaks English.

Throughout my time as an English assistant in a high school in Narbonne, I found myself expected to defend/explain many 'American' things, like Jerry Springer, Big Macs, guns, Bush, Iraq and obesity. Watching 'Bowling for Columbine' with my class of 30 French 18-year olds was one of the most difficult experiences, both personally and professionally, that I've ever had in a classroom.

The upcoming election is as talked about over here as it is in the States. Probably for different reasons, and with a different degree of hopeful expectations, the majority of French people I know are pulling for Obama. The idea of another 4 years of Republican rule just seems so wrong in their eyes.....

And now, with what the French are calling the latest American export, the economic crisis, I feel like once again my neighbors are looking at me as if I can provide an explanation.

In a recent poll by L'Express, apparently as more and more French are starting to feel the pinch of increased cost of living, gas prices, unemployment, the blame is once again being leveled at America.

I'm proud to be American, and I love my life in France, it's just hard sometimes to reconcile the two parts.....

The most perfect Republican candidate ever...

In a recent article on the BBC news website, we are enlightened with 10 facts about the Republican vice president candidate, Sarah Palin.

Here are the three bits I enjoyed the most (and of course I'm paraphrasing here):

Cindy McCain has said her husband John has "picked a reform-minded, hockey-mommin', basketball-shooting, moose-hunting, salmon-fishing, pistol-packing mother-of-five for vice-president". Pistol-packing is such an admirable trait for an American leader, don't you think?

She returned to work three days after the birth of her last child. What commendable stamina, resilience and dedication!

Apparently she attends a church that is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

A religious, gun-owning, family woman; a Republican party wet dream!

I'm sure she is a wonderful woman- capable, experienced, intelligent. But when has it become a respectable credential for the vice-presidency of the United States to be a Wallmart-shopping hockey mom? I mean I guess at least we know she'll be good at multi-tasking....

I guess I could take umbrage that these are the things being highlighted about her. The press don't tend to do this to the male candidates. I'm just at a loss to know why the Republicans think that she might pick up some of the votes that Hilary would have had, just because she's a woman. As much as I was happy Obama won the democratic candidacy, I think Hilary had alot of admirable qualities. I'm still waiting to be enlightened with some of Mrs. Palin's.

I wonder what the French think when they read phrases like 'reform-minded, hockey-mommin', basketball-shooting, moose-hunting, salmon-fishing, pistol-packing mother-of-five for vice-president'. Is this an improvement on America's image that's been damaged over the last 8 years?

Les Jeux Olympiques....

Regardless of the controversy earlier in the Spring including those who called for France to boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing and the Chinese's subsequent boycotting of French businesses such as Carrefour, the French Olympic team will be there, with President Sarkozy leading the way.

Once again it seems the emphasis on the Games has been placed on something more than sports. Imagine athletes who train all their lives for these events and then find themselves used as pawns in political controversies that they have no control over.

I don't know what the answer is. To boycott, to not boycott. What if the games were being held in Zimbabwe? Would we boycott then?

I wish the world was simple enough be able to just sit back and enjoy the gymnastics without worrying about politics.

What do the Olympics mean to you? And will you be watching, or boycotting?

C'mon, South Dakota.....

I'm counting on you to do me proud today!

Dirty politics.....

With all the talk about Hilary and Obama, it would be easy to think they were the only two politicians worth the newsprint.

But it's all happening in my little corner of the world. The newly re-elected incumbent mayor of Carcassone, Gérard Larrat, has been accused of electoral fraud by the losing socialist candidate, Jean-Claude Pérez.

After losing the election by 56 votes, Jean-Claude Pérez's campaign council opened up an investigation into the false procuration of votes by Gérard Larrat. The accusations range from using false voting addresses, bribing local voters with promises of jobs, and putting pressure on other voters by threatening them with losing their jobs, or in one case, their housing.

Gérard Larrat could face up to 2 years in prison and a 35,000 euro fine. But I'm sure he won't. This is purely political dramatics, fresh on the heels of Pérez himself being accused of using public funds to finance his campaign, and the smelly sock debacle of the municipal Perpignan elections.

Surely nothing this underhanded would ever happen in American politics? I'm starting to think that politicians can't be trusted......

Word for the day: obliterate

This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that scares the hell out of me about Hilary.

This morning on the BBC News website:

Speaking in Indiana, Mrs Clinton said she had no regrets about promising to "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons - a scenario that was put to her two weeks ago.

"Why would I have any regrets?" she asked on ABC television.

"I am asked a question about what I would do if Iran attacked our ally, a country that many of us have a great deal of, you know, connection with and feeling for."

That's the same kind of cowboy blanket statement George used to make, and look where that got us. Time to change the record, people!

mai '68, plus ça change.....

Look at that face.....

Now, if this isn't the face of the kind of guy you want running your country, I don't know what is. Except maybe this one.......

Proud of my American heritage?

Recipe for the day: 1 early morning ibuprofen, 2 coffees and a noisette, a little domestos, and some tapenade.

Every once in a while, I come across something that makes me think positively about my native country. On almost a daily basis I come across something that makes me feel saddened, but then again it may be that I've been gone so long, I'm now being brain washed by European media. Anyway.....
I came across the following article on the BBC news website about Barack Hussein Obama, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6173373.stm.
I guess it exicted me because I've been so disillusioned by the fact that so many of my fellow educated country men actually voted for Bush, I'd almost given up on the mental state of the United States. But maybe there is hope, although I've yet to read Mr Obama's critics' opinions on the man, so maybe I shouldn't hold my breath. I mean, I guess there is always Hiliary, but won't she have constraints placed on her simply by being the first woman president and wanting to tow the line?
I also see South Dakota came to their senses and turned down the bill to make abortions illegal again. I'd been thinking the entire state had been trapped inside a timewarp stopped in the 70's.
Not sure why politics are on the brain at the moment, I guess the presidential race is getting so much coverage here in France, it's a little difficult to get away from. I do think it would be interesting to see the relationship between Mme Royale (a favorite to become the first female President of France), and Mrs Clinton. All sort of sexist jokes aside, I really do think things would change around here......