· June, 2007

Stories about France from June, 2007

Martiniquian blogger on “Fleurs du Mal”

  28 June 2007

Le blog de [moi] celebrates the 150th anniversary of Fleurs du Mal (Fr) by posting “Le Vampire” and explaining her attraction to Baudelaire's poetry: “Baudelaire speaks of death and women like no other. I really understand his fascination with the two…I open [the book] rarely because it always brings out...

Estonia, Russia: Echo of a Childhood War

Itching for Eestimaa looks at the European leaders’ childhood years, in order to find an explanation for some of their current policies: “The young Putin learned that Estonians were fascist betrayers. Can anyone wonder why Russia now sees Estonia in the light, even though to most of us the concepts...

Gabon: Libreville mermaid hoax (via St. Petersburg, Florida)

  15 June 2007

Association des gabonais d'Amiens dispels a mermaid hoax [Fr]. Photographs of a mermaid supposedly discovered dead on a beach in Libreville were actually downloaded from an eBay auction for a mermaid sighting in St. Petersburg, Florida. The St. Petersburg photographs sold for US$1500 to a French natural history museum.

G8 Summit: Is the world a better place yet?

  14 June 2007

The G8 (+5) met in Heiligendamm, Germany last week. The world's richest countries came to agreements on climate change and poverty in Africa that are unlikely to satisfy most critics of global capitalism. Global Voices has linked to comments from India, Russia, and Africa in the past week. And people...

France to increase explusion of illegal immigrants

  9 June 2007

Et Si Nous Parlions writes the French Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, which he sarcastically calls the Ministry of Expulsions and Official Racism, plans to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants [Fr] this year, an increase of 5,000 over the previous year.

Hungary: Famous Magyars

Pestcentric writes about famous Hungarians – which the newly-elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy is not: “The French can have him. And if he turns out to be a disaster, […] let’s be glad he doesn’t consider himself a Magyar.”