Read About W-N NP story on W-N Contact W-N and Map Invite to Wed1342 Wednesday Night Salon #1342 21 Nov Page 2 Introduction video page The Report www.flickr.com More of davidnicholson's photos tagged with Wed1342 Wed 1342 slide show France - confrontation with the unions see also W-N France Diana Intro Jean-Marie Bergman video 8:04 Locked video page Thanks to an infrequent visit from Jean-Marie Bergman, former Director of the France-Canada Chamber of Commerce, and his wife Joanne, there was a long and illuminating discussion of the current public transportation strikes in France and the root causes. It has been said that when France was falling apart, in the late 1960’s with riots and barricades in the streets, the people asked President Charles de Gaulle to remedy the situation to which he is reported to have responded that he would, as soon as a constitution had been written as a basis for him to act. Just as Canadian politicians are guided by the probability of re-election, the French appear to be dependent on tradition and structure. Since 1981, the national debt of France has climbed from 20% of GDP to nearly 70%. When Alain Juppé was in office in 1995, and the debt/GDP ratio was not quite so high, there was a series of strikes that extended over a month, but there was not the same perception of inequality as exists today when the average wage in the public sector is higher than in the private sector. The 70% approval of Mr. Sarkozy’s firm stand against the unions reflects the percentage of French workers who do not have the same working conditions, wage and pension benefits as public sector employees. The President’s first step was the law passed during the summer that requires public sector employees to contribute for 40 years in order to receive 100% of their pension (previously the contribution was set at 37.5 years). With the evolution of increasing productivity, a system of pensions that are paid by the current employees in France exists as opposed to the system more prevalent throughout the world of investing in one’s own work group, union or personal retirement plan. In France the decreasing number of workers in many sectors has resulted in hardship in pensions for most current retirees in the industrial sector, while retiring professionals are doing very well. The only solution to this inequality appears to be government intervention, a costly move that would further significantly erode the deficit and national debt. The difference between today and 1995 is that more and more French people seem to understand the issue and are no longer suspicious that they will lose out with reform of the system. In the climate of rigid financial conditions, where personal credit is not as easy to obtain as it is in North America and few French citizens (not even wealthy ones) hold credit cards because of the difficulty in obtaining them, the gap between the wealthy and the poor becomes very evident. Flexible mortgages are unheard of; there is a 15-year fixed interest mortgage rate when buying an apartment - which does mean that there is no subprime financial crisis - and almost no manoeuvring room. nyt video Labor Strikes in France Continue Roger Cohen, op-ed columnist for the International Herald Tribune, examines the motivations behind the labor strikes in France. Considering the current situation in France it is reasonable to question whether President Sarkozy will win another mandate. The answer is probably, yes, but there will no doubt be many ups and downs as he continues to bring in badly needed economic reforms. [Editor’s note: the transportation strike came to an end on Thursday accompanied by inevitable grumbling from all affected.] Intro Jeremey Searle & Pat Un video 2:31 page A new face at the Wednesday Night table was that of Jeremy Searle, articulate opinionated, and outspoken former Montreal City Councillor, who led the lively discussion of municipal politics and the failures of our infrastructures. Infrastructure bridges & city Hall video 7:55 tanks CBC page Regardless of the country or the form of government, the quality of their decisions and actions appears to be a function of the length of their mandate and in a democracy, the susceptibility of electors to being bribed with their own money. Some evidence of this may be found in the short lifespan of physical structures in Québec as opposed to those left to us by the Ancient Greeks, Romans and even the more recent Europeans. The amazing Trophée des Alpes in La Turbie, France, the only remaining one of several built by the Romans upon having conquered the barbarian tribes, remains more or less intact, damaged not by age or use, but by the actions of vandals that totally destroyed the others. The Pont de Garde near Nîmes, built by the French has weathered many winters and heavy road traffic, intact, mirroring the Roman aqueduct beside it. It would appear that humans, both governors and governed have, more recently, traded the desire to be remembered for millennia for a four to five year period of celebrity. There has also been the rush factor of many structures - including highways - that have been built to complement other major projects (Expo 67 and the Olympics, for example), and the choice of reinforced concrete has been a poor one for the Montreal climate. Sadly, the huge budgets that accompany public works projects never include the life-cycle costs and therefore those public expenditures are made reluctantly, and often, only following a disaster. It’s not a good photo op to maintain a bridge or any public infrastructure Montreal The principal problem with Montreal politics, points out one seasoned observer, is that the parties have been institutionalised, thus rendering it virtually impossible for any independent to be elected (it has only happened three times in recent memory), or have any voice in policy. In Montreal, despite the very considerable influence of Big Business, there has been talk, but not much action, on developing a business approach and long term planning in municipal government. When Gérald Tremblay was an invited guest to Wednesday Night as a mayoral candidate, he gave the impression of being one of the first, if not the only candidate to have a long-term vision for the city. The reality, however, has demonstrated the disastrous result of a city that is not run in a businesslike manner. The Mayor does not have a role in running the municipal government, he has no dossier, but acts as chairman of meetings, spokesman and representative. Most members of the Executive Committee are said to not have a dossier. Furthermore, the merger has proved to be a costly mistake; the ideal size of Montreal to make it a functioning city should be in the range of half a million inhabitants (like Boston), making it compact, dynamic, and with a solid tax base. Serale's World 940 Radio show 4:55 video page Municipal policy is driven by public pressure. However the members of the public who are actively interested and do express their views (perhaps 25%) are accused of having a personal agenda, while the silent majority neither takes an active interest in municipal policy, nor votes, and certainly does not have a long-term vision for the city. The consequence is disaffection and disinterest. The average voter is not interested in the big picture, but in the solution of whatever his/her individual issue. If you can get the crosswalks to work, you will never be out of office The Falun Gong The story of executing Falun Gong prisoners to harvest their organs for sale to purchasers on order, continues to haunt Wednesday Nighters. [We are reminded that there are also many cases of kidnapping people in other countries such as Pakistan and Brazil for similar purposes, but it is the state sanctioned nature of the Falun Gong case that makes it particularly heinous.] In the experience of two recent visitors to China on a mission, people either do not know what is going on, or pretend not to. More recently the procedure may have changed and prisoners awaiting ‘legal’ execution are being asked their permission to donate their organs. The horror of this story leads one to attempt to explain the reaction of the Chinese government to what is basically a religion that, like the Jehovah Witnesses, does actively proselytize, but does not seek to overthrow the government. It may be that it is a human need to have a belief system and that the Words of Chairman Mao currently have less impact than previously as China moves forward in the industrial world and the Falun Gong stands ready to fill the religious or spiritual gap. It is certainly not accepted by a large proportion of the Chinese population in China and elsewhere but even if benign in its motivation, maintains the possibility of transforming Communist China into a Falun Gong theocracy. Footage from the ISHR (International Society for Human Rights) press conference at Presseclub Concordia, Vienna, with Canadian MP Mr. David Kilgour about his and Mr. David Matas research on the CCP's organ harvesting of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China. Introduction in German by Mrs. Katharina Grieb, ISHR Austria President. video page for more Paying Olympic athletes to win Given David Kilgour’s advocacy of a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games, it was a natural segue to Monday’s story that the Canadian Olympic Committee has decided that Canadian athletes who reach the podium at any future Olympic Games will be paid up to $20,000 per medal by the new Athlete Excellence Fund. In Olympia, Greece at the site of the first Olympic games, busloads of visitors rerun the first race with the runner rewarded with a laurel wreath. This scene is repeatedly run to the delight of participants and observers alike; no drugs, no money, merely the joy of the competition. Some Wednesday Nighters applaud the rewarding of winners of Olympic medals with cash, while the majority mourn the apparent disappearance of the coming together of athletes of all nations to compete for the joy of the game and the pride in country. Some ask whether in paying successful athletes we are not rewarding drug users and penalizing those athletes who are clean, and if a proposed boycott of the Beijing games on moral grounds is a separate issue. It wouldn’t be Wednesday Night without some discussion of real estate. With differences in the various regions of Canada, the booming real estate market appears to have peaked, with the extent varying from community to community even with the same city. This should come as no surprise to either investors or observers as the cycle continues in an unending loop. Bea Bezar Thanks :35 video page Reader Comments Is this good business or greed or simply obscene? David Mitchell OWN Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Shareholders in the securities industry are having their worst year since 2002, losing $74 billion of their equity. That won’t prevent Wall Street from paying record bonuses, totaling almost $38 billion. That money, split among about 186,000 workers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos., equates to an average of $201,500 per person, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.… 21 Nov 2007 Accommodation road show rolls into Montreal Loudly picketed by activists demanding jobs for immigrants, the Bouchard-Taylor commission went ahead with its first Montreal open-mike night yesterday in a highly symbolic place. The site was a new multi-ethnic library in the Côte des Neiges-Notre Dame de Grâce borough, where nearly half of all residents are foreign-born and where Jews, Muslims, Hindus and others outnumber Roman Catholics. But the subject on the lips of many of the 200 participants at the raucous, two-hour meeting wasn’t reasonable accommodations for religions. It was the bread-and-butter issue of language and employment. Wed 21 Nov 2007 To day NYT Podcast | Menu Radio Like the report of Mark Twain's death, reports of the death of radio –at least FM – are greatly exaggerated. Real estate Bulletin Board Canadian dollar is expected to decline against its U.S. counterpart. The economy See also JACQUES CLEMENT: Pages ON THE ECONOMY Previous Videos Notes by Herb Bercovitz OWN Editor: Diana Thébaud Nicholson OWN Radio, the long-lasting treasure intro Wed1342 | Wed1342 slide show Oil DTN OWN more Louise | DTN Diana Nicholson OWN slides | hands | all | & Louise 3-M slides | albums | all Jacques Clément OWN slides Gerald Ratzer OWN Note Wednesday-Night creates charts and follows stocks, including timely related financial news items, in which Wednesday Nighters are interested and in order to demonstrate a service that could eventually be developed and marketed. Wednesday Nighters are invited to participate and help to test the service. see Wednesday-Night.com Flip charts QUOTES of the EVENING from recent Wednesday Nights 2007 From #1342 invite It’s not a Bush problem, it’s an American problem. He is playing double or nothing. He is trying to shift the responsibility from the Coalition to the Iraqis New York City has more police officers than Iraq has troops 1342 More Quotes Short | Full List Past Quotes Best or All Mouse bio see Diana show hands | RJG | Album Herb Bercovitz OWN Galbraith imges his page See slides | Album and Art slides | Album W-N Links for #1342 a NewYorker Cartoon every 30 sec. see w-n Right Menu => Harper's Home 2007 Notes for #1342 Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 Labonté steps into Vision Montreal role Benoit Labonté joined opposition party ranks at Montreal city council's monthly meeting last night, ... For a man who can expect to be dismissed as a turncoat, councillor is remarkably calm "If the fact the I'm taking on projects and making them happen makes me an opportunist, then maybe that.. Labonté could inject some excitement into Montreal politics With Benoît Labonté(47) joining Vision Montreal and, as he says "probably" running for mayor in 2009, local politics is about to become a whole lot more lively. //At first glance, Mayor Gérald Tremblay would seem to be unstoppable in his quest for a third mandate. A Unimarketing-La Presse poll early this month suggested 45 per cent of Montrealers would vote for him if an election were held today. No other potential contender now on the scene at city hall scored higher than seven per cent. ..With Pierre Bourque's retirement as leader of Vision Montreal last year, many Montrealers hardly know this opposition party exists. Labonté's presence will change that. His telegenic personality will help give the party sorely needed visibility. Monday Nov 26, 2007 Downtown chief jumps Tremblay ship Staking out a potential mayoral run in 2009, Ville Marie borough chief Benoit Labonté yesterday joined... November 21st 2007, Seniors raise concerns About 200 attend public consultation in Dorval Access to English-language services “The same issues have been brought up at all of our public consultations across the province,” Goldblum said, pointing out long-term care and fixed income as two of the main subjects. Many widows and widowers are forced to live on only $14,000 a year, she said. “That’s a concern and that should not exist in Quebec.” One man stood up to tell the commission about his mother, who he said is receiving a pensions of only $5,000. “And right now, medication costs a lot of money. The province doesn’t cover many of them,” he said, adding the situation can come down to a choice between medicine or food. A LaSalle resident named Fillipa echoed the same sentiment. “I have my two-bedroom condo. The taxes are killing me. The welcome tax is a burden,” she said. “And school taxes; we’ve paid that already. I have no children going to school now. I feel I’ve done my share.” On the same day, the provincial government also announced it is increasing its $50,000 subsidy to Baluchon Alzheimer's to $500,000. Baluchon Alzheimer’s is an organization that helps people taking care of Alzheimer’s patients in their home by providing trained caregivers for $100 a day. Wednesday, October 24, 2007 Compensation for overpass victims and families inadequate: ADQ Quebec Transport Minister Julie Boulet is standing by the government's decision not to provide special compensation to the families of victims of the Laval overpass collapse last year, despite criticism from the Opposition. Montreal newspaper La Presse reported this week that Quebec's automobile insurance board, the SAAQ, confirmed that $1.5 million in compensation would be paid out to victims and families of the collapse with the provision that they not be allowed to file lawsuits later. Rex Murphy's Point of View index Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary A Kingdom Rich in Opportunity - November 21, 2007 A visit to Boomtown, Saudi Arabia incites awe, while at the same time helping to dispel certain fears. Although the place is not without problems, opportunities abound. As owner of some 25% of the world's known oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has lately redefined what it means to strike it rich. Oil revenues are approaching $1 billion per day, and the money is fuelling a building and diversification boom without precedent. Past issues | his WN page Commentary podcast. Wednesday-Night.com on Privacy Canadian dollar vs euro | Dow 30 w-n chart | TSX Fed Parties Stéphan Dion | Stevie Harper Jeremy Searle Wed1342 21 Nov 2007 with Jeremy Searle and the Bergmans JeanMarie & Joanne also Dr. Andre Pasternac OWN, also Claudia Viereck, and Gianita Kadarisman | Louise des Trois Maisons | imgs | Brian Morel OWN | Wanda Potrykus | Steven Lightfoot & and then Douglas Lightfoot Canada becoming more energy efficient | Bea Bazar OC | Danny van Gelder | Steven Lightfoot on cam Diana on camera Diana and | flickr page NYT Podcast weekend biz | latest nyt Audio Intro Bergmans BBC France 01., 8:04 Locked video page Intro Jeremey Searle & Pat Un 2:31 page Intro Jean-Marie Bergman France Strike 02 5:38 Locked page Searle on City Hall 7:55 page Douglas Lightfoot on Nuc energy, Jean-Marie Bergman & Jermey Searle 5:40 page Serale's World 940 Radio show 4:55 page Bea Bezar Thanks :35 page video list All OR hunt | Diana's page see also Wednesday-Night.com MedicalNotes Would you like to the Computer Box Click Here To Add Wed1342page2.asp To Your Favorites More Info About... Read Cookie for Site Please click here to see new/updated pages since last visit www.iedm.org/ coming Events Wed1341 report Wed1342 invite Wed1342 Diana's page The views above are neither those of the authors nor the owner of the website, but merely reflect discussions that took place on this evening