Clarkkent

INR for Warfarin dosage is a very simple test and should cost NOTHING like 140 euros, more like 10. A GP can always arrange this for you.

In the end it was a better night for the UK than for France!! Do you think this could be metaphor for an enlarged European Union?  

I suppose bilingualism may be of benefit in terms of the worldwide job market, but I don't think that French will be of great use. French is not a language of great world importance any longer, whatever the French themselves may think. Apart from English, the languages which will be most useful in the future are likely to be Spanish, whichever is the official dialect of Chinese, Russian and possibly Arabic. Portuguese is spoken by more people as a first language than French. French is taught in British schools mainly for cultural/historic reasons. French worldwide influence is not great enough to make the language of vital importance. I am told (by an employee) that the day-to-day working language at Airbus in Toulouse is English.

As Croixblanches has said, there are only two accredited qualifications which are worth more than the paper they are printed on. Many of the "suppliers" of TEFL courses are little better than degree mills. The following URL points to a discussion group which has a global/American perspective on the matter: http://www.eslcafe.com/discussion/dz1/index.cgi?#1408935768 If nothing else, it will show you what a minefield the supply of TEFL courses is!    

Yes, Outcast, you,re there in france while hundreds of French surgeons are here in England, protesting at their lot in Chirac's France. I agree that your original comment was appropriate to this topic but those which followed were not.  

Saligo Bay's original post was:  "Chirac's prime objective after being elected in 1995, set out in a landmark speech the previous February, was to repair what he called France's "social fracture" - the gulf between the rich and the poor, the haves and have-nots, the employed and the unemployed. He would push through a fundamental reform of an education system that was "failing far too many pupils", ensure every French citizen had a decent home and slash unemployment, then standing at 11.6%. Ten years later, unemployment has climbed back above the 10% mark, a controversial education reform act was finally passed last month and, according to two government bodies, three million French citizens are either waiting for affordable accommodation or living in unacceptable squalor. Mr Chirac also promised to cut the public deficit, which has climbed from 1.4% in 2001 to 3.7% last year, and government debt, which has soared from €496bn (£336bn) to €1,000bn. He has kept his pledge to cut income tax but increased indirect taxation and other contributions, and despite promising to radically overhaul France's creaking social security system, he has presided over a 15-fold leap in the health service deficit alone, to a staggering €12bn." Hasn't he done a marvellous job! An interesting observation about either: the inability of a man with consummate political skills to achieve much needed reforms in a country whose constitution and culture prevent essential change or a portrait of a self-regarding scoundrel who would do (and say) anything to obtain and retain a position of power and privilege. (Select any 1 from 2) Then along comes Outcast who introduces the subject of health care into the discussion and - hey presto! - it becomes a discussion about getting appointments with GPs in England. Chirac's France indeed!

Isn't it fascinating how any posting which is even mildly critical of France is seized upon as an opportunity to bash the British NHS?

More comfortable? It depends. I flew to Bergerac from Birmingham last week with Flybe - in a Boeing 737 (which I believe is a recent addition to their fleet) and, yes, it was comfortable and spacious. However, the return flight used a BAe 146 - with 6 seats abreast crammed into a space barely adequate for 5. Sometimes they use turboprop Dash-8 aircraft, with 4 seats abreast. These are comfortable. At least with Ryanair you know it will be a 737!  

So, you are in Charante Maritime and want to pick up BBC ... ? If you mean by "aerial" a device for receiving a signal from a terrestrial transmitter then you will not have much luck - such transmitters have a maximum usable range of about 50 - 60 miles. If by "aerial" you mean satellite dish then any 80cm dish will do.   

As to whether or not I am educated, Outcast, I shall leave to the judgement of others. I have known people who possessed strings of degrees but have been hard put to describe as "educated". The point I was hoping you might identify, which I believe was implied in my posting, was that a community which provides university education for its members is laying foundations for its own prosperity. It is therefore right for taxpayers to fund universities because, in doing so, they are investing in their own future well-being and the benefit to the community is at least as great as that to individuals who receive tertiary education. If a media studies degree develops the general skills required at high organisational levels, then it is as valuable as a degree in any other discipline.   My contributions to this thread are now terminated.

What is the purpose of a university education? Certainly it should not be seen solely as a passport to a job. Universities are places for education, not for training, and undergraduates who believe that they should get jobs related to their academic discipline are being rather short sighted. Any employer worth his salt will recruit people for their potential, not current ability and be prepared to provide the training appropriate for the job concerned.   A year or so ago, parts of the British press were bewailing the fact that academic subjects like media studies and psychology were oversubscribed and soft options. I cannot speak for media studies but a graduate in psychology is generally literate, numerate, capable of analytical thinking and able to evaluate information. And these kinds of skills are what any graduate should possess – they are skills which are transferable to any situation. The first (and perhaps second and even third) job which most graduates will do could be done by almost anyone. The general skills acquired at university are precisely those which are required by decision makers. The higher one goes in any organisation, the less important are technical skills. The academic subject is merely a context within which these general skills can be developed.   The greater the number of graduates in a community the better able that community is at dealing with change and at developing strategies to survive. That, Outcast, is why young people are encouraged to go to university, not to satisfy the social climbing needs of parents. Your life, even “here in france” is made more tolerable by the infrastructure and framework which can only be effectively created by an educated workforce.

They are sold in France. Look in places like Castorama.

My dictionary says its......sort of......tackle.....not fishing, the other sort. A wrinkled retainer?

I can't remember - does Britain extradite its own citizens ? Yes. There was a case a couple of years ago where a British woman was extradited to Oregan to face trial in connection with her association with the Maharishi's sect. The sect was accused of trying to bring down the American state - or somesuch. (The motivation for prosecution may have been connected with a fundamentalist christian opposition to the sect's lifestyle.)

This sad tale continues ... Her parents have said they want a post mortem examination to assess the extent of her brain damage. Then they want her to have a Roman Catholic funeral. Her husband wants her to be cremated and buried in his family plot in Pennsylvania. How much hatred and mistrust can these families bear?

**Does anyone share my view that it is ironic that this drama is being played out in a culture where, so often, life is held to be cheap? Gun culture - typically 30,000 deaths a year, capital punishment - in Florida, where the condemned are so often poor, black and intellectually challenged.** In a word - NO! It is obvious that you know very little about our culture. Ray Quite possibly. What I know of your culture comes from its cultural outlets. I am sure that there is a large majority of liberal minded, humane and caring people in the USA, but this tragic tale appears to have received much greater coverage (at least here) than yet another Columbine-type incident.

The Schiavo case is very sad but I believe that the this type of decision is quite commonplace now. This seems to be more about Mrs Schiavo's parents wanting to claim her back from her husband rather than a strict "right to life" argument. Does anyone share my view that it is ironic that this drama is being played out in a culture where, so often, life is held to be cheap? Gun culture - typically 30,000 deaths a year, capital punishment - in Florida, where the condemned are so often poor, black and intellectually challenged.

And are these projected ages means or medians? Having seen the quality of life that many old people "enjoy", I don't think that I particularly want to live to a very old age.   "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics" - Dizzy Mark Twain had some interesting comments too: "Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable." "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please" And Evan Esar (who?) "Statistics: The only science that enables different experts using the same figures to draw different conclusions."      

Perhaps it is a modern expression of the earlier habit of painting Dubonnet adverts on every available wall.

I built an en-suite shower room and toilet in my English house about 15 years ago and installed a Saniflo. It was used several times each day and lasted about 10 years before needing to be replaced. The only problem with it was when someone chose to disregard the rules and jetison something inappropriate into the wc. Its replacement continues to work entirely satisfactorily so I would recommend one without hesitation. By the way, they are made in France and I seem to recall seeing them on display in Castorama. I don't think there will be any need for to view any purchase as chewing bullets.

Most people only have two ...

Hey 'Teamed Up' - what about that 35 hour French working week? Everyone we know in France works no more than that, plus they have 2 hour lunches, unlike my husband who has to sit & push buttons with one hand & eat a pizza with the other! Sorry the remark about benefits didn't seem 'nice' - but some of us just get fed up to the back teeth with paying £40,000 tax a year and getting nothing for it, whilst others who earn far less seem able to claim every benefit under the sun & do quite nicely. Oh dear! Feeling hard done by? A very rough calculation leads me to think that your husband must be earning well over £100,000 in order to be paying that much tax. And just for pushing buttons! Hardly bread line, is it? No doubt he could work much more civilised hours and still have an income well above the mean. He could certainly afford not to eat junk food. This is the politics of envy in reverse! He (and you) have chosen that mode of life. You shouldn't resent people who don't share it. Both my wife and I worked those kind of hours as teachers. We earned NOTHING like your highly paid husband and we didn't look down our noses at people less well off than ourselves. I'm sure the genuine stress of her work was one of the reasons my wife became ill. And yes, for the last two years of her not very long life she was in receipt of Invalidity Benefit. I'm sure you'll think it was wasted on her. In a civilised and cultured society it is the privilege of the well off to help those less fortunate. What TU says is correct.  

Bourvil was in a film called La Grande Vadrouille which was the most successful film in French cinema history until Titanic (Spoiler - it sinks .... eventually). The great thing about La grande V... was that it starred Terry-Thomas, but he isn't French and therefore could not go onto the list. But then, Marie Curie was Polish wasn't she? If she was naturalised then it would be like Lloyd Grossman appearing on a UK list? What I want to know is where was Fernandel?

If you look at the property pages in the Living France magazine, you will see that advertisements for property are arranged in arbitrarily defined regions. They follow the same regions on this site. Since the magazine publishers own this site they can define regions any way they like.  

There is an important distinction between English and Napoleonic legal systems. In English Law (ie UK, Commonwealth, USA except Louisiana) the trial system is accusatory: that is the prosecution makes an accusation and then must justify that accusation. The prosecution have to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt, if they cannot then the accused person is not guilty. Hence the accused is considered innocent until proved otherwise. In Napoleonic Law (which has its roots in Justinian Law) the trial system is inquisitorial: the court looks at all aspects of the case and reaches a judgement based on the evidence presented. Since any case will have been the subject of investigation directed by an examining magistrate (who is a judge), there may be the presumption that the accused must be guilty because the examining magistrate would not have brought the case to trial otherwise. At the back of my mind, however, there is a suspicion that no presumption is actually made. Another difference is that in the Civil Courts, English Law places great importance on precedence, that is decisions made in previous similar cases. However in Napoleonic Law, decisions are governed by the appropriate code and cannot be affected by any previous decision. EDIT Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United nations) states: Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.