Thibault
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Posts posted by Thibault
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[quote user="idun"]
EDIT, I wouldn't mind anyone making a will that disinherited, they have made a proper choice and that as far as I am concerned is good.
It is when people don't make a will and english law at least, has it's way of dealing with these things that are very unfair.[/quote]
But don't the laws of intestacy follow '..the blood line...? Isn't that the fairest thing, where the testator has not made a will? How else would you do it?
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My deepest sympathy for your sad loss. I can only echo the comments made by all the other posters. Cooperlola was one very special lady and will be greatly missed by a whole lot of people she never met, as well as those who knew and loved her.
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Just returned from France and found this thread. So sorry to hear the news and along with everyone else, I send my very best wishes to you both.
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I have a couple of French friends (who live in UK) who love 'Allo 'Allo, particularly 'the stupid Englishman who thinks he can speak French'
Slightly off topic, but still about subtitles: I have never understood why French DVDs do not have 'French subtitles for the Hard of Hearing' option as most English language DVDs do (in English of course!). I loved the original Les Rois Maudits which was broadcast on the BBC years ago, but with English subtitles. When the new version came out, I was thrilled to see DVDs of the original for sale in Leclerc. Of course I bought it, not expecting English subtitles, but French ones. Of course there are no subtitles at all! Although I can understand it, there are parts of the dialogue where subtitles would be more than useful.
The only French DVD with French subtitles I have is the wonderful 'Dracula pere et fils' The version I got came from Amazon, Germany and has a French soundtrack with subtitles in French and German. It is a truly wonderful film which sends up the Dracula genre in spades and stars Christopher Lee - I think it was his 'farewell' to Dracula. I can really recommend it.
But, going back to my original point, how do hard of hearing French people get on without subtitles?
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I read somewhere that membership of this union is around 16,000 and as there was only a 20% turnout that means only 3,200 voted. Of those, 57% voted in favour of a strike - that's around 1,800. Presumably those who voted against and those who couldn't be bothered to vote will turn up for work???? So what difference will the loss of 1,800 people for one day make?
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It wasn't much of a match - Tsonga was asleep for most of it, with only a set and a bit where he was near his best.
Now, on Sunday, I feel I may be a bit Swiss......[:)]
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quote user="Quillan"][ snip
I agree with 99% of what you have said except for the first sentence. It's not education its self but politicians who have done this with their 'fiddling' with it for political gain. snip Quote
I think you'll find, Quillan, that there is a large proportion of those in education who have fought for 'parity of esteem' and all that goes with it, not just politicians. [;-)]
I was reading an article in The Observer this morning which is very interesting. The Local Government Association has carried out some research. It found that (nationally) 94,000 people completed hair and beauty courses last year, but the number of new jobs created in that area was only 18,000. 57,000 of the hair and beauty 'graduates' were aged between 16-18 - presumably unable to find a job. 83,000 young people were trained in media, journalism and PR, but there were only 65,000 vacancies in these areas. However in construction, 123,000 people were trained for 275,000 jobs. Only 40,000 people trained to fill 72,000 jobs in building and engineering.
So it would seem there is a fertile jobs market for some vocational areas.
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For many years, education has been tying itself in knots over 'parity of esteem' between academic and vocational subjects. As part of this, they have tried various measures to 'even out' the distinctions between them. In the process, they have watered down the academic side and beefed up the vocational side and as a consequence failed both sets of students.
I have never understood why it is politically OK for schools/academies or whatever to select on skills such as music and sport, but not on academic ability. I guess it is all part of the political correctness idea that everyone has the potential to be academic and if they are not, it is down to external circumstances, rather than anything within the child.
If there is to be a 'return' to grammar schools (whatever they're called) where the brightest academic children are taught, then there must be equally well-funded and staffed technical schools which can provide a high standard of vocational skills teaching for those whose aptitudes are more suited to less academic studies.
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There is also the problem of a mismatch between the jobs and locations of people reaching retirement and the locations and experience (or lack of it) of people seeking work. Is it of help to know that there might be a job in a completely different area, away from family and friends? How many people are footloose and can move at the drop of a hat?
It is not a simple equation and thus the solutions are difficult too.
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[quote user="You can call me Betty"]
Indeed, Breizh, if people work, they will get paid. Some who don't will also get paid, some won't. It's a question (in the UK) of some slight misrepresentation, as the day off was "billed" as an additional public holiday (which, technically, it is) but it's not something that HM the Q or the Government have made statutory, so their perceived largesse is tinted with a slightly jaundiced hue.
[/quote]On a slightly different tack, I have been amused by all the media blather (led in part by the Governor of the Bank of England) that the extra day's holiday for the Jubilee is going to cost the UK economy untold millions (or even billions) because of the loss of economic activity on that day.
Well, this year is a Leap Year. I don't recall the media or Governor saying 'Yippee - everyone is working an extra day in February, so the UK economy is going to get untold millions (or even billions) extra![8-)]
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I have to agree with you, 5-element.
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Fascinating results map - some departments and/or communes are split between Hollande and Le Pen [8-)]. I wonder where all the votes will go next round.
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I found the new forum last night, having been alerted by threads in Another Place, and attempted to log in. The whole thing was just jumping around the screen everytime I tried and after some minutes I gave up. (Of course having a red login right at the top naturally appears as THE place to login. It took a while for me to realise the duller, bluer login was the one to use.[:@]
Came back this morning and managed to access it. I have the same problems as others. Why is the huge white space there? It seems to serve no purpose except to make people angry. The picture is very pretty and a good opening shot, but why is it necessary to have it as a permanent border? It is very distracting.
The constant need to scroll down is irritating and wastes a lot of time. I have no wish to fiddle with my browsers etc - and I shouldn't have to - to read a forum I have belonged to for years......
Hopefully the Teckies will sort it out and soon. Perhaps they would be able to send an email to members letting them know when it's been fixed............
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They also shackled the 68 year old chap recently extradited over the trading issue. Perhaps they thought he might make a run for it......
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In a political sense, the NHS is the new 'immigration', It is impossible to have a rational debate about real or perceived problems in the NHS and the means to deal with them, without discussion becoming polarised and irrational.
Saying there is nothing wrong in the NHS and it should continue the way it is ad infinitum, but with more and more money thrown at it, is not a sensible starting point, yet it is frequently suggested as the only way forward. Until the public and NHS staff and politicians can have a truly rational debate, nothing will get done properly.
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How tall is M Hollande?
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I saw that documentary about Versailles too. What did you think of the episode about Louis XV? There were a few errors in it, for example it showed the King and Queen with their children around them at Court, yet, as an economy measure, they sent all of the younger girls away to a convent to be "educated". Although Mme Adelaide succeeded in returning to Court later, the girls were never, never visited by their parents and some of the little girls died during their time there.
One of the other things about it was it showed how popular Louis was in his younger days (and for most of his life,) and it then said how unpopular he became, yet it really didn't explain that shift in a convincing way. All it seemed to imply was he had mistresses......
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I wonder if he now begins to think all those naked women over the years might possibly have been prostitutes........[:)]
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[quote user="Benjamin"][quote user="Thibault"]
we intend to look it up on our next visit
[/quote]Excuse me for asking, but what does that phrase actually mean?[/quote]
Well I think it is a rather old fashioned way of saying that next time we are in Burgundy (quite soon, in fact,) we intend to go to the premises and see what's on offer. Have you never come across the phrase "...I must look up old Freddy the next time I'm in town....." [:D]
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Thanks for that - we intend to look it up on our next visit to Burgundy. So far, it's been a very interesting and entertaining series.
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[quote user="Quillan"]
Perhaps a better idea should be a change in the law that allows constituents to sack their MP and in doing so throw him/her out of the HOC as well. Perhaps this would focus MP's more to their constituents wants, needs and aspirations although sadly probably not.
I [/quote]
How would this work? A simple majority, two thirds of constituents? What happens if a particular constituency had "unreasonable" wants in relation to the country as a whole? Wasn't there an argument in the 19th century as to whether MPs were delegates or representatives?
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Quillan said.....
Yes Will but it also depends on it's ability to pay back the loans. Just like a person the UK needs to earn money to be able to pay back any loans. With unemployment rising, and it will rise quicker once the public sector cuts really take hold, the pound getting stronger (or the Euro getting weaker, whichever you prefer) exports to the Eurozone countries will be hit. Seeing how that's 40% of the UK export market it will effect the UK's ability to pay back the loans. The last thing the UK needs is a strong pound with relationship to the Euro and the dollar. Companies like Nissan and Toyota who export 80% of their cars to Europe will be particularly hit. That in turn will effect the smaller companies that manufacture and supply the parts to build the cars making even more people unemployed (just as one example). So just like a person if your ability to pay back loans gets smaller so does your credit rating.
But, of course, the UK being outside the EZ has the ability to devalue its own currency, something which EZ countries cannot.
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Like Idun, I have never smoked, but everyone in my family, apart from both my grandmothers did. I spent my childhood in a nasty, smelly fug. It was certainly enough to put me off for life. I never even wanted to try one '...to see what it was like.....' Thank goodness for the recent smoking bans in UK and France. I can visit a pub in comfort and even eat in a French restaurant without the people on the next tables smoking between courses.....how they ever tasted what they ate, I'll never know.
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[quote user="EuroTrashII"]This argument doesn't make any sense at all. As Cooperlola says, there is only so much money that one person can spend. The uber-rich don't spend their millions on everyday stuff, they invest it or buy rich kid stuff that only rich kids buy. If on the other hand the money were distributed more equitably amongst the general population, THEN it would get spent by people on the normal everyday things that they need, THEN the general standard of living would rise, THEN high street shops wouldn't close and farmers would get fair prices etc etc etc.[/quote]
Yes, but even rich kids buy "ordinary" things - then the money gets rippled out. One thing about the multiplier effect is that it is not just the initial "spend" we count - it multiplies - hence its name. Simple example - uber-rich employ staff and pay their wages. The staff take their wages and spend them in local shops. The local shops sell stuff, buy in more stuff from suppliers. Suppliers sell more stuff etc etc. Thus the original uber-rich "spend" has passed through lots of stages, increasing economic activity as it grows.
Communaute Universalle
in French Legal Issues
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