The Russians, The French and Shopping

Video: Russian climbing... this guy is nuts... reminds me of the
beginning of the new Bond or better yet, that alien that Will Smith
tried chasing down in the beginning of Men In Black. I know it's a long
clip, but I enjoyed it... I was thinking about putting up a video on
the recent tornado, but figured a lot of people have already seen it.



Article: A New France?

The biggest story this last weekend... lots of stories on it clearly... but an interesting question of what the future holds for France? Is it really going to push a lot of new legislation through in order to bring economic reforms in France? A big question is if the Parliament election results will have keep many of the Socialist leaders in power or is the election a sign of things to come. I know a French conservative is not a true American conservative... but it is pro-growth movement as I think the French are sick of unemployment being above 10% and little to no growth in the GDP... of course Ms. Royal tried to equate Sarkozy as Bush... and even the phone call Mr. Sarkozy gave was a surprise... the White House indicated it was the best start Bush has got with an other head of state since the Japanese PM Koizumi... the only thing that he warned America was about global warming... interesting... I don't see France jumping into Iraq or anything serious like that, but perhaps a better relationship in the years to come between the US and France... but I hope blind conservatives will stop calling them Freedom Fries and Bill O'Reilly will lift his ban on French goods... I mean lets not forget we got the Statue of Liberty from them!

Of course the amazing thing to many Americans is the 85% turnout... and I ask why not in America... I can think of a few reasons... not only are we Americans less politically informed but less likely to vote since Tuesdays are work days, while French elections are during the weekend when they don't have to work (if they have a job)... but in America, most presidential candidates are free trade and pro-growth... and whoever is in office, he or she will realize that America needs to trade (unless John Edwards) and the urgency to vote in an election isn't the same of a country who has a poor economy... Most of what the president gets in terms of an economy I believe is largely luck and the Chairman of the Fed is probably more important... unless you have the highest bracket of tax rates that were up to 70% in the late 70s, generally a president doesn't have the tremendous effect on the economy, or atleast as the media would have us believe... in general the rules of labor don't really change from president to president... while Sarkozy has outlined a plan to decrease unemployment and raise GDP through primarily labor laws which will allow for employees and business owners a better chance.

Song: Go Shopping, Bran Van 3000, Y Tu Mama Tambien Soundtrack

In honor of this last weekend which featured my first large shopping spree on Michigan Avenue in Chicago... I didn't think I would be up to it until I got this song to pump me up. It's a good song from a great movie... it used to be one of my favorite movies... but I think it lost its allure for one reason or another. Maybe it was my Expository Writing teacher that gave me a BC on my first draft on my paper on why Y Tu Mama Tambien was a great movie... and she said that she thought it was just horrible movie... ouch...so did I change my paper a little and recognize the other view... she upgraded it to a B, but I am still angry since that was an A paper and my teacher was not accepting of another view with the only comment on the paper was her not agreeing with the idea that this movie had a deep meaning. This song is not available on iTunes ... but you can get the CD used for about 5 bucks... not a bad deal… or you could just ask me to send you the song... as I would be happy to.

Also should let it be known this will be primarily a Monday-Friday blog... as I hope to enjoy my weekends with family, friends and girlfriend!