Another Nuclear Leak in France

Uranium-bearing liquid has leaked from a broken underground pipe at a nuclear plant in southeastern France, the national nuclear safety authority said Friday. It was the second leak discovered at a French site this month.

The Nuclear Safety Authority said experts were trying to determine how much leaked uranium was present at the plant, which is owned by the electricity company Areva.

Areva, which is owned by the French government, is at the forefront of President Nicolas Sarkozy's effort to sell home-grown nuclear energy technology to the rest of the world.

Among all nations, France is the most dependent on nuclear power, with 59 reactors churning out nearly 80 percent of its electricity. The Nuclear Safety Authority said the pipe was believed to have ruptured several years ago. It added that the pipe "was not in line with the applicable regulations, which require shock resistance ability sufficient to avoid rupture."

This is a vivid reminder of how dangerous Nuclear Power can be. It has no carbon imprint on the environment, true unless you live in the town where Chernobyl is, where it is common to see kids with leukemia and cancer, no limbs and the mortality rate deathly low. My friends where I grew up used to house some children from this ravaged area, two girls who were diagnosed with leukemia who came to the states for health care (because Yeltsin made it very clear he was more interested in capitalism than feeding and keeping healthy the Russian population). The outlook for their lives was bleak, but coming to the states for a summer relieved the radiation in their bodies and they became stronger outside of Chernobyl.

Fifteen years after Chernobyl, the world has moved on. But for Belarus the problems are only beginning. Thyroid cancer rates have risen by 2,400 per cent since the explosion . . . It is the country of Belarus which has suffered, and continues to suffer, most from the disaster: 70 per cent of the radiation has fallen on its land and people. . . . Medical research has shown that radioactive elements (primarily caesium 137 and iodine 131) cross the placental barrier from mother to foetus, contaminating each new generation. Faced with soaring levels of infertility and genetic changes, the gene pool of the Belarussian people is now under threat.

Well, I think of course Nuclear power should be discussed with the new "energy diversity" dialogue, I think it's too risky to move in this direction. Wind, Solar and Hydro power is the way to go. We can show the world the way. Why not?

marion cotillard regrets nothing...

another reason to love oscar winner parisian marion cotillard -- not blindly accepting what governments tell us is truth.

the british paper, the telegraph reports today that because of comments she made last year about 9/11, she faces embarrassment and a backlash in the US. blah blah! i hope it only earns her more fans and praise for speaking her mind. good timing to trot out those comments now after her new found fame...

"I think we’re lied to about a number of things," she said, singling out September 11.

Referring to the two passenger jets flown into the World Trade Centre, Miss Cotillard said: "We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes, are they burned? There was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burned for 24 hours.

It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed."

Miss Cotillard suggested that the towers, planned in the early 1960s, were an outdated "money sucker" which would have cost so much to modernise that it was easier to destroy them.

the article also notes that the actress (who gave us the incarnation of edith piaf so beautifully), "is an environmental activist, who once worked as a spokeswoman for Greenpeace."

sorry, sarkozy, but not every parisian is kissing american ass these days.

non, je ne regrette rien!

in honor of my 2007 movie top ten list (see KR's list and comments), voila edith piaf, aka the sparrow (la mome) singing her heart out. also check out the movie website and trailer for more musique! click here for the lyrics.

PETIT CHEMINOT

in memory of our crazy 9 days in france with the strikes, here's a funny little song for the train drivers (cheminots)!

Happy Thanksgiving: In Memoriam

Happy Thanksgiving from France (pronounced phronce). On yesterday we decided to go on a journey to northern France to track down my great grandfather who was Scottish and decided in 1914 that the Germans were a bit much for this world to take. He went and joined the Royal Highlanders of the United Kingdom, the Black Watch. He joined with four young children at home and an adopted daughter on the way; my great grandmother assuming matriarchal status. This was after all the war to end all wars. Because he was killed my great grandmother decided to come to America. She sent her daughter to work in America and eventually nearly the entire family was brought to the states. I remember a picture of four generations: My young brother, Rich, my mother, Lynda, my grandmother, Ina and Nana Barnes, T. H. Barnes husband.

We had some information that the grave was in Bethune, France - though this proved to be far from the full information. With the help of a French family we tracked him down where he is buried in Vermeilles, France. We set out at 10:00 am for the journey. We arrived in the area at noon, ate lunch in a small French village and received adequate directions to the cemetery.

Once we were there it was obvious we were upon a World War I cemetery, in the middle of an adorable French village. We looked him up in the guest book. He was from Naysmith, Kielty, Fife Scotland. Age 39, husband of Agnes, killed in action on August 23, 1915. It took us some searching, but we found his grave shortly after arriving. Over 2000 British soldiers are buried here (including within Scottish and Irish), seven French soldiers and almost 200 unidentified soldiers.

We found the grave, at Plot I E. 15. Thomas Henry Barnes. It gave his name, his service number #S/8277, his date of death August 23, 1915. Below on the bottom of the weathering stone it read:

Father
In thy gracious sleeping
Leave we now
thy servant sleeping

We spent Thanksgiving giving thanks to those that came before us and gave so much. When wars had to be fought (though certainly not perfect - see Kubrick's the Paths of War), not because we went to war for profit, oil, whims and lies. His memory is one that reminds us of how much is lost in war, our men, women, our families, our homes, our cities, and our nations.

In memory of my great grandfather on Thanksgiving, 2007 I give thanks.

Vive La France

I am sitting in a cafe in the latin quarter waiting to eat crepes and more crepes for dinner and dessert. I thought I would share the strikes with the states. Or at least some. The union(s) here are formidable to say the least. Here is an article that the postal service is joining the strike. What is more the students and professors are threatening a strike. Tourists are starting to complain.

The strike is certainly complicated, so much so my meandering through it would confuse. But, what is interesting to see (though many in France would disagree) is the power of the French worker. The strike is over a threatened cut in retirement, vacation and longevity. Instead of negotiation the workers striked (though not all are striking). The majority of the workers who have gained power and benefits that make ours look like a developing nation's benefits, do not want to give it up - including five weeks in the summer when the entire nation goes on holiday. Many say it is time for France to modernize and compete with America, Japan, China and India among others. I am not sure they are right.

What I am sure of is the French worker has power that the American worker cannot even dream of. Not only are they at the negotiating table they can paralyze an entire nation's transportation system. One metro user summed it up best. We were waiting for the Metro last night to go to dinner at the Eiffel tower which was breathtaking and suddenly an announcement came over the intercom that the Metro was retiring for the night. He looked at Nicole and I and said "vive la France." I join him.

vive la france!

in honor of the SG's upcoming trip to france (and because malraux is one of my favorite french writers--check out the dashing, wind swept photo):

November 3, 2007

Andre Malraux

On this date in 1901, writer and freedom fighter Andre Malraux was born in Paris, France. Malraux studied Asian language at the Ecole des Langues Orientales. Not completing his studies, he traveled to Asia as a young man, becoming a noted critic of French colonial rule in Indochina. He cofounded the Young Annam League and founded the newspaper, Indochina in Chains. His first novel, The Temptation of the West, was published in 1926, followed by The Conquerors (1928), The Royal Way (1930), Man's Fate (1934), Days of Hope (1937), and The Walnut Trees of Altenburg (1943). After joining archaeological expeditions to Iran and Afghanistan in the 1930s, Malraux cofounded the International Association of Writers for the Defense of Culture. During the Spanish Civil War, Malraux flew on missions as a pilot for the Republicans, and was wounded twice. He also traveled to the United States to try to raise money for the Republican cause.

"Man defines himself by what he does, not by what he dreams," he wrote. A fictional account of his experiences, (L'Espoir) was published in 1937, and a movie followed in 1939. During WWII, Malraux joined the French Army, was captured in 1940 during the Western Offensive, escaped and joined the French Resistance. In 1944, he was captured by the Gestapo, and, following a mock execution, was rescued by the Resistance. He then joined the Free French and fought at Strasbourg and the takeover of Stuttgart. He was awarded the Medal of the Resistance, the Croix de Guerre, and the British Distinguished Service Order. Gen. Charles De Gaulle appointed Malraux his minister of information in 1945-1946. During the 1950s, Malraux wrote about aesthetics and art. He served as minister of cultural affairs in 1960-1967. His autobiography, Anti-Memoirs, was published in 1967. D. 1976.

“To the absurd myths of God and an immortal soul, the modern world in its radical impotence has only succeeded in opposing the ridiculous myths of science and progress.”
-- Andre Malraux, cited in Who's Who In Hell edited by Warren Allen Smith

Freethought of the Day is courtesy of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, PO Box 750, Madison WI 53701. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national association of freethinkers (atheists and agnostics) working to keep church and state separate since 1978. For more information, go to http://www.ffrf.org.