Medellin

I spent last week in Medellin, Colombia. A former stronghold of narco traffickers, Medellin is now a charming city in a spectacular mountain setting, where you can take the "Pablo Escobar tour". I was very impressed by the politeness, friendliness and education level of the Colombians. The rapid transit in the city make it a model for other emerging nations. A "metro-cable" has been built in order to help the poor in the favellas come down the muntains to work in town.
President Uribe managed to get rid of most narcos and reduce the strength of the FARCS. Actually, his success could inspire the US effort in Afghanistan.....
Besides president Uribe, I attended interesting conferences with such participants as Tim Geithner and president Clinton.

Guantanamo

President Obama has promised to close Guantanamo before the end of the year. His administration is under pressure to find a home for the 450 inmates remaining in this little carribean paradise. A real paradise, these are the words used by an inmate recently relocated in Britain when he compared the camp to his previous experience, a stay at the "black hole" camp in Kabul. There , according to an interview on the BBC, he spent 6 months in total darkness on a dirt floor, with constant loud music..... the same rock record for months on end.
Of course, in Guantanamo he was made to sign a confession under torture, and lived in conditions unworthy of a human being. Guantanamo probably caused more harm to the US than several divisions of jihadists, not to mention the trashing of the American model of democracy, so needed by the rest of the world.
What to do with the soon to be former inmates? The Administration has created a Task Force, in charge of reviewing each case. Many are innocent, sold by their brothers to US forces for a reward. Others cannot be sent home for fear of a terrible fate. A few will land in the US, either to be judged or freed.
The European Union has sent a high Level delegation to Washington to negotiate the intake of the rest of them. Problem: some EU member states refuse to have anything to do with them. Some agree to take a few, but want the US to apologize for its behavior. And some accept to welcome some of the lost jihadists only if they can negotiate a bilateral agreement.
Europe now has the "Shengen Area", a system that allows the citizens of its member states to travel , settle and work freely in any country. Borders have been abolished. So if a former Guantanamo guest were to be sent to Portugal, he could decide to move or stay anywhere within the zone.
After so many fervent prayers, vigils and demonstrations against the existence of this infamous camp, it seems now that it will be even harder to close it down.

Child soldiers

I just attended a DDR conference. It stands for Disarmement, Demobilisation and Reintegration. The World Bank, and a few NGOs are spending millions of dollars in post-conflict countries, one of the saddest and most enduring consequences of these endless conflicts is the enrolling of thousands of children. Kids know no fear of death and, once coerced, can be very cruel. Besides, the devastation caused on the continent by HIV-AIDS, is leaving behind millions of orphans. Meet the "orphan generation" of Africans. Little boys used as child-soldiers to amputate and mutilate civilians, usec to settle accounts with AK-47, and little girls used as camp whores.
DDR operations aim at reinserting these children in the village, to live side by side with their former victims.
What do you do with millions of kids who grew up to hate maim and kill, without any morals nor exemple? How much money and for how long will be necessary to give them a place in society?

And what are we to think of the thousands of palestinian children, goose-stepping in full regalia and touting so proudly their Kalashnikovs? Prepare some demobilisation.

French Universities

French universities are on strike. Between school breaks and strike days, most French students have not spent much time in their respective colleges. What else is new? The French, who invented parliamentary democracy thanks to the philosophers of the Enlightenment, prefer mob rule. The longer the strike, and the more annoyance to their fellow citizens, the greater the reward from the Central Government who always fears being toppled in this traditionally unruly nation.

In France, going to college is an entitlement. It is free of charge. Most students who attend high school can go to college since socialist governments in the past have so watered down the famous baccalaureate, that 85% pass. The result is that millions of students crowd the halls of hopelessly ill=maintained buildings. Their campuses have nothing to do with their American counterparts and attendance is not compulsory. Being a college student in France entitles you to a transit discount, and subsidized room and board. In June you have to show up for tests.....it is sometimes a rude awakening. Over half the freshmen fail.

France also has elite "Grandes Ecoles" , polytechnique, ENA, Normale Superieure, where admission is on a strict competition basis and where most government leaders are issued. There are very few private schools, the Metz based Geaorgia Tech being a rare example.

The reason for the strike this time, is president Sarkozy's proposal to give French Universities a small part of independence from the Central Government. The professors fear losing the statute of civil servants. The students are ideologically opposed to any collaboration between business, research, and studies.

Who will win? Two guesses and the last one doesn't count.

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe and Martinique are two French islands in the West Indies. They are not considered as colonies, nor as Territories. No, these two tropical paradises are administered as "departments" that is to say as part and parcel of France.
In order to compensate for the distance that separates them from the mainland, these two islands, on top of having the euro as currency and being part of the EU, receive every year billions of euros in subsidies from the French government.
But nowadays, with the world economic crisis, tourism is down and the only production, expensive bananas loaded with EU taxes, cannot compete with the cheaper "dollar bananas" from Central America.
The islanders have turned to violent demonstrations. Their complaints go from asking for more subsidies, of course, to independance. Mr. Besancenot, the young French leader of the newly minted "PAC" or Anti-Capitalist Party is visiting, trying to pour his brand of snake oil on the fire.
Perhaps these two islands would be better off independant. Although judging from the economies of its neighbors one could doubt it.
In any case, independance would mean great savings for the average French taxpayer.
As Levi-Strauss said: Tristes Tropiques!

France returns to NATO

France had never left NATO. It is actually a founding Member State. In 1966, General De Gaulle, president of France, decided to leave the integrated military command of NATO. He also ordered all NATO troops out of French territory. Since then, NATO headquarters moved from Paris to Brussels, and SHAPE moved to Mons, Belgium. De Gaulle's reasons were a mix of hurt pride (he had to ask for asylum and help from his British and US allies during WWII), and ambition.France had asked Eisenhower for the A=Bomb in 1954 to help win the Indochina war. Ike refused. France invaded the nationalized Suez canal along with Britain and Israel in 1956, only to be abandoned by the US. De Gaulle thought France could regain its pre-war prestige by playing the role of neutral referee between East and West (Pnohm-Pehn) speech. Later, after the Soviet Union collapsed,it was revealed that the Soviets had penetrated De Gaulle's entourage and celebrated his leaving NATO with champagne and a medal to one of their chief spy.

Ever since 1966, both French and US military enjoyed good relations, took part in joint maneuvers. Under president Mitterrand relations soured during the war in Bosnia when the French favored the Serb side.
On SEP.11 2001, France adopted article 5, invoked by NATO when one member state is attacked. French troops are deployed in several African countries, in Afghanistan, in Kosovo, Bosnia, and on bases in the Pacific.
On April 3rd, President Obama will go to Strasbourg and Kehl across the Rhine for a NATO meeting. He will be told officially of the return of France into the integrated military command.

Thelma

They are trying a new "Thelma" on Barack Obama. You will remember how Hillary Clinton's timid plan to overhaul health care was derailed by repeated ads where a fictitious Thelma was sounding dire warnings about universal single payer health care.
Big Pharma stands to lose a lot if ever this plan sees the light of day. I attended a conference in November, shortly after Obama's election. It was attended by most CEOs of big pharmaceutical companies, but also by politicians turned lobbyists. All swore to defeat Universal Single payer Health care. It is a simple choice of money used to care for sick Americans or for the pockets of Pharma shareholders. To scare off the American Public, they sound lies such as:Government healthcare is inefficient and expensive. The US health system is the Most inefficient and the Most expensive in the OECD. The US has a shorter life expectancy and a higher infant mortality rate than the OECD average.If the UK NHS system has a few problems, at least ALL citizens are covered. And all but elective services are performed without delay. As to the Belgian, German, French, Swiss, Scandinavian systems, not only they cover ALL citizens,they provide child care, maternity and paternity leave, and managed to be at the head of many medical breakthroughs. See the many Nobel prizes obtained by French doctors. You wonder why the American people never hears about THESE systems of Single Payer Universal Health Care!
I do not know about other examples, but I can confirm that everything Michael Moore said about the French system is true. Why? I used it and it saved my life free of charge.
So now, the headlines about Tom Daschle not paying his 123,000$ in taxes make more sense. What is that sum in regard to the cost of Health care, compare it to the 18 billions Wall Street CEOs gave themselves in bonuses from the bailout money, and compare it to the lives lost by an inefficient greedy , dysfunctional present health care. It is but the first salvo of Big Pharma.