The French are Desperate to Keep Lance Armstrong out of the Tour de France

By Tom Kando

This is about the current flap involving Lance Armstrong and the French anti-doping authorities. Here is what happened:A few days ago, Lance Armstrong was approached by a French anti-doping agent, demanding that he undergo a spur-of-the-moment drug test. This occurred just as Lance rode in from a race or from a hard training ride (I forget which). Such surprise tests happen all the time, and that's good, because it's the best way to prevent cheating. Lance has had his share of drug tests - several hundred over the years, two dozen already this year alone! He has never refused or dragged his feet. Why should he, since he doesn't take illegal performance-enhancing drugs? After Armstrong verified that the agent was bona fide, he asked him if it was okay to first take a quick shower, since he was grundgy and sweaty from the race he had just finished. The agent authorized the shower and 20 minutes later Armstrong passed the test with flying colors, as he has all the hundreds of other ones, since he doesn't take illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

But then, the shit hit the fan anyway: The French anti-doping authorities declared that Armstrong should have remained in sight of the agent at all times prior to the test. He should not have left for 20 minutes to take a shower.

It is now likely that the French will forbid Armstrong from entering this year's Tour de France. I seems obvious to me that the French are desperately trying to find an excuse to keep Lance Armstrong out of the Tour de France. They have hated him for years. He is the greatest bicycle racer in history. His record of 7 Tour de France victories will never be broken, least of all by a man from France, a country whose bicycle skills have deteriorated a great deal in the past. I have been an enthusiastic road biker and an avid fan of the "Grande Boucle" for much of my life. In July every year, I am glued to the television for every stage of what I still consider the greatest sports event in the world. But if the French keep Lance out of this year's Tour, using their sordid shenanigans, I swear to you, I will boycott the Tour, and I urge you all to do likewise.leave comment here Read more...

Why Do We love Obama?

By Thomas Kando

I have been in Europe for about a week. I got here the same day as Obama. So I saw and read a lot about the G20 meeting in London last week, then the meeting with Nato's 27 members in Strasbourg, then Obama's trip to Turkey, etc. It's quite clear that, apart from whatever policy differences exist between the American President and the Europeans, the man remains unbelievably popular over here. There is no doubt that if Europeans could vote for the US presidency, Obama would be elected with a far greater majority than the 53% or so he got against McCain. This is all very fine. It also helps a lot with the problem discussed by Madeleine in the previous post - European anti-Americanism. That sentiment is quite subdued, at least for the time being. So what is it with Obama's popularity? I voted for him enthusiastically, and I continue to support him wholeheartedly. Why? Simple. Because of his positions and because of the policies he is proposing and enacting. He has promised to reverse or undo his predecessor's policies, and to fix the previous administration's disastrous legacies - from a stupid, costly and unnecessary war to an economic debacle caused by plutocratic greed, to environmental irresponsibility and an arrogant unilateral foreign policy.

However, Obama turns out to be a lot more cautious than many of us would have expected (and hoped) him to be. He wants to de-escalate the war in Iraq, but he is escalating the one in Afghanistan. He is still trying to save the banks by bailing them out instead of nationalizing them, or letting them go bankrupt. He is still promising tax cuts, even though the government's deficit is out of control. And so forth. Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman thinks that Obama and his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner are doing it all wrong, still beholden to Wall Street. Well, I'm no expert. For now, I still strongly believe in the new man. To me, his efforts at saving the world still look inspiring.

But I'm wondering: what makes him so incredibly popular with hundreds of millions of Europeans? I do not believe that his popularity is based on his substantive positions. I do not believe that most people know what those are. I believe that most people - certainly over here, and probably also to a great extent in the US - love the new American President in a visceral, emotional sense that has little to do with his policies. They love him because he is handsome, he possesses a Stentorian voice in which he delivers eloquent speeches, and because he is the first President to come from the ranks of "the other." He is black. He is not, as Brazilian President Lula Da Silva recently accused the architects of the world economic crisis of being, "white and blue-eyed." If I were mean, I would be tempted to say that many Europeans love Obama because they are snobs. But I don't want to say that.

I suppose it's okay for leadership to be based on charisma - that is, after all, what I am talking about. But its' dangerous. Take President Kennedy. His popularity was very similar to Obama's: he was - first and foremost - handsome and eloquent. What he actually stood for was entirely secondary to the electorate. For example, let's not forget that Kennedy was every bit as much of a cold warrior as Richard Nixon, and that he brought the world to the edge of nuclear extinction during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But okay, overall Kennedy was, like Obama, both charismatic and a pretty good President.

But what if the charismatic leader is really a bad person? Hitler, right? Or maybe Napoleon (a more ambiguous example). Or Juan Perron.So here is my main point: Charisma is not the best basis for electing our leaders. Information about their policies is. And I have a strong impression that a majority of the people who are so blindly in love with Obama - certainly on this side of the pond - don't have a clue about his policies and his intentions. But the good news is: The new President's policies and positions are fine - even though most people don't know what they are.leave comment here Read more...

Anti-Americanism

by Madeleine Kando

I am leaving for Holland soon and I am bracing myself for yet another torrent of criticism, blame, accusations against my adopted country, America. This has been going on for so long now that I have started to look at it as a fact of life. But really, where does this hatred of America come from? How did it get to be so blatant?Anti-Americanism has gotten so bad that I could compare it to anti-semitism: it is not based on anything rational, like what America DOES, it is a general dislike of things that ARE American. People don’t even know why they are anti-semitic, they just know they don’t like Jews. In the same vain, they don’t know why they are anti-American, they just don’t like America(ns).

America is seen as too big and too powerful. Even though America saved Europe from Nazi Germany, created the Marshall Plan, I suspect that it is BECAUSE Europe could be saved by another country, that breeds resentment. After all, if another country can save you, it can also destroy you.

Let’s face it, anti-Americanism has a very long history. Originally anti-Americanism consisted of fear of a culture that was too materialistic, too much out to make money, too loose and decadent. It was the conservative European reaction to the American success story, a fear that their own cultural domination would be overshadowed by this new ‘independent culture’. People here didn’t have to abide by the social structure of the European countries. They were direct, out to make money, unencumbered by social rules. The European elite was shocked and pointed out to us commoners how inferior American culture really was, with its ageing women with purple hair, their fake jewelry, America’s tasteless art and kitchy Hollywood style movies. Read more...

A Sensitive Matter

By Gail Wallace

How sensitive are we as Americans? I was surprised that people were outraged at President Obama’s slip of the tongue in referring to being in the Special Olympics when it comes to his bowling skills. I took what he said as a joke but not everyone did. Okay, I am not handicapped so there is no way for me to understand the pain that it caused parents of handicapped individuals as well as the individuals themselves and others. But, I found a way to empathize. Let me explain.I am African-American and I cannot count the number of times that I have felt pain over a racially insensitive comment that someone has made. However, my White peers don’t seem to understand why I am offended. Okay, let me give an example. I was offended about the email that circulated around government offices in California portraying the front of the White House as a Watermelon Patch. I thought that this was outrageous. But I was equally hurt and offended by the fact that the stereotype that all Blacks love watermelon was vividly portrayed in a drawing which illustrated rows of watermelons lined up in front of the White House.
I interrogated the basis of my pain and remembered that I was probably still hurt from the surprised looks on everyone’s faces at the office party when a discussion of poverty came up. All of the White Faculty and Students who grew up poor talked about taking items back to stores like K-mart and Thrifty for a refund if they needed the money for something else. I thought to myself: "These people are being very honest and trusting with sensitive information." I eventually opened up and shared how when watermelons were on sale my parents would purchase as many as five at a time and they would take up floor space but not for long. I continued with, "When times were really financially tight, my siblings and I would count who collected the most seeds in their piece of the watermelon." The room grew silent and I felt like I had just confessed to a murder.
Not only was I hurt but somehow I felt pain. It was as if I was admitting that All Blacks like watermelon after all. A Sensitive Matter…?leave comment here Read more...

Whose Body Is It Anyway?

by Madeleine Kando

I was browsing through the bookstore the other day, trying not to get overwhelmed by the veritable deluge of titles, when I suddenly came across a small, cheaply printed, unobtrusive book called ‘Bodies’ by Susie Orbach. It caught my eye because I was curious as to how such a small, drab looking, minuscule book was boasting such a big title. I bought it. It was cheap and it fit my ‘financial crisis’ budget. It’s a hard read, not your type of book that would be promoted on Oprah. I immediately took to it.I had not read ‘Fat is a Feminist Issue’, the book that Orbach is so well known for, but I knew that she was writing about eating disorders and body image issues. I remember recently seeing her on TV, being put through the wringer by one of those TV celebretards who don’t give their guests any time to speak, and jump on them like a shark in a feeding frenzy.

I have some experience with ‘bodies’ as a source of conflict. My own body is visually passable and I do not have any major physical handicaps. I am ok with my own body. As an adolescent I was fortunate to have developed a stable, permanently neutral, if not positive, body image. In fact I still have a vivid image of myself as a 16 year old late bloomer, standing in front of the mirror and suddenly realizing that a beautiful body was looking back at me. I was also fortunate enough to have been attracted to dancing at a very early age, and that secured a sense of pleasure in my own body in movement. No one in their right mind would want to be a dancer who doesn’t enjoy their body in motion.

My experience with the body as a source of extreme displeasure and hatred comes from a close friend. She has gone through a kaleidoscope of body issues ranging from anorexia to bulimia to obsessive overeating. Thus, I am drawn to books that intelligently describe the struggle and complexity of ‘bodies’ and body hatred. Read more...

Sorry, I didn't see you

By Juliette Kando

That Saturday morning, the two friends, Eric and Joshua had arranged to meet at London´s Portobello Road market. Eric walked like a dancer, fluently twisting and turning his body avoiding collision with the dense Saturday market crowd. Soon he could see Joshua’s dark curly hair and red woollen scarf in the distance. He whistled and reached up high to wave, then followed a thump and a thud! Eric looked down to see the end of a white stick. Oh my God! I’ve just stumbled over a blind man, he realised. He had not seen him coming. ‘I’m very sorry Sir, I didn’t see you.’ “Nor did I,” the blind man could have responded, lying on the pavement.While trying to get up the poor blind man rolled over and bumped his head into a low brick garden wall.‘My bag, where is my bag? The long strap goes between the two short ones.’ Eric handed him the bag. The man was in shock. He seemed to be impaired not only with a lack of vision but his leg muscles were not able to get him up onto his feet. Eric tried to lift him up by the arms but could not tackle the weight. By now a few more people had gathered around and two strong men managed to put the blind man upright. As the circle around the scene thickened with onlookers Eric slowly withdrew himself and walked towards where he had seen Joshua. He looked back at the growing crowd thinking in shame I did all that. When he met up with Joshua he felt excited and relieved. London gave you anonymity. No one around him now would ever have guessed that only two minutes ago, he had knocked over a blind man.

How would you have felt in Eric’s situation? Which of the following do you agree with?
1. Eric is a coward and an idiot
2. Thank God for anonymity, so you can mess up and get away with it
3. Eric should feel guilty and ashamed
4. Shit happens. No one is to blame. Just move on
5. At least Eric should’ve offered the blind man lunch or something…
6. Eric handled it fine.
7. What’s the big deal?
8. Other Comment leave comment here Read more...

No Time for Beauty

Posted by Tom Kando

(someone forwarded this to me, I don't know who wrote it)

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?leave comment here Read more...

The US Role in the World Economy

Tom Kando

Today, I just want to raise a question. I don’t have the answer: There seems to be total international consensus that in order for the world to get out of the Great Recession, everyone has to resume consuming (more). What is meant here, by and large, is that the US has to resume consuming (more).
We must understand that the US’ role in the world economy is to consume. Sure, we also produce goods (Americans are the hardest working people in the world). But when economists say, for example, that our GDP grew by a healthy 4% or something, they mean that consumption/spending grew by 4%. Not production. We also carry the military burden of keeping the world economic system afloat, a burden which should be shared (or abandoned) but isn’t. But this is a topic for another day. The fact is that for the last several decades, the US consumer has been the economic engine of the world. As far back as we can remember - the 1st decade of the 21st century, the entire 1990s, and well before - it was reckless US consumption which carried the world. It was US consumption which helped to industrialize China, India, Brazil and the other upcoming giants. It was US consumption which enriched Saudi Arabia and the other oil sheikdoms. When Americans stopped consuming - as they finally did in 2008 - the world came to a halt. And America’s out-of-control consumption over the past several decades has given it by far the largest debt of any country on earth. It’s called the “current account deficit.”

Now, it is agreed by both the US authorities and the rest of the world that America must quickly resume consumption. This will save both our country and the rest of the world.

I suppose. Okay, so we go back to the status quo. The way the world has functioned for the past 30-40 years: Americans buy, others sell. Of course, our current account deficit - which grew by nearly a trillion dollars a year when times were good, resumes skyrocketing.

Interestingly, America’s monumental current account deficit is never seen as a major threat to our welfare. For example, Alan Greenspan, in his 2008 (now discredited) book The Age of Turbulence, pooh-poohs the problem. On the other hand, I read in today’s Sacramento Bee that the two latest arrivals to the World Recession are Japan and Brazil. And what are the indications that these two economies are now also becoming sick? Well, they are both suffering for the first time in many years from a “negative current account balance.” That is, they are no longer able to export their products; they are beginning to hemorrhage assets and they are starting to build up international debt - precisely what the US has been doing for decades. But the fact that the US is suffering from the largest current account deficit in the history of the world doesn’t seem to worry anyone.

I don’t get it. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, no? The prospect of utter and total bankruptcy of the American economy doesn’t worry anyone? And it’s okay if the dollar becomes a peso or rupee-like currency?
I don’t understand. Is it the responsibility of the American consumer to save the world, to be the world’s economic engine, to fund the industrialization of the planet by buying, buying and buying, as if there were no tomorrow? This is the “recovery” envisioned by all economists and all the governments of the world at this time.
As I said, I’m just asking a question. Does anyone have another scenario for recovery?
leave comment here Read more...

Linguistic Observations: Happy?

By Juliette Kando

One nice day, in the car, I began to sing and say silly things as you do, like: ‘I’m happy, oh so very happy’.

I uttered these feelings in different languages while mimicking the enunciation of the words. The English way of saying and feeling exhilaratingly happy sounded like a cockerel exuding his morning tunes. Whereas in French the same words: ‘Je suis tellement heureuse’ sounded much more poetic, gentle. I tried to say the same words of happiness in German: ‘Ich bin so glücklich’ but here the words were ugly and seemed too serious, too determined. Then I cried out loud the same words in Dutch: ‘I voel me zo lekker, ik ben zo gelukkig’ and I noticed that in the Dutch language, the tone and mood of the words sounded the most childlike and genuinely enthusiastic of the four languages.
Interesting, I thought. Would this be a valid linguistic phenomenon or my own personal interpretation of those four languages, meaning I must have been happiest when I lived in Holland? Probably a bit of both.

The other interesting point is that in German and Dutch the words for happiness: Glücklich and Gelukkig both contain the word ‘luck’. In other words, in Germany and in Holland you are lucky when you are happy. Or one could say that you are happy when you are lucky. Not so in French and English. In French: Bonheur (happiness) is “Good Hour”, implying that you can only be happy some of the time. How negative!
I concluded that only the English words for Happy, and Happiness are truly independent words, conveying the emotion, of feeling very well, and very good by their sheer happy sound.

Anyway I am enchanted to have made the previous, to me, interesting observations.
Again, if you look at the word Enchanted, Enchanté/e in French, are they related to Chanter / to Sing? In Spanish, the same: Encantado/a, Cantar (to sing). So the Latinos sing with joy when they meet you whereas the English are merely Delighted to meet you - they receive light?

Another thing: it appears that the English always adopt French when they want to be Bon Vivants, have a Laisser Faire attitude, just had a Déja Vu or merely enjoy an Entrecote (an animal’s bit between the ribs – côte = rib) with good Etiquette.

The unlucky animal that has been slaughtered for an English dinner table suddenly acquires a French name. Beef comes from Boeuf, a French ox. Mutton comes from the French animal Mouton who was an English sheep when still grazing in the field. And pork is just a pig. Also, the English never kill animals En Masse, no, they prefer to Cull them.
They say the English language has the largest vocabulary, yet can express itself with the fewest words. That is perhaps why it is becoming increasingly popular?

Sorry, I’ll stop now, as multi-linguistic observations tend to lead one into a never-ending labyrinth of interesting discoveries. But hey, aren’t we lucky to be able to divulge them on the European American Blog? leave comment here Read more...

The More You Know The Less You Know

by Madeleine Kando

I am one of those people who like to take short-cuts whenever they can. In fact, I am famous in my family as the person who takes short-cuts through town and ends up getting lost. My children have dubbed me ‘the longest short-cut taker in the world’. So, when I want to find an answer to something I don’t know, my knee-jerk reflex is to take 5 steps across the living room and sit down at my computer. ‘Never fear, the Internet is here!’ is my motto. What an invention, I think to myself. Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, at a click of my heels I am transported from Kansas to anywhere I desire in an instant.You don’t know what time it is in Hawaii? Look it up on the web. You want to know what the germination time is of string beans in New England? Go to the web. You want to find the ultimate answer to the current financial crisis? Click your heels and presto: the answer is at your fingertips!

But as with my real life short-cuts, this tactic often leads me further away from my goal than when I started.

Someone once said that the average information on the Internet is not much more useful than the advise you get from a well-intentioned, misinformed friend. Personally, I would like to compare it to shopping at Marshalls. You have to sift through 10 tons of garbage to find something half-way decent to wear. In fact, I have a suspicion that the internet is slowly making smart people more stupid and stupid people THINK they are smart. Read more...