Hey! Over here…Yeah… F-r-a-n-c-e.

I’m a long-time fan of Bruce Schneier, widely known for his deep insights into the real world of computer security and publisher of the informative and readable newsletter Crypto-Gram.

His communication gifts extend well beyond the high-tech explanations, however, as can be witnessed in this wonderful essay on privacy and freedom, which puts into words why I am so much more frightened of Bush/Cheney than of Bin Laden.

The Value of Privacy

Last month, revelation of yet another NSA surveillance effort against the American people rekindled the privacy debate. Those in favor of these programs have trotted out the same rhetorical question we hear every time privacy advocates oppose ID checks, video cameras, massive databases, data mining, and other wholesale surveillance measures: “If you aren’t doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?”

Some clever answers: “If I’m not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me.” “Because the government gets to define what’s wrong, and they keep changing the definition.” “Because you might do something wrong with my information.” My problem with quips like these — as right as they are — is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It’s not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

Two proverbs say it best: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (”Who watches the watchers?”) and “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Cardinal Richelieu understood the value of surveillance when he famously said, “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged.” Watch someone long enough, and you’ll find something to arrest — or just blackmail — him with. Privacy is important because without it, surveillance information will be abused: to peep, to sell to marketers, and to spy on political enemies — whoever they happen to be at the time.

(Continued)

Newcomers to [tag]France[/tag], thinking how nice it would be to set up a business here in the shade of the old olive tree, do not often realize [tag]how the French economy works[/tag]. After living and working here as a freelancer and [tag]entrepreneur[/tag] for 25-odd years, I confess that I don’t either. Hell, most days I don’t see how it manages to function at all.

However. I do know that fluctuations in seasonal economic activity play an important role in France, maybe more so than elsewhere. Over the years, as an aid to myself in my various endeavors, I’ve compiled a calendar to help predict business activity in France. It is based solely on personal observation of socio-temporal flux. While I claim that it tracks French economic activity fairly reliably (and is therefore useful), I am the first to admit that it really doesn’t shed light on one of the world’s more puzzling economic mysteries: how does France stay on as a First World country?

Note: the French business year starts in August, a month that arguably sets the tone for the rest of the year.

August: (Les Grandes Vacances)
80% of France is on the beach or in the mountains or sitting in traffic jams, attempting to get to the beach or the mountains. Unless you’re writing a book or repainting the kid’s bedroom you shouldn’t think about working.
Skeletal health services, ice cream vendors, and some paint stores remain open.
Productivity Index: 0

September: ([tag]La Rentrée[/tag])
France is back from the beach, but is immersed in a) recovering from vacation stress and b) preparing the children for the start of the school year, two endeavors that are inherently incompatible. However, productive work is envisagable after the 21st.
Productivity Index: 3

October:
A full month without bank holidays. Much to do, so little time. Many deals are born in October.
Productivity Index: 8

November:
Work holiday every week, evenly spaced. If the holidays falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, there are lots of 4-day weekends. If they fall on Wednesday people feel cheated. If they fall on a weekend, the President declares a national day of mourning. No real work is done in November.
Productivity Index: 3

December: (Les Fêtes)
The last ten days of December (and first few days of January), frenchpersonnes are on holiday. Traditionally, this time is spent with extended family, many of whom do not see each other for the rest of the year. There are many sumptuous meals prepared during this period and 63% of the world’s total of both good and bad cholesterol is consumed in just 2 weeks. Early December is for planning dinner menus and gift shopping. Not much work gets done.
Productivity Index: 2

January: (L’Indigestion Nationale)
Hangovers, detox and post-prandial guilt consume the first three weeks of January. Serious production can start again around the 21st.
Productivity Index: 2

February: (Vacances Scolaires)
School holidays. Frenchpersonnes are on the ski slopes with their kids for 10 days.
Productivity Index: 3

March:
No holidays! Work!
Productivity Index: 8

April: (Pâques)
Two week Easter holidays. Much needed relief after a month of March where every weekday is a workday.
Productivity Index: 1

May:
Bank holiday every week (although the day off on Pentecote has theoretically been downgraded). Similar business climate to November, aggravated by the fact that the first summery days gets people thinking about how close August is.
Productivity Index: 2

June:
No holidays! But it’s summer. Who wants to work during summer?
Productivity Index: 6

July:
20% of frenchpersonnes are on holiday. This reduces August’s traffic jams considerably. The remaining 80% of the people are working frenetically to clear up there desks before les Grandes Vacances.
Productivity Index: 7

It is August in France. Frenchpersonnes everywhere are on vacation. Those who live elsewhere have come to France to holiday. It is not a time to blog. Blogging is probably frowned upon, since it resembles productive activity. So I am dutifully signing off for a few days.

Maybe I’ll go to the beach. Maybe I’ll weed the garden. Maybe I’ll quietly think about things to blog about come September (thinking about doing things and talking about doing things are OK and are officially encouraged as long as they don’t actually lead to doing things).

In last week’s Saturday quotes, I cited Thomas Watson’s gem “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”

What is good advice for budding young entrepreneurs, however, might not go far enough when applied to politicians, especially the evil ones. Here’s a thought: W has failed about every policy decision he has ever made. Be it waging and/or supporting futile wars that miss the point about who’s the bad guy (and how he wound up caste in that role), to transforming the image of a fine country into that of a selfish, self-obsessed, boring world-class bully, to blowing it on the environment and Katrina and Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and The Theory of Evolution, and well, I give up…

He has successfully used every one of his subsequent failures as a validation to ask for support in his rush to put in place the next… failure.

And, the people buy it. Enough, at least to give historians nightmares for years to come.

Discussion: We, the people have doubled our failure rate to the break point. What will Success look like?

As I was watching the early BBC newscasts about the nick-of-time capture of terrorists planning to blow up transatlantic flights leaving Heathrow yesterday, I received an email from Monique.

Now there’s a beautiful present for Bush — a foiled terrorist plot in Great Britain! Wake up call for those who may have forgotten, the US is still at war with an evil enemy, Britain is our oh-so very very best ally (”Yo, Blair!”), and with this evil menace present everywhere, we must support Israel in its defense against those terrorists who would destroy her in order to better destroy us.

A Karl Rove production? Nah. No way.

It sure did push the Joseph Lieberman fiasco off the front pages everywhere, though.

If the search is for examples that contradict the predictions of standard economic models, a good rule of thumb is to start in France

Robert H. Frank, economist

• •

Don’t worry about people stealing an idea. If it’s original, you’ll have to ram it down people’s throats.

Howard Aiken, computer scientist (1900-1973)

••

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

Thomas Watson

••

We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues, and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes.

French embassy spokespersonne back in 2003, during the ramp up to the US-led Iraqi invasion, when asked what the French government thought of the US Congress’ decision to rename french fries to freedom fries on their cafeteria menu.

••

From my most admired human…

Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home.

(Published 26/11/1938 in Harijan, Mohandas K. Gandhi’s magazine. It can be found most readily on page 108 in Martin Buber’s book, A Land of Two Peoples (editor Paul R. Mendes-Flohr) A Galaxy Book (GB756), Oxford University Press, New York ISBN 0-19-503426-0.

This was taken from a comment to Timothy Garton Ash’s article inthe Guardian.

PS: I am a Jew and peace loving. It isn’t easy to know what is right with any degree of intellectual or moral confidence. What a mess!)

For those of you who, like me, would love a chance to eat at El Bulli’s, but don’t know how one goes about getting a reservation, here is a fantastic pictorial preview to tide us over.

From Thailand’s The Nation, the following heads up:

Thais warned to avoid or cancelling trip to France

A Foreign Ministry dispatch reads:

“In the past month, at least four robberies occurred to embassy cars and we would like to warn Thais who plan to travel to France to increase their safety measures or consider postponing or canceling travel to France in the summer which would be crowded with tourists and possibly criminals.”

The statement warned Thais traveling to France to take special care of their property, including not putting valuables near car windows and not wearing jewelry.

The ministry has earlier suggested that Thais avoid traveling alone, stay clear of isolated places and pay particular attention to passing motorbikes - the vehicle of choice for French thieves.

To full article.

A recent study conducted by the University of Leicester (UK) concluded that Denmark, of 178 countries studied, was the happiest country in the world. Good access to education and healthcare seemed to be determinant factors.

However, Denmark’s suicide rate is the 2nd highest in Europe, and this motivated one Danish journalist to comment:

“I’m not sure about these studies and I really wonder about the suicide rates in Denmark. I mean is it that we’re so happy we kill ourselves? I really wonder about that.”

PS: France weighs in at 62nd place.