France Tales » Society and Culture

Is China Ready for the Olympics, seriously this time

Owen — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:56:14 +0000

I recently posted a set of funny pictures about China, and then I came across this site about the Tibetan uprisings and China’s horrible human rights record. I have known the situation for years but this site, wiki actually, is geared toward disseminating over 150 videos about it. Their goal is to get these videos through the Great Wall of Chinese internet censorship. They ask that anyone propagate these videos. Even if you are only mildly interested take a look. They are a little shocking. I don’t really believe this late the Olympics should be in question. This was known to the committee who chose China, they conveniently ignored it. Now we are supposed to be upset. Anyway.

Here is the link.

Read these similar posts

Tips for moving to and living in France

Owen — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:03:36 +0000

Tweet This

I never set out to write a blog just about tips for moving to France and I certainly never thought I’d know enough to give advice about how to live in France. Well, as I was looking over my archives, I found that I had, in fact, gained a lot of insights into both moving to France and living in France. I sometimes get emails from people asking for advice on getting a VISA, carte de sejour, how to begin learning French, etc and I find that now I know pretty confidently the answers. Here is a list of posts that I think can offer significant help to someone who wishes to move to France or live in France.

http://francetales.com/2008/03/17/a-great-tip-for-dealing-with-french-fonctionairres/

http://francetales.com/2008/02/01/using-credit-cards-in-europe/

http://francetales.com/2008/01/09/more-practical-info-about-france/

http://francetales.com/2008/01/08/americans-in-toulouse/

http://francetales.com/2007/12/23/carte-de-sejour/

http://francetales.com/2007/10/09/more-observations-in-france/

http://francetales.com/2007/09/27/visa-received-day-of-pain-over/

Some of these could be re-written now that I have the benefit of hindsight, but many still contain accurate info. What else would be useful to write about?

Additional recent updates
Living in France costs less than living in the UK though the euro’s strength against the pound. Buying property in France can cost a fraction of a home in the UK… of course the location; distance from the main cities and popular locations such as Paris, Toulouse, Lyon and Nice matters a lot. In France, beautiful homes can be bought at a very less price.

Cost of living here is low compared to other European nations. The cost of food and drinks in France is significantly lower, but as Paris is the hub of world fashion, clothes are expensive. Education and college grants are given by the government. The telephone and internet services are fabulous here, which facilitate international calling and communication network.

These are the basic things that affect your cost of living in France. Certainly there are many other factors which should be taken into consideration while calculating your cost of living.

Read these similar posts

Is China ready for the Olympics?

Owen — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:29:54 +0000

Tweet This

Human rights violations and environmental concerns aside, is China really ready for the Olympics? Check out these pictures of poorly worded English translations.

svgallery=china

Read these similar posts

War on Drugs

Owen — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 09:11:06 +0000

Tweet This

If you did something over and over and it proved to be ineffective, would you continue to do it? What if it also cost you lots of money, would you still continue to do it? As the US economy continues to tank, maybe someone will be brave enough to pose the right questions. Whether you are for or against the use of drugs, it is not possible to say “the war on drugs” has been effective.

Read these similar posts

Sarkozy gets snubbed

Owen — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:30:01 +0000

Tweet This

Image from WikipediaHere is an amusing video of Nicolas Sarkozy getting the cold shoulder.