Comments on: Do what again now?

By: Doug (not Muir)

Doug (not Muir) — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 19:44:21 +0000

Oh yeah, and the French managing director saying he “wasn’t informed” about the problems with the 380? That should be a firing offense right then and there. MDs had jolly well better be informed, or they shouldn’t be MDs. Or are the rules different if you’re French?

Also, there were some suspicious-looking exercises of options as this news was burbling (or not) up to the top. I hope someone who can afford an FT subscription will give us a bit of an update.

By: Doug M.

Doug M. — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 15:19:13 +0000

Alex, I would be delighted to see another Clearstream post.

Doug M.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 14:34:38 +0000

It’s about time I did another Clearstream post, as M.Gergorin has as good as confessed, which in turn implicates de Villepin and Chirac.

By: Scott Martens

Scott Martens — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 13:25:37 +0000

Luci, the European Union has twenty working languages representing the de facto official languages of all its members; the continent as whole has more than 200 languages. Of those 20 working languages, I can read three easily, two more with some difficulty, another two I can manage by using cognates strategies and some software tools. Most Europeans - a narrow majority in most studies - can manage two languages, a sizable minority three. Do you really think we can all turn to local coverage for every interesting story in Europe?

I read the American press just like a lot of other people in Europe because what goes on in the US remains important. When an interesting European story gets covered in the New York Times and the local press is not accessible, why should the fact that it’s an American paper make a difference?

By: Luci Sandor

Luci Sandor — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:01:55 +0000

Just a digression: why would the Euros quote an American newspaper?

By: sdl

sdl — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 04:46:42 +0000

The PM outburst was misplaced, but he did not look totally mad and screaming.

His answer was rather puzzling, saying that in a democratic country, one shall not speak non-sense, one shall not mix carrots and cauliflower, or mix the necessity of truth and the necessity of appropriate management.

This non-sens (which is not all due to my lousy translating) just added to the feeling that the PM was, well, tensed.

By: eulogist

eulogist — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 01:38:11 +0000

Villepin is well known for his outbursts against coworkers. So I think he flipped, too.

By: Scott Martens

Scott Martens — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:26:11 +0000

I see from Le Monde that Villepin apologized this morning. According to coverage, the socialists haven’t accepted his apology. Ayrault isn’t letting it slide.

Looks to me like Villepin just flipped. Serious political mistake.