Beth Arnold

Letter From Paris: The Springing of Spring

Spring is beginning to unfold in Paris.  Tiny leaves thrust from their buds on the vine outside my door, and pose themselves in stages of unfurling.  I can see only a few from where I'm sitting now, but I know there will be more and more and more. 

The deep well of cold in which this winter so lovingly embraced us has fled for better climes.  She was quite an icy vixen, which pleased me well.  There is nothing like a cracking cold and clear day or snow falling softly around me, lighting on my tongue and nose.

Baby green is the color of Spring, clear and bright before the sun has given it the blood of light and toughened it. 

Spring at the Monoprix

***

No Country For Young Women

Image via Wikipedia

Crossposted at the HuffPost.com.  Comments not included here.

My daughter Bret graduated from college in December as a dean's list student and a favorite of her professors because she worked hard and well, and cared about the work she turned into them. And now she is on the job market. With a major in Mass Communications (and a minor in Gender Studies), she followed in her family's footsteps with a desire to work in the Media. The girl's got game, right? She is on the verge of the American Dream -- to create her adult life with the advantages of a solid (and privileged, to some degree) childhood, education, and ability and desire to do good work. To build on this foundation and make her own fortune and mistakes, to follow her dreams, to be true to herself and her values, and to live a life that is meaningful to her.

That's the way it is, right? Or the way it's supposed to be in the United States of America. In this moment of time and consciousness, the USA is the most powerful nation on the planet -- the master of technology. Americans know no bounds, and we can reinvent ourselves both metaphorically and materially.

But Bret has one little problem. She has no health insurance.

Letter From Paris: Laughing for Change

Cover via Amazon

Crossposted at HuffPo.com.  Comments not included here.

I had taken the bus to the Atlas stop on Line 26 and walked the cross street to Boulevard de la Vilette, where I found the Amnesty International Building. New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly, whom I had come to meet, seemed to materialize in front of me at just the right moment. We kissed hello as one does in France, and I walked in.

As the press conference started, the six women were settling into their chairs, some with their translators behind him. I looked at this line-up of women. It was a diverse group in some ways, though they could easily have been your neighbors or friends, whose funny bones and ability to draw happened to be the avenues of their intelligence and wit. The drawing of cartoons is how this group of artists are most themselves, and, by the way, many of the women had been inspired and determined to make this their life's work since they were kids. The common thread was that their humor would somehow be used as a catalyst for change.

Just Don't Click On Sarah Palin

Image via Wikipedia

Crossposted on the HuffPost.com.  Comments not included here.

Why Why Why Is Oprah Supporting Sarah Palin By Having Her On Her Show?

I asked this question on twitter, and these are the responses I got: 

@stylemakertv doesn't she know- ignore it, it goes away. RT @BethArnold Why why why is Oprah supporting Sarah Palin by having her on her show

@3samovar WHY INDEED? RT @BethArnold Why why why is Oprah supporting Sarah Palin by having her on her show?
 
@elissastein @BethArnold I think she lost track of her center and is now about sensationalism. Sad.

@joolzgirl @BethArnold heavens, I don't know!!! Its a very good question!

@olmanrvr @BethArnold Oprah's just like the rest; It's all about ratings..dat's all.

Yes, those ratings.  We all knew that, but doesn't Oprah have enough money--hundreds of millions of $--that she doesn't really need more, and so those pesky ratings shouldn't matter in the "O" big picture.  So the question ultimately was:  Promote the ridiculous phenomenon that SP has become--and help the Britney Spears of politics make millions of $ herself? 

Obamarifix: Cougar Town

Image via Wikipedia

In News of the World:

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama on Sunday praised the "historic" House vote to pass a bill overhauling the nation's ailing health care system, and said now it is time for the Senate to "take the baton" and complete its work.

                                                                      ---CNN

At the White House:

 

Obamarifix: Talking Turkey

Image via Wikipedia

In News of The World:

The Word of the Media has come down from the mount after U.S. elections:

Obama Should Have Gone to Maine

Obama Shouldn't Have Gone to Maine

The Progressives Are Disappointed...The Progressives Are Mad...The Progressives Are Madder

The Tea Party Party Is A Bunch of Party Poopers

One Year Later Obama Has/Hasn't BLAH BLAH BLAH

And from the White House:

After reading their morning papers, President Barack Obama sat down with First Lady Michelle.  The American media was on their minds.

 

Obamarifix: The Lieberman Sampler

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In the News of the World, President Barack Obama has made a surprise visit to former Vice President Al Gore in Nashville, Tennessee.  Our sources tell us that the subject of discussion for the two Nobel-winning American leaders will be Senator Joe Lieberman, Gore's vice-presidential running mate in his losing bid against George W. Bush.

 

Obamarifix: Dick Cheney...Let The Fear Prevail!

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In news of the world:

Retired General Paul Eaton, senior adviser to the National Security Network, has hit back hard at Dick Cheney a day after the former vice president criticized the Obama administration again for "dithering while America's armed forces are in danger."

In an NSN press release:

The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11.

The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan.

                                                        ---HuffingtonPost.com

Former Vice-President Dick Cheney appears to be at it again to return the United States to the State of Bushintology where it resided for eight miserable years. 

A bystander also reportedly said that he heard Mr. Cheney whisper to his daughter, "Liz, we can get control back!  Let the fear prevail!"

 

Letter From Paris: The Building That Grew Up Around The Tree (and other stories)

Image via Wikipedia

Parisians have been enjoying a glorious fall.  Leaves are turning into golden airplanes that sail to the ground on wisps of wind blowing through town.  The sun has graced those hungry for its shining rays, though the temperature has dropped and many of us have been fettered with colds. 

French farmers have taken advantage of this good weather by setting bales of hay on fire to protest their growing debt and slumping grain prices, most notably on the busy Champs-Elysees.  If only I'd seen this!  The good fall weather has also been used to great advantage by alleged double-murderer Jean-Pierre Treiber, who escaped from prison last month hidden in a cardboard box and is cavorting around France unhindered, to the dismay of the authorities.  The accomplished woodsman has placed himself in something of a "Robin Hood: The Reality Show" niche, and he has reportedly sent letters to his girlfriend and media organizations extolling the joys of living in the wood:

"...At the moment I am in a very beautiful forest, I think all the different species of trees are here and it's really very lovely," Treiber wrote to his girlfriend. "It is nice with the mist and the deer and the boar."

                                                              ---The Guardian

He signed them "Jean Jean of the woods." 

Back at new chez moi, which I must name, the news of the day is that I'm trying to pull the decor of our new home together.  I'd like to report a successful trip to the puce--the flea market--at the Porte de Vanves.  I met up with American friend Mario, Swedish friend Andreas, and new British friend Paul, and we jumped on the Metro and climbed up the stairs to a perfect fall day.  Unbelievably, the market wasn't even crowded. 

Dog on Cards at Porte de Vanves

Obamarifix: What Happened To Olympia Snowe After The Vote

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) of Maine broke party ranks Tuesday to vote in favor of the Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare reform bill – giving Democrats their first GOP vote for reform in either the House or Senate.

                                                      ---CSMonitor.com

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama took a moment to have a cup of coffee together and dish.  For the inquiring minds who want to know...: