Gas Chambers Not Essential For Holocaust

The British didn't need one to kill 35 million Indians. The Turks didn't need one to slaughter 1.5 million Armenians. The Pakistani army didn't need one to murder 3 million citizens of Pakistan. The Germans didn't need one in Namibia. The French didn't need one in Algeria. And that's not even an exhaustive list. For all this reasons the UN should remember all Holocausts on January 27, not just one.

World Should Now Seek Quick Sanitary Upgrade From France

African Countries With the Worst Covid-19 Death Intensity

 

As shown in the above table Mayotte is the African territory with the highest number of covid-19 deaths per capita and that too by a large margin. Its figure for cases per million people was even higher than that for Spain on May 13. This is pretty bad given that it had only 6 cases on March 20. A weak health system is part of the reason. Not unlike in France where thousands of beds have been eliminated in hospitals during the last two decades.

Mauritius is at number four. We wasted precious time in the beginning when politicians were blurting out a lot of dangerous rubbish. We’ve seen how fundamental a good universal public health system is. We need to seriously upgrade ours. This involves a course correction. 

Earth And Covid-19

Why Le Pen Has Already Won

If Macron wins by a 20% margin today, the FN would have cut the 64% gap of its 2002 loss by almost 70%. That's a tectonic shift.

And who says the margin will be that wide?

Fifteen Years Later FN Again At Run-off Stage

But this time France is not shocked that the candidate from the far-right survived the first round of the presidential elections. Or that the two parties which have dominated the political scene as far back as people can remember are out of the race. Ms. Le Pen received about 4.5% more votes than her father Jean-Marie did when he beat Lionel Jospin by a little more than half a percentage point. Only to lose massively to Jacques Chirac by the biggest margin ever: 82%-18%.

This time it doesn't look that clear-cut though.

Terror Attack Ends Election Campaign A Day Earlier

For at least three of the four main candidates says the BBC. There were two major attacks during the last American Presidential election campaign: the December 2015 San Bernardino shooting where fourteen people died and the Orlando nightclub attack which claimed the lives of 49 people and happened a few months before Uncle Sam voted.

FPTP is a Special Kind of PR System

One that comes with a majority prize. It's a great system as it generates stable government after stable government. This has enabled Mauritius to achieve what it has. Its disadvantage is that a few times the prize may get too big. As we've seen in 1982, 1991, 1995 and 2000. But on the first three of those occasions the alliances did not last very long: between nine and twenty-one months. Which means that our first-past-the-post (FPTP) system saved us from going to vote a number of times because it's not a system which is vote wise and outcome foolish. Plus there are smart ways of correcting the most extreme of its scenarios without resorting to totally undemocratic devices like party lists that would rob voters of an important weapon: the final word to dump a politician.

Adding PR seats to our FPTP setup is not an option as we've seen what happened in Rodrigues election after election. It will eat away the stability that the majority prize provides and which is necessary for governments to operate properly. Besides our parliament is already too big. 

A European joke captures well how lucky we are to have the FPTP system here:

What is European paradise?

British parliamentary system (FPTP)

German engineering

French cuisine

Italian romance

And European hell?
Italian parliamentary system (PR)
French engineering
British cuisine
German romance

Britain has had 20 governments in 100 years. Italy, 20 governments in 5 years.

In fact Italy has had 62 governments between 1946 and 2013. But you get the point.

Hollande Ahead by Up To 3.5%

As the French go to vote in the first round of the Presidential elections. The interesting thing that's happening this time is that the judiciary has warned that it will prosecute anyone publishing exit polls before voting stations close at 20h. This includes posting on FB or Tweeter. If the leaks are widespread enough the elections could be declared void.

Ah, Tweeter quand tu me tiens...

Sarkozy Ahead of Hollande By 1-3%

For the first-round Presidential Elections that are due to take place in 18 days. Marine Le Pen is third. However Hollande leads by 6-10% at the run-off stage that would take place two Sundays later.

How do you think it's going to go?

Should Foreign Military Parade on March 12?

Apparently French soldiers from FAZSOI are set to participate in our Independence celebrations at Champ de Mars.

What do you think?

How Sarkozy Wanted To Be Evaluated

France Loses AAA Rating

French Banker Wants Britain Downgraded First

This comment by Banque de France Governor Christian Noyer is causing ripples and is considered to be retaliation to Britain's use of its veto to torpedo the French-German initiatives to save the Euro. Noyer cited the better economic fundamentals of France. The British responded that the markets believe the UK has a credible plan for deficit-reduction. Which would explain why they are able to borrow at lower yields than France.

DSK Taken Off Plane To Face Attempted Rape Charges

Minutes before take-off at JFK. The IMF boss apparently tried to abuse a maid as he stepped outside of the bathroom of his hotel suite in the Big Apple. Some are already concluding that he won't be able to run in the French Presidential elections due next year. DSK was way ahead in recent polls.

Gender Inequality in France