Miss Kolka

Since I've had a little more time at home these last few days I have become a major internet buyer - buying books, DVDs, vacuum cleaners and what have you without even getting outside of my bed. Its so easy - even a little bit too easy.

In my search of the perfect item I rambled into a very familiar image.

An image that looks a little bit too much like the generic France 24 ad which can be seen everywhere - an Iceberg that is hiding "the truth" - what is BEYOND the news.. (like our coverage of Darfur ...ok I never really got that either or any of my collegues for that matter )

If you look a bit closer at the original- you might see the text "Hidden Depths"
Aha, ok, Im guessing those who came up with the slogan and the look for my channel found that all intriguing but one might ask oneself if a television station that wants to portray itself as giving the facts and a little more "beyond the news ", whatever that entails, really wants to be associated with an image that suggests Hidden meanings or even hidden agendas? Do you want people to question what you are telling them?

Stealing the overall idea and the colour from such a generic poster sold at $1.99 on the internet is a little problematic but we can still live with it. Perhaps it would have been worth thinking a little bit harder about the meaning though...

Another poster featuring the following text widely available on the net. "The depth of a soul is not measured by what appears on the surface but what lies in the heart" 

Since when does surface and appearance not matter in television? It is all about WHAT YOU APPEAR to be saying and how you say it - and rarely about what lies underneath...or the reasons why we are telling you these particular details.

just a little more hypocrisy from the Tv world

My blog vacation is over. I felt I needed some time on my own - without reflecting my private feelings openly on the web. 1 and a half month later Im ready to share my views with you once again (and to update my flickr pictures: mom's wedding, south of France, friends in Paris exc exc.) I was looking for the right subjectmatter however to re-enter the "internets" , and it took a while.

Last week I saw that the infamous french 35 hour work week will be lost forever, and I seemed to be one of the few outraged in my circle. Perhaps it is the way it was done, in the middle of summer,in july at the same time as other laws were forcefully past just before parliament went on vacation and therefore it went a little bit unnoticed. This law applied in 2000 by the left is also quite deceptive - since very few people work 35 hours per week and extra hours up until now have not been paid especially = overtime does not really exist in France.


It is a little complicated to enlist all the details for non-French readers (Dont forget the French devise: "why make things simple when they can be complicated") but I can try to make some sense out of it. The social group "cadres" for example can be translated in a number of ways and none of these words fully incorporates the true meaning : Executives, sale executives, merchand bankers or even thirty somethings - these terms do not even come close to the French meaning. Cadres can work in public office or in the administration-part of large companies, most often working "normal" office hours. Except that these office hours are different all over France and people often work 9, 10 or even 11 hours per day (in spite of the 35 hour work week - they even go well over the more common 40 hour work week in the rest of Europe) With of course 1 and half hour lunch break and only getting home to their families after 8 p.m. at night. So to compensate , up until now, cadres have been able to take off so called "RTT" days. 10 or up to 20 days off during the year - normally on the day of your choosing, depending on agreements made between the board and employee representatives.  These days can now be cancelled by the employer. Furthermore bank holidays do not have to be paid anymore if the company doesn't feel like it (bank holidays count around 11 days per year such as christmas day, 1st of january, 1st of may, National day 14 of july exc).

So you see - its all very technical - and unfortunately I dont see how these new measures by the Sarkozy-government will make workers in France more effective. I dont understand how you can ask people to spend more time at the office, which is already long - for the same pay. (they say the pay will rise around 10% but apparently what people want is more free time and time to spend with their families). The actual system is not that great either mind you - people arrive to the office between 9 and 10 a.m. and leave at 7 or 8 p.m. Do they use all that time as effective work time? I doubt it.

We might be heading towards an autumn with the wonderful smell of protest in the air...

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