My Mazamet

Life at № 42 by E.M. Coutinho

Let’s just say they wish today was over: Penelope Fillon & Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen: élue au Parlement européen, et est accusée d’avoir rémunéré avec des fonds européens comme assistante parlementaire Catherine Griset, alors que celle-ci travaillait essentiellement pour le FN. Cette dernière … Continue reading

January 31, 2017 · 13 Comments

Skittles, Terrorism & the Hippopotamus Factor

These excellent graphs are by the wonderful people at Datagraver. For more interesting graphs, numbers and information on terrorism, Oxford University’s OWID is fantastic. I thought it would be interesting for … Continue reading

January 31, 2017 · 35 Comments

Warmth at last

Winter sun! The weather is finally improving. After a reasonably pleasant December, the cold front was not fun. It did get us back into action and the attic of number 42 … Continue reading

January 30, 2017 · 21 Comments

Prevent Donald Trump from making a State Visit to the United Kingdom. – Petitions

If you’re a UK citizen or resident, you can sign this petition: Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, … Continue reading

January 29, 2017 · 65 Comments

A Series of Even More Unfortunate Events: The Appalling Airport

No sooner had the Baudelaire orphans handed their passports to the immigration officer than they looked up and realized it was actually Count Olaf in disguise! In a very, very bad disguise. … Continue reading

January 29, 2017 · 21 Comments

The fire that burns unseen – Luís Vaz de Camões

16th century poetry and also some wonderful music. Amor é um fogo que arde sem se ver, é ferida que doi, e não se sente; é um contentamento descontente, é … Continue reading

January 28, 2017 · 16 Comments

Sean Spicer: Trump considering 20% tax on Mexican imports – Business Insider

“Sean Spicer, White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, told reporters on Thursday that the administration is pushing for a 20% border tax on Mexican imports. “When you look at … Continue reading

January 26, 2017 · 48 Comments

Christianity and the Strong Arm of the Law: Do the religious not trust themselves? | myatheistlife

“The Pink Agendist has a pretty awesome blog. His take on this topic is stunning, and allows us to see how the church set the tone for what they now … Continue reading

January 20, 2017 · 6 Comments

The Last Shaman by James Freeman

This documentary is now on Netflix. Interesting concept. James suffers from acute depression. He’s tired. He’s tried all sorts of treatments but nothing has really worked. He decides to “give … Continue reading

January 20, 2017 · 31 Comments

Clickbait title: Is rape imaginary?

…“The dissociation of labor and disintegration of society, which liberty and free competition occasion, is especially injurious to the poorer class; for besides the labor necessary to support the family, … Continue reading

January 20, 2017 · 40 Comments

Saving the Temple Neuf

Our mayor has launched a fundraising initiative aimed at restoring three of the more important religious buildings in town. One of them is the Temple Neuf, also known as the … Continue reading

January 19, 2017 · 42 Comments

The Magic(al thinking) Word of 2016/2017: Deal

Bold, ambitious, Global Britain- those were some of the terms Theresa May repeated ad nauseum in today’s speech on Brexit. The most used word, however, was deal. That is undoubtedly … Continue reading

January 17, 2017 · 50 Comments

The Mother of All Muckrakers

“… Tarbell was the nemesis of John D. Rockefeller, the creator of Standard Oil, precursor of ExxonMobil. But she was a lot more than that — as a journalist she … Continue reading

January 14, 2017 · 37 Comments

Lessons in Ethics: The Moral of Annie

The moral of Annie is that there was a time when it really didn’t matter how talented your child was and/or how well they could sing, if it was a Ginger, … Continue reading

January 13, 2017 · 27 Comments

The adventures of President Shyster & his Shysterettes

By now you’ve probably seen President Shyster posing next to a table covered in files: The setup was extraordinary. Basically he said, Dear Public, these are papers. Papers mean I … Continue reading

January 12, 2017 · 90 Comments

Little- thinking

When I was little I sometimes wished an aeroplane would crash. This was generally to get rid of a single person- which makes it terribly inefficient methodologically. Wishing for choking would’ve … Continue reading

January 11, 2017 · 15 Comments

What would 18 year old you think?

I read this the other day and it stuck in my mind. It’s from a speech by the author of The Black Swan, N.N. Taleb. Interesting notion. To go back to … Continue reading

January 10, 2017 · 34 Comments

From Istanbul to Moscow, cold snap wreaks havoc across Europe (PHOTOS) — RT News

“Bone-freezing cold, heavy snowstorms, and floods have been plaguing the European continent this week, causing power outages, traffic jams, cancelled flights, and even a stream of plastic eggs with toys … Continue reading

January 9, 2017 · 13 Comments

Words. So many words. Rosemonde Gérard.

Lorsque tu seras vieux et que je serai vieille, Lorsque mes cheveux blonds seront des cheveux blancs, Au mois de mai, dans le jardin qui s’ensoleille, Nous irons réchauffer nos … Continue reading

January 8, 2017 · 8 Comments

A chest for the scullery

The chest for the scullery is in place. I wanted something very specific so we had it made (adapted actually) in Germany and then shipped to us in a flat … Continue reading

January 6, 2017 · 30 Comments

Attempts at mind control

Because I obviously need(ed) to *wear* a reminder in very large letters.

January 5, 2017 · 19 Comments

Wishful thinking: from Proxylane to Dedifferentiated Rose Cells

I can’t tell you how annoying I find advertisements for cosmetics. What’s most irritating is that they work. The world’s wealthiest woman is, after all, Liliane Bettencourt the owner of L’Oreal. What … Continue reading

January 5, 2017 · 23 Comments

The unbearable heaviness of being.

Milan Kundera is a stupid name. There, I said it. I don’t mention it often, but I was one of those clever children. You get high scores on a test … Continue reading

January 4, 2017 · 21 Comments

Darwin, Bonaparte & the Samaritan (starting the year on a good note!)

That’s the title of Michel Serre’s new book. Unfortunately I think it’s not yet available in English (but it is in French & Spanish.) He’s one of the great minds … Continue reading

January 2, 2017 · 12 Comments