Trinidad and Tobago

We had a great family gathering for Thanksgiving. We had the unavoidable bash of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie, courtesy of the Hilton.
For fun, we took David and Cristina to see the new Mars movie at the IMAX and the "Planet collisions " at the planetarium. To top it all , we saw the latest James Bond. Great!

Right now, I am in TT, aka Trinidad and Tobago. Four hours flight from Miami, 11 km from Venezuela, it is a hot and sweet Caribbean island. Besides debating the concerns of an International Union, I enjoy the beautiful view over Port of Spain from a resort on top of a hill. Trinidad is am oil and gas producer. They also manufacture a mean rhum. Steel drum music and limbo dancing are part of their culture.
The population is made up of Indians, blacks, and whites.
I am told that the beaches are actually on Tobago.

It looks like the Holy father has had a good visit in Turkey. I believe that if you are the Pope, you should be conservative, carry proudly the 2,000 year tradition of the Church, and show the cross...
Meanwhile, GWB is flying around the world trying to have "allies" take over the burden of Afghanistan, while Iraq sinks even further into the abyss. I think he should stay home. His place in History has already been written.

Holland-Malaysia-Canada-Washington

And another RTW (round-the world-trip) in a short week!
That's right. I had the privilege to circumnavigate the globe, yet again. I had to fly to Kuala-Lumpur on short notice to work at multinational conference.
I first flew to Amsterdam, a short skip and a hop across the pond. The sound of the Dutch language, was familiar music to my ears. My stopover was long enough to allow me a walk down nostalgia lane, over the cobblestoned streets along the famous canals. The smell of greasy sausages in the early morning mist brought me back to my former life in the low countries.

A much longer stretch of 747 awaited me. I had the privilege of flying over Russia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf of Bengal, and Burma, before landing in steaming hot Malaysia 12 hours later. The sleek airport high-speed train whisked me to an inner city of contrasts. Part Malay, part Chinese, part muslim, part buddhist, KL , as it is called, is also a city that never sleeps. Downtown is a jumble of mosques, a monorail system, traditional malay rows of houses, and the tallest skyscraper in the world, the Petronas Towers.
Besides interpreting an interesting meeting on Pacific Ocean security, I had the pleasure of seeing former Vietnamese and Korean students of mine.
I thoroughly enjoyed Malaysian hospitality and food. Here is another vibrant, up and coming tiger economy brimming with eager young people, and boundless ambition.
The malays I was able to meet had low regard for Europe, and a tremendous admiration for America. Their muslim heritage, though, gave them an intensely negative view of US foreign policy.
A rush to KLIA airport, and up and away to Hong-Kong. it was my first visit since 1997, and my first use of the great new airport. So huge in fact, that I barely had time to browse its enormous shopping mall before I sat in Air Canada's Airbus A 340, bound for Vancouver BC.
The plane was full of ethnic Chinese. Vancouver has become a Chinese city, with numerous elected officials coming from Hong-Kong , thanks to the Commonwealth link.
Unlike Britain, scared of Asian hordes, Canada has followed a wise policy that has turned Vancouver into one of the most dynamic cities on the planet.
I had the opportunity to talk to my seatmate, a young Chinese lawyer, practicing in both Canada and Hong-Kong. She was the very proof of globalization. Daughter of poor Chinese farmers from Guandong, she now worked for a Shanghai firm selling software to the US.

I reluctantly parted from my new friend , admired the beautiful mountain backdrop of British Columbia, and psyched myself for the obstacle course TSA had prepared for me before I was allowed on the US side of the airport. After flying around the world, the routine of shoes off-open bags-coats in the bin-laptop and cell phone out, etc.. gets really old. It feels totally useless and a victory of sorts for the bad guys.
I spent my last loonies on a hardy Canadian breakfast and hopped on yet another airbus for the last stretch to old DC.
Any tour around the world today will confirm a few new truths: Europe has become a nice tourist park. Asia is the factory and the beehive of the world. The US are weary and universally feared. Most peple are remarkably alike. they want peace, a good job, and a future for their children. No country can hope of dominating the others. The word "superpower" is an illusion. The future will belong to the next generation of internet savvy jet setters who do not fret about 19th century patriotic visions nor about 20th century historical illusions.

Diversité

Les émeutes de novembre dernier dans la banlieue parisienne ont eu au moins une retombée positive. Outre le fait que j'aie bénéficié de plusieurs contrats de la part de groupes d'études français qui visitent les USA pour trouver des solutions, la France semble s'être aperçue du fait que sa population était certes diversifiée, mais mal intégrée.
Aprés avoir rendu visite à une quinzaine des plus grandes entreprises US, mon groupe a pu à la fois tuer des mythes et entrevoir des solutions.
Aux USA, la diversité et l'inclusion sont au programme depuis les mouvements des droits civiques au début des années 60. Contrairement aux idées reçues, la discrimination positive, appelée affirmative action en Amérique, n'est pas une affaire de quotas. Il s'agit plutôt d'égalité des chances.
L'équivalent de la HALDE aux USA s'appelle EEOC , existe depuis 40 ans et ses lois sont impitoyablement appliquées.
Il faut dire que les relations entre la police et les citoyens aux États-Unis sont une question de civisme, plutôt que l'antagonisme traditionnel que l'on connait en France.
Notre groupe, ayant visité Washington et New York, a été impressioné par la place de l'inclusion dans les grandes entreprises . Aux USA, c'est considéré être bon pour les affaires que d'embaucher et promouvoir les minorités.
Ça permet de s'adresser à un plus grand pool de talent, et de mieux communiquer avec ses clients dans les milieux de la minorité
Encore faudrait-il que nos universités françaises attirent les beurs et les blacks!
Seule note sombre au tableau: mon groupe, les hommes, de race blanche, seront un groupe minoritaire aux USA en 2050!

It's the Constitution, Stupid!

Most people I seem to meet in France or in other countries were saddened, or even appalled at the direction the US were taking. Under the spell of right wing zealots, fueled by know-nothing religious wingnuts, and blindly followed by an obedient commercial press, the US were led down the primrose path .
I told everybody about the US ironclad Constitution, regularly held elections, and democratic system. I predicted that Democracy would win, the warmongers would be thrown out and put on the dock. So far so good. It looks as checks and balances won out. Even my State of Virginia elected Jim Webb, after defeating George Allen.
The new democratic Congress will first have to get us out of Iraq, and then rebuild the reputation squandered by the neocons.

Voting Machines

Is this a great country or what?
As lord Acton noted, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". It could have happened to any party, but this time it is the Republican's turn. After securing both houses, the White House, the Supreme court, and thanks to shameless gerrymandering, almost having secured the party's power ad vitam eternam, they are about to "have a great fall".
A great fall is an appropriate quote. Like Humpty Dumpty, they sat on a wall (Wall Street). They were about to build a wall on our border with Mexico (Mr Bush, tear down this wall!) OOps wrong quote.
Like Humpty Dumpty, they were hollow. Ted Haggard, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay,Dennis Hastert, Rep.Sherwood, Henry Hyde, Bill Bennett,and all the other Puritan fathers, trying to impose their prudery, turned out to be corrupt, deviants, or really sick. What is it with so many republicans that they have this very unhealthy obsession with sex? Clinton's impeachment, Mark Foley, Jim Webbs' sexy prose? They are also obsessed with homosexuals, but use their services. They are for the defense of marriage, but cheat on their wives, divorce, and, like Strom Thurmond, rape their slaves.
For an explanation, read Moliere's Tartuffe.

T'is the Fall. The fall of any illusions that the Republicans had any platform other than character assasination. (I have no plan, but my opponent stinks.)
To wit the shameless exploitation of a joke John Kerry read badly. He meant:" If you fail at school (like GWB), then you will get us stuck in Iraq". (Like GWB).
It would be contemptible if it were only a case of Bush not understanding the joke. we expect it.(The guy who gave us "Is our children learning?", and "I want food served on every family." But the shame of it all, is to see a man who dodged the draft, attack a decorated veteran for lack of patriotism. I always found patriotism suspect anyway. it cost us 3 wars in the 20th century, and, as Samuel Johnson said: "It is the last refuge of the scoundrel".

I have absolute faith in the US Constitution. It is supposed to get rid of dysfunctional politician on a periodical basis. I just hope that the potential losers are not desperate enough to manipulate the incredibly vulnerable voting machines that will be used Tuesday.