* cababarant *

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Comments working again

Hi all,
Comment moderation is off-- somehow I had accidentally turned it on a few months ago so comments from the last few months (!) hadn't been posted. I didn't even know until a friend asked me the other day if I had some sort of comment approval on because his comment wasn't posting. All is corrected now and the comments are updated.

posted by sheryl | 1:36 PM | comments (1)

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Chirac caves, French go back to jobs they don't have yet

Okay so enough with the D-list goss, on to real politics!

So the big news this week in Europe (aside from, of course, the bigger news of crazy Berlusconi losing the Italian election), is that the French government has voted against the labor reform proposal that "young France" was protesting against. For anyone who hasn't been following it, the labor reform would have consisted essentially of allowing companies to freely fire employees within the first two years of employment, primarily affecting young people just out of school and new to the job market.

Every time I think "hey, maybe the French are normal", they seem to behave as a society that convinces me they're from another planet. It's true, Europe in general has far more protectionist labor law in general compared to the U.S., but France's policies are something else. What the protesters don't seem to take into account is that for companies, easier to fire means easier to hire-- that as a result, it probably would be easier to get a foot into the job market to begin with. In a country with 22 percent unemployment for people under 26, you would think this sort of labor reform would be a good thing. It's kind of like what my friend Steve (who lived in France long enough to, first hand, experience good ol' French policy) said about policies governing tenant leasing: because French law makes it damn near impossible to evict someone, it eventually backfires on those it's trying to protect-- it makes it damn near impossible to even lease a house or apartment. There are copious amounts of documentation, background checks and referrals that are necessary in order to even be considered. I think the general unemployment rate there seems to be evidence of the same effect French labor policy has on the job market.

Okay, I'm not going to go totally wacko free-market economist here. (Although living in Europe does have this way of turning an American expat into one!) I don't think what the French have is bad-- in fact, it's hard to argue with what you get once you do have a job there: excellent job security, great vacation policies and working hours that give you great work/life balance. As an American, I don't think I have experienced any of those things 100 percent (although I have had good experiences, not relative to the French, but relative to other American workers). But, the French need to look pragmatically at the staggering unemployment rate and figure something out.

The interesting thing is that the labor reform proposal was partially a response to the riots from last November-- in which angry, marginalized minority youth set fire to cars and their neighborhoods, so the French government deduced that perhaps high unemployment has something to do with that. They promised change after those riots, and now have promised some sort of other change after the last two months' riots and protests, so I guess we'll just have to open a bottle of delicious French wine, and a raw-milk Camembert, and watch this French sideshow continue. Salut!

Links
Slate.com: France's March Malaise
NYTimes: Chirac Will Rescind Labor Law That Caused Wide French Riots
NYTimes.com: Déjà Vu All Over Again

How you like us now, Villepin?

posted by sheryl | 10:41 AM | comments (1)

Monday, April 10, 2006

J-Piv takes journey of lifetime, discovers 5-star hotels

I used to root for Jeremy Piven back when he was a total D-lister who was nothing but a sidekick on the Ellen Degeneres Show. But since he's started considering himself a celebrity (thanks to Entourage), he's become a royal douchebag.

Recently he did a show on the Travel Channel called Journey of a Lifetimewith Jeremy Piven. Best Week Ever Blog has a great write-up of the show, in which Jeremy runs around India saying "Namaste", checking his Blackberry and taking yoga at five-star hotels. What a tool!

Best Week Ever Blog: IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Jeremy Piven's Journey of a Lifetime

posted by sheryl | 3:10 PM | comments (1)

Thursday, April 06, 2006

I will beat a bitch's ass! I mean, I will take a bitch to court!

I saw that my favorite celebrity hobag, Kimora Lee Simmons, is splitting up with her longtime hubby Russell Simmons. Ever since I read that hilarious Vanity Fair article on her, I've been obsessed with this crazy diva. You know with all his money the bitch is going to Clean. Him. Out! Even with the success of Baby Phat, girlfriend needs some spending cash for you know, another 200 Louis Vuitton bags, not to mention a monthly trip to St. Barts. I'm rooting for you Kimora! You gotta love someone who appears in the ads for her own brand, butt-naked, wearing nothing but tennis shoes.

Oh! And I just found a blog dedicated entirely to this crazy chica!
http://drinkthis.typepad.com/kimora/
I can't say it enough-- I heart the internet!

"Girl, you know it! When I get through with him, he'll have nothing left but that tired hat and sneakers."

MSNBC: Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee announce split
Cababa.com: Kimora Lee Simmons: I will beat a bitch's ass!
Vanity Fair: The Phat Life

posted by sheryl | 11:53 AM | comments (0)