Comments on Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.TypePad2006-10-30T03:46:00ZSeduliahttps://www.ruerude.com/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://www.ruerude.com/2006/10/mayor_is_killin/comments/atom.xml/L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834fa5eb669e22006-11-05T10:19:34Z2008-08-28T03:21:29ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hi Marco Cuturi ! /*/i'm french, so i can't really see the racism in my remark. i just feel you...<p>Hi Marco Cuturi !</p>
<p>/*/i'm french, so i can't really see the racism in my remark. i just feel you enjoy more debating and theoretical arguments than seeking reasonnable compromises, which is a usual problem for french people. or maybe people with too much spare time./*/</p>
<p>Since Marco has never met Amerloque, his comments might be considered an insult.( smile) Marco has no idea of whether Amerloque has "compromised" or not, nor does Marco have any idea of just how much "spare time" Amerloque has or doesn't have. (sigh) Futhermore, if Marco doesn't see the racism in his remark, on n'est pas sorti de l'auberge. No hard feelings, though. (smile)</p>
<p>/*/i'm a statistician, so i'm pretty much convinced that numbers mean something. on the other hand i know pretty much they can be easily manipulated. and i know they can only prove something if you have access to the methodology and the way they were collected (read: percentages here and there are close to meaningless)/*/</p>
<p>Then Marco will absolutely love the study (with pages and pages of numbers and stats in pdf format !) which appeared this morning in the London Daily Telegraph. (wide smile). Excerpts:</p>
<p>//The Stern report last week predicted dire economic and social effects of unchecked global warming. In what many will see as a highly controversial polemic, Christopher Monckton disputes the 'facts' of this impending apocalypse and accuses the UN and its scientists of distorting the truth</p>
<p>…/…</p>
<p>This week, I'll show how the UN undervalued the sun's effects on historical and contemporary climate, slashed the natural greenhouse effect, overstated the past century's temperature increase, repealed a fundamental law of physics and tripled the man-made greenhouse effect.</p>
<p>Next week, I'll demonstrate the atrocious economic, political and environmental cost of the high-tax, zero-freedom, bureaucratic centralism implicit in Stern's report; I'll compare the global-warming scare with previous sci-fi alarums; and I'll show how the environmentalists' "precautionary principle" (get the state to interfere now, just in case) is killing people.</p>
<p>…/…</p>
<p>• They said they had included 24 data sets going back to 1400. Without saying so, they left out the set showing the medieval warm period, tucking it into a folder marked "Censored Data".</p>
<p>• They used a computer model to draw the graph from the data, but scientists later found that the model almost always drew hockey-sticks even if they fed in random, electronic "red noise".<br />
<br />
The large, full-colour "hockey-stick" was the key graph in the UN's 2001 report, and the only one to appear six times. The Canadian Government copied it to every household. Four years passed before a leading scientific journal would publish the truth about the graph. Did the UN or the Canadian government apologise? Of course not. The UN still uses the graph in its publications.</p>
<p>Even after the "hockey stick" graph was exposed, scientific papers apparently confirming its abolition of the medieval warm period appeared. The US Senate asked independent statisticians to investigate. They found that the graph was meretricious, and that known associates of the scientists who had compiled it had written many of the papers supporting its conclusion.</p>
<p>The UN, echoed by Stern, says the graph isn't important. It is. Scores of scientific papers show that the medieval warm period was real, global and up to 3C warmer than now. Then, there were no glaciers in the tropical Andes: today they're there. There were Viking farms in Greenland: now they're under permafrost. There was little ice at the North Pole: a Chinese naval squadron sailed right round the Arctic in 1421 and found none.…/…<br />
<br />
Bonne lecture ! (smile) http://tinyurl.com/y9xznt As a scientist, Marco can judge the "science" … </p>
<p>/*/what i'm saying is that your main arguments (car is better for this, this or that, and we should be free to have big SUV's and care little about the pollution they carry out because after all people are doing worse than us) do not hold if you apply them to the whole population of the earth. /*/</p>
<p>Sure they do. The problem is that people – the ecoayatollahs – don't want them to hold. The issue is not about alleged "global warming" – it is about freedom. It is about the imposition of an ecoayatollah agenda.</p>
<p>In the same way that the Bush administration scammed the American people about WMDs, the ecoayatollahs seem to be scamming the people about "environment". </p>
<p>/*/ sadly enough, based on your principles, i guess we didnt seek for optimality in our habits w.r.t environment (w.r.t. costs, labour, logistics yes, but the environment variable was not in the optimization. ever heard of the traveling salesman problem? no one ever put a polution penalty in that problem). /*/</p>
<p>Sure, the TSP is very famous. (grin) Faut pas prendre des gens pour des ignares, tout de même. (wider grin)</p>
<p>One man's "optimality "is another's lack of freedom. If one looks for optimization is all cases, then, for example, at birth perhaps the deformed and/or handicapped should be euthanized. Perhaps children with an IQ under a given level should be suppressed. Perhaps old people over a certain age, with certain (expensive !) needs, should be suppressed. Perhaps if there are no jobs for mathematicians or statisticians, then degree-taking in those fields should be suppressed. Perhaps since there is a shortage of nurses, thousands of people should be forced to study nursing against their will.</p>
<p>"Optimization" can lead to any, all, or none of the above, of course. It's just a sampling. It's about freedom.</p>
<p>/*/i guess we'll have to change some habits. without pushing it to the limits "ecoayatollah's" way. I'm a scientist, so i'm pretty much convinced technology can do much. But if people do not understand there's a problem, it makes it a lot harder to carry out these efforts./*/</p>
<p>There might be a problem. There might not be a problem. The fact that thousands (millions ?) of people believe "global warming", with alleged scientific "evidence", is an irreverisble fact doesn't make it so. </p>
<p>What about the "Little Ice Age", for example ? http://tinyurl.com/yczynp How does that fit in to the current notions ? What about evidence against global warming ? Is there any ? If so, why is it occulted or suppressed ? What about Michael Crichton's refutations ? What about "The Skeptical Environmentalist" ?</p>
<p>For the moment, people are baying, like hounds at the hunt, under the guidance of the huntmasters: the ecoayatollahs. People are being "forced" to adhere to certain notions, by a combination of "science" and "conscience". </p>
<p>It's the "force" that is unacceptable, not the "science" or the "conscience" … if the latter two are honest. </p>
<p>To close, for information: as an experiment, and, of course, to see what all the fuss is about, and to see just how far the ecoayatollahs are removed from reality (or not !), at his farm in Normandy Amerloque has installed a small power generator running off the wind. It produces 450 W/h when the wind blows 45 km/h (13 m/s). (See ? Amerloque does have a bit of spare time …).Works pretty well, if a) there is wind and b) if one has purchased and maintained top quality batteries and associated gear and c) if one remembers not to turn on certain appliances at the same time, or too frequently. (smile) Certainly such a setup is a viable alternative for houses (if one is willing to pay, of course), but not apartment buildings, because of the varying electrical loads. </p>
<p>How many ecoayatollahs have personal wind generators ? Amerloque would like to know, if Marco has any info on that ! (wide grin)</p>
<p>For the moment such a setup is not taxed, but that probably won't last long. The "collectivity" loses the VAT that would've been paid on the electric bill. Multiply Amerloque's setup by hundreds of thoussands or millions and the ecoayatollahs wouldn't like it at all, because they would have less money to spend and to maintain their .politically correct posturing. So the ecoayatollahs are pushing "collective" wind power, since that would enable them to continue levying taxes and raking in millions in tax money.</p>
<p>Best,<br />
L'Amerloque</p>
<p><br />
</p>nardac commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f9613169e22006-11-02T14:46:31Z2008-08-27T01:46:39Znardachttp://nardac.blogsome.comHey Sedulia! I live next to Pere Lachaise so I'm not exactly central either. I always find that it takes...<p>Hey Sedulia!</p>
<p>I live next to Pere Lachaise so I'm not exactly central either. I always find that it takes a little bit of time but I always find a cab, just not between 1 and 2am on a weekend. That's the rule. Oh and taxi queues are another great Parisian JOKE!</p>
<p>And now I'll bow out of bouffing your comments box.</p>L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c3e52753ef2006-11-02T08:55:09Z2008-08-29T11:06:56ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hello Nardac ! /*/I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks./*/ Jeez, that's really too bad. (grin)...<p>Hello Nardac !</p>
<p>/*/I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks./*/</p>
<p>Jeez, that's really too bad. (grin) It takes all kinds to make a world, doesn't it ? </p>
<p>Fortunately the ecoayatollah thought police aren't monitoring this … (wider grin)</p>
<p>/*/Do you have four three-fingered handicapped grandparents to shuffle around on a daily basis?/*/</p>
<p>Amerloque is a bit put off with Nardac's sarcastic anti-handicapped language. It stinks.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact, with language like that from someone not in possession of all the facts (or even of any germane facts whatsoever !) … one should never, ever wonder why people like Amerloque invariably come down on opposite sides to positions taken by individuals like Nardac.</p>
<p>Best,<br />
L'Amerloque</p>
<p><br />
</p>marco commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f93cbd69e22006-11-02T02:05:58Z2008-08-27T01:46:36Zmarcodear l'amerloque, i'm french, so i can't really see the racism in my remark. i just feel you enjoy more...<p>dear l'amerloque,</p>
<p>i'm french, so i can't really see the racism in my remark. i just feel you enjoy more debating and theoretical arguments than seeking reasonnable compromises, which is a usual problem for french people. or maybe people with too much spare time.</p>
<p>i'm a statistician, so i'm pretty much convinced that numbers mean something. on the other hand i know pretty much they can be easily manipulated. and i know they can only prove something if you have access to the methodology and the way they were collected (read: percentages here and there are close to meaningless)</p>
<p>what i'm saying is that your main arguments (car is better for this, this or that, and we should be free to have big SUV's and care little about the pollution they carry out because after all people are doing worse than us) do not hold if you apply them to the whole population of the earth. </p>
<p>luckily enough for you, these principles were ok to follow when 90$ of the population of the globe was starving and you were in the lucky 10%, be it because you were born in the good place or worked hard to get there. luckily enough for everyone, a big share of these 90% seem to have access now to more material benefits. sadly enough, based on your principles, i guess we didnt seek for optimality in our habits w.r.t environment (w.r.t. costs, labour, logistics yes, but the environment variable was not in the optimization. ever heard of the traveling salesman problem? no one ever put a polution penalty in that problem). </p>
<p>i guess we'll have to change some habits. without pushing it to the limits "ecoayatollah's" way. I'm a scientist, so i'm pretty much convinced technology can do much. But if people do not understand there's a problem, it makes it a lot harder to carry out these efforts.</p>nardac commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f9098569e22006-11-01T18:43:16Z2008-08-28T13:36:00Znardachttp://nardac.blogsome.comAmerloque. I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks. Why am I forced not to drive a...<p>Amerloque.</p>
<p>I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks.</p>
<p>Why am I forced not to drive a car? Because I have better things to do than spend money on something I don't see a need for in Paris. Parking is shit, traffic is shit, and exhaust stinks. Why should do you choose to be forced with it? Do you have four three-fingered handicapped grandparents to shuffle around on a daily basis?</p>nardac commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f9077069e22006-11-01T18:37:28Z2008-08-28T03:21:35Znardachttp://nardac.blogsome.comhmmm... alternative plans to taxis after 1am: hang out with boys with scooters (and thus risk life and limb for...<p>hmmm... alternative plans to taxis after 1am: hang out with boys with scooters (and thus risk life and limb for a little spin), get drunk enough to walk home without thinking (and hopefully with a drunk friend(s) too), sleep at the nearest friend's house, stay at the party till the Metro starts again, go to another party...</p>
<p>Or you could just call a cab. They're listed in the yellow pages and can thus be programmed easily into the cellphone.</p>
<p>The only time I stressed about getting a cab was one night when I was stuck near AquaBoulevard at 3am and I really just wanted to take off my shoes and sleep... on the street... that's how bad it was. Luckily it's right next to a "Porte" which is another good place to find taxis.</p>
<p>From Sedulia: I live too far from central Paris to walk. I have all the taxi numbers in my phone, but I find that after the metros stop, the only way I have of being sure to get home is to take my own car. It's too bad the Paris taxi situation is so dire; I'm sure it affects night life.</p>
<p>I like the boys on scooters idea. Somehow they don't come along and offer me rides, though, Nardac!</p>Azure-Te commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8f56369e22006-11-01T14:18:21Z2008-08-29T11:00:58ZAzure-Tehttp://azure-te.hautetfort.com/Using my car nightly (I have never and would never dream of driving Paris in daytime, unless I really have...<p>Using my car nightly (I have never and would never dream of driving Paris in daytime, unless I really have to), I think Delanoe's policy with cars in Paris can only be called insanity — if only in terms of pollution. And dangerous too. A small detail that tells it all : try the Chapelle/Clignancourt lights: you have to look separately sideways, like hens. When you reach them (after 30 mns of waiting, "accordion driving" that wrecks nerves, engines, and pollutes more than one could say), you find that the left light goes green when the red light remains red, and vice-versa. Depends on wether you're on a "car" lane or a "bus" lane, which you honestly don't know anymore, since they change and overcross each every 20 meters. Someone should be killed soon or later. Now this is just ONE tiny example : the city is just made of those now. Pure insanity.</p>L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8e47569e22006-11-01T09:37:13Z2008-08-27T01:46:30ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hi marco! /*/you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues,/*/ Ah, yes, the ad...<p> Hi marco!</p>
<p>/*/you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues,/*/</p>
<p>Ah, yes, the ad hominem argument, coupled with a tinge of racism. Can't forget about those, eh ? (sad sigh) </p>
<p>/*/You've completely ignored my point on changes in demography, technology, and geopolitics./*/ </p>
<p>Amerloque is old and experienced enough to know that one can "prove" anything with numbers. </p>
<p>For example, all men 100% (!) who nursed at their mothers' breast ... before the year 1800 ... are dead, right ? </p>
<p>Amerloque is not ignoring the numbers, or the "changes in demography, technology, and geopoltics". He is simply drawing different conclusions than marco cuturi. If Amerloque was not clear about this, he apologizes. (smile). </p>
<p>One obvious conclusion, for example, is that not running a SUV will have no influence whatsoever on the behavior of China or India, now or ever. </p>
<p>/*/ …/… So have a look at all the pluses that the East is bringing us. Go and have a look at bigger cities in india and china and start figuring out what life on earth would be like if all the people there who have sculptures, a handicaped relative or friends that want to visit would feel like buying a big SUV to cope with their needs. …/…<br />
the point is not having a car or not, the point is using it less i guess./*/</p>
<p>Surely you are not suggesting euthanasia for handicapped children and/or relatives and/or relatives ? </p>
<p>Amerloque feels that, to some extent, c'est un dialogue de sourds, as the French would say. (sigh)</p>
<p>Best,<br />
L'Amerloque</p>marco commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8cccc69e22006-11-01T02:04:29Z2008-08-28T03:23:48Zmarco dear l'amerloque, you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues, coming up with a...<p>dear l'amerloque,</p>
<p>you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues, coming up with a few intelligent arguments which avoid the real point, and throwing a few numbers here and there. But you're not very convincing. You've completely ignored my point on changes in demography, technology, and geopolitics. </p>
<p>1+1=2 you say? sure. So have a look at all the pluses that the East is bringing us. Go and have a look at bigger cities in india and china and start figuring out what life on earth would be like if all the people there who have sculptures, a handicaped relative or friends that want to visit would feel like buying a big SUV to cope with their needs. The fact that they're not rich enough at the moment to do that shouldn't prevent us from giving it a thought. By the way, have you ever heard of buying things and getting them delivered to your place? the point is not having a car or not, the point is using it less i guess.</p>L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c32bc353ef2006-10-31T14:34:14Z2008-08-29T05:20:23ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hi Sedulia ! /*/Hmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject!/*/ That's an understatement. (wide grin) Delanoe's...<p>Hi Sedulia !</p>
<p>/*/Hmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject!/*/</p>
<p>That's an understatement. (wide grin) </p>
<p>Delanoe's policies are killing Paris, and everyone is concerned by it.</p>
<p>* * * * *</p>
<p>Hi cuturi !</p>
<p>/*/If you keep quoting examples from the 70's, or even the 90's, it's that you are not grasping the technological, demographic and geopolitical changes which make those comparisons pointless today. /*/</p>
<p>Sorry, but one plus one always makes two, in the real world. (grin) Amerloque grasps them very, very well, thank you: he deals with them on a regular basis, as a matter of fact. (wider grin) </p>
<p>The arguments, and the numbers, and, more importantly, the same sort of people, crying wolf and chickenlittling are the same as they were in the 1970s and 1990s. Whyever should they be "right" now ? (sigh)</p>
<p>/*/ …/… , buying a SUV for the fun of it *definitely* definitely makes a political statement. But not necessarily the most intelligent./*/</p>
<p>Sure it's intelligent, if they need a SUV for a particular purpose (like hauling around sculptures and paintings, for example, or handicapped relatives, or if they carpool special needs kids to schools across town …).</p>
<p>The whole business about "SUVs pollute more" is a scam. Pick up any study from "les Mines" and look at the figures: there are well known passenger cars which "pollute" –more- (per cylinder displacement) than many 4x4s/SUVs. </p>
<p>If the ecoayatollahs really cared about pollution and the people's health, they would ban diesel-powered vehicles, period. The particulates such vehicles have left in the atmosphere in the past two decades - and are leaving in the atmosphere - will cause a health crisis of huge proportions: as much as obsesity, in some studies bandied about. Nevertheless, the SUVs are in the ecoayatollah wringer, only. (sigh)</p>
<p>/*.parisian-type Ecoayatollahs are pretty much what we want to avoid. But people who do not have the pragmatism of understanding what's going on, and take these restrictions it as a "freedom" issue are pretty useless as well. /*/</p>
<p>Ameloque respectfully disagrees, since when people concerned about "freedom" buy a 4x4 they pay enormous taxes which are then used to finance the bike lanes and bus lanes for the … ecoayatollahs. (grin)</p>
<p>Just because someone doesn't agree with cuturi doesn't mean they don't have the "pragmatism of understanding what's going on": they simply draw a different conclusion.</p>
<p>This all reminds Amerloque of a joke current when he was a child, and which surfaces in each generation: </p>
<p>In the middle of New York City, on 5th Avenue, a guy is walking down the street, snapping his fingers. A shopowner comes out of her place and says "Hey, Mister, every time I see you walking by, I see you snapping your fingers ! Why do you do that ?"</p>
<p>The guy keeps snapping his fingers. He says, "Well, it's to keep the crocodiles away."</p>
<p>Shopowner says: What ? There aren't any crocodiles around here !!!"</p>
<p>Guy, still snapping fingers, says: "See, it works !"</p>
<p>* * * * * </p>
<p>Hi LA Frog !</p>
<p>/*/As a non-car driver, I was happy with Delanoë's initiatives, because they meant less room for cars = more room for the others. /*/</p>
<p>Seductive reasoning, of course … if there continue to be "others". (grin) </p>
<p>Le Parisien yesterday gave a few stats from the Chambre des Notaires … in the 4th arrondissement, foreigners purchased 1/3 of the available real estate last year. (!) These are non-resident foreigners, who leave their places empty most of the year. </p>
<p>It looks in depth at the rue Saint-Louis-en-Ile: "… le pressing a fermé, la poisonnerie a fermé, les deux marchands de journaux, aussi …"</p>
<p>Overall, 8.1% of the available real estate in Paris last year was purchased by foreigners, most of whom don't live in Paris …</p>
<p>* * * * *</p>
<p>Hi Nardac !</p>
<p>/*/I don't have kids but I think there are many people in Paris who have kids who don't have cars and just make do. It's not simple but one always finds solutions when forced to. /*/</p>
<p>With all due respect, whyever should they be "forced to" ? It's their city, too: they pay the taxes which pay for …(Amerloque is sure Nardac knows what the refrain is …) (grin)</p>
<p>/*/Maybe he doesn't have children but luckily he's thinking about the future anyways./*/</p>
<p>Amerloque begs to differ. Delanoe is thinking about the next election. (grin) </p>
<p>As a matter of interest, given the City's current obscurantist administration, Amerloque has suggested that horse manure be spread in the streets, so as to complete the illusion of 19th century Paris that the ecoayatollahs are attempting to recreate, with tramways, and no cars, and no middle class.</p>
<p>Strangely enough, Amerloque never received an answer to his letter. (grin) Guess they thought he was joking.</p>
<p>Best<br />
L'Amerloque</p>Sedulia commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c3378b53ef2006-10-31T12:24:26Z2008-08-28T03:24:55ZSeduliahttp://www.ruerude.comHmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject! I guess what I am saying is that the...<p>Hmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject! I guess what I am saying is that the Mayor of Paris is making it hard to get around, period. I support many of his initiatives, but the traffic has become horrendous and that is not good for anyone. </p>
<p>Amsterdam is one of the best cities in the world for public transportation: it's easy to get a taxi there. The problem with Paris is that you need your car, because there are NOT good alternatives: available taxis at times when people need them; metros with escalators and elevators into the stations (as Munich and Frankfurt have-- I never used my car when I lived there); and buses that actually have room for suitcases, grocery carts, wheelchairs and baby strollers.</p>
<p>Nardac, what are your solutions for parties late at night? I find I have to take a car (and not drink) or I have to walk halfway across the city to get home. No taxis!</p>L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c3280253ef2006-10-31T11:12:03Z2008-08-27T01:52:02ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hi Sedulia ! Doesn't sound like "lorcan" has children, as Sedulia says. (grin) It also sounds like s/he has: -...<p>Hi Sedulia !</p>
<p>Doesn't sound like "lorcan" has children, as Sedulia says. (grin)</p>
<p>It also sounds like s/he has:</p>
<p>- no handicaps;<br />
- no handicapped - or very aged - members of the family;<br />
- no pets;<br />
- no guests that s/he would like to show around Paris,<br />
- no broken leg(s) after skiing holidays, </p>
<p>among other things, and that s/he does:</p>
<p>- no shopping, with the attendant bulky packages to schlep home;<br />
- no sightseeing with guests visiting Paris;<br />
- not attend salons or shows where one can purchase crates of wine or other spirits;<br />
- not bike outside of Paris and need to take the bike out of town.</p>
<p>(sigh) Isn't life grand ? (grin)</p>
<p>Best<br />
L'Amerloque<br />
</p>nardac commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8840b69e22006-10-31T10:26:15Z2008-08-27T01:49:59Znardachttp://nardac.blogsome.comI'm sure there are no kids or mothers in Amsterdam. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't have kids...<p>I'm sure there are no kids or mothers in Amsterdam.</p>
<p>Don't take this the wrong way. I don't have kids but I think there are many people in Paris who have kids who don't have cars and just make do. It's not simple but one always finds solutions when forced to. For example, I have friends who come and I never pick them by car... I make them take the RER and Metro like any decent person. When I have to move heavy objects, I phone the one person I know who has a vehicle and we arrange a time. I try not to put myself in a situation where I need a car because I've had to deal without one for awhile.</p>
<p>I agree they're useful, but cars are not indispensable. Maybe he doesn't have children but luckily he's thinking about the future anyways.</p>
<p>One gripe I do have, though, is that there simply aren't enough escalators and fast easy access for the physically handicapped in Metros. And yes, taxis are a rare breed in this city, but even this confirmed party panther has found solutions.</p>LA Frog commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8777e69e22006-10-31T06:05:31Z2008-08-28T03:22:38ZLA FrogI live in L.A. now (the ultimate car-city), so I don't feel qualified to comment. But from my experience as...<p>I live in L.A. now (the ultimate car-city), so I don't feel qualified to comment. But from my experience as a native "parisienne", there are enough buses, métros, and other means to get around in Paris without having a car (something I bitterly miss in La-la land). I never had a car in Paris. I had a bicycle, which I rode whenever possible. I lived in Paris intra-muros [city center], though. the Banlieue [outer suburbs] is a different story. As a non-car driver, I was happy with Delanoë's initiatives, because they meant less room for cars = more room for the others. Bottom line is: Paris inside the Périphérique [ringroad] is NOT a city for cars.</p>marco commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8717a69e22006-10-31T04:18:56Z2008-08-29T05:19:49Zmarcodear l'amerloque, i'm pretty much upset by parts of the comments raised by BarryB as well, and I agree with...<p>dear l'amerloque,</p>
<p>i'm pretty much upset by parts of the comments raised by BarryB as well, and I agree with you on the fact that Paris is going to increasingly become like Venice if nothing is done to help it be the real capital it should be (in terms of economy).</p>
<p>But I think you lack some kind of dynamic reasonning. If you keep quoting examples from the 70's, or even the 90's, it's that you are not grasping the technological, demographic and geopolitical changes which make those comparisons pointless today. </p>
<p>I'm not going to give you a lecture, I guess you can figure out the numbers by yourself if you're a bit travelled or read good articles, but in a world where technology can be increasingly powerful, and hence destructive, where 2.5 billion people dream of the american way of life and might get there sooner than we expect, and where oil is mostly controlled by not so liberty-fond-of regimes, buying a SUV for the fun of it *definitely* definitely makes a political statement. But not necessarily the most intelligent.</p>
<p>parisian-type Ecoayatollahs are pretty much what we want to avoid. But people who do not have the pragmatism of understanding what's going on, and take these restrictions it as a "freedom" issue are pretty useless as well. </p>lorcan commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c2fe6253ef2006-10-30T22:40:43Z2008-08-28T03:23:51ZlorcanThere really is no justification for driving. Only excuses. From Sedulia: I can tell you don't have kids.<p>There really is no justification for driving. Only excuses.</p>
<p>From Sedulia: I can tell you don't have kids.</p>L'Amerloque commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f832cd69e22006-10-30T19:13:39Z2008-08-28T13:34:32ZL'Amerloquehttp://amerloqueparis.blogspot.com/Hi BarryB ! Perhaps BarryB is too young to remember all the "chicken little - sky is falling" nonsense in...<p>Hi BarryB !</p>
<p>Perhaps BarryB is too young to remember all the "chicken little - sky is falling" nonsense in the 1970s, put out by the Club of Rome and its disciples. </p>
<p>Briefly stated: the world was running out of resources and if things went on the same way, the world would be out of food, copper, coal, oil, fresh water and God knows what other natural resources by the year 1985. (Amerloque has exaggerated only slightly for effect when he says " food, copper, coal, oil, fresh water … ".) </p>
<p>The Club of Rome was quite specific: catastrophe was imminent. The "scientific consensus" was overwhelming: catastrophe was imminent. The media screamed shrilly, in every paper, on every radio channel, on every TV channel: catastrophe was imminent. Schoolkids were programmed, politicians quoted reports: catastrophe was imminent ! ! ! </p>
<p>There was no catastrophe. It was all politically-correct bee ess. It was for the peanut gallery, designed to pull the wool over people's eyes and impose an agenda. </p>
<p>What about the year 2000 bug, aka the millennium bug ? Catastrophe was imminent ! Imminent ! The scientists said so. There was consensus. Yada yada yada.</p>
<p>Sound familiar ? </p>
<p>These are the same people pushing the "global warming" catastrophe scenario. </p>
<p>They've now pulled the "peak oil" scenario out of thin air, too, but since the announcement of the recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, they have been heard from far, far less. (grin)</p>
<p>Out here in the real world, there are people like Amerloque who need cars to move around with. There are people like Sedulia who have to pick up clients at the airport and trundle them around Paris. There are real people who do real shopping and who do real business and who are, quite simply, getting shafted by the politically correct proponents of global warming, ecoayatollah, anticar catastrophism. </p>
<p>Red Ken's bee ess road tax in London has, according to the figures that Amerloque has seen, which came frim the London Chamber of Commerce, caused a drop in business of something like 30 to 40 percent in parts of the capital (that's less tax money for the City, by the way). Paris is emptying of people and businesses: taxpayers all. Paris will probably end up like Venice, sooner rather than later, in Amerloque's view. </p>
<p>Humanity, by the way, will certainly "go on as before". It will take one step backward for every two steps forward, just as it always has. If the climate warms up, and poor ol' London or New York are flooded, humanity will deal with it. Always has dealt with change, and always will. </p>
<p>By the way, many people Amerloque knows have purchased 4x4 vehicles because of all the catastrophists. It's their own way of making a political statement. More power to them. </p>
<p>Best<br />
L'Amerloque</p>BarryB commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834f8289469e22006-10-30T18:03:57Z2008-08-28T13:35:42ZBarryBSedulia My comments were not meant to be a lecture, but a statement that unfortuneately life can no longer go...<p>Sedulia</p>
<p>My comments were not meant to be a lecture, but a statement that unfortuneately life can no longer go on as before and that individuals, together with local and national governments have to change their behaviour.</p>
<p>I cannot agree that London's public transport system is better than Paris. However, where I do agree with you is over the restrictive practices of Paris cab drivers - this is a disgrace.</p>
<p>Barry</p>Sedulia commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c2aa0153ef2006-10-30T14:59:22Z2008-08-27T01:46:29ZSeduliahttp://www.ruerude.comBarry, Thanks for the lecture. But I imagine you do agree that people need to get around in a city....<p>Barry,</p>
<p>Thanks for the lecture. But I imagine you do agree that people need to get around in a city. What I am saying is that the mayor of Paris is making life hell for drivers WITHOUT providing an alternative. There are simply not enough metros, trains and taxis in Paris for the needs of the people who live in, work in, and visit the city.</p>
<p>My comments certainly do not "apply equally to all the major cities within Europe." A direct comparison between Paris and London, made by a study published last year by economists from the World Bank and the Sorbonne, showed that the traffic restrictions in Paris had cost the city 900 million euros in four years. In the same period the much more extensive traffic restrictions in London, which is four times bigger than Paris, cost 170 million euros.</p>
<p>In Frankfurt or London, I never used my car because public transportation and especially taxis were available whenever I needed them to transport several people or heavy things. In Paris the lack of cabs is a scandal and there is no alternative to driving.</p>
<p><br />
</p>BarryB commented on 'Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341c82d353ef00d834c2afed53ef2006-10-30T12:40:08Z2008-08-27T01:46:29ZBarryBYour comments about car usage in Paris apply equally to all the major cities within Europe. There is no simplistic...<p>Your comments about car usage in Paris apply equally to all the major cities within Europe.</p>
<p>There is no simplistic solution. Indeed, given the Stern Review Report issued in London today, it is irresponsible to consider that we can go on as we are, the car can no longer be king:-</p>
<p>TEMPERATURE</p>
<p>Carbon emissions have already pushed up global temperatures by half a degree Celsius </p>
<p>If no action is taken on emissions, there is more than a 75% chance of global temperatures rising between two and three degrees Celsius over the next 50 years</p>
<p>There is a 50% chance that average global temperatures could rise by five degrees Celsius</p>
<p>ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT</p>
<p>Melting glaciers will increase flood risk </p>
<p>Crop yields will decline, particularly in Africa </p>
<p>Rising sea levels could leave 200 million people permanently displaced </p>
<p>Up to 40% of species could face extinction </p>
<p>Increased examples of extreme weather patterns </p>
<p>ECONOMIC IMPACT</p>
<p>Extreme weather could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 1% </p>
<p>A two to three degrees Celsius rise in temperatures could reduce global economic output by 3% </p>
<p>If temperatures rise by five degrees Celsius, up to 10% of global output could be lost. The poorest countries would lose more than 10% of their output. </p>
<p>In the worst case scenario global consumption per head would fall 20% </p>
<p>To stabilise at manageable levels, emissions would need to stabilise in the next 20 years and fall between 1% and 3% after that. This would cost 1% of GDP. </p>
<p>However, there is still continued resistance within the US to the scientific consensus.</p>
<p>There is a reluctance of major developing nations to accept any constraints on their economic growth.</p>
<p>Within a democracy, parties advocating any degree of economic pain typically fare poorly.</p>