sábado, 15 de septiembre de 2007

T.H.E. awful TRUE (newsmontage)

RECIBE PERSONALMENTE A LOS VISITANTES AL ELÍSEO
Sarkozy abre al público las puertas de su despacho
REUTERS
PARÍS.

elmundo.es
El presidente francés, Nicolas Sarkozy, dejó el sábado abiertas al público las puertas del palacio del Elíseo y de su despacho, en un gesto por reforzar su imagen de que es un hombre del pueblo.
Sarkozy, deseoso por salirse de la línea distante de sus antecesores, recibió personalmente a las personas congregadas en las entradas del palacio y saludó a muchos de los visitantes que hicieron cola desde la madrugada.
"El pueblo (...) el palacio del Elíseo le pertenece y es normal que deba estar abierto, incluyendo mis oficinas, para que pueda ver dónde trabaja el jefe de Estado", dijo a periodistas.
Todos los años, durante uno de los fines de semana de septiembre, los franceses pueden visitar los grandes edificios de Estado que usualmente están herméticamente cerrados al público.
El palacio presidencial ha sido por años parte de esa tradición, pero la oficina del presidente ubicada en el primer piso hasta ahora siempre había permanecido cerrada.
Sarkozy y su familia aún no se han mudado al palacio y continúan viviendo en el suburbio de Neuilly, donde el mandatario fue alcalde. El presidente dijo al periódico Le Monde que aún no estaba seguro de mudarse al mismo.
Al ser consultado sobre si el palacio era "placentero", respondió: "Placentero no es la palabra que utilizaría. Es precioso, es histórico".
En los jardines, los visitantes pudieron ver los dos automóviles Citroën SM Maserati de 1972 del ex presidente Georges Pompidou y el Peugeot 607 en el que Sarkozy entró al palacio cuando tomó el mando el 16 de mayo. French media to go on Sarkozy "detox"
Reuters
Washingtonpost.com
Tuesday, September 11, 2007; 6:36 AM

PARIS (Reuters) - After Smoke Free Day and Car Free Day comes Sarkozy Free Day.
A group called Democracy in Television wants French media to kick its apparent addiction to President Nicolas Sarkozy by not mentioning the hyperactive leader on November 30.
"Break your habits for 24 hours and help French people detox themselves from media Sarkozitis," it said in a statement.
Sarkozy has taken the lead in setting policy since his election victory in May and blanket media coverage of the 52-year-old has left scant room in the public eye for Prime Minister Francois Fillon, let alone the opposition.
Democracy in Television, set up by sociologist Pierre Boutin, called for the day of cold turkey to coincide with the first anniversary of the launch of Sarkozy's presidential bid.
Not a single image, not a sound, not a line on the actions and gestures of Nicolas Sarkozy should appear in the media that day. Neither praise, criticism nor commentary. Nothing at all, please, apart from an unusual and democratic silence," it said.
Boutin told Reuters he was less concerned about whether November 30 proved to be Sarkozy-free and more intent on making a point.
"There are a lot of journalists who are exasperated by the cult of personality which has grown up around Sarkozy and the main thing is to launch the idea," he said.
France gets a touch of the bleus after two big sporting defeats
· Sarkozy gets the blame as nation's woes mount up
· Row over rugby pep talk on Resistance fighter
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Friday September 14, 2007
The Guardian

It was supposed to be a month of French sporting glory, as men in shorts recaptured the heroism of ancient Gaul, distracting the nation from its economic woes and uniting Nicolas Sarkozy's new France in victorious flag-waving. But France woke up in a black depression yesterday after two crushing sporting defeats at home led the country to question the very nature of its new patriotism.
French footballers declared a "catastrophe" and their place in Euro 2008 hung by a thread after a defeat by underdogs Scotland. Days before, the French rugby team had been trounced by similarly unfancied Argentina. It was a double nightmare as France is hosting the Rugby World Cup, keen to impress 4 billion global viewers and let off the pent-up energy that would have been expended on the 2012 Olympics if Paris hadn't lost out to London.
But while French commentators yesterday marvelled at the fervour of Scottish football fans, wondering if the "human tide of rosy-cheeked men in kilts" was behind the Bleus' loss, controversy raged over France's sporting patriotism and whether President Sarkozy could be held to blame for sporting catastrophes.
A row has developed over whether it was right to spur on players with the memory of a 17-year-old communist Resistance fighter killed by the Nazis. TV coverage of the French rugby dressing room before the France-Argentina match last week showed the team being read a letter written by the Resistance fighter Guy Môquet before his execution. The letter is a favourite of President Sarkozy, who had used it to mark his investiture as president, crying when he heard it and declaring it should be read to all French schoolchildren. The decision to read it to the rugby team was made by Bernard Laporte, who has accepted a job as junior sports minister in Mr Sarkozy's government as soon as the World Cup is over. But yesterday Clement Poitrenaud, the fullback who read the text, complained the dressing room footage made the team look like "cretins".
The Communist party was outraged by the use of the letter, the socialists were "shocked" and Môquet's biographer condemned the use of the letter as "grotesque, sad and unbearable". Crucially, the daily Le Parisien wondered if a letter beginning with the words "I'm going to die" could have "undermined the team's morale".
Yesterday, Mr Sarkozy's spokesman, David Martinon, said the president had not asked for the text be read to the players.
Political gain
But the president's sporting image and his courting of rugby and football stars appeared to have left him vulnerable. Mr Sarkozy, who prides himself on televised jogging and cycling sessions, has restyled himself as a rugby fan and insisted government ministers attend matches in order to reap as much political gain from what most of France assumed would be a clear path to at least the semi-finals.
His advisers have studied the impact of France's 1998 World Cup final victory on the then president Jacques Chirac, who despite not knowing the names of half the team, saw his poll ratings leap.
Mr Sarkozy has joked to the French rugby team that if they lose, he will be blamed. Part of France's prolific sports blogging community yesterday seemed to agree. The left-leaning news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur asked on its website: "Rugby, football: who's to blame that France is losing everything?" Sixty per cent of the 3,800 respondents by early evening felt it was Mr Sarkozy's fault.
Pascal Boniface, director of Paris's Institute for International and Strategic Relations, told the Guardian yesterday: "If France is knocked out of the rugby in the first round, the president's personal links to the team will become more of a handicap than an advantage, but rugby will still remain marginal to any other difficulties he faces."
Mr Sarkozy, the most popular French president since Charles de Gaulle, saw his poll ratings dip this week in the face of poor economic growth forecasts and difficult pension and public sector reform.
The writer and former rugby player, François Duboisset told the Guardian: "The French are currently worried about all sorts of social problems that sport can make them forget. So if the national team loses, it causes a national headache. But I'm optimistic - in sport, the impossible is always possible."
Le guide Parlez-vous rugby?
The French ministry of foreign affairs has produced a "French rugby survival kit" for English-speaking fans arriving at World Cup matches. More than 160,000 guides are being handed out at places such as the Waterloo Eurostar terminal, airports, stadiums and tourist offices as part of the operation "Oui, je parle rugby".
Among the 250 useful phrases translated by the government, rugby fans can learn how to get kitted out ("Je voudrais acheter ce maillot de rugby" - "I want to buy this rugby jersey").
There is a section on half-time, enabling fans to suggest going for a drink with new-found French friends ("Allons boire un coup") and getting the round ("C'est moi qui paie").
Technical translations of props, hookers, flankers, gumshields and penalties come with handy illustrations.
For teams doing well, the Mexican wave ("la hola") could come in handy as would "I have a hangover" ("J'ai la gueule de bois").

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