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| Monday, July 17, 2006 |
| Heady Days |
A week in France allowed me about 20 minutes of CNN International per day, and those minutes were about as packed with major news as I could have imagined. First was the buildup and aftermath of the world cup final, it was the train bombing in Mumbai, then the escalating mess in Gaza/Israel/Lebanon.
The World Cup: we watched it in an Asian-themed bar eating sushi and spring rolls (somewhat unauthentic Parisian setting, but the TVs were huge and plentiful and the place was filled with real Frenchies). It was an exciting game, that France probably should have won (hate that Italian defensive catenaccio style). The French in the bar, and in the streets afterward, actually loved Zidane for the head-butt; they started chanting his name (perhaps because they knew it was the last time they'd ever get to do so). And they really were not all that bothered by losing the match. They were still waving flags and celebrating in the streets after the match. I guess they didn't really expect this old team to get this far.
The train bombing: obviously has implications for the global financial market. For the last couple of years, "India" has been the solution of nearly every problem for large finance companies... a way to save money, a way to find technical English-speaking talent, etc. etc. Now we are forced to face the downside of having a lot of our basic work done in India: it's not the United States! It's not nearly as safe as we are here, and gives our economy another vulnerability factor. Pictures of the men back hanging out of the trains the next day were amazing.
Israel: I'm glad I'm not Ehud Olmert. Is there any harder job in the world today? |
posted by CB @ 11:09 AM   |
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