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This blog has been "off" for a long time and i decided to reopen it. I'm not sure yet what content i'll bring in, but i'll probably keep commenting some politics and technology topics since i'm interested in both. Hopefully, i'll also be able to post something about diving, including photos, but i don't have the photos at hand for the moment. Stay tuned! ...and be patient (in case i don't visit here in a while)

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November 15

The black company

One of my hobbies is "reading", and one of my favorite genres of books is "fantasy". Thanks to friends of mine who recommended a few good fantasy stories, I discovered the series of books "The black company" (by Glen Cook), which is a little gem. Let me introduce the story to you so that you too, might feel inspired to read it!

The black company is a legion of mercenaries dating back its origins to 400 years in the past. It has a reputation that inspires fear and respect. As the town of Beryl (whose Syndic is the current employer of the company) is on the verge of a civil war, the Captain fears his troops will be the first targets of protesters and strikes a bargain with a foreigner emissary. On the way to their new assignment, Soulcatcher (the emissary) reveals them that their new employer is "the Lady", a merciless sorceress who once ruled the empire alongside the Dominator, an impersonification of Evil. Then do they realise that maybe signing with the Lady might not be the best idea they ever had. Their travels and missions led by Soulcatcher will take them to far lands and oppose them to ennemies of the empire, but also to other emissaries of the Lady in competition with Soulcatcher for the appreciation of their master. Croaker, the doctor of the company, is also in charge of keeping the records of its stories. Through his writings shall we learn about what happened to the company and its most notable members...

As I have now finished the 6th book of this series, don't hesitate to ask for more info

. I can also recommend you the following links, though some of them might contain "spoilers":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Company_%28novel%29

http://www.editions-l-atalante.com/pages/auteurs/dentelle/cook.htm (French)

http://en.glencook.org/index.php/Main_Page

August 09

...where the sun shines

My blog is on vacation for some time.

Bye bye civilization! Hello tourism and relaxation!

July 10

Lose weight even without exercise

So many of us have overweight and want to lose fat quickly to become as handsome/pretty as they could or should be. I don't have anything to sell and I don't want to convert anyone to any religion... just share my ongoing solution for losing weight. And it works so far, as could judge my girlfriend and other relatives.

The first idea of my diet is that a diet should not be too strong. If you take it too hard with yourself, you will end up with one of the following undesired situations:

1 : you give up your diet (most probably)

2 : you succeed your diet in a very strong way and get an excess of skin (because your skin could not shrink as fast as your belly) and you keep white marks on your hips as a result of a fast change in your size.

So the idea of my diet is to make some efforts on what you eat. First of all, ban Coca-Cola (I should say sodas, but who's number 1 after all?) and alcool. But as I said earlier, don't take it too hard on yourself. If you see that your diet is going in a good way, reward yourself from time to time (once or twice per week) by allowing yourself a bottle (the 33cl one! not 1.5 L !!) of Coca-cola or beer.

Secondly, people don't force you to eat French fries and pork every day! So go for the other vegetables when possible and prefer one of the following sources of proteins in the following order:

1 : sea fish (cad, haddock...)

2 : fat fish (salmon, catfish...)

3 : chicken, turkey, duck

4 : veal, beef (a bit fat. avoid if possible)

That's it! If you are overweight and follow the guidelines above, I think you should be able to lose some fat with noticeable results from 1 week to the next. And I did not even talk of any exercise (which doesn't mean that exercise is not good... just that I'm too lazy)! Isn't that great?

So, to sum it up : give up sodas and beer and don't eat meat fatter than chicken or beef (ie: don't eat pork or lamb). Once in a while, reward yourself with 1 beer or 1 pizza (not the extra-cheesy one, huh? no joke!)

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June 07

Living a long and healthy life

I sometimes think about every little thing that could help having a longer and healthier life. So why not keep a record of all these little things that help?

practice some sport activity (to maintain the general condition of the body)
1 glass of wine per day (helps blood circulation)
limit salt (because in long term, it obstructs the veins)
limit fat (same as above, plus cholesterol)
eating many different "colors" of vegetables every day (to have all the necessary vitamins)
Don't eat grilled food (burnt parts increase the chances of developping cancer)
Don't eat raw meat (same as above)
Eat sea fish (brings "phosphore" which is useful for brain activity)
eat meat in a reasonable amount (brings proteins)
Eat or drink some product derived from milk every day (for maintaining the bones)
Eat a solid breakfast, a normal lunch, and a light dinner (to bring supplies of energy when your body needs them)
Sleep 8 hours per night (for children, it should be between 10 and 12)
brush your teeth after every meal
discuss with your friends ("practicing" discussion is like a training for the mind and preserves your IQ level)
have friends and visit them (a study showed that old people who have friends and visit them is linked to a longer life expectancy)
have fun (laughing is worth intensive physical exercise)
kiss (kissing is good for the heart)
Adults only: have sex (it makes all parts of the body exercise)
Relax (high levels of stress are linked to a reduced life expectancy)
when using computers or TV, make a pause of 15 minutes every 2 hours (for your eyes)
don't smoke cigarettes! (nor joints, which contain more tar than cigarettes and are often smoked without a "filter")
Don't do drugs (for quite obvious reasons)
Don't drink alcohol when you are under a medical treatment
Always use condoms unless you have known your partner for a significant time and made sure that neither of you have sexually transmissible diseases (AIDS, syphyllis, etc.)
Always watch right and left before crossing the street
Don't drink and drive (to avoid accidents)
Respect the speed limit (same as above)
Respect the security distance between vehicles (same as above, plus it will significantly reduce traffic jams ...thus reducing stress at a global scale)
Buy products respectful of the environment and from environment-caring companies, even if it means a slightly higher price
Don't spend a long time in the sun or in solarium (risk of cancer)
Have a regular walk in the nature (especially good for children; children raised in farms have 50% less chances of developping allergies than other children, even children raised in rural villages)
Do not choose by yourself the medicine for yourself (your doctor knows best AND taking one type of medicine makes your body more resistant to this type of medicine. In other words, if you abuse one type of medicine, it will be less effective when you really need it)
Let the sun shine in your house/apartment. It kills mites and it brings vitamin D to your body.
Don't drink sodas (the acidity damages the stomach)
Drink 1 tea per day (fights against Alzheimer syndrom) ...but don't abuse it (thein is a drug like coffeein)

That's all for now. There must be plenty of more ideas around. Just tell them if you have more!

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May 04

Pentecost: the French exception

An accurate explanation of Pentecost can be seen there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost ...however, I will (attempt to) summarize it in order to introduce more quickly the point of this article.

A little of theology

In the catholic tradition, after the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, he announced to his apostles that the Holy Spirit would come and visit them and remind them of the past teachings of Jesus, and that afterwards, they would spread the wisdom and convert new people to Christianity. This holiday of religious origin is an official holiday in many countries, including France.

...or so it used to be...

The French "car sticker"...

In 1956, the French government created a tax aimed at financing a "national funds of solidarity" whose purpose was to provide a minimum guaranteed income to people over 65 years old. This tax was paid every year by car owners proportionally to the power of the engine, and these tax-payers/car-owners received a car sticker to stick on the windshield in order to prove the payment of this tax. Since 1973, this tax was paid directly to the government instead of national funds of solidarity, and later, in 1984 directly to the provinces administrations. This tax was much criticized for being a financial burden for people, and not financing anymore what it had been created for (the minimum income for the elderly). This tax has been cancelled in 2001.

...combined with the hot summer 2003...

During summer 2003, as one probable outcome of global warming (among thousands of others), the temperature in France reached more than 35°C in 2/3 of France, and more than 40°C in 15% of metropolitan French cities. From a statistic point of view, an excess of 15000 deaths has been noticed for the first half of August 2003. This led to a saturation of the capacity of hosting of morgues. While the government was ready since July 2003 to manage the consequences of high temperatures in terms of forest fires, they realized the human catastrophy only after being alarmed by overloaded "emergency" departments of hospitals. Jacques Chirac, president of the French Republic, denied responsibility of the government and highlights the lack of solidarity between citizens, and the degradation of social relations especially towards the elderly.

...into slavery (forced, uncompensated labour)

Despite the disagreement shared by all political parties and by 80% of the population, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Prime Minister, had a law voted in 2004 declaring the Monday of Pentecost (holiday in France) as a "worked holiday of solidarity". This nonsense term means that both companies and workers will continue their activity but give away all the value of it to the government for funding assistance for the elderly in France. So the companies will pay an additional 0.3% of tax on benefits while employees will have to work for free on that holiday. Provided "sector agreement" or "company agreements" are found, this day of solidarity can be performed on another day, or can even be spreaded (some companies have transformed it into an equally meaningless 1 minute and 52 seconds of additional work per day).

...a useless slavery, by the way

This additional day of work is supposed to bring an additional 2 billion euro per year to the government for helping the elderly population but... only 25% of this money will actually be used for them (a bigger share will be used for disabled people). Also, this additional day of work has drawbacks considering that the tourism linked to that holiday (because of a 3-days weekend) will go down, thus generating less revenue for the French economy. More solidarity might result in less solidarity as grandchildren cannot benefit from the 3-days weekend of their parents to visit the grandparents. The potential additional income of the solidarity day is compensated by reduction of the credits given to the social security. The special funds for the elderly thus becomes a replacement funds, instead of being an additional funds.

Conclusion

I love France. But the 2nd mandate of Jacques Chirac from 2002 until 2007 has been a vast joke (for more jokes of that government, you can look for information on "increase of working life duration from 40 to 42 years", "decentralization of School funding", "reform of the social security", "the positive role of colonization", the "first job contract" and "new job contract", the "DADVSI" transcription of the European Union Copyright Directive, the propaganda around the "treaty creating a constitution for Europe", the "Perben 2" law...). So if you are not French and want a good laugh with original jokes, just find information on that government. It really is worth the time.

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April 06