Je n’habite plus en France depuis longtemps mais je souffre de lire et d’entendre ce qui se passe dans le pays où je suis né et dans lequel j’ai passé mon enfance.
Je suis entre autres fatigué d’entendre parler des “jeunes” et de leurs méfaits.
Je suis fatigué de tous ces euphémismes pudiques que l’on emploie maintenant si communément en France.
Tout le monde sait que ces « jeunes » dont parlent les journaux sont des voyous, des malfrats souvent issus de l’immigration.
Personne n’est dupe.
Alors pourquoi ne pas appeler un rat un rat ? Pourquoi essayer de masquer le coté peu ragoûtant de ces inadaptés avec un vernis de compassion?
Tous les adolescents ne sont heureusement pas des voyous, alors faisons la distinction entre les jeunes délinquants et les juvéniles respectueux de la loi et des coutumes du pays dans lequel ils vivent.
Un adolescent n’est pas forcément un voyou, mais un « jeune » des « zones sensibles » a de très fortes chances de l’être.
Je ne veux plus entendre parler de « jeunes » et de « zones de non-droit ».
Je veux que l’on parle crûment de fripouilles et de quartiers soumis (sous le couvert d’une religion mafieuse) à la coupe de quelques caïds.
Quoique les « bleeding hearts » veuillent en dire, les « jeunes des banlieues » n’ont pas d’excuses pour se conduire comme des hors-la-loi.
La pauvreté n’a jamais été synonyme de banditisme. Au contraire.
Le manque de structure familiale par contre, mène très certainement a la délinquance.
Mais le laxisme et la réticence des autorités en place à confronter ce fléau contribuent à la prolifération de cette délinquance.
Si les « jeunes » ont un sentiment d’immunité, ils continueront très certainement leurs méfaits.
Tous comme les « favelas » de Rio, les « banlieues » sont devenues des lieux d’incubation d’un banditisme toujours plus virulent.
Les « zones sensibles » sont devenues des bouillons de culture propices à des dérives Salafistes comme nous venons d’en faire l’expérience à Boston.
Qu’elles le veuillent ou non, les autorités françaises (certainement pas une Gauche impotente) devront un jour confronter une délinquance juvénile de plus en plus imbue d’une dangereuse ferveur extrémiste.
Plus le pouvoir atermoiera, et plus la tâche sera difficile.
One of the great perk of retirement is the re-appropriation of time.
Having long ago been hijacked by your employer, time becomes yours again the minute you turn in your badge.
When you are working, your company monopolizes your time and your thoughts.
From the minute you wake up until the end of your commute, your internal computer keeps humming and rearranging files.
Not your own, the company’s.
This doesn’t leave you much time to smell the roses.
Retirement changes everything.
When you hang up your business suit, all the noxious fumes are flushed out and the walls of your mind are spruced up with a fresh coat of white chalk.
With an uncluttered brain, you can now luxuriate in your own personal thoughts.
Your unshackled mind pulls on the bit and urges you toward new horizons.
When your mind is free to roam, magical things start happening.
First, your ears become unclogged.
Just like doctor Doolittle, you suddenly start hearing and understanding what animals are saying. “Give me a piece of your sandwich please”, “play with me”, “let’s go for a walk”…
The scientific explanation is very simple.
While you were working you were tuned-in to the company’s beacon.
When you retired your listening frequency switched automatically to the animal channel and it enabled you to instantly comprehend your four-legged friends.
Second, you start seeing in things in Technicolor.
Objects and people, previously seen in black and white, start appearing in color. Instead of the blurry shapes of the past, you know distinguish sharp edges and smiling faces.
Third, scales fall off your eyes.
You become aware of previously unnoticed things.
Flower petals, cobwebs, foraging bees, and rainbows suddenly catch your eye and entice you to a closer look.
You are seeing the world again through the eyes of a child.
Time is money say the Temple Merchants.
But according to Jim Rohn “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
To conclude, “The bad news is that time flies. The good news is you are the pilot.” –
Yesterday we drove to Lafayette to participate in the 2013 Northwest Regional 65 over/under tournament.
This is the time of the year when old geezers have a good excuse to hit on young chicks.
The Lamorinda Pétanque Club hosted the tournament and as usual it was a class act. Etienne Rijkheer, Carolina Jones, Bill Hansen, Carlos Couto and Rosa the dog did a bang-up job to make everybody feel comfortable and welcome.
Croissants and coffee were served and, sparing no expenses, Lamorinda even sprung for a portable potty. As I told you, a class act!
As a veteran of foreign wars, I was invited by Shannon Bowman to team up with her for this tournament. Despite a still sore right foot I couldn’t refuse her invitation and agreed to fly with her as her wingman.
Twenty-two teams competed in this event and they were are as follows:
Peter Mathis/Carolina Jones
Yor Lee/Inez
Shannon Bowman/Alain Efron
Bernard Passmar/Emily Etcheverry
Liv Kraft/Kevin Evoy
Jean-Michel Poulnot/Sabine mattei
Patrick Vaslet/Holly Sammons
Ed Porto/Denyse Haney
David Riffo/Dollzee Austin
Rene Di Maio/Tamara Efron
Antoine Lofaro/Danielle Gusella
Barbara Hall/Gustave Foucher
Henry Wessel/Calvert Barron
Bill Hansen/Chrsitine Cragg
Jean-Claude Bunand/Mireille Di Maio
Carlos Couto/Minette Etallaz
Jean-Claude Etallaz/Colette Van Der Meulen
Simone Furlan/John Morris
Frank Haney/Helene McGill
Robert Belforte/Beth Lysten
Alain Gusella/Eva Lofaro
Jocelyne Krauer/Mickey Coughlin
Three 13 points games were played before lunch to separate the hot shots from the mere humans and to determine who would play in the Concours and would frolic in the Consolante.
We qualified for the Concours thanks to Shannon great shooting job.
In the morning, in our 1st game we beat Christine Cragg and Bill Hansen: 13-8
In our 2nd game we beat Simone Furlan and John Morris: 13-9
In our 3rd game we beat Beth Lysten And Robert Belforte: 13-6
I need to reiterate that Shannon’s shooting greatly helped our cause.
Around noon, everybody stopped for a bite and Jean-Claude Etallaz became the unfortunate victim of some hungry (or angry) insect.
He was stung by some critter and his arm swell alarmingly. See picture.
But J-C is a tough guy and it was not him who suffered the most. We believe that the insect paid this unprovoked attack with its life.
After lunch, in the Concours Shannon and I faced Frank Haney and Helene McGill. We beat them 13-5
In our fifth game we came across ta-dah! Mickey (the Terminator) Coughlin and
Jocelyne Krauer.
In spite of our spirited resistance, Mickey shelled our positions mercilessly and defeated us: 9-13
The end of the tournament for us.
In the finals Mickey Coughlin (the same evil one) and Jocelyne Jrauer faced Patrick Vaslet and Holly Sammons.
To everybody’s surprise, Mickey and Jocelyne got off to a very bad start.
They kept losing “mène” after “mène” and at one time, they were led 1-10.
It looked like it was going to end up in a humiliating defeat for the Terminator.
But little by little, due mainly to Mickey’s fantastic shooting, his team narrowed the gap to a respectable 8/11.
They finally lost the game and the tournament 10/13.
The last game was essentially a “mano a mano” contest between Mickey and Holly Sammons who did an absolutely marvelous job of pointing. Most of her balls were right up to the cochonnet.
Mickey kept shooting but Holly kept pointing, and scoring.
With an assist from Patrick they finally defeated the Beast.
If ever Mickey teamed up with Holly they would be invincible.
FINAL RESULTS (provided by Etienne Rijkheer)
Concours: final score 13/10
1st Place:Patrick Vaslet and Holly Sammons, (both of Valley of the Moon Petanque Club) 2nd Place:Jocelyne Krauer (La Boule d’Or) and Mickey Coughlin (Redwood Empire Boules Club) 3rd Place:Peter Mathis (Valley of the Moon Petanque Club) and Carolina Jones (Lamorinda Petanque Club) 4th Place:Bernard Passmar (Valley of the Moon Petanque Club) and Emily Etcheverry (La Petanque Mariniere)
Consolante: final score 13/9
1st Place:John Morris and Simone Furlan (Both of Club Français de Sacramento) 2nd Place:Jean-Claude Bunand (La Boule d’Or) and Mireille DiMaio (La Pétanque Marinière) 3rd Place: Barbara Hall (Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club) and the venerable Gustave Foucher (La Boule d’Or).
Great tournament, great organization.
Thank you Etienne, Rosa and the entire Lamorinda team!
Alain
PS: To look at pictures of this event, turn the sound on, and click on “My photos” located under BLOGROLL on the right side of the page.
