Au Cochonnet Marin

I subscribe to TV5 Monde (the French-speaking TV channel) for various reasons. The first one is to prevent my mother tongue from completely disintegrating. After 6 decades in the US, and with limited occasions (once or twice a week) to speak French, it is obvious that I need some regular “refresher” courses to keep up to speed.

The second reason is to remain informed of what’s happening in France. Today, we live in a very unstable world and some extreme factions (including in France and America) are always trying to grab power. Just remember January 6, and what could have happened in America if (fragile) order had not prevailed. What took place in Germany in 1933, could happen everywhere. We must remain vigilant and prevent some unhinged felon from seizing power anywhere.

The third reason is to watch French movies. Most of Netflix’s offerings are boring, and unfortunately, many French flicks, have a dreadful reputation. Numerous end up in “queue de poisson” (in a fishtail) meaning they come to an abrupt, brutal, and disappointing end. The spectator is left hanging with some unfinished business… and there is nothing worse than unfinished business.

This expression, by the way, refers to a sailor who after several months of solitary sailing saw a beautiful woman lounging on a shore. He jumped in the water to meet her but discovered with great distress that she had a fishtail… a cruel and disappointing outcome.

It seems to me that French movie directors were all taught to use sadism in their productions… “the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain.” They probably read Ovid who declared “Pleasure is sweetest when ’tis paid for by another’s pain.”

 To me, nothing is over until it is unequivocally over. Somebody lives or dies… a love story ends up happily or painfully… the thieves are caught or not…  French movie directors, I warn you, no more “queues de poisson” or I will start a campaign to have you all shipped to Siberia.

A “queue de poisson” can happen anywhere, especially on the freeway. Some guy will suddenly cut you off with often disastrous consequences. That’s what usually happens when somebody watches too many French movies and became exceedingly touchy.

Morale of the story: limit your intake of French flicks, and if you must, watch instead animal stories on YouTube. The beasties will never disappoint you and drive you to hysteria.

Alain

I already wrote about this, but lately, an incident widely reported in the news brought me back to this subject. In August 2022, Sanna Marin (Prime Minister of Finland), was seen dancing exuberantly at a private party, and this raised a political storm. For many people, this activity was taboo. A Prime Minister should not behave that way. And why not?

The dictionary defines a taboo (from Tongan tabu) as “a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice, or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing.”

America with deep roots in Puritanism was for a long time, chockfull of taboos… subjects that could not be mentioned or talked about in public. And Religion cast a giant shadow over this phenomenon. Taboos are like vampires; they are afraid of light and exposure.

Despite some resistance, things are improving. Taboos are one by one unearthed and exposed to light… and nothing horrible happened—just the contrary. The light cleanses and demystifies realities.

The word WAR has become a new taboo in Russia, and if you know what’s good for you, you should not talk about it. I surmise that, like masturbation, it is an impure and “shameless” subject that should be kept in the dark. But now despite many threats, everybody knows about this bloody war, and YouTubers are constantly blabbering about masturbation… and as far as I know, the rate of blindness in America has not significantly increased since this happened.

“It is our attitude toward free thought and free expression that will determine our fate. There must be no limit on the range of temperate discussion, no limits on thought. No subject must be taboo. No censor must preside at our assemblies.” ~ William O. Douglas

 Taboos have always been a way to control or muzzle people. We don’t want you to talk about this; it is unhealthy, and you could be thrown in an “oubliette” or put on the rack if you do it. Don’t tell the truth, it is harmful.

Another taboo has long been prostitution. Despite many laws to prevent it, it is still happening everywhere, and it is not going away soon. But it is also becoming more respectable; it has been given a makeover and it is now known as “escorting”. It is much more palatable to self-righteous folks.

Personally, I don’t bear any prejudice against sex workers. If they are not coerced in any way and if they are willing to do the job, more power to them.

If anything exists, you should be able to talk about it.

“I like talking about things that are taboo because it makes them not taboo anymore.” ~ Sarah Silverman

Alain

My favorite drink is and has always been water. It is the most refreshing and life-sustaining drink on the planet. Champagne is OK, but without water there can be no life, and unfortunately, it is getting scarce… everywhere. Very soon, this humble drink is going to be more valuable than gold, and humans will fight for it.

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” – Thomas Fuller

Undoubtedly due to climate change, we have had torrential rains, hail the size of golf balls, and at the same time, acute drought all around the world. Ironically, while some people are drowning in water, others are dying of thirst.

Precocious Greta Thunberg rightly said, “no more blah, blah, blah”, the time to make changes is NOW, not 10 years from now. She is absolutely right. As far as I know, relatively little has been done to manage water anywhere and a lot of it gets wasted. It is time to mobilize and treat water like it is out to be treated, with care and reverence.

Never mind Mars or the Moon, what is happening on Earth today is more pressing than colonizing these far away planets. The problem is here, on earth, not millions of miles away. Electric cars are fine, but what is going to fuel our bodies while we are cruising on highways?

Water management ought to be everybody’s primary concern. You don’t wait until the well runs dry to do something about it. Preparing for drought is very similar to preparing for war. It is not when the enemy crosses your borders that you mobilize your troops. You anticipate the threat and prepare for it, years before it happens.

Desalination plants, despite their imperfections, are part of the solution, but we still have very few of them. In California, with nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles, we have only 12 of them. it is not enough.

By comparison, tiny Israel with only 8,630 square miles and a population of 9 million people, runs 5 mega-desalination plants. Two additional plants are now in varying stages of construction.

The biggest is not always the swiftest, nor is the battle always to the strong… Remember this old saying : « On a souvent besoin d’un plus petit que soi… » (We often need someone smaller than ourselves.)

 California, America wake up… forget your idiotic, sterile quarrels, and if need be, take a trip to Israel. It might be worth it.

 “No water, no life. No blue, no green.” – Sylvia Earl

 It is that simple.

Alain