The French are better drivers

My socio-political conversations are changed forever. I've received the hard copy of the OECD in figures yesterday and instantly became addicted.

Did you know that...

• Belgium (341) is more densely populated that Japan (338)?
• Between 1993 and 2003, Germany has reduced its CO2 emissions (-3.7%) while Finland has increased them (31.2%)?
• The proportion of people 65 years old and over in Japan has gone from 5.7% to 19.5% from 1960 to 2000?
• In Greece, 19 people per 100,000 of population are killed in car accident, while there are only 10 in France?
• On average, the highest rate of personal income tax is higher in the US (45.2%) than in the European Union (44.6)?

Nor more conversations running on bogus perception, like the one I had last week-en where the German nagged the French because he pretended that the German are better drivers. According to the OECD statistics, the French have 1.5 accident with injuries for every 10,000 of population while the German have 4.3.

Careful what you say in front of me: I'll be carrying that gold mine everywhere I go.

Ports and Bridges

Keep it to yourself, but, for once, I'm with W. Bush. More precisely, I agree when he says, about the now infamous "port deal" where a company from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) would have bought a British company in charge of some US port facilities:

"In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our friendship with moderate Arab nations" (Bloomberg, March 10)

Trade is a strong pacifier - anything that puts the interest of nations in common is a pacifier. Those shared interest become a reason to collaborate and learn about each other, and in the end to care about the fate of the "other".

Working for peace means building those bridges. It means building trust. And showing a Middle East company that Americans don't trust them is the wrong signal to send.

I take comfort in the fact that Jimmy Carter was also supporting the deal. Although the end of that same article seems to confirm my fear: the Arab world may take it personally as a sign of distrust from the Americans. This is not how you fight terrorism.

Fast Feast (2)

I see two reasons, each of them sufficient, to call it fast food.

Lifestyle: It relates to how quickly food is prepared and consumed. In "fast food" restaurants, benches and chairs are usually uncomfortable. The slow food movement is largely a reaction to this lack of respect for eating. Taking the time to eat properly, to enjoy the food beyond the commodity necessary to survive, is a way of enjoying life.

Health: The nutritive value of the food is poor and it can often be bad for your health because it's fried or fat.

This may seem pretty straightforward or self-evident, but it's often overlooked in the attacks on fast food. I sure don't mean to defend it as most of the time, I prefer to avoid it. But when in a hurry, healthy fast food may do it.

Now, the big question: is Subway "fast food"? I guess so.

Fast Feast

From a visit to Subway, came this existential question:

What's fast food?

This seemingly trivial question led to some serious thinking and theorizing. How does one thing qualifies as fast food or not. McDonald's is an easy culprit. But Subway can't be cornered so easily. It's not fried. It's not that fat.

I'll leave it at that for now and will get back with the answer than came out of a conversation with friends. Feel free to share your impressions in the meantime.

Parking on the highway

So, there's really reason to worry about commuting in DC.

The Washington region’s freeway system has become significantly more crowded over the past three years according to a major new aerial traffic study released today by the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board (TPB). From 2002 to 2005, the first hour of evening rush hour (4:30 P.M. to 5:30 P.M.) experienced the greatest increase in lane miles of congestion—64%.
(Metropolitan Washington Council of Governements, Feb 15, 2006)

The DC area has "high occupancy vehicles" lanes which you would expect to quickly lose their appeal since all Washingtonians would beg their colleagues to share their car in order to save an hour or two a day. But no. Much to my dismay, my colleagues who car-pool told me that they get in and out of work in a zip on those lanes. Good for them, but it means that not enough people are using those HOV lanes.

Nevertheless, the authorities recommend the construction of more of those HOV lanes. Despite my anecdotal evidence, it seems to work (see page 12 of this presentation). The only area where traffic has improved are those where they built those HOV.

Pick your Oscar battle

Not that I refuse to change the topic, but here are my picks for the Oscars.

- Best movie: Brokeback Mountain
- Best actor in a supporting role: Jake Gyllenhaal (altough I was also impressed with Matt Dillon in Crash)
- Writing (Original screenplay): Crash (I wish I saw Match Point)

I should know, I've seen about 10% of the movies nominated this year.

Update: Please, give me some points for purposefully not predicting that Heath Ledger would win. He mumbled so much in Brokeback Mountain that I could hardly understand what he was saying. No Oscar for you.

Gay as a picnic basket

I pointed a few weeks ago at Brokeback Mountain spoof videos. Now, the New York Times is running a story about them. It feels a bit like the journalist tried to give them a larger meaning to justify his article.

Which brings me on the delicate topic of homosexuality.

I don't understand why gay men are seen as "girlie". I think it could have gone the other way, as a matter of perception. After all, gay men want no business with women, "those sentimental and fragile persons". They just care about real men. Gay men might as well have been perceived as more manly than straight guys.

Gay people are just as diverse as straight people. Some are delicate, some are tough. How did straight people cast gay men as girlie? It sounds like a difficult spin to me, but it mostly succeeded.

All of this to say that homosexuality has a lot to do with perceptions and social spins. Personally, I don't even know why we care so much about other people's sexuality. Why is it that some don't want people to be gay in the first place?

Once, an a colleague told me: "If you allow homosexuality, everybody will be gay". Can you imagine a better coming out?

Listen to my music

It seems that a lot of people disagree with me that your musical tastes should not be socially-driven. At least, that's what I read in the Washington Post today. People are using iMix on iTunes to discover new music and share their tastes. I think I would be more at ease with this. You can put whatever suggestions you want in a playlist/iMix, without actually changing what you're listening to in order to please the crowd.