Random thots: Joe Nocera, velibs, TVA reduction, carbos and Figaro's math.

Since Joe Nocera has set the standard today with a piece of snippets, I figure I'll follow.  But Joe, what'der-we-gonna do without you?

The cherished program of the French and M. Delanoye is revealed to have problems: 80% of velibs are stolen, broken or wind up in strange places.

The TVA reduction to 5.5% applied to restos has been heralded as a success but listen to this: "Dans le secteur, le «black» ne reste pas intégralement dans la poche du patron."  So we the customers may not benefit after all.

Why do I crave carbos after trans-Atlantic flights and it's always croissants in the AM in Paris and pasta at night in the US?

Le Figaro flunks math, after two 1st places, next one is #3.  Anyway Stanford's slogan is 'The Harvard of the West" so, so much for this ranking:

Comments

[John Whiting]

At Berkeley, we were always number 2, so we tried harder.