Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

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we can also rant about Hermes bags, Gucci shoes, Lalique vases and countless other pieces of crap, er I meant luxury. I don't know anyone who buys these anymore (I used to, glad I don't now).
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Jacques, ROTFL imagining you carrying a Hermes bag while prancing around Dizengoff Center in your Gucci shoes.

Jacques,

Your wrote “As far as poverty, I think immigrants who came to France at the end of the colonization have found it very difficult to get integrated into French society, much harder than immigrants coming to the US”.

Yes, many of the poor are from former colonies in Asia and especially Africa, and there are cultural and religious aspects that prevent integration even into the 2nd and 3rd generation. There are also, in effect, ghettos on the fringes of most major French cities. Curiously, there is more prejudice against people of Arab descent than against blacks from Africa).
I agree that America’s famous melting pot works better – with a few notable exceptions such as the guy who killed all those people in Orlando.
Mind you, the terrorists in the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan attacks were born and bred in France…

You also wrote: “Moving to middle class seems almost impossible in France from what I've read”. My opinion here is more nuanced. We had a Franco-Algerian secretary at my little company and she was just great. She has since started her own business, and is doing well.
White middle class people no longer find it so strange to deal with people in business who have African or Arabic names. And there have been several ministers of Arab descent in recent French cabinets.
Has the US had, or could the US have, Muslim cabinet members?

Yes, mobility is a problem in Europe. People are far more attached to their families and their region of origin in the Old World. But things are changing. The number of young French people who have moved to the UK, for instance, is very impressive.
Language nevertheless remains a barrier to moving to another country in the EU, and it is still a problem to have degrees and professional qualifications recognized across borders…

You say that you bought Picketty’s book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”. It became a surprise international bestseller.
I wonder: will you read it in French or English?

All the best,
Alex

It seems like we agree more than we disagree Alex

In the US we had a black president who many thought (or still think) is a Muslim. I would hope this happens more and more often and on a more local level. Education as you said is probably key to integration. Maybe education would also help Europe's integration but if Brexit happens, Europe may well disintegrate instead.

I will read Picketty in English on my Kindle. I could not buy it in French. Amazon doesn't allow me to buy Kindle books from Amazon.fr

Well another hedgie offed himself last night. Wonder if it was worth it.

Agree with jal. Agree with Jeff Leve too.

Alex, Bataclan terrorists were mostly Belgian born and by Moroccan parents. This leads me to a conclusion - when we hear about terrorists, it's almost always Moroccans. Why they hate Western world so much?

Bought some Ch. Margaux and a single bottle of Mouton Rothschild in 2015, I believe I deserve to be good for myself after 40 years of hard work. I've donated several times money for helping starving crisis in Africa to Red Cross some years ago but not recently.

In Denmark, the migrants or asylum shoppers, demanded recently to have holidays with their children, don't want to live in special houses, demanding to get flat screen, get priority to get a flat before homeless Danes or Familys with children, many immigrant women doesn't work and have obtained paper from the doctor that they aren't able to work, etc. Their religion forbids them to drink wine....

Izak,

Just to set the record straight all three of the Bataclan terrorist were French
http://www.courrierinternational.com/ar ... s-francais
It is true that a lot of the planning was done from Brussels, which is probably why you thought they were Belgian.

Alex

Speaking of inequality as I struggle through Picketty's introduction.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/06/ ... than-ever/

jal wrote:Speaking of inequality as I struggle through Picketty's introduction.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/06/ ... than-ever/

I'm having a little trouble digesting the text but the chart does not exactly support the idea there is a growing crisis, or even a problem, at least in the referenced time frame, does it? At a glance since 1979 it appears the "haves" are increasing and the "have nots" are decreasing.

Interesting thread, lots of good stuff.

Minor addition -- rising incomes at the top hasn't historically caused unrest by itself, I believe. Rather, the problem is when the lower tiers are standing still or losing ground (or perceive themselves to be) while the rich are getting richer.

Second minor thought -- for all its flaws, welfare is cheaper (probably much cheaper as done in the USA) than the police state that is needed without it.

My Spanish is a little rusty, but I think Hugo Chavez is promising the proletariat that Haut Brion will never cost more than $100

AKR wrote:

My Spanish is a little rusty, but I think Hugo Chavez is promising the proletariat that Haut Brion will never cost more than $100

You know, that looks a little like Jim giving his annual address at the BWE Convention!

I wonder if she can afford 2015 Haut Brion. Hey, I'm sure she's worth it….

http://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/ ... li=BBnbfcL