The French: Money for Nothing, Chicks for Free.

From the Guardian:

"The deputy chief executive of France Telecom today resigned in the wake of a spate of staff suicides that unions have blamed on a bullying management style and brutal approach to restructuring.

The former state monopoly, now Europe's third-biggest phone company, has seen its brand name, Orange, suffer a public relations disaster as 24 workers have killed themselves in shocking circumstances in the last 18 months, with at least a dozen others making failed attempts to take their lives. Some staff were found dead in their workplace or left harrowing notes blaming the company for "management by terror" and bullying.

In the latest death, a 51-year-old threw himself off a bridge in the Alps after being moved from a back-office job to one in a call centre. Previously, a 32-year-old jumped from her office in front of colleagues at the end of the working day. Both left notes blaming unbearable working conditions and enforced job changes."

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So, why are the French really killing themselves? Because they finally have to work for a living. No more 30-35 hour work weeks, no more 30-90 day vacations, shucks, life is hell. (Well, they still have that stuff, but not for much longer)

Although the under 35 crowd in America would not know a good days work if it bit them in the ass, the United States as a whole is still at least twice as productive as other countries.

In less than 200 years from the Declaration of Independence, we have gone from musket technology to developing the technology and infrastructure to put a man on the moon.

Meanwhile, cave paintings discovered in France indicate a human presence in that area for at least 13,000 years; and in that entire span of time the French have learned how to do three main things: Stomp grapes, make a souffle and invent gay porn movies.

Yet, for some reason, the world is enamored with French culture--of which there really isn't any. (If only von Choltitz had carried out his orders)

I particularly have to laugh at the fact the French are pissed that McDonalds wants to open a restaurant at the Louvre as it is seen as an insult to French culture. Yeah, I guess those French produced golden shower videos are so much more high culture than a Mickey D's.

This illustrates why we never should have rebuilt an ungrateful Europe after WWII.

One also has to wonder about any country where their females do not know how to use a razor. Men do not find hairy legs or armpits particularly appealing. (Though some French chicks do shave now--progress)

Frankly, it's pretty pathetic that you have people killing themselves over a changing job assignment because it is too stressful. Ask any American small business owner, many of whom work 12-14 hrs./day 7 days a week, about stress. Ask any American salesman who works on straight commission about stress. We aren't jumping out of windows because we have learned how to develop a thick skin and understand what it is to work for a living, unlike much of Europe.

Even in the midst of a horrible economic situation, most of us Americans are bucking up and dealing with it as best we can.

If you French want to keep killing yourselves 'cause y'all finally have to work for a living and may be losing that big government tit to suck on (I'm not talking about a safety net), then go ahead and keep up the good work.

Suicide is Painless

Was sitting in Sunday school class today and in response to a discussion topic, one of the attendees, who works for the county coroner's office, mentioned that they had a record number of suicides for the month of July and that in three instances the victims were women who shot themselves in the head. This is a bit odd in that when women kill themselves they usually prefer a method that does not cause disfigurement, so when you have chicks blowing their brains out, it means they are truly hell bent on offing themselves, without regard to what condition they will be found in or presented in at the funeral.

I think this may be the beginning of a long uptick in suicides as a result of the lousy economy. It is not just happening locally or just in the U.S. as this Telegraph article excerpt indicates:


Wave of suicide sweeps China's graduate class

Millions of students will graduate in China this year, but with up to a third unable to get a job the number of suicides is soaring.

By David Eimer in Hebei Province Published: 9:00PM BST 25 Jul 2009

Chinese student Liu Wei who, consumed with guilt about her parents' financial sacrifices, took her own life

July was supposed to have marked the start of Liu Wei's new life.

With more than six million other students across China, the 21-year-old was due to graduate from college this month.

For Miss Liu, the daughter of poor farmers, a degree was to be her passport out of a life of poverty, a way to escape working in the fields, or toiling as a humble migrant worker in a far-off factory in southern China.

But her dream of making the huge leap from farm girl to college graduate will never become reality. Deeply depressed and ashamed about her failure to find a job to take up when she graduated, and consumed with guilt about the financial sacrifices her family had made for her, Miss Liu brought her studies and her life to a premature end by drowning herself in a ditch full of freezing, filthy water.

"She did it because she was worried she wouldn't be able to find a job and so she wouldn't be able to repay us," her grief-stricken father, Liu Shangyun, told The Sunday Telegraph. His eyes were downcast as he recalled how he saw her alive for the last time, just two weeks before her death.
"I took her back to college. She seemed normal and she sent me a message saying, 'Don't worry, I'm OK,'" said Mr Liu. But the next time he saw her, it was to identify her body.

Miss Liu's reaction to her predicament was extreme, but not unusual. In April, a report by the Shanghai Education Commission listed suicide as the leading cause of death among students. And with one in three of this year's graduates unable to get a job, according to education ministry figures released last week, Miss Liu's anxiety about finding work is shared by most students.

"I'm afraid of being unemployed," said Chen Meijun, who is about to graduate from the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing with a degree in e-commerce.

"It's a lot of pressure because my family will worry. They try and comfort me, but the main pressure is from me. I feel I should be able to find a job after four years of studying."

China faces a huge glut of graduates. With 1.5 million graduates from last year still out of work, there are simply not enough jobs to go around, and the problem has been exacerbated by the impact of the global financial crisis.

For Beijing, which in October will celebrate 60 years of communist rule in China, soaring graduate unemployment could not have come at a worse time.

Now, the authorities face the prospect of the harmonious society which the ruling Chinese Communist Party hails as its greatest achievement being destabilised by protests from millions of China's brightest young people.
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In the United States, it is not just civilians who are having problems. In 2008 the Army experienced a record number of suicides with 2009 suicides set to surpass 2008. From Army.mil : "Army leadership acknowledges increased stress from a high operations tempo resulting from two wars.

Yet, as Chiarelli told the media earlier this year, 2008 statistics show 35 percent of those who committed suicide had no deployment experience at all.Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has lost more than 580 Soldiers to suicide. In 2008, the number of reported suicides jumped 21 percent from the previous year, Army officials said.

To combat this elusive enemy, the Army is in the midst of fielding a new type of training to educate Soldiers and civilians alike on suicide. While the content is drawn from existing sources, presentation is both more widespread and participatory."
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On top of all this, there have been dozens of family murder-suicides in American in the last couple of years. Teen suicides and, in particular, female teen suicides are on the rise. From the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Facts for Families May 2008: "Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24-year-olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year-olds."

I fear that as the economic and political situation worsens, suicides will continue to spike upward. The political bickering needs to stop and some tangible efforts at economic stabilization and recovery need to be enacted NOW. Attention Dems and Pubs, CUT THE CRAP AND GET TO WORK.