I am surprised that nobody has yet posted about the results of Sunday’s second (and final) round of the French presidential election. François Hollande (socialist) defeated Nicolas Sarkozy (center-right?) by a few percent and will be in office shortly.
BBC : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17975660
Le Monde (major French newspaper): http://www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/
Swiss Francophone TV : http://www.rts.ch/info/monde/3974074-l-election-de-francois-hollande-n-est-pas-une-revolution-estime-la-presse.html
I wonder what this means for negotiations about FATCA ? @Victoria? My gut feeling is that the socialists would be rather FATCA-friendly, but I believe that the socialists in France are also very interested in civil rights and anti-discrimination. I believe that somebody needs to be lobbying his new administration so that they can know the truth about what the US is trying to do (especially FATCA, but also FBAR and double taxation) before State and Treasury start trying to pull the wool over his eyes.
I just heard on CNN that Putin just won another term as President of Russia, and now the Constitution has been modified so that one can serve 6 terms.
@Victoria: Speedy Recovery!
@all: Thanks for thinking of me. I’ve been in US for a couple of weeks. My return has been delyed due to some health issues of my mother.
She’s on the road to recovery, so I hope to be going home tomorrow.
Like others, I truly value Canada’s health care system. But, I must say my mother has had excellent care in Pennsylvnaia–and absolulutely outstanding home health care.
Thaks to all of you for thinking of me and wondering why I had disappeared. It’s good to know I have worldwide friends whom I’ve never met.
As Tiger said, I had abosluterly no problem crossing at the Peace Bridge. Thew border officer looked at my Canadian passport with US place of birth, looked at the computer, asked me where I was going and waved me on my way.
This was after being told on my last visit that I should get a US passport (which I did not and will not do).
Saddeneed said maybe the guard looked at my Brock uniform and sword and thought “We’d better let this one go.”
Isaac Brock Rocks!
Best to your mom, Blaze. Glad she is getting wonderful care in PA. Thanks for the update.
Keep that Brock uniform on and a safe journey back to Canada.
@Blaze, Good to hear from you, I hope your mom is on her way to a speedy recovery. We miss you!! Talk to you soon!!
Keep the Uniform on and the sword in hand!!
@Blaze,
Really good to hear from you. Sorry to hear about your mom but good to hear that she is getting good care and is recovering.
I hope your health is good and that you will be back in Ontario soon.
@Blaze Glad to know that you’re OK and I add my wishes to those of others here that your mother will recover soonest.
And thank you everyone for your kind words and support. This is either a Most Unfortunate Incident or an Excellent Adventure and I’m trying to lean toward the latter. 🙂 The healthcare system here is indeed top-notch and I am so grateful to be here. However above all things what gets a person though such an event is to be bien entouré. Here is a view from the other side, a young Frenchman who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting who is fighting leukemia in my hometown of Seattle. I was very moved by his words in this post: http://www.carnetsdeseattle.fr/2011/08/unsung-heroes-seattle-part-i.html
Bises,
Victoria
Folks, there is an excellent post up on Arun with a View that talks about the data gathered by the French consulates about how French expats and duals voted. Really interesting numbers. Great analysis (as always) by Arun:
http://arunwithaview.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/the-french-expatriate-vote/
@Victoria
That was really interesting to look at. I would love to see a similar breakdown of the last expat vote in the Italian parliamentary elections a few years back. I would imagine that the pro-Sarkozy areas would align rather neatly with the pro-Berlusconi ones…:P
@Don And I would *love* to have the numbers for the 2012 US presidential elections. When I talk to folks back in the U.S. the left-wingers are convinced that we are voting on the right (all those military votes) and the right-wingers seemed to be convinced that we are all crazy wanna be hippies trying to “find ourselves” abroad who vote Democrat. 🙂