Mark Steyn: Iraq may be on the edge but France has hit rock bottom abyss

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 08/23/03 | Mark Steyn

[maica]

This is a must read!

[dennisw]

Even without air conditioning, couldn't you sit in a tub of water or something? I live in Orange County and we had 95+ degrees for a month. Granted, we don't have humidity. But I still worked in the sun for 6 hours a day. I just drank tons of water, and if I got too hot, I cooled off in the sun...........


If no A/C surely the French can buy fans. WalMart has ChiCom window fans for $11 a piece. I fail to get it about these Frenchies. Meanwhile their president is in Quebec for 3 weeks vacation while 10,000 old froggies are dropping right and left.

[Victoria Delsoul]

That would make George's brutal Iraqi summer about one five-thousandth as lethal as the brutal Gallic summer, which has killed more people than the brutal Afghan winter (now 23 months behind schedule), the brutal Iraqi summer and the searing heat of the Guantanamo torture camps combined and multiplied by a thousand.

LOL, I didn't mean to laugh, but he is right on target.

[arasina]

There's not one topic Mark Steyn can't write about with intelligence and wit. I've said it before and I'll say it again; the man is a genius!

[Arkie2]

Man! Remind me never to piss this guy off! He's brutal!

[Arkie2]

I'm not sure fans are mass market items there. Try getting a fan in a European hotel. They might have 5 for a 250 room hotel.

[Servant of the Nine]

This is sooo sweet.

So9

[livius]

This was a great article, but I too have been puzzled by the French death toll. Most Spaniards (particularly elderly ones) don't have air conditioning at home, either, but they're not dropping like flies.

I do recall that here in the US when there have been heatwaves in places like Chicago, there has been a higher death rate among the elderly poor. But that was mainly because they had boarded up their windows to keep their neighbors and grandkids from burglarizing their apartments.

I think the city did open gymnasiums and other air conditioned spaces that people could go to if they couldn't tolerate the heat. I gather the French couldn't even think of a solution that simple?

[sd-joe]

Shouldn’t the UN or the International Court in Belgium be looking at these deaths and putting those responsible in jail?

Absolutely - Spot on.

However, Belgium is mini-France, no chance of any action there.

And the UN is as useful as tits on a boar hog.

[Notforprophet]

Meanwhile, Maggie Pernot wrote the other day to chide me for my continued defence of the Rumsfeld Death Camps at Guantanamo. The prisoners, she complains, are "kept in tiny, chainlink outdoor cages where they were likely to be rained upon". In fact, they have sloping roofs and cool concrete floors, perfect for the climate. If they had solid walls rather than airy wire mesh, they'd be Parisian sweatboxes and everyone would be dead. By contrast, if those thousands of French pensioners had been captured by the Marines and detained by Rummy in Cuba, they'd be alive today.

There is no greater pundit alive today than Canada's proudest son, Mark Steyn. Long may he reign.

NFP

[foreshadowed at waco]

...socialised healthcare, shorter work weeks, more holidays. We've just seen where that leads: gran'ma turned away from the hospital to die in an airless apartment because junior's sur la plage.

I think the tone of Mark's words is just right...the European upper crust are very effective at being scornful of what they consider bourgeois just like American liberals but when it comes down to it...they are the empty ones whose complaints ring hollow...this reminds me of all the East Coast liberals I know who think that by funding the public school system through taxation that they are doing their utmost to help inner city children...they also like to spend their time sur la plage.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Further evidence that the French suck. Chirac can't bother coming home early to be a leader, and its' citizens can't be bothered to take care of their dead relatives.

[My Favorite Headache]

[dennisw]

and its' citizens can't be bothered to take care of their dead relatives.

They cannot be bothered to take care of their live moms and dads. They are sur la plage ...........  catching some rays at the beach

[MightyMouseToSaveThe Day]

Excellent article--thanks for the post. I had to send it to my liberal friends for their reaction.

[angkor]

my continued defence of the Rumsfeld Death Camps at Guantanamo

Gitmo's summer is cooler and less humid than the U.S. Mid-Atlantic, and a lot nicer in the winter.

Month	Average high	Average low	Warmest on record	Coldest on record	Average dew point	Average precipitation
JAN.	85	68	95	57	65	1.0
FEB.	85	68	95	57	65	.9
MARCH	86	70	93	61	66	1.2
APRIL	87	72	95	63	67	1.3
MAY	88	74	99	66	70	3.6
JUNE	90	76	99	68	72	2.1
JULY	91	76	100	70	72	1.1
AUG.	92	76	99	69	72	1.9
SEPT.	91	76	99	67	73	3.0
OCT.	89	75	99	66	72	5.1
NOV.	88	73	99	62	70	1.8
DEC.	86	70	95	57	66	1.1

Source: USA TODAY

[MightyMouseToSaveThe Day]

I'm not buying that 'no air conditioning" excuse I keep reading about. A/C has only been prevalent in this country for the last 20 yrs maybe? I grew up without a/c in the house or the car, and our summers were routinely 100deg with 100% humidity. it was hot, but there weren't thousands of deaths every year from that. And what about the people who live in the MidEast and the desert there where temperatures routinely climb 100-120 degrees? All those poor people have a/c in their tents? Nope. it's not the lack of a/c--it's something else and i haven't figured it out.But it simply defies logic that 100 deg kills to that extent.

[MightyMouseToSaveThe Day]

colloquially it would be translated as "by the seaside or by my mother's side?"