On the Death of Osama Bin Laden

Enough time has passed - both on this blog and in the real world - for me to feel comfortable writing about this. There are two reasons why I'm choosing to come back now, and on this topic. The first is that, after months of inanity, a story that cuts across the political spectrum - that actually seems to matter - was finally front page news. It may seem strange that I, someone who wrote about leafblowers, was not sufficiently inspired by all the other inanity to comment. But, I felt then and I feel now that not commenting is in a sense making a statement on how I feel about the place of those stories in our political discourse. The second, more personal, reason has to do with my own reaction to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. As in, when I heard the news I wasn't sure how to react. At all. For me, this is strange, as any bit of news - no matter how trivial - will usually elicit at least a visceral reaction from me.

Not Better, Not Worse, Just Different

I have two passports. More importantly, I have two cultures - American and French. Or French and American, so nobody feels like the less-loved child. I've lived most of my life in the United States, but I have spent enough time living in France (lately especially) to consider myself an expert - for the intents and purposes of this particular forum - on the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between living in the United States and living in France.

I know the stereotypes, and it must be said that many of them turn out to be true in at least some cases: French people are rude, Americans are friendly, French food is the best in the world, the US has this, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I'd like to go beyond these and get down to what I've noticed are the most interesting differences between living in the United States and living in France.