Sunday, March 29, 2009

Anti tax haven demonstration


I can't say I really missed them, but since they come with the city... Them ? The demonstrations, of course! Today, I came across an Anti Tax Haven one. Guess where they organized it? Right on Place de la Bourse (stock market), of course! And as there is nothing like a good set to get the media's attention (including PDP's!), they built their own little tax haven island in the middle of the street, with real sand and a beach chair! Fun, but I'm afraid it will take much more than that to eradicate tax havens...

25 comments:

  1. Looks a little early for Paris Plage. If I were those guys I'd be careful where I stashed by gold bullion. Some other than the tax man has his eyes on it.

    Why do I keep hearing Dame Shirley Bassey’s voice in my ears?

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  2. Too rushed: Make that “my” and “Someone”.

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  3. Yes, that is probably true that tax havens will probably always be around. Laws are meant for some to find ways around, aren't they? No matter how many laws, there will always be those looking for a way that it won't apply to them. Sad.


    (Oh, for a good "Paris Plage" here. We're supposed to get 4-6 inches more snow tonight!!)

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  4. Tall Gary! Isn't that a 4-Peat for you?? Will you be putting something from the beach on the crown tonight?

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  6. Only three Christie. On top of the crown I think I’ll put a trick hat (hat trick?). One that turns sand into gold dust, although it never seems fine enough to slip through the fingers of my particular tax collectors.

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  7. I'm suprised there are any demonstrations in Paris this week. Looked like all the French protestors were over here for the week. The French along with all the other European countries are well represented for the G20 protests

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  8. Does anyone in Paris think of holding demonstrations against demonstrations?

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  9. I just saw all the photos whilst I was away Eric and they are all fantastic. Love the stamps.

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  10. Oh a good Parisian demonstration. Maybe I can join one this summer. Wouldn't that be a treat!!!!HA
    V

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  11. TG -- I knew you'd make the hat trick! Congrats to you.

    Eric -- I just wish I had need of a tax haven. What would Paris be without its creative demonstrations? That's an interesting outfit the guy on the left is wearing—and it looks like he's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame.

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  12. Thanks Alexa. After what you wrote yesterday I felt that I had to give it a try.

    And the guy on the right looks like a city official who needs that tax revenue to establish public restrooms in certain meadows. Or what we might call WC Fields.

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  13. Oh, hooray!!! I'm so happy! Congrats on your hat trick, Tall Gary. Mighty fine!

    What a fun photo ~ they've really gone all out, wearing thongs {or flip flops as they are otherwise curiously known} for extra authenticity. Or is it a subtle jibe that two thongs don't make a right.

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  14. A colorful shot! Eric, I love how you got underneath the camera and captured the shooter's cigarette in the picture. These guys really made a mess!

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  15. Eric is back in Paris and amusing us all... It is great to have him home. We really missed his sense of humor. Being a journalist, he has really had a bumpy ride because of the "crisis". It has hit some industries worse then ever. Seeing newspapers closing their doors because people just don't buy them very much anymore, is tough to watch. I recently watched a journalist round-table discussion on the topic. Many journalists there said they were having difficulty launching themselves onto the net, and trying to transition their careers onto the Internet -- making the leap.

    This photo has a lot of detail.

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  16. Alexa, "15 minutes of fame" I saw the Warhol show here in San Francisco today. There is also one in Paris right now. Since his work was primarily prints, they can show his work simultaneously around the world. He made many copies of everything. I remember once, he was being interviewed, and the interviewer was razing him, and saying, how can you say that you are an artist since you never paint. Warhol said, I don't claim to be a painter -- I am a printer. TA DA! I went to the show because, remember, I posed for him once.

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  17. Great perspective Eric. One thing is for sure though. Through this financial crisis, one metier will certainly always have a job...the garbage men. They are always there at the end of these protests to clean up the mess.

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  18. I love the suit coat with the shorts and flip flops.

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  19. What a strange thing to protest about - but they did a good job of it. I wonder where they got the sand? And I bet the fellow in the shorts had very cold legs!

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  20. Lois -- I do remember that (and I'd love to see Warhol's view of you). I'd also love to see that show!

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  21. Hello Alexa, "Warhol's view" I'm sending you an email about that. :-)

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  22. MmeBenaut "I wonder where they got the sand?" If you are on Sur le Seine going towards Notre Dame, look to your right (I think), there are these large rectangular dumpster type containers piled high with the same sand as in Eric's photo. I am guessing, that is the sand from/for the Paris Plage event. The sand wasn't guarded or anything. It was completely open. I guess because they are not really worried about anyone taking the sand. So these men could have got the sand there. Or, maybe they got it from the bottom of Sur le Seine. Or, we could say these men also work at installing the Paris Plage, and this was just a miniature event for them. :-)

    Hawaii has black sand beaches.

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  23. Back to yesterday's post, in France you can create your own stamps on http://montimbramoi.laposte.fr/

    ...though I know we're not so many here living in France... ;-)

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  24. Aha une bonne petite manifestation! Paris sera toujours Paris.

    Aussies no match for our street protesters, are they? They'd rather go surfing LOL

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  25. Very fun blog. I moved to the French Alps a year ago and have been astonished at the 'national past time' of demonstrations. Very foreign tradition for an American, but hey, they've made some good material for my video blog about living in France, so I'm not complaining. And frankly, I think Americans could learn from demonstrating - maybe we would have stopped Bush from implementing his stupid policies if we had demonstrated more. Cynthia in France

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