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France

Civil Resistance

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know

Not only does civil resistance work, but it is more than twice as effective as violent resistance!

As a non-academic, I find Chenoweth’s Civil Resistance highly accessible. Not only that, it is inspiring.

Earlier this year, I got tear-gassed at a largely peaceful protest. And last month, France erupted into riots because police killed an unarmed 17 boy of North African extraction.

Chenoweth might be an academic, but what she studies is not restricted to the Ivory Tower.

Parking Lot Sprawl

Bikes over Cars – 9 Ways to Effect a Cultural Shift

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This is the second of two articles that argues for prioritizing bikes instead of cars. The first gave six reasons biking is better than driving. This article will describe 9 small adoptable policy/community actions we can introduce to upend society’s nasty transportation default.

Honeymoon in the Pays Basque

Basque Country Honeymoon

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We were lucky. The week we chose was one of unseasonal warmth (20 degrees!) and dryness near Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

We set out on daily hikes, easy ones from a guidebook called “Les Sentiers d’Emilie” that we found in our Airbnb. I was generally in charge of choosing the destination. I aimed for those of around 3-4 hours and enough of an elevation gain that we would feel challenged.

Quicksilver

Quicksilver

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Quicksilver is the first of three books of the Baroque Cycle trilogy, and it’s also three independent books in one. It follows the lives of three fictional characters interwoven with real figures from the 17th century such as Louis XIV, Isaac Newton, and Leibniz.

Single-family house in the country - masonry

Culture Shock! France vs America: 10 Intermediate Differences – 2/3

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This is the second of three articles covering some of the differences I’ve noticed after three years living in France.

What I’ve listed below are slightly more profound (and less immediately evident) differences than those mentioned in my first article: Culture Shock! 19 Observations from Living in France

Edenred Carte Resto

What is a Carte Resto?

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A Carte Resto is a prepaid debit card that can be used to buy food. It is supposed to make it more affordable for employees to buy their lunches while away from home.

I love this workplace perk!

It’s the easiest workplace benefit to appreciate daily.

WEIRDest People in the World

The WEIRDest People in the World

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Henrich argues that it was first the Catholic Church’s strange practices of reducing the power of extended kin-groups in Europe and then various other protestanty-based ideals which further changed the social psychology of Europeans. And then how the habits of European social psychology bore fruit by encouraging higher rates of education, technological advancement, sharing with strangers, and trust in non-related others.