In the early years of the 21st Century – a long, long time ago now – life was simpler. Back then A Cowboy in Paris was born and Good was good, Better a little step above, and Best a major step beyond. Mixed and Ugly were seldom talked about. All Places were great. It worked fine for Impressions and Places, it got a little sticky with People and it didn’t work at all with the General. Then the format changed, but not the infrastructure. Oh my it got complex. Now Good is still good, but it could also just mean an article on the European Union, or a country in it. Better may still be a step above, but it also could just be that the subject matter deals with business, or games, or coaching. Likewise Best is best, or perhaps physics and/or another science is involved. Mixed is just that and it is sometimes personal, while Ugly hasn’t changed much yet, but stay tuned, it could widen it’s horizons soon. The remaining Generals are mostly organizational. When the subject matter is the other, or the or, there is no attempt to correlate the judgment value implied by the heading name. Nor is there now any effort made to daily have one each of a particular category. Maybe it is all a little more complex, but it is also simpler to surf A Cowboy in Paris, if you know all this.

Original appearance April 26, 2007 / CIP2 583 / © 2007 / General / CIP

What if the opposite 'sides' of Planck length loops were matter and antimatter and opposites aren't? Just a thought. Think about it. I am. I'll write more when I have. And hey, that Hawkins weightlessness is out of this world.

Original appearance April 26, 2007 / CIP2 586 / © 2007 / OAR

Hard astern of the French Senate in St-Germain-des-Prés is the fabulous formal Luxembourg Gardens. Designed by Boyceau in 1612 for Marie de Médicis who became Queen of France, they are in the French style but with quite a bit of the Italian Baroque. Of course they were private then, but they became public in the 19th century, after the French Revolution, and are still free today. An octagonal pool (Grand Bassin); two major fountains (Fontaine de Medicis and the Fontaine de l’Observatoire with it’s interesting global perspective); and well over 100 sculptures are the main focal points. A very striking number of the statues are women, I only saw two that weren’t. One I noted is of Sainte Geneviève the patron saint of Paris. A feature I particularly appreciated was the abundance of chairs, mostly movable to wherever you want.

Original appearance July 10, 2005, © 2005 / Luxembourg, Jardins du Luxembourg, Garden / BLVD ST-MICHEL, 75006 / 01 42 34 20 00 / CIP 131, OO 06, RD 10, YP 30/3-10

Let’s start exactly where I started of in my first lecture of this series (and by the way it is pleasant to see a few familiar faces). Je suis (a new quote in French) …but hopefully that is still the last word you will hear from me in French and I am still A Cowboy in Paris.

And now let’s start off again exactly where I left off. My conclusion last time: As I have attempted to show there are pitfalls*, but mostly there are opportunities. Cautious and conscious optimism can lead the way. Careful and confident idealism is the ticket. We have shown, and you can prove, that continental cooperation can work on a grand scale. Many of the concerns and conflicts that have obsessed you will lessen, but a few will grow. If the United States succeeded you can too, and with the lessons of history perhaps you can do it better. This Cowboy in Paris believes it is the magic of the middle that balances the extremes, and it is the scale of continents that provide all the necessary elements. It is the melding* of all those elements that produces the magic of the middle and the compromises of geography and governance.

Continued below / Original appearance April 23, 2007 / RC2 473 / © 2007 / EUS

So governance and geography were my first topics and now military and philosophical issues will be my primary concern. Here we will be dealing with various aspects of the differing dreams of Americans and Europeans. As Jeremy Rifkin says: “The first dream emphasizes individual opportunities, the second the collective well being of society.” (Page 83) It appears to this cowboy that he has hit the nail on the head, and in particular if he had differentiated between ‘the American Dream’ and ‘the French Dream.’ I am not quite as convinced that all of Europe shares the French Dream completely.

For now though, let’s assume that it does. It is then that the clash of cultures comes into greatest relief. The ever present tug of war between the individual will and the collective will. It is here that we find the fundamental difference between left and right. During World War 11 the lines were muddied by Totalitarian and Democratic Alliances but during the Cold War they sorted out into a clearer focus. This dichotomy has been with us at least since Grecian times and this cowboy thinks it will be with us forever. Perhaps Mr. Rifkin however leaned a little left and saw more clearly the bright European Dream of collective well being.

Continued below / Original appearance April 23, 2007 / RC2 474 / © 2007 / EUS

In the late Nineties it became fashionable in what you consider the far right of American politics to talk of the difference between the “Old” and the “New” Europe. At the time there was a distinction drawn between the stratified and classified (with a special emphasis on ‘class’) ‘Old’ Europe and the vigorous and energetic ‘New’ Europe. The delineation was supposedly between the stultified and tired ‘Old’ Europe as represented by Germany and France; and the reborn vitality of the ‘New’ Europe as represented by Poland and Hungary. That talk has substantially died down as it appears that the Old Europe was at least a tad more correct on a couple of scores – weapons of mass destruction and existence of quick sand (quagmires) for example.

Continued below / Original appearance April 23, 2007 / RC2 475 / © 2007 / EUS

Still the quiet on the right might mask the fact that the right had quite a lot of right on its side. First it appears that Schroeder and Chirac are now gone while Blair and Bush and Howard have all survived elections since the war. They will all, at least temporarily, survive longer than their nemesis. In addition, overall, it appears that the right has gained a little relative traction in Europe as illustrated by recent elections in Scandinavia, the Low Countries and Eastern Europe. That said there seldom are, and seldom will be, clear winners between the right and the left. The ebb and flow will continue, but in the end (hopefully) the middle will rule on both continents. That is what the enlargement of Europe assures and the hope of America assumes.

Of course it is the enlargement of Europe that provides the possibility of the disappearance of the distinction between the old and the new Europe into the one European Union. On this continental scale we can see the similarities and stabilities of our two civilizations. The left and the right will remain on both sides of the middle. And the middle, the Atlantic, will be our bond rather than our division.

Original appearance April 23, 2007 / RC2 476 / © 2007 / EUS

Not far from City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) is Place du Châtelet, a square that features the Fountain of the Palms, a column and a fountain built as an ode to Napoleon’s Egyptian victories in 1806. Originally it was hard astride the Grand Châtelet, a fortress and prison of ill repute. Molière was briefly a guest there once due to debt, but it is the more macabre Chamber of Hypocras that is remembered. By 1862 the prison was replaced by dueling theaters and the Colonne (or column) concerts began in the 1870’s. On one side was the Théâtre du Châtelet, now known as the Théâtre Musical de Paris. On the other side of the column is the Théâtre de la Ville. The cultural cousins remain active and very much alive to this day. The dueling is less deadly.

Original appearance June 28, 2005, © 2005 / THÉÂTRE DU CHÂTELET,(MUSIC) / 1, PLACE DU CHÂTELET, 75001 / 01 40 28 28 40 / CIP 129. OO 04, RD 28, YP 30/15-28

“The Coaching Quadrant” below originally ran in She’ll, our magazine, in a somewhat different format in October 2006. We will be expanding and altering it. It will then be alternating with “Roughly Speaking.” These will be the rough drafts of our continuing series on An American Reflection on the European Union. They will eventually become the basis for the presentation of a Second Conference at the University of Reims, tentatively scheduled for May 2007. We will be presenting both ‘live’ as we complete segments. This will on occasion cause them to initially appear in reverse order to the way they would otherwise be presented.

Continued below / Original appearance April 20, 2007 / CQ 680 / © 2007 / TPS

There is an element of truth to all stereotypes, but what we share as human beings is infinitely greater than our differences. Personally I believe that all large groups share in humanity in roughly proportional degrees. All nationalities have the same wants and desires. The driving force, at base, is almost always food and family, life and death. The remaining one or two percent is the province of conventional imagery - AKA stereotypes.

These differences that do remain are not ‘good’ or ‘bad’ they just ‘are’. There is no right or wrong in the way you turn on a light switch – you just do it the way the Romans do. The ‘better’ or ‘best’ way may be situational or contextual, but it is not intrinsic. Go with the flow, as it were. An accepting, non-judgmental adaptability is crucial for the neophyte in new situations.

Sadly you will be a neophyte for quite some time. Your new colleagues have had years and years, sometimes decades and centuries, to become what they are. You have had hours or days, or, if you are lucky perhaps weeks or months, to adapt. They win. Sometimes you will want to scream – maybe a thousand times, maybe 10,000 times. Don’t - just remember my words here and gradually you will cross the currents. It is beautiful on both sides.

CAREER COACHING – This covers the gamut with the single word CAREER. There are quadrants and quadrants. In life there is Birth, Family, Career and Death. In that light the significance of ‘CAREER’ shines bright. And, of the four, it is perhaps the area in which we can have the most control. A coach can help. Some ideas:

A – Taking Stock – Without a doubt the first step is taking stock. Through a combination of assessment testing, trained individual analysis, and personal introspection a deep profile of the candidate comes into focus.

B – Defining Goals – Blue sky meets definition. The object here is to transpose the fuzzy wants into the concrete, individual, prioritized musts. Your value and values.

C – Time Management – Beyond ethics there is no more single influential barometer to success in business than the control of time. To delegate or not to delegate is the key. To know when and why is the answer.

Continued below / Originally appeared in Tricolors Magazine October 10, 2006 / CQ 681 / © 2006 / TPS