Friday, March 31, 2006

EU - Eurocrate exams


This week is a big week for 41.000 candidates across Europe to become a eurocrate, Wednesday and Friday young and not so young aspirants will take exams in 43 cities in the 25 European countries plus Bulgaria and Rumania who will join next year.

From this pool of hopefuls only 1060 will be chosen to actually enter a five years waiting list for the next job opening in one of the European Union offices.

“Employment conditions include high salaries, security, health benefits, allowances and low taxation.” Writes Helena Spongenberg in EUobserver.com.

I am thinking about all those thousands of students protesting in France about temporary contracts and no security. What will happen to the 40.000 European young hopefuls that will not get in the five years waiting list.

This is crazy. There must be something in between this all or nothing situation. And above all there must be something to motivate the young ones to break this vicious circle. Today I have learned how they call themselves in Germany: Generation Praktikum.

Tintin - Trésor de Rakam le Rouge

In 19 February 1943, the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir volé" published the first strip of this story. Hergé later on would modify most of the drawings and a lot of the text for the first publication of the comic book that appeared in 1944. So all the Tintin fans around the world have never really seen the original Le Soir version but only the Casterman edition.

In the past few months Le Soir has published every day a strip from their archives and an editor every day points to us all the changes, even the smallest, that were made afterward with a comment on the reasons and results this changes made to the story.

I find this comparison fascinating and it gives me, a long time Tintinophile, a good understanding of the underlining details of the story. I collect every day the strip from Le Soir. Later on I will make an album with these trips of newspaper. I do not think this exercise will published anyway.