Paris - a corner of Paradise?

I recently finished reading a book by the Swedish journalist Knut Ståhlberg.

He was a well known reporter both in radio and television from the late forties till mid- eighties. He is still among us but born in 1920, he has since long retired from his journalistic career.

He became so intimately connected with France and Paris that he almost became an institution. 

Before him there had been renowned Swedish reporters stationed in France and Paris but for the majority of Swedes today he is the correspondent par préférence when it came to covering the political-societal and cultural situation in France. He was given the surname, The Voice from Paris.

He had a very personal style and in a way he epitomized the general idea of a Frenchman. He talked with every part of his body almost, not least his hands. He leaned towards the TV-screen and almost came out of the TV-set.

The book I've read by him is called A Corner of Paradise. Light and Dark Years in Paris (my translation).

He arrived in Paris in 1945 and came to live on Rue du docteur Blanche in the 16th arrondissement where he met his wife to be, Juliette. 

They lived very happy but after a while the cold war broke out and this made Ståhlberg have to take on a great amount of responsibility concerning news coverage.

Through his wife, he also learns about her family history from the trenches in the Flanders to the concentration camps of the Third Reich. A travel in time far from the Swedish self-righteous isolation.

In the book we can also read about André Gide, Claude Simon, Jean-Paul Sartre, politicians, musicians, painters (not least Swedish painters) and others who he met during his years in France.

It's a fascinating book and a evidence of the post-war history of Europe and also a story about love, the love to his wife, to France, to people who made an impression on him.

He has written several books and one of them is about Charles de Gaulle and called: 'De Gaulle, the General who was France' (my translation).

In 2006 he was honoured with Légion d'honneur' (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur) - Legion of Honor.

I don't know if it has been translated into English but if so I would like to recommend it.



(Photo of Knut Ståhlberg copied from: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/wE9WRM/knut-stahlberg-ar-dod)
(Photo of his book copied from: https://books.google.fr/books/about/Ett_h%C3%B6rn_av_paradiset.html?id=hPr_ZwEACAAJ&redir_esc=y)

Google, military expenses and NASA

It now seems as if we have to rely only on Google as it has become by far the biggest Search engine in the world, worth 200 billion US dollars.

The world is suffering under starvation and other global threats but there is never money enough to help those who need help the most. 

What could 200 billion dollars do for the poor and dying in the world? It of course depends on in what way we use the money but even poorly used it would be enough to help millions of people around the world.

According to some figures 1000 billion US dollars is spent every year on the military in the world. Could these money be used in a more constructive way? 

Of course it could.

I don't know if I understood correctly the other day when I heard mentioned the amount of money spent on the space programme in the USA. I think the sum 1200 billion dollars every year was mentioned!!

How does these projects help the poor and people exposed to war and plagues?

Maybe the USA and other countries in the world are planning to send poor people to the moon?

When it comes to solving the problems with poverty, famine and diseases, the problem is not money...

Drum solos - obsessed?

There are a lot of impressive drum soloists in this blogsection but - besides the older and younger very well known 'legends' - take a look at the third clip below. He's amazing.