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Keeping an eye on the French, so you don't have to.

Thursday, January 27, 2011
See, I'm not dead.  Anyway, I think a French survey round up is called for:

Humanité (the Communist Party daily, not the species) has asked the Plain People of France how they view the prospect of doing away with the maximum 35 hour working week,and the results show limited cause for faith in the youth (-ish) of France -46% of 18-24 year olds think it a good idea.  Granted, a majority oppose it,  but the pro figure is higher than for any age group bar the 50+ cohort.  This would suggest that younger folk have made the connection between the difficulties in joining the workforce and the rigid laws surrounding employment on the other side of the Channel. 

However, outbreaks of common sense in those parts are invariably matched by something that deadens the soul, like this from ifop:

'Do you think that capitalism and the free market is a system that...'

-Functions well and should be kept
-Has its problems but there is no alternative
-Functions badly and should be replaced

The French gave the first option 15%.  Yes,15%.  And 33% opt for Year Zero, with the rest hedging their bets.  Note that option one secured 65% support in the 'People's Republic' of China.  We managed 45%/45%/10%, which is also quite encouraging.

A poll on French attitudes to the SNCF provides the opportunity for a joke so obvious that as yet undiscovered civilisations in other galaxies can see  it coming:

'Do you think that SNCF are keeping to timetables better?'

We have voting demographics to hand, so place your bets for the joke...

And, yes, it is the Front National which is among the least impressed with punctuality at 14%.   Perhaps they have in mind an Italian template that could be followed.
Elsewhere, Dominique Strauss Kahn is the runaway leader among possible Socialist candidates for the presidency at 37% to 26% for my old mucker Segolene Royale, and Lille looks likely to suffer Martine Aubry longer (16%).  Perhaps Martine should hire an assassin, as a DSK-less list has her top of the tree at 32% to Sego's 31%.  Cutting to the chase, Sarko would beat anyone except DSK in round one.  Round two would see Sarko lose - badly - to DSK, Aubry or even Francois Hollande.  Sarko Vs Royal, round 2 shows as a tie at 50% each. 

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posted by Croydonian

What are the British afraid of this week? I have the answers

Wednesday, July 14, 2010
I have before me Eurobarometer research on attitudes to electromagnetic fields,  and the extended data set asks about things that might affect one's health, and number one - with a bullet - is 'chemicals', with some 83% deeming them a threat to health.   Well, indeed, I would not want to be inhaling deeply near a vat of battery acid, but it does seem a rather vague thing to be anxious about.  At the other end of the scale, some 41% are concerned about household electrical equipment.  Over-exposure to certain journalists on the Today programme hoiks my blood pressure and I've tripped over power leads before, but I cannot say I lay awake fearing the Rise of the Machines.

Anyway, the full UK findings:


Meanwhile, there is a rather good Woody Allen sketch on misbehaving electricals:


(No visuals, alas, but it doesn't need them)

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posted by Croydonian

The long overdue round up of recent odd French surveys

Tuesday, July 06, 2010
First up, who do they blame for their, ahem, World Cup debacle:

Among the French overall, the finger is pointed at the players - 35%, then the manager (32%) and then the equivalent of the FA (24%).  Nine per cent either knew not or cared not.  Among those claiming interest in le foot, the figures were 30%, 37%, 28% and 5%.

That French surveys routinely include a detailed demographic breakdown is again making me glad to be alive, as those most likely to blame the players are extreme left voters, at 42%.  Shome mishtake, shurely? What with the players being the toiling masses in this instance....  Also amusing is that Frontistes are the least likely to blame the players - 23% - nothwithstanding J-MLeP making odious comments about non-white players a few years back.  Liberals are the most likely to blame the manager.  In all of these instances, the numbers are low, not that I was ever going to let that stop me.

Geographically, easterners take most against the players, Mediterraneans against the manager and south westerners against the FFF.  The survey also asked what the Plain People of France thought of the various players, and Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka saw a majority wanting them to play no further role for Les Bleus.  Running true to form, Frontistes were the most anti the black players and Greens were the most likely to not know / not care.

And there's more.  Closer's French edition (which should be called 'Plus Proche', or better still, 'Fermeur') has been asking some spectacularly impertinent questions:

'Which star's body would you most like to have?'.  And among female celebs it is Angélina Jolie ahead of Scarlett Johannson.  Our own dear Ms Moss and Ms Cole / Tweedy appear in the lower reaches.  For the chaps it is Yoann Gourcuff, a footballer who appears to have a penchant for taking his shirt off, followed by Brad Pitt (who is older than me.  Hope springs etc).

It gets seedier:  'Who among the following would you dream to have as your lover?'. 

Yannick Noah (28%) leads from Ashton Kutcher (24%).  Both these chaps are married, so I imagine amorous French women would have to contend with Isabelle Camus and Demi Moore respectively.  Also in the list of 13 are Jerome Kerviel (France's Nick Leeson equivalent) at 7% and the following politicians - Dominique de Villepin (9%), Dominique Strauss-Kahn (3%), Olivier Besancenot (3%) and Sarko himself at 2%.    Rather unkindly, an equivalent list of female celebs was no polled.  Tant pis.

The least believed love stories are Sarko / Bruni (40%) and Cruise / Holmes (24%).  Paris Hilton is the least liked on the list of female celebs, as well as being deemed a hypocrite.  The male equivalent is Mickael Vandetta.  He would seem to be a reality TV star, and his motto, apparently,  is "I'm Brad Pitt for the body, Napoleon for the ambition, Columbus for the conquest!".  Uh-huh. 

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posted by Croydonian

A 'Happiness barometer'. Yes, really

Friday, February 05, 2010
I am indebted to Coca-Cola for polling 'Europe' (1) as to its happiness or otherwise, and the results are in:

A quarter of us are 'very happy', a further 61% 'happy', 10 'rather unhappy' and 3% very unhappy.  There was a further one per cent who were unable to answer, and we might possibly be better off if they rendered for glue.  The Belgians are the perkiest, with 94% very / happy.  Depending one one's predelictions, the ready availability of trappist beer, moules / frites or chocolate might be the answer.  We are second for being 'very happy' (35%) although third overall at 90% to the 91% for our Spanish chums.  No don't knows either, which suggests that all is not entirely lost.

At the other end of the scale, it is weltschmerz and so forth for 20% of Bulgars, 18% of Italians and a blockbusting 21% of Romanians.

As to what brings us happiness, for 56% it is family, 46% a significant other and 25% friends.  Leisure activities deliver for 15% (respondents could perm any two from seven) while a soulless 14% nominate the Curse of Cain - work.  Nine per cent are lost in music, and seven per cent opt for the sporting life.  The concept rather than the defunct turf publication, that is.

Country by country, family is top for all bar the Spaniards, who opt for partner / GF / BF.  Hats off to the Romanians for being the least likely to nominate work / studies (8%), while we disgrace ouselves at 16%.

Happiest moments of the day are quite comic  - 5% opt for catching up on world news.  Nothing quite like war, famine, pestilence and death to perk you up now, is there?  7% opt for the first beverage of the morning.  I am NOT making this up. Two per cent opt for the first personal e-mail / text of the day. Catching up with friends / family in the evening leads, followed by dinner with family and chatting with friends / colleagues. 

Digging deeper, the first drink of the day rates for 14% of Bulgars.  If any illuminati can update me on the quality of Bulgarian coffee, tea, OJ or whatever, I would be grateful.  Mind you, so do 13% of us.  Elsewhere, catching up leads for all bar the Italians, who opt for dinner.

As to digging ourselves out of the Slough of Despond, Europe's number one is to 'go out with friends', followed by 'listening to music'.  Presumably not Lou Reed's 'Berlin', Joy Division or some of the other mirth fests I have lurking in my CD rack....

We are the keenest on hugs, with 29% of us opting for them, and having a drink - 16%.

Showing its usual lack of ability to sort sheep from goats, the number one happiness maker for Euroman/woman would be winning the lottery.  Presumably a big win, rather than a quid / euro / lek or whatever on a scratchcard.  Travelling the world rates second, and then it gets weird - volunteering to help others is third.  I would not have thought that there many impediments to just getting up and doing so, but what do I know?  Eight per cent choose finding the love of their life, and what that says about the remainder perhaps needs a veil drawn over it.  Thereafter it goes beyond weird to the downright freaky - 3% apiece opt for variously being an inventor, a sports star or a teacher.  Yes, really.  Two per cent think the golden key to happiness would be to be a music star or a comedian.  One per cent think being a celeb would be the thing.

Country by country, the lottery leads for all bar the Bulgarians.  Our fourth choice is teaching, so maybe all those commercials have made an impact.  A rum business.   
 


(1) Europe, for these purposes is this rather odd selection - Us, the Gauls, the Italians, the Spanish, the Belgians, the Romanians and the Bulgarians.  From previous surveys, the Balkan contingent look to be a rather sour lot, so perhaps not over much should be read into the exclusion of the notoriously joyous Nordic types.

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posted by Croydonian

Are the British the world's second greatest rubes?

Thursday, December 10, 2009
According to a survey by worldpublicopinion.org, that's what we think:

In general, when [Country] government negotiates with other countries do you think that the government tends to be too willing to compromise and is often taken advantage of?

And 65% of us agreed.  Only the South Koreans thought less of their government's negotiating prowess, with 71% thinking they get taken for a ride.

On the flip side, just 14% of Turks think that their government gets the less pleasant end of the stick.

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Surveys o' the day

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Yes, they are French.

First up, do not ring a 15-17 year old boy on his mobile, as a rather loathsome 22% admit to using it in the loo.  Compared to 8% of the wider public.    Equally, 32% of girls 12-17% are looking for trouble as they use their mobiles in the bathroom.  4% of the Plain People of France use their mobiles in the cellar.  Presumably the rest cannot get a signal.   41% of Gauls use their mobiles as torches, which is odd.

Elsewhere, 16% consider mobiles bad for French society.  91% of adolescents think that mobiles are good for adolescents, whereas only 32% of the 40+ cohort agree.  Probably because they are paying for them....

Sticking with our Gallic chums, just 29% of them can, unprompted, name their regional president. My old friend Ségolène Royal does rather better, with 83% naming her as the head honchette of Poitou-Charentes.  The Prexies of Centre and Nord Pas de Calais muster a laughable 7% and 8% respectively.  Proving that stupidity is indeed the basic building block of the universe, fewer than two-thirds can name the political colour of their home region.   

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Some French odds and ends

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Our French chums are chafing at the latest price hikes for cigarettes - base line for a pack of 20 is €5.10, and €5.60 for a packet of Marlboros.  If memory serves, the average smoking Briton would think a fiver for a packet of Phillip Morris's finest quite the bargain, and doubtless the tabacs and grand surfaces of Calais and thereabouts prove that.  Anyway, estimates from BAT have some 22% of all fags smoked yonder hailing from neighbouring countries or over the internet.  

Showing the usual governmental disdain for free trade when it interferes with an ability to act as the casino's rake, the French do to internet imported cigarettes what ours does.  Why, I wonder, does the EU not do something about this stark violation of the principles of the single market?

Meanwhile, what do our Gallic chums think about taxation without representation, or as the pollster puts it, should non-EU nationals be allowed to vote in French local and Euro elections?

Overall, the split is a tolerably creditable 50 pro, 48 anti.  The greatest recorded pro high was 57% in 2003, and the highest anti high 69% in 1996.

As ever, the real fun is in the demographic detail, with the younger, better educated and better off more likely to be pro.  Socialists, Liberals and the section-worthy left are the most pro, and the FN (fancy..) the most anti.  However, one has to note that 36% of the far left, 28% of Socialists and 40% of Greens are anti.  So much for workers of all lands uniting, brotherhood etc etc. 

Sticking with the Gauche, IMF head honcho Dominique Strauss-Kahn gets the nod as the favoured leftist candidate for the Presidency next time round, with 49% of left voters thinking he's be a good  president.  Not the most ringing of endorsements, frankly.  Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë follows at 46%, Martine Aubry at 40% and Sego at 39%.  And then the terrifying bit - 31% think that Trotskyite Olivier Besancenot would be a good president, ahead of 31% for Liberal leader François Bayrou.

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posted by Croydonian

Random survey o' the day

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
From across the Pond, rather than across the Ditch.  For once.

C/O the Ethics Resource Center (sic):

"While only 14.9 percent of Americans say it is okay to date one's boss, 83.6 percent found it unacceptable, according to the ERC survey. However, among all male respondents, 20 percent said it is acceptable and only 11 percent of females agreed".

Which would rather put the kibosh on the entire rom-com, not to say Mills & Boon Doctor & Nurse romance genre. 

I suppose there could be the element of of messiness when it all goes wrong in the case of boss/peon afairs, but what about this for trans-Atlantic prissiness:

"U.S. employees are more likely to say it is okay to date a peer, but overall the workforce was split on the issue. When it comes to co-workers, 47.5 percent say it is all right to have a romantic office relationship while 50.6 percent were against it. Among respondents who thought it is acceptable to date a co-worker, men and women were split almost evenly, 49 percent to 45 percent, respectively".

I think the majority of my paired off friends met their significant others at work, so if they had been American about it, well, words fail me.

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posted by Croydonian

Downright odd French survey of the day

Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Well, not the subject so much - premature births and so forth - but the oddities in the demographic data.

Asked 'Would you say that you feel very concerned, somewhat concerned, not very concerened or not at all concerned by premature births, i.e. a childbirth before eight month of pregnancy, whether impacting you directly or not?'




And this is how it breaks down by party affiliation.  CSA has a tendency to cluster the Trot parties together as the 'extreme left', while classing the equally extreme Greens, Communists and Left Party as just 'Left'.  The FN is not tracked for some reason.





CSA gives a health warning for the PC and PdG figures owing to limited numbers.  Even ignoring those two parties, why are the Trot voters so sanguine, relatively speaking?  One would expect them to fear that The Man was going to do them wrong.  Greens and Liberals fret the most, unsurprisingly.      


Elsewhere, Greens are the likeliest to think smoking & drinking hike the risk of a premature birth, and MoDem voters the least.  Blimey.  Trots are the least likely to think that working conditions contribute and Greens - bar the PdG - the least.  The Left Party voters polled would appear to have an awful lot of planks represented, as nearly a quarter could not answer the smokin' and drinkin question, so I'm ignoring them, bunch of mouth breathers that they clearly are.  As to being over 40, Greens are most likely to think this a factor (69%) and Trots (53%) the least.  And finally, the Left parties are all more likely to think using public transport frequently risks things than do Gaullists.  Well, well, well....  

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posted by Croydonian

'We love the NHS' - Erm, no. Less than a fifth of us do

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Courtesy of a Zogby poll intended for a US audience rather than a UK one, it would seem. As I have not been able to find this referenced in the British media, I was a bit tempted to slap 'exclusive' in the headline, but I do have some residual sense of shame.

Anyway, onward:


"The survey asked how satisfied people were with the NHS on a four-point scale: very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied and very dissatisfied":



The poll was done by e-mail (yougov?) and only polled 506 adults, so it is a bit suspect, but it's a start.    A majority are at least somewhat satisfied, but referencing that buttock-clenchingly awful twitter campaign of a few weeks back, 18.6% being very satisfied is some way short of 'love'.  That one in fifty of my compatriots cannot muster an opinion on this topic is profoundly depressing.

The question on waiting times sees somewhat  more robust responses:


 
The positive / negative split is 60/40 ish

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posted by Croydonian

The Great British public succeeds in not /entirely/ disgracing itself.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009
As doubtless no-one noticed, yesterday was International Day of Democracy, and to mark this the Inter-Parliamentary Union sponsored a survey by my mates at Worldpublicopinion.org on 'political tolerance'.  Not a very good title for the survey, as will be seen, but onwards:

Asked 'How important do you think it is for people to be free to express unpopular political views,
without fear of being harassed or punished?', 96% of managed to judge it very or somewhat important, although you would never guess that from the fits of the vapours suffered in some quarters when the B*P gets a platform.  Top of the class for judging it very important were Nigeria, South Africa and South Korea, all at 77%+.  Head hanging is called for in Russia, China and Azerbaijan, with respectively 22%, 25% and 37% reckoning it not very important / not at all important. 

Moving on, 'How important is it for you to live in a country that is governed democratically?' 96% of us managed very / somewhat.  Top of the class are Argentina at 97%  and Egypt at 99%.  Perhaps Mubarak should be worried.   Ditto the thugs in Peking, as 95% of Chinese think it important too, as do 84% of Iraqis.  So much for it just being a Western value.  Russia disgraces itself with 25% deeming it not very important / not at all important. 

Next up, 'In this country, how free do you think people actually are to express unpopular political views,
without fear of being harassed or punished?'.  A somewhat naive 21% of Britons judge ourselves completely free, 48% somewhat and 30% not very free.  Chileans and Indians have the most faith at 84% for very / somewhat.  Least convinced are the Koreans and 'Palestinians', with 64% and 61% thinking themselves not very free.  I fear that the 16% of Chinese thinking themselves 'completely free' might be in for a long stint in the gulag if they tried it.  

The next one is a bit of an odd one:  How often do opposition parties get a fair chance to express their views
and to try to influence government policies?  46% of us answer most of the time, 37% sometimes and 15% rarely.  Hmm, I don't see the connection - the opposition has plenty of chances to express an opinion, but they are not really engaged in attempting to influence, are they?  They are opposing, not proposing....

Also odd: Do you think members of [legislative body] feel free to express views that differ from
the official views of their own political party?  In these parts, 23% yes, 45% ish, 30% no.  I'm all for the likes of Carswell and Hannan having their say, less keen on others who shall remain nameless....

Away from questions of principle and onto issues of function.  'Are women fairly represented in [legislative body] or are they not?'  This is led by Azerbaijan, with 84% saying yes.  And what is the proportion of ladies in the Milli Məclis?  50% maybe?  No, 11.4%.  Our figures are 55% / 43%, with a shade under 20% of both the Commons and the Lords female, apparently.


'Are minorities, such as ethnic, religious, or national minorities fairly represented in [legislative body] or are they not?' We split 48/47.  Top of the class is the People's Republic of China at 80% / 11%.  To my surprise, Koreans are the least happy at 12/86.  Although Korea is a very ethnically homogeneous country, there appears to be a degree of rivalry twixt SE and SW that puts any North South stuff here to shame, so it might be that that was being noted, or perhaps religion. 

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posted by Croydonian

Faith or otherwise in the fairness of elections

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Those nice people at Worldpublicopinion.org have been asking the following:

"Do you think that [Country] would or would not benefit from having international observers monitor elections here?"

And the United Kingdom is one of the countries in the poll, although WPO has called it Great Britain.

Since they have a nifty graphic to show the data, I'm borrowing it:

So, a majority of us see no need for international observers, but it is a tribute to the absolutely shameful degree of chicanery that has gone on with postal voting fraud of late that a figure as high as 46% would like observers.

I for one would be utterly ashamed of this country if I had to walk past bored Swedes, Indians etc at my local polling station in order to exercise my franchise.

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posted by Croydonian

Odd French survey o' the day

They just keep on coming:

"Do you feel safe walking in the countryside during the hunting season?"

The majority do not, with 54% not feeling safe and 46% feeling safe. All credit to the Plain People of France in that there were no 'don't knows'.

The raw figures vary a lot when the demographic detail is looked at, with a majority of men - 57% - feeling safe and nigh on two-thirds of women not feeling safe - 64%.

Feelings of safety decline with age, before rising with the over 65s, perhaps reflecting the opportunities to get a backside full of buckshot.

Rural communes see a majority happy to go daisy picking - 51%, while the denizens of Greater Paris are the least happy -43%. 2% of Parisians are don't knows, presumably because they have never been to the countryside.

The hunters of the South West must be doing something right - apart from shooting things - as only 19% of South Westerners (hello Mum) feel very unsafe during the hunting season, compared to 31% of South Easterners feeling the same way.

A follow up question asks the Gauls whether they are in favour of a ban on hunting on Sundays, with 54% pro. There is little variance by age or sex. Tragically neither question has political demographics supplied.


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posted by Croydonian

What are the French afraid of this week?

Saturday, August 29, 2009
Another one of those 'only in France' surveys:

"When you think about the future, which things worry you most?"

And top of the list is 'That my children won't be happy'. Yes, really, 45% name this. While this would suggest that our Gallic chums are devoted parents, after a brief adjustment to my cynical hat, I reckon that an awful lot of Gauls would have felt compelled to choose that from the options offered. Next up is 'illness' at 39%, 'damage to the environment' at 38% and 'unemployment' at 38%. Elsewhere, ageing (19%) is not popular nor loneliness (7%).

The demographic breakdown goes no further than age groups, alas, but note that 18/24 year olds worry most about the environment and unemployment, and are not overly worried about the happiness or otherwise of their progeny. 25-34 year olds are most exercised by whichever green scare is current, 35-49 year olds lie awake worrying about their rugrats, as do 50-64 year olds. Those over 65 are nervous about being ill, and - relatively speaking - have decided that their kids' happiness is not really their concern.

Shame there's no breakdown by voting, as that would have been most entertaining.

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Where to find ideological confreres Stateside.

Friday, August 14, 2009
Gallup has been kind enough to poll Americans, state by state, as to whether they deem themselves conservative, moderate or liberal.

Alabama and Mississippi emerge as the most 'conservative', with 49% and 48% identification respectively. At the other end of the scale, DC is the most 'liberal' at 37%, followed by Massachusetts and Vermont (surprise, surprise) at 29% and 28%. Rhode Island and Hawaii would appear to be the least ideological with 43% of each reckoning themselves moderate.

The figures mapped look like this:


By American terms, my politics are rather confused, in that I would fail on any number of 'conservative' shibboleths - abortion for starters - so perhaps that is why, broadly, I would rather visit the 'liberal' states rather than the 'consevative' ones. Apart from Hawaii, which because of its climate is one of my ideas of Hell.

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posted by Croydonian

France - home of football fans even shallower than this place

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Only in France would a regional newspaper pay to poll the nation as to its preferred équipe in the top division. I think.

Anyway, the results are in, and I've been playing around with them.

Overall, the figures look like so:
So more than half the population 'support' one of a French Big Four - Olympique Marseilles (5), Paris St Germain (12), Lyon (9) or Bordeaux (1). Numbers in brackets are where they finished last season.

Figures from 2004 to date show that OM's level of support has varied from 18-22%, PSG's from 10-11%, Lyon's from 8-17% and Bordeaux's from 3-10%. I'm sure success or otherwise had nothing to do with it...


As ever, the demographic detail is where the real entertainment lies, so here are 'support' figures relative to five regions - Greater Paris etc, NW, NW, SE, and SW:


Attributing each of the 15 teams to one of the five regions, North Westerners emerge as the msot shallow and lacking in regional identification - only 15% support the NW teams Rennes or Le Mans. It is a pretty poor show for Gay Paree at 25% for PSG, and for the North East - 27% root for Lens, Lille, Nancy, Auxerre or Valenciennes. Southerners prove a little less shallow, with 43% of South Westerners following the local(-ish) lads, and the South East leads with 60%.

Digging around in support by political allegiance has Olympique Marseilles leading with all partisans bar Liberals, who narrowly prefer Lyons. Relative to overall levels of support, Trots are half as likely to support Bordeaux as the rest of the population (5% vs 10%), whereas Greens are more likely (13% vs 10%). If you want to avoid Frontistes and Communists, Lens is a good bet, as said club finds no favour with either. The most Gaullist team is PSG. Valenciennes should be renamed Red Star Valenciennes, perhaps, as 10% of PCF voters opt for it, compared to 1% overall. However, Ifop does urge caution with figures for the PCF as numbers polled were limited.

In so far as I have a French team, it is En Avant Guingamp, a not especially good team (13th in the second division last season) from Brittany. Well, I've seen them at the Stade du Roudourou on a few occasions. They won the equivalent of the FA Cup last season though. As to English football, I am a third, maybe fourth generation West Ham follower, and it was the team local to where I grew up. And no, I've never switched allegiance.

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posted by Croydonian

Bizarre survey o' the day, or so much for the compassion of the left

Wednesday, August 05, 2009
From, inevitably, France:

'Sarkozy was hospitalised for 24 hours. Generally speaking, do you think there has been too much talk of this, not enough or neither too much nor too little of the President's illness?'

And came the answer from the Plain People of France:

Too much - 60%
Too little - 4%
About right - 31%
Don't know - 5%

And yet again, all hail French pollsters for giving a full demographic breakdown:

My age cohort of 40 somethings are the least compassionate, with 72% considering the coverage over the top, while 25-29 year olds and the 75+ group wanted more coverage - both at 9%.

However, the split by party allegiance is the most entertaining, with 83% of Trots/PCF reckoning there was too much coverage, as did 69% of Socialists and 64% of Greens. 65% of Liberals agreed, whereas the Gaullists split 47/48 on too much / too little.

Asked whether Sarko should rest or get on with the job, Socialists opted for the former (56%), and Gaullists and Libs the latter - 55% and 49%. Elsewhere, Frontistes were keenest on his sticking to the day job - 62% and Trots/PCF keenest on him resting - 63%. I suspect that the latter figure was informed by a feeling that Sarko was standing in the way of historical materialism, rather than tender solicitude for his health.

And it gets sillier:

Should he, or should he not engage in sport? - jogging, cycling, swimming:

Trots/PCF - No. 49%
Gaulists - Yes. 54%

Shame they didn't ask about rock climbing and the like.

Meanwhile, on the old word association, 90% think he is dynamic, 80% think he is courageous, 63% think he is 'sympa' (let's translate that as 'friendly, nice') and down to earth - 50%. He should be very, very pleased with those figures. For lefties, the split on whether he is or is not 'sympa' is a far from disgraceful 48/50. Even 34% of the alphabet soup left agree, which is astonishing.

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The country where the head of state censors a poll showing he has 91% support

Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Is Morocco, and the black pen wielder in chief is His Maj, King Mohammed VI. OK, his goons are.

Le Monde in partnership with TelQuel - a Moroccan equivalent of Newsweek - decided to put the relatively liberal, by regional standards, credentials of Morocco to the test by polling the Plain People of Morocco on sundry issues involving the King and so forth. And for its pains, the entire print run of TelQuel has been seized and presumably pulped - enjoy its blacked out front page here; they have just done the same thing with Le Monde.

And what were the horrors lurking within the findings that upset the censors so much? "The monarchy cannot...be a matter of debate, even in an opinion poll", sez Khalid Nacira, the Minister of Communication (sic...).

Well, 91% of those polled have on balance a positive view of the first ten years of the King's reign.

Other figures are no presented by Le Monde in tabular form, so I have had to pick out vague references here and there:

"Nearly one in two Moroccans think the monarchy, in the way in which it is exercised, is democratic".

"The ostentation with which the king likes to be surrounded does not get in the way. It is one of the surprising lessons of this survey: 51% of the Morrocans think that the heavy royal protocol has been cut back"

"the King is a sacred person for three quarters of Moroccans". Original is sacré, and arguably means something more like 'special' in this context.

"His businesses are equivalent to 6% of Moroccan GDP. Is that a problem? No. Only 17% of those polled think so".

"Nearly one in two Moroccans think the King has gone too far in his desire to liberate women".

Apparently women are legal equals to men except in matters of inheritance. Rather better, if true, than what goes on with that family masquerading as a country at the other end of the Arab world.

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posted by Croydonian

An astonishing finding - 'crazy cat ladies' do not like the term

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dumbfounding, isn't it?

"A [US] campaign is underway to give a more positive “spin” to being catty. The “Tidy Cats Campaign to End Cattiness” campaign kicked off July 27 to debunk misperceptions and celebrate millions of people who happily share their homes – and hearts – with cats. (It is a PR stunt for a company that makes litter trays and the like)

Among Americans polled in a national survey sponsored by Tidy Cats:
....

58 percent regard people with more than one cat as “crazy cat ladies"

A second part of the survey polled non-cat owners. Their responses:

  • 75 percent of them report multiple cat owners’ homes as smelly
  • 85 percent of them report these cat owners’ beds and furniture are fur covered.
  • 66 percent of them report these cat owners’ homes as being cluttered.

In a poll aimed at people who have more than one cat, the results reveal:

  • 96 percent view themselves as being caring and loving
  • 90 percent see themselves as being generous
Etc etc.

And the best bit: "Nearly a quarter of multiple cat owners surveyed admitted that they would like to eliminate the "crazy cat lady" stereotype and prefer terms such as "cat lover" and "animal lover."

Does that mean the other 75% revel in the term? CCL pride, mebbe?

Can't say I would want a cat, as I have a minor allergy to pet hair, but am happy enough to engage with friends' mogs at least until I get scratched, bored or my eyes start streaming. If they make folk happy, fine - it's none of my business. I have been known to propagate the CCL idea indirectly by referring to a woman I knew thus -'and she has eight cats. You fill in the blanks'. That tended to prompt knowing nods.

JuliaM has pointed out this excellent action figure, which assuredly merits the edit:


And there's a 'are you a crazy cat lady?' test here.

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posted by Croydonian

Where to get your dead duck put on life support

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
An interesting survey over at World Public Opinion, covering interpretations of the recession etc etc. There is a lot of interesting stuff in it, but for now I will focus on this question:

Do you think that, in the current financial crisis:
A - The government should use public funds to help large manufacturing companies in trouble because if they fail it damages the general economy and too many people lose their jobs.

Or B - The government should not use public funds to help large manufacturing companies in trouble, because they are likely to fail anyway and the economy will be more vital if weak companies are allowed to fail.

And the Americans are the keenest on letting the survival of the fittest, with 70% opting for B. We manage a fairly creditable 36%, with hawks to be found in Kenya, Taiwan, Honkers and Indonesia, all at 40%+.

Dead ducks can look forward to a long and fruitful afterlife in Ukraine, Nigeria, Turkey, China and Pakistan, with 70% in favour of bail outs.

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posted by Croydonian