Queen Margot tells the President he's off the point...

By    John Garner on  Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Summary: In an article in Liberation today, Margot a student in Toulouse says with humor "Chirac ... Il est hors sujet" (he's off the point). This is a term some teachers used with a sort of wicked delight when I was at High School here in France "Votre Dissertation est hors sujet" they'd say : "Your […]

In an article in Liberation today, Margot a student in Toulouse says with humor "Chirac ... Il est hors sujet" (he's off the point). This is a term some teachers used with a sort of wicked delight when I was at High School here in France "Votre Dissertation est hors sujet" they'd say : "Your essay is off the point" in an attempt to crush the student's moral. It's really amusing reading in a national newspaper, about, Margot, a student (not a queen), talking about the president of France in this way.

Early this morning the first details that nearly all newspapers published was that there weren't as many teachers or transport workers on strike and that less people were demonstrating than on the 28th. By this afternoon similar stories with a "there weren't as many people on strike" approach was prominent in most online additions to the day's news. By 3 o'clock there were stories appearing about the fact that universities/students were showing signs of more radical approaches. Then finally after around 4 o'clock the online stories were describing demonstrations with most probably as many people demonstrating as on the 28th. After 5 o'clock Liberation titles "les défilés anti-CPE ont rassemblés au moins autant de monde que la semaine dernière" : "The Anti CPE marches gathered at least as many people as last week"

I don't think I conceive it as any attempt to manipulate opinions but rather the journalists' reserve, making sure the information is correct before publishing. It was however pretty weird to see so many people were marching by compared, to last week and reading that far less people were on strike. I'm guessing this was more to do with the fact that knowing how many teachers are on strike is far easier to follow. On the other hand knowing how many people are going to be marching in the streets, unhappy about losing what their parents and grand parents have fought to obtain, is a lot harder to tell...

Article written by  John Garner

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

One comment on “Queen Margot tells the President he's off the point...”

  1. Am I cynical! It was a lovely day today - warmer as the day went on. People were sitting outside cafes enjoying a drink and a chat in the sun. Last week it poured down.

Recent Posts

Check out the most recent posts from the blog: 
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
The ONHT Framework for Intermediate users

This Intermediate Guide for the ONHT (Objective, Needs, How, Trajectory) Framework transforms you from someone who uses GenAI into someone who thinks with GenAI by adding the missing cognitive functions that current GenAI lacks. The framework works through three critical pillars – Empathy (understanding all stakeholders), Critical Thinking (challenging assumptions), and Human in the Loop (active partnership). Master these patterns and you'll be solving complex problems others can't even approach, becoming indispensable by designing interactions that produce exceptional results rather than just functional outputs.

Read More
Monday, June 16, 2025
The ONHT Framework: Beginners Guide

Stop getting generic AI responses. Learn the four-letter framework that transforms vague requests into precise results. The ONHT framework: Objective (what problem you're solving), Needs (key information that matters), How (the thinking approach), and Trajectory (clear steps to the answer), teaches you to think WITH AI, not through it, turning "analyse customer feedback" into board-ready insights. Real examples show how adding context and structure gets you from Level 1 basics to Level 3 mastery, where AI delivers exactly what you need.
The difference? Knowing how to ask.

Read More
Sunday, June 15, 2025
The ONHT Framework: GenAI Prompting Solutions That Actually Work for People

GenAI tools are transforming work, but most people get poor results because they don't understand how to communicate with AI built on structured data. This guide is a series of articles that teaches the ONHT framework—a systematic approach to prompting that transforms vague requests into exceptional outputs by focusing on Objectives (what problem), Needs (what information), How (thinking approach), and Trajectory (path to solution). Master this framework and develop an expert mindset grounded in human-in-the-loop thinking, critical analysis, and empathy, and you'll excel with any AI tool, at any company, in any role.

Read More
Sunday, September 24, 2023
The reliability & accuracy of GenAI

I question the reliability and accuracy of Generative AI (GenAI) in enterprise scenarios, particularly when faced with adversarial questions, highlighting that current Large Language Models (LLMs) may be data-rich but lack in reasoning and causality. I would call for a more balanced approach to AI adoption in cases of assisting users, requiring supervision, and the need for better LLM models that can be trusted, learn, and reason.

Read More
crossmenuarrow-down