RESEARCH

President Sarkozy is a big disappointment _______________ Mathieu Mercier _______________ L ast year, during the presidential election in France, facing Nicolas Sarkozy was another candidate, a woman. France, it seemed, was not yet ready to elect a woman as the head of their state. Ségolène Royale was being criticized in every public forum, sometimes quite unfairly. People thought she was too naïve and, hence, unfit to govern France. Sarkozy thus emerged as the other — the only viable — option left. Among other things, his oratory skill was largely noticed and appreciated. His experience as a seasoned lawyer came in handy! More importantly, Sarkozy’s past record as an administrator was clean. It was not surprising that the French thought he was the only person capable of governing France after years of rule by extreme and moderate socialists. However, with time Sarkozy started disappointing his voters with his mistakes, some of them seemingly intentional. He was also seen as a callous

________________ Surajit Dasgupta ________________ ( Click on the headline for details of cognitive behaviour therapy for hypochondriasis by the Journal of the American Medical Association ) The reproduction of this article in this blog has been provoked by a frequent topic of discussion at this writer's workplace: health profiles of the respective speakers. It amuses me, hailing as I do from a small town where I grew up leading a carefree and yet disease-free life, as to why the people living in big cities are often unduly worried about their health Asukh: This film by Rituparno Ghosh showed how the mere thought of a disease can wreck a family ( Published first in The Pioneer on 1 October 2007 ) E ver since The Pioneer published the story, "Indian woman stripped of her job for wearing nose stud in UK" (September 19), I have been trying to eat with my nose and figure out how it could possibly affect my hygiene and that of the people whose company I keep. Jokes apart, wh