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DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN has returned to France for the first time since being charged with the attempted rape of a New York hotel maid, in a a scandal that wrecked the former IMF chief’s chances for the French presidency.
New York prosecutors later dropped their case against Strauss-Kahn because of questions about the maid’s credibility, but the affair cost him his job at the IMF and exposed his personal life to worldwide scrutiny that has stained his image and plunged his political future into uncertainty.
Smiling and waving silently, he stepped off an Air France flight this morning at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport – a different man from the one who, just four months ago, had been the pollsters’ favorite to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential elections.
Few expect Strauss-Kahn to return to French politics soon, but his supporters have been eagerly awaiting his return after three months of legal drama in the US that they saw as unfairly hostile to him.
“I’m moved, I always believed in his innocence. I wanted very much for this to be over,” Michelle Sabban, a fellow Socialist Party member, said on i-Tele television.
His wife, respected former TV personality Anne Sinclair, was at Strauss-Kahn’s side as he arrived, beaming widely. Riot police protected him and the area. The crush of reporters outside their home was so thick that Strauss-Kahn had trouble reaching and opening his front door.
The last time he tried to take an Air France flight from JFK airport, Strauss-Kahn was pulled out of first class minutes before takeoff by police. They were investigating the maid’s claim that hours earlier, Strauss-Kahn had forced her to perform oral sex and tried to rape her.
He quit his job, spent almost a week in jail, then six weeks of house arrest and nearly two more months barred from leaving the country before Manhattan prosecutors dropped the case last month, saying they no longer trusted the maid, Guinean immigrant Nafissatou Diallo.
Diallo is continuing to press her claims in a lawsuit. Strauss-Kahn denies the allegations.
A Strauss-Kahn faces another investigation in France over attempted rape, based on accusations by French novelist Tristane Banon. He calls the claim “imaginary.”
Banon’s mother, Anne Mansouret, believes that Strauss-Kahn’s return “is a good thing for my daughter’s complaint because he will have to answer to police.”
Banon says she didn’t file a complaint after the 2003 incident because her mother, a regional Socialist official, urged her not to.
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Step 1: I must stop commenting on every thejournal article
Do work during work hours, don’t do work outside of work hours. Its not rocket science. (Unless you’re a rocket scientist)
Live in a country with sun so you can actually plan things for you and your family to do outside.
No such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing.
This article is spot on. Less of the self pity and make your own happiness.
Sounds like a lot of effort
Good article. Makes sense. Am pausing for thought. Well done.
F that, go on the scratcher and complain about entitlements.
Hard to get a work life balance in this the 21st century. I gave up on it and opted for a work-life *blend*. Far more relaxing and rewarding. Less focus on the *me* and more on the *us*.
One of the best ways to get happiness in ones life is to help others. When we stop being me feiners and help others it’s the best feeling in the world. The more you give to others the more you get back.
Regarding these ‘columns’ . Read headline and move on, you know it makes sense.
A good read..little changes in life goes a long way.
Master Qui Gonn was a top bloke.
Why work unless you are pre deposed to a life more than Jeremy Kyle & Galahad beer!
I am sure there is plenty of people like this!
At the end of the day if you want a work life balance you beed focus , be organised, have a routine, keep moving forward, stop comparing your life to everyone else around you. If something is not working in your life stop complaining and use the energy to fix it full stop
The whole ‘work-life’ balance thing seems to hinge on the idea that you are not living while at work.
Well, seeing as work takes up a large part of our waking time between womb and tomb, I would prefer to be doing something productive and interesting, rather than something that forced me to be a zombie or a robot.
The thinly veiled exhortations in this article: “Be more efficient! Be more creative! Be more organised! Stop complaining! Stop doing stuff you find pleasurable!” sound awfully like the kind of commands issued in authoritarian corporate workplace environments.
Really what the author is saying is that people should do more unpaid work in order to address the problem of not getting paid enough at work. Work makes you free, as a famous sign reads. The difference with this ethic and that of a concentration camp is that at least concentration camp inmates had a bit of company.
Working in the same company for 7 years and in my last department, there was no such thing as work life balance. Transferred to a different department last year and now I can take time off if needed for work-life balance. Sometimes it’s a matter of looking at where you’re working and reassessing this. Not saying its the answer for everything but definitely worked for me.
have your say