Monday - July 02, 2012

slag heaps join pyramids as a world treasure says socialist mayor. unesco agrees.

If I have any problems with the French, they are few and most likely minor.  Hmmmm. I need to give that last one more thought.
Thing is, generally I don’t have much that I make fun of.  I let Drew and the rest of you folks have all the fun at French expense.  Although, now lets be honest people, not all of it is fair.  Unless LyndonB says it.  If Lyndon says something snarky, something really sarcastic, then you can take that to the bank.  I haven’t known him to be wrong on anything yet, even when he called me to task once or 2wice. 

I’m sure the French must wonder from time to time, why it is they come into so much criticism. Ah.  Perfidious Albion. Right?
And from time to time we do make them the butt of our jokes. (And that street isn’t one way)

Well here is an example Dear France, and I recognize you’re not alone in the silly stakes, why we sometimes shake our heads in wonder.
Yes, I can understand the why of the decision by local politicians to bring this about.  I may think it’s bonkers but I may also be wrong.
However, to equate the pyramids of ancient Egypt to a 400 foot slag heap is going a bit over the top. And it’s that comparison I have issues with.

And then there’s UNESCO who approve. Now there is a really loopy group.

France’s slag heaps join Pyramids on list of UNESCO world treasures

The slag heaps of France’s northern mining region have become the latest, unlikely addition to Unesco’s world heritage list, rivalling global wonders like the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and the Pyramids.

By By Henry Samuel, in Paris

Local politicians hailed the inclusion of the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin on the coveted list as a victory for the depressed region still struggling to recover from the demise of its three centuries-old coal industry.

They hope the new title will turn the region’s slag heaps, but also its mining pits, railway stations, workers estates and mining villages into tourist attractions that will boost the local economy.

Unesco defined the region as an “organically evolved” cultural landscape, part of a list of “distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely representing the combined work of nature and of man”.

The 120km-long “landscape” includes 87 mining villages, 51 slag heaps, some of them covering 90 hectares and exceeding 140 metres in height.
Included in the site are its specially-designed mining schools, religious buildings, health and community facilities, company premises, owners and managers’ houses and town halls.

In their sales pitch, mining campaigners wrote: “Unesco celebrates the pyramids built by the pharaohs while some slag heaps, the fruit of miners’ labours, are just as high!”

They also argued that the heaps were environmental oases: “These coal mountains are natural places that shelter an extraordinarily rich ecosystem. They were long presented as a negative symbol, but today they have their role to play.”

Martine Aubry, the mayor of Lille and Socialist Party leader hailed the decision as “a tribute to all those who worked to develop our economy, our industry, often at the cost of their health or their life.”

more

Socialists just love things like Soviet tractor factories and slag heaps. Which is where socialists belong imho.

Posted by peiper     on 07/02/2012 at 08:46 AM   
Filed Under: • FRANCE •  
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