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Tag: Sarkozy

  • Mary-Kate Olsen Dating Former French President’s Bro

    File this under reasonably creepy:

    Mary-Kate Olsen, the girl most of us of a certain age remember as “Michelle” on the ’90s sitcom “Full House”, is dating Olivier Sarkozy. Sarkozy is the managing director for the Carlyle Group, but more importantly, he is the brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Oh, and he’s 42. She’s 25.

    While there’s nothing wrong with an age difference per se, this one is just big enough to raise some eyebrows. Apparently the two have been dating a month and are very happy together, which is all well and good, but still….it’s weird, no? What could two people from two such different generations have in common?

    Although the two stories can’t really be compared, it does bring to mind the controversial marriage of Doug Hutchison and Courtney Stodden, who married when he was 51 and she was 16. Of course, Mary-Kate is obviously in a better position at age 25 than Stodden was to make such decisions, but with such a vast age difference, people are always going to debate about whether or not it’s right.

    I’m just glad she’s not dating Dave Coulier. That would be weird.

    (image) florent gilles
    @florentgilles     What the WHAT? @vinshlor Mary-Kate Olsen vivrait une romance avec le frère de Nicolas Sarkozy http://t.co/9iBEPChs via @voici #wtf
    8 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
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    (image) Paula Froelich
    @Pfro     Mary-Kate Olsen dating Nicolas Sarkozy’s asset manager brother Olivier’ http://t.co/vz7LNtW4 he’s 42. Shes 25. Theyre both nuts. perfection!
    3 hours ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto
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    (image) danprimack
    @danprimack     i will http://t.co/vcbFZufx RT @devinbanerjee: Mary-Kate Olsen romantically linked to a Carlyle MD. No, I won’t provide the URL.
    4 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto
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    (image) Interview Magazine
    @InterviewNews     Mary-Kate Olsen is reportedly dating Nicolas Sarkozy’s brother Olivier—or as we think she calls him, Olivier So-Cozy. http://t.co/SXCCCDOY
    3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
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  • Sarkozy Wants Google, Facebook to Pay Tax in France

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared Wednesday that “Internet Giants” should pay taxes in France, shortly before a meeting with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Sarkozy stated that “it is unacceptable that they have a turnover of several billion euros in France without paying tax,” and suggested that the French government should consider taxing online advertising revenues.

    sarkozy timeline

    Last year French lawmakers rejected the taxation of said ad revenues, fearing it would hurt small, local businesses, more that it would the internet giants like Google, Facebook and Twitter. At this, a Google spokesperson stated that “the Internet offers a wonderful opportunity to generate growth and jobs in France,” and cited a report by management consultant McKinsey showing that said Internet giants contributed 60 billion euros ($78 billion) to the French economy in 2009. The Google spokesperson added, “this positive contribution would have a better chance of coming about in an environment that is supportive of the web in France and of investment in the sector. Public policy should support this,”

    Dorsey was in Paris to meet with Sarkozy, along with other French presidential candidates, where Sarkozy urged Twitter to base their European operations in France. Dorsey responded positively to this invitation, and Sarkozy added that France should not “only be a consumer of digital products, but a creator of digital technology and innovative methods” and noted that both Google and Microsoft had recently opened offices in France.

    One would think that Sarkozy would at least allow Facebook to be off the tax hook, after the company allegedly helped him to design his Timeline.

  • Sarkozy Unveils His New Facebook Timeline

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently unveiled his new Facebook Timeline, and some of his opponents are thinking that Facebook might have helped with this directly, according to France 24.

    Sarkozy’s new Timeline contains roughly 700 pictures, dating back to his birth, and many describe milestones he’d achieved while in office, including reconciliation with Rwanda and aiding earthquake-ravaged Haiti. France 24 goes on to state that “it is perfectly normal that a presidential candidate would only want the electorate to only see his “best bits”, although the new Sarkozy image is still a far cry from his 2007 campaign, in which his private life was placed centre stage.” Sarkozy’s team also put together an album revealing pictures of Sarkozy at a nuclear power plant, a classroom, a diplomatic meeting and various public events.

    Still, France 24 goes on to say “Facebook itself is facing accusations that it sent a dedicated team to meet with the president’s men in order to perfect his online image. Soon after Sarkozy’s Timeline went live on February 10, Facebook’s content director for France Julien Codorniou tweeted that the presidential Timeline was quite impressive.”

    French news magazine L’Express suggests that Facebook was hoping to draw attention to the new Timeline functionality by advising Sarkozy’s team. As it is being rolled out, Facebook’s Timeline has not been universally popular.

    However, Tech Europe speculates that all of this sounds like a slighly flimsy conspiracy theory, and notes that since Sarkozy himself, much like Facebook’s Timeline, is not universally popular, it would not be such a wise marketing ploy to blatantly associate the two. In an email to Tech Eurpose, a Facebook spokesperson finally stated, “we are regularly in contact with numerous public figures, including politicians, for information and advice on how to use our products and services. We give them that help but we remain completely impartial.” Andrew Noyes, manager of Facebook’s public policy communications, goes on to say that “anyone can create a presence on Facebook and we are always pleased to see prominent figures including politicians use our platform to connect with people.”