Joan Z. Shore was born in New York City, graduated from Vassar College, and has lived most of her life in Europe. She has been the Paris correspondent for CBS News and Voice of America, and has written for The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and numerous magazines. She co-founded Women Overseas for Equality (Belgium) and currently gives lectures and workshops on her book, "Saging -- How to Grow Older and Wiser".

Blog Entries by Joan Z. Shore

Cowbells and Minarets

2 Comments | Posted December 1, 2009 | 04:53 PM (EST)


It is not merely ironic: it is simply ludicrous that an ethnic group that denies equality within its own ranks demands equal treatment and respect from a host country.

I am referring, of course, to the Swiss vote opposing the erection of more minarets, and the cry of...

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The Wages of Fear: Alibis and Lies

6 Comments | Posted November 23, 2009 | 05:39 AM (EST)


Had it been a Christian or a Jew who slaughtered thirteen people in one mad frenzy, I doubt there would have been much psycho-analysis of the murderer and his motives. It was a ghastly criminal act, period.

But the murderer is a Muslim, and rather than examining...

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The Happiness Myth

1 Comments | Posted October 16, 2009 | 10:03 AM (EST)


So women are not as happy as they used to be.

That's what Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers claim in their much-touted book, The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness.

Let's first define "happiness," because even our founding fathers, in the Declaration of Independence, simply said it was "an...

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Polanski's Arrest: Shame on the Swiss

732 Comments | Posted September 27, 2009 | 09:41 AM (EST)


I've had it with the Swiss.

I used to admire them -- their clean, orderly, decorous way of life. Their stubborn independence and self-reliance. I forgave them for the years they never joined the United Nations, and even now, not joining the European Union.

When I learned,...

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God and Man and Mohammed at Yale

4 Comments | Posted September 10, 2009 | 04:57 PM (EST)


Sometime in the Fifties, William Buckley, Jr. wrote a scathing essay about his university called "God and Man at Yale." He was deploring the free-wheeling liberalism of his alma mater: its "godless" academic tradition.

What would Buckley think of Yale today? The Yale University Press is releasing...

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Walter: Everywhere and Forever

Posted July 23, 2009 | 07:07 AM (EST)


A lot is being written about this wonderful man who has left us, and there is little that I can add. But my memories are very precious.

We met just over 30 years ago, when I was a junior correspondent in the Paris bureau of CBS News....

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Burqas: When Religion Trumps Citizenship

31 Comments | Posted July 2, 2009 | 10:04 AM (EST)


Perhaps even more than America, France insists on the separation of church and state. France also strongly defends women's rights. Today, these two principles happen to coincide: girls in public high schools are not allowed to wear headscarves, female excision is outlawed, and so, too, is bigamy (although many Muslim...

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Clueless in Iran: America's Déjà Vu All Over Again

5 Comments | Posted June 25, 2009 | 05:16 AM (EST)


I am personally intrigued by what is going on in Iran these days. And I am amused by America's bemusement. Here's why.

Almost 31 years ago, in the fall of 1978, the Ayatollah Khomeini was granted asylum in France. He set up his modest headquarters in Neaufle-le-Chateau, a...

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Susan Boyle Superstar

Posted April 22, 2009 | 05:46 PM (EST)


At the risk of alienating everyone on the planet, I am going to raise my voice against the Susan Boyle phenomenon.

Not against the dear woman herself, but against the manipulative media that shot her to stardom. And the millions of crazed people who now see her...

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Be My Virtual Valentine

Posted February 14, 2009 | 07:07 PM (EST)


I have decided this year to ignore Valentine's Day.

At least, the real Valentine's Day, replete with candy, cards, flowers and candlelit dinners.

I am going to fire up my imagination, and my libido, by exploring love on the internet. At Match.com, I am told there are no...

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Champagne for Obama

Posted January 21, 2009 | 04:54 PM (EST)


France opened its heart to America yesterday, and Paris opened the doors of its magnificent City Hall to a jubilant crowd of 1,300 -- mostly Americans -- to watch the inauguration ceremony, transmitted live by CNN.

The flags of France, America, and the city of Paris flanked the enormous screen...

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Paris Toujours: A Reply to Roger Cohen

Posted December 18, 2008 | 08:41 AM (EST)


On December 8, Roger Cohen wrote in The New York Times about how much Paris has changed since he lived here in the seventies. He says it hasn't changed for the better; I have to rebut him.

True, Roger, the city has changed. Evolved, I'd say....

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Obama, In Black and White

Posted November 11, 2008 | 06:23 PM (EST)


As the world exults over America's election of a black president, something seems to be missing.

What is missing is Obama's white American mother, Ann Dunham, who loved and married a black man from Kenya and gave birth to his son.

In the preface to his book, "Dreams...

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The French Have a Word for It: "Formidable!"

Posted November 5, 2008 | 01:04 PM (EST)


Not since 9/11 have I felt so conspicuously American, here in Paris, as I feel today.

But back then there was shock and sympathy; today there is admiration, congratulations, joy.

Last night I attended a huge Election Night party held -- in all places...

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The Virtual Economy

Posted October 1, 2008 | 05:41 AM (EST)


Economics is neither a science nor an art -- it's a tool, and like any tool it can be used to create or destroy.

It can also become rusty, broken or obsolete.

And that's where we are today, peering in confusion into a toolbox...

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John and Sarah: APalling

Posted September 15, 2008 | 07:52 PM (EST)


There's a lot of spin out there, and the way things are going, Sarah Palin may end up looking like Mother Teresa. With five kids and a gun.

There must be a few good reasons to vote for her. Let's see -- as vice president, she wouldn't...

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McCain: Gambling With America

Posted September 1, 2008 | 01:05 PM (EST)


God doesn't play dice with the universe, said Einstein. But John McCain is playing dice with America.

In a move that startled even his fellow Republicans, he has picked a running mate who couldn't be less prepared to be vice president of the United States --...

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Obama in France: La Vie en Rose

Posted July 26, 2008 | 04:48 PM (EST)


Much to Barack Obama's credit, he is not acting presidential on this European tour. He said it in Berlin, and he repeated it Friday in Paris: "I'm not here as a presidential candidate, I'm here as an American senator."

He met for an hour with French president...

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Obama's FISA Fiasco

Posted July 11, 2008 | 11:14 AM (EST)


I'm afraid it had to happen -- after inspiring us with promises of change, of honesty in government, of civil rights and respect for the law, Barack Obama has caved in.

His vote in favor of the new FISA law is not merely disappointing, it is shameful. Here is...

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Gay Day or May Day

Posted June 30, 2008 | 02:37 PM (EST)


It's Saturday, June 28 - I'm going to get into trouble for writing this, but here goes:

Like many other big cities around the world, Paris is holding its Gay Pride parade today. As (bad) luck would have it, the phantasmagoria is stomping along right under my...

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