"The government is embarrassed and can see that the protest is not waning, so they've decided over breakfast at the Elysee to deploy what to me is more of a smokescreen than any genuine progress on the issues people are protesting about," he said.
While the talks are a step forward, analysts cautioned that the preconditions set for higher-level negotiations might prevent any genuine progress.
In his statement, Cardinal Dolan said, "We will affirm any genuine progress that is made, and we will redouble our efforts to overcome obstacles or setbacks".
In awarding the first ever best director Oscar to a woman, and the first screenwriting award to an African-American, this was a night of genuine progress and optimism for Hollywood.
There are, of course, those who go beyond that, and who don't confuse the adoption of a platform with genuine progress (see Portland Communications' excellent soft power ranking for clarity on who).
Advertising copywriters seldom enjoy the pleasure of genuine product news, genuine progress, a real story to tell.
Regardless of whether green rankings serve as a useful indicator of genuine progress, it's clear that most disagreements over green rankings rest with the nebulous concept of sustainability.
Meanwhile, a measure like the genuine progress indicator put out by Redefining Progress tries to include things like time spent taking care of children and doing household work, which are not counted in the G.N.P., and subtracts other items like legal and medical bills, commuting time and money spent on locks and house alarms.
But with the pressure gone, the final draft is merely a democratic window dressing: each time a clause appears to bring genuine progress, another one seriously tones it down – or revokes it altogether.
"I will regard the experiment as a success," he wrote, "if it leads to anything that could count as genuine progress toward an understanding of the problem".
