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Newt Tests Waters
Another Republican in the Presidential primary race?
Good grief, this is getting ridiculous. On Friday, September 28th former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, announced he will embark on a fund-raising campaign to gauge interest in his candidacy for the Presidency. If he achieves his goal of raising $30 million dollars by October 21st, he's in the race. If this target funding isn't realized, he'll stay on the sidelines.
Prepare For A Euro-Fudge?
How will the Prime Minister wriggle his obligation to call a referendum on the EU Constitution?
Yesterday, conservative newspapers were fishing around desperately for stories likely to boost the sinking morale of Tories and their supporters. Things looked slightly better today, though, as a series of council election votes showed Tories doing better than expected. Indeed, the results led some reporters to speculate that plans for a snap election in November could be shelved.
Tories should take heart that for all his strategic triumph over the opposition, Brown's self-confidence must be a fragile thing if it surges and collapses so easily in the face of opinion poll fluctuations. Labour insiders say that the famously cautious PM is agonising over whether to leap for an election now, with his ratings high but nervy, or wait, when he may have more solid support, but could face an economic downturn.
There's also the issue of Europe.
Tories Set For Defeat
Return to your constituencies and prepare for oblivion
With a General Election possibly weeks away, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has outmanoeuvred the opposition Conservative Party on every front. On crime, immigration and the economy - areas one would imagine the Tories would be able to seize the initiative - the new PM has left his opponents floundering.
It's not all down to Brown's strategic brilliance, however. The Tories themselves are as much to blame.
Airbrushed From History
Photos taken at Bournemouth Beach, where the Labour Party is holding its annual conference.
Via The Telegraph, originally by Guido.
Check out Simon Hoggart's sketch of how the police aren't the only ones trampling inconvenient truths: After 13 years as party leader, Tony Blair barely merits a mention at this year's party conference.
The Devil's Bible
A 13th century Bible once claimed to have been written with the aid of the Devil has been returned to Prague after 350 years.
At 92 cm tall, 50 cm wide and 22 cm thick, the Codex Gigas ("Giant Book") is the largest extant Medieval document in the world. It was created in a Bohemian monastery in the early 13th century. Legend has it that a monk was sentenced to death by being walled up in the monastery. To escape punishment, he vowed to create something which would glorify the monastery for eternity. He is said to have sold his soul to the Devil, who helped him create the 75kg book in a single night.
Returning Troops Snubbed
Practically none of the British troops returning from Afghanistan or Iraq this autumn will be greeted with homecoming parades organised by their local councils.
Woah! Holy Sh*t!
A convoy on the Hershey Bypass in Iraq. Some colourful language, which is fairly understandable given the circumstances:
Sarkozy On Appeasement
France's Nicolas Sarkozy: "There will be no peace in the world if the international community falters in the face of nuclear arms proliferation."
"Iran is entitled to nuclear power for civilian purposes", he said, "but if we allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, we would incur an unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the world".
"Weakness and renunciation do not lead to peace. They lead to war."
Via Yahoo
Iran New York Fallout Continues
Ahmadinejad: Mad, wicked or misunderstood?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to New York continues to dominate the European and US papers. After his controversial turn at the Columbia University, the Iranian President gave a much more fiery speechat the United Nations, where he declared the issue of Iran's nuclear enrichment program "closed."
Germany To Build Maglev Railway
Europe's new age of the train continues apace. France opened a TGV line to the eastern reaches of the nation and Germany in June. November sees the opening of the high-speed line between the Channel Tunnel and London's beautiful St Pancras. And this week, the German state of Bavaria announced that it had found funds to build a 37km high-speed Maglev service between Munich's city centre and its airport.
Turkey Off The Euro Map
Turkey has been wiped from the map on a revised design of the two-Euro coin, it was claimed yesterday.
Toy Safety Symbol For EU?
Concerns about the safety of imported toys have led to calls in the European Parliament for a new Europe-wide safety symbol.
Jock The Lard
Who ate all the Bridies? Scotland has the second highest level of obesity in the developed world, according to a new report. Only the United States has a higher level of obese adults.
The figures, released by the Scottish Executive, show not only the worrying link between obesity and serious disease in Scotland, but also reveals that childhood obesity has developed at an alarming rate.
Magna Carta For Sale
The only copy of the Magna Carta in private hands goes on sale in Sotheby's, New York in mid-December. A foundation owned by billionaire and former US Presidential candidate Ross Perot is selling his copy of the 13th century document, described as "the most important document of all". Perot bought his, one of seventeen said to survive, in 1984 for $1.5 million. The sale is expected to raise $20-$30 million.
Oktoberfest Underway
The world's biggest beer festival began at noon in Munich on Saturday, when the Mayor cracked open the first barrel with the Bavarian words "O'zapft is!" (it's tapped!).
Between now and October 3, over six million people including nearly a million foreign visitors are expected to eat, drink and be merry in a continuation of the 200-year old Bavarian tradition. In that time, they'll drink 6 million litre mugs of beer, eat nearly 220,000 pairs of sausages and nearly half a million roast chickens.
Ahmadinejad, Bad And Dangerous To Know
Here's Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telling students at Columbia University New York that there are no gays in Iran:
It's something that doesn't happen over there, apparently.
Surprise Of The Day
Another from the "You don't say" files: British students work fewer hours than their counterparts anywhere else in Europe, a new survey says.
And media studies students work the fewest hours of all, with only 19.4 hours per week on average.
Quote Of The Day
From the "You don't say" files:
"A completely different type of democracy is evolving in Venezuela and Aló Presidente symbolises it" - Colin Burgon, British MP and chairman of Labour Friends of Venezuela.
Burgon was singing the praises of Hugo Chavez's weekly television broadcast, which this week broke political television records, weighing in at 8 hours.
Sarkozy And The Human Bomb
Sarkozy in 1993, speaking to cops as the "Human Bomb" case played out.
Even Sarkozy's history is dominating the press. In May 1993, as Mayor of the swish suburb of Neuilly, Sarkozy stepped in to solve a hostage crisis. Erick Schmitt, calling himself "HB" - the Human Bomb - strapped explosives to his body and entered a nursery school. He issued a set of crazed demands. Police surrounded the school. Sarkozy, who was 38 at the time, entered the school and negotiated with the madman. He left shortly afterwards with some of the children, unharmed. The police entered the building and killed the hostage-taker.
Now, a "television-documentary" has been made about the crisis.
Is France Broke?
Last Friday, EURSOC reported on how French journalists were complaining that they couldn't keep up with the relentless activity of President Nicolas Sarkozy. We're beginning to get an idea of how they feel.
It has been another busy weekend for the President. He gave his first interview to the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times, and the reporters all-but-said that he clearly wished he was somewhere else.
What's Left?
Iain Dale and Labour historian Brian Brivati have compiled a list of the top 100 most influential leftists in Britain (he loves his lists, does Iain).
Who Do You Think You Are Kidding?
The Sun waited until Britain developed a serious case of election fever before wheeling out its attack on the EU Constitution, which it says that PM Gordon Brown will sign within weeks.
Describing it as Britain's "greatest threat as an independent sovereign state since the dark days of World War II", the Sun says signing the treaty will consign Britain to "a bit part in a 27-nation federal state permanently governed from Brussels by unelected officials and unaccountable politicians."
And it isn't already?
Apples And Oranges
No surprises there, then: Orange has announced, as expected, that it will be selling Apple's iPhone in France.
The statement by Orange's PDG, Didier Lombard, followed iPhone announcements from O2 in Britain and T-Mobile in Germany.
The Sarkozy Blitz
"We're being bombarded" was the complaint from one French journalist on the media schedule of President Nicolas Sarkozy. "We're drowning", another grumbled.
The Head of State is preparing for an autumn of discontent. On Tuesday he laid out his proposals for reforming France's employment laws and special pensions regimes. Wednesday saw him argue that he wouldn't replace 20,000 civil servants due to retire. On Thursday he declared he would take the battle to Europe's Central Bank, calling on it to do more to protect industry. Today he vowed to create a research centre for the study of Alzheimer's disease.
The media, meanwhile, is being tugged left and right by a man one hack described as "the Jimi Hendrix of communications management, a virtuoso."
The Principle of Origins
Here's Rod Liddle on the Commission for Racial Equality as it is merged into the Commission for Equality and Human Rights:
"For the first 25 years of its 31-year existence, the CRE was cheerfully wedded to the notion of multiculturalism, wherein Britain’s disparate communities were encouraged to remain apart and preserve their own cultural values, which were every bit as valid, in a very real sense, as those of the indigenous white majority. At the same time, of course, white working-class communities were urged not to remain apart, but to embrace change, or risk being called racist. It was only with the arrival of Trevor Phillips at the CRE (and coincidentally, the growing suspicion that quite a few members of the Muslim community weren’t entirely on board with this old democracy, equal rights for women business) that this uniquely damaging policy was, almost overnight, reversed. The imperative now is for everyone to integrate, smile politely, and try to share in their collective vision of what society should be like. But having promulgated precisely the opposite view for the last quarter of a century, it seems a bit rich of the CRE to blame the rest of us for having allowed segregation to occur."
Turn Back Time
A fascinating story from Venezuela in the Independent; President Hugo Chavez has, apparently on a whim, decided that his country should adopt a new time zone.
Around Europe
EU Star Wars: France wants to raid the EU's Agricultural Fund for a €2.1 billion bailout for the troubled Galileo satellite navigation project. Eight private investors who had pledged cash to what the Times calls "Europe's biggest white elephant" have pulled out: Paris has won European Commission approval to lift the funds from other sources. Germany and Britain are reported to be outraged. Germany has previously backed cash injections for the project. Britain, however, wanted to stick to the original funding plans, but thanks to Qualified Majority Voting, has found itself dragged along as costs have spiralled.
France and NATO: Should France rejoin the military structure of NATO? The possibility has been touted since Nicolas Sarkozy came to power in May. General de Gaulle huffed out of the western military alliance in 1966 (though France remained in the political structure). Since then France's military has remained independent, but ineffective, argues UK former Europe minister Denis MacShane.
Euro-Wine: Here's one to throw a spanner in the works of France's fiendishly complex Appellation Controllée system of wine labelling. Two winemakers - one French, one German - are joining forces to blend a "cross border cuvée". François Meyer of Alsace and Wolfgang Zähringer, across the Rhine in Heitersheim will cultivate 500kg of Alsace Riesling and Pinot Gris. The resulting bottles will be sold to help the construction of wells in Africa.
Swiss Cheese: Environmentalists are up in arms at plans to add a steel and glass pyramid at the peak of the Klein Matterhorn (which neighbours its more famous namesake). The €100million project has come under fire along with other schemes which critics say will turn Switzerland's mountain landscape into a gimmicky theme park. Interestingly, the architect behind what is touted as "Switzerland's Eiffel Tower" had previously proposed blowing up the Matterhorn to bathe the inhabitants of villages in its shadow in sunlight. Jokingly, we imagine.
Bertrand Cantat to be freed:Noir Desir singer Bertrand Cantant could be freed on parole as early as next month. Cantat, who battered his lover Marie Trintignant to death in a fit of drunken rage, in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2003, was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter in 2004. He was quickly moved to a French prison. The left-wing activist is described by his lawyer as a "model prisoner" - though the family of Mme Trintignant has protested strongly against his release. Marie Trintignant was one of France's best-known actresses.
Pulling The Plug
The plug has been pulled on several British blogs following a letter from one of London's top law firms to their web hosting company. The blogs - by Tim Ireland and former Ambassador to Uzbekhistan Craig Murray - had posted remarks about the Russian/Uzbekh billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, who is trying to buy Arsenal FC.
Better Nude Than Red
Thanks to Guido, here's a look at Polish Women's Party Partia Kobiet, whose members say they have nothing to hide.
Soviet WW3 Plans Revealed
Trans-Europe Express?
Soviet Bloc would send ground troops into nuclear wasteland
A Czech historian working for NATO has uncovered Warsaw Pact plans for a nuclear assault and invasion of Western Europe.
The documents, produced in 1964, lists as many as 131 tactical targets for nuclear missiles are included. They were found by Historian Petr Lunak among Communist-era files in Prague. Dr Lunak claims that the documents were still listed as an option as late as 1986.
Village Backs Referendum
The tiny village of East Stoke, which held a parish vote yesterday on whether there should be a referendum on the EU Constitution, has backed a plebsicite on the treaty.
Over a third of the village's population of 300 came out to vote. East Stoke's "Mouse That Roared" story has inspired communities as far afield as West Yorkshire and Cornwall to plan their own parish votes on the treaty.
Sarkozy's Flat?
A property deal by Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cécilia comes under scrutiny in the French press
There Go The Belgians
British newspapers are gripped by the idea that the nation of Belgium might be about to split in two. The fact that the state, created in 1830 "by the English to annoy the French" has gone without a government for 102 days means to some correspondents that its days are numbered.
The Mouse That Roared
The Dorset village of East Stoke (pop 369) has put itself in the front line of the debate on the European Constitution. Thanks to a local byelaw, it looks set to hold a vote on whether or not its citizens should be allowed a referendum on the European Constitution.
Turkey's PM Wants To Lift Headscarf Ban
Only weeks after the election of moderate Islamist Abdullah Gul as President, his party colleague Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for the removal of a controversiala piece of secular legislation: The ban on female students wearing headscarves in universities.
Turkey's secularists worried that Gul's election would remove the country's last democratic obstacle to Islam-inspired legislative change: Gul responded that he would rule for all Turks. However minor the proposed change appears to westerners, the PM and President are sure to be condemned for pushing forward an agenda of "creeping Islamification" in public life.
PM: It's Mugabe Or Me
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown has confirmed that he will not attend December's Europe-Africa Summit in Portugal if Zimbabwe's Premier Robert Mugabe is there.
Writing in the Independent, Brown said "I believe that President Mugabe's presence would undermine the summit, diverting attention from the important issues that need to be resolved. In those circumstances, my attendance would not be appropriate."
France Seeks New Moscow Relationship
France's diplomatic chief Bernard Kouchner is in Moscow today visiting his Russian counterpart. Kouchner, who has startled observers with his tough line on Iran's nuclear weapons program, plans an equally confrontational approach with the Russians, who he has criticised for human rights abuses.
Sensitive Souls
The ever alert Damian Thompson publishes a list of the ways Britain's fearless artistic community has censored plays and television programmes that might offend Muslim sensibilities.
"Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, has said that he would not put on a play attacking Islam unless it was by a Muslim," is one example of the self-censorship gripping the newly sensitive thesps, who rarely baulk at offending Christians.
It's only the tip of the iceberg.
A Mighty Father
A film on the life and death of American journalist Daniel Pearl premieres in the UK this week. Starring Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart follows Daniel's wife Mariane as she seeks to discover the truth about her husband's murder by Islamist extremists in 2002.
Daniel Pearl's father Judea believes that A Mighty Heart will remind the world of his son's unique character and zest for life. He is concerned, however, that the film-makers draw too many parallels between Daniel's fanatical killers and those in the west who are determined to fight terrorism.
Bush's Pit Bull
An international leader can only truly feel he has arrived when the Guardian's scatologically-minded cartoonist Steve Bell has depicted him (or her) as a vicious warmonger.
Following his hard line remarks on Iran's nuclear weapons program, Nicolas Sarkozy is the latest victim of Bell's acid ink. Because of Tony Blair's loyalty to George W Bush, Bell drew him as a psychotic poodle. Sarkozy, however, gets the pit bull treatment.
Missiles Over The Middle East
Controversy and rumour still surround the Israeli air attack on targets in Syria. Meanwhile, Israeli reports suggest that Iran's missile claims are a bluff.
Very little is still known about the Israeli attack on targets inside Syria on September 6. The Israeli Prime Minister has refused to discuss the attacks, noting that Israel "cannot always show its cards."
What is just as unusual, however, is that Syria has barely mentioned the attack either. Indeed, an Israeli insider is reported to have said that only rarely have Israeli and Syrian interests been so closely in tandem.
Sarkozy Draws Battle Lines
France's President has laid out the next stages of his controversial reforms program, this time taking aim at the hundred of thousands of state employees who retire earlier than almost any other Europeans.
Trade union leaders have vowed to plunge France into chaos in order to protect their members' right to retire at 55 - some railway workers can even leave work on a full salary as young as 50. Sarkozy says this is inadmissable: But how does he plan to bring the public sector in line?
iPhone Launches In UK
November 9 set as launch date, Jobs declares
Apple boss Steve Jobs gave details of the iPhone's arrival in Britain at a special press conference at Apple's Regent Street shop in London.
The long-awaited, much hyped gadget will be available on the O2 network for £269 - that's over $530 (the US iPhone costs only $400). It hits the shelves on November 9.
French Foreign Minister: "Prepare For War" With Iran
France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday that the world needed to "prepare for the worst, which is war" in confronting Iran's nuclear programme.
Kouchner was speaking as the UN Security Council five plus Germany are preparing to draft a new resolution on sanctions against Iran, which continues to defy UN calls to halt its uranium enrichment programme. China and Russia have resisted tougher measures against Tehran; Kouchner and President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent remarks demonstrate that the new regime in Paris is determined to take a hard line on the nuclear programme Tehran insists is purely for civilian purposes.
France's chief of diplomacy appeared to echo the US line that diplomacy and negotiations are the preferred means of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said that negotiations must go on "right to the end" but added that an Iranian nuke would be a "threat to the entire world." Earlier in September, Sarkozy spoke of two catastrophic outcomes - Iran having a bomb, or Iran being bombarded.
Iran has already denounced what it calls the "extremism" of Sarkozy and Kouchner.
School's Out For Good
Teachers in the northern French city of Béthune are still reeling after a young girl brought a rather shocking item into school for class discussion.
Immigration: Another 20m Invitations?
The European Commission is studying proposals to bring another 20 million economic immigrants from Africa and Asia over the next two decades.
Currently, there are 18 million non-EU residents in the European Union: The new proposals, if enacted, could more than double this. Europe, the Commission said, "has to compete against Australia, Canada, the USA and the rising powers in Asia.”
In a brilliant stroke of EU Newspeak, the Commission proposes to drop the word "immigration" with its "dark associations" from the discourse and replace it with "mobility."
On The Prehistoric Menu...
Snooty foreigners, including a certain former President of France, who turn up their nose at British cooking might be interested to hear that the UK has a long history of producing dodgy dishes. A team from the Centre for Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff spent the summer trawling through archaeological findings and historical records in a hunt for Britain's earliest recorded dish. It has emerged that the unappetising prospect of nettle pudding is what awaited our earliest ancestors at the end of a day in Prehistoric Britain, 6000 years BC.
Thoughts On Radical Islam
On October 11, London's ICA hosts a talk by author Martin Amis and journalist Andrew Anthony on writing after 9/11, the rise of radical Islam and its effect on the Western imagination.
The New Establishment
Last week we reported on Peter Oborne's vision of how the people he describes as "the political class" have tried to hollow out the conventions of the British state over the past decade. EURSOC added that this class only really flowered under Tony Blair's premiership.
In this week's Spectator, Oborne extends his analysis to look at how the new establishment - the Political Class - came to replace what used to be called The Establishment, "the mechanism through which power was exercised in this country." It's worth reading.
Digital Echo
French newspaper goes electronic
France's Les Echos has released an "e-paper edition" - a first for a large circulation newspaper.
Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know
Wonders will never cease. Two interesting stories in the Independent in one day! They focus on two very different celebrities. The first concerns Zimbabwe's premier, Robert Mugabe, who appears to have become a chart-topper as well as a nation-wrecking tyrant. The second has a look at weather a certain George Gordon, Lord Byron, merits the title of Greatest European of the 19th Century.
One of Mugabe's speeches has been sampled on a new record. It's called Beitbridge, is by a fellow going by the name of Nonsikelelo and, as the Indie reports, Zimbabwe's radio stations have been ordered to play it.
German Sex Scandal
Earlier this week, Germany's European Commissioner Günter Verheugen was telling Britons that they could continue to use traditional weights and measures.
Turns out that the only length Verheugen should have concerned himself with was the one he was (allegedly) slipping to his mistress.
Drefyus Revisited
Melanie Phillips has the best overview we've seen of the latest developments in the Muhammad al-Dura case. A focal point of the media war against Israel, Muhammad al-Dura was the boy apparently killed by Israeli fire during a gun battle in September 2000. Several academics and journalists say the boy could not have been killed by Israeli soldiers - others say his "death" may have been staged.
Merkel To Sarkozy: Hands Off
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear that she does not relish being kissed and pawed every time she meets France's Nicolas Sarkozy.
The French President has cultivated a touchy-feeling relationship with his German counterpart, tutoyer-ing and embracing her like a long-lost friend since even before he became President. Frau Merkel - a studious East German minister's daughter - appears to have put up with the Latin Sarkozy's affections at the outset, but has become increasingly weary of his affections.
Belgium, Norway Or Quebec?
Speculation that Belgium's Walloons and Flemish might have had enough of one another have cast new light on the desire of some Scottish Nationalists to break away from the UK (and the hope on the part of many Englishment, it appears, that they get a move on).
French Rugby Team Face Firing Squad
Entertaining news from the Rugby World Cup. On Saturday, hosts France met Argentina in the opening game. In lieu of the typical team talk coaches give their first fifteen, France's coach Bernard Laporte asked a player to read from the final letter 17 year old resistance hero Guy Moquet wrote to his parents the night before his execution by a Vichy firing squad in 1941.
Sarkozy's Year
Time magazine has a portrait of French President Nicolas Sarkozy on its cover this week. Perhaps it is a rehearsal for the "Man of the Year" issue (well, can you think of a better choice?).
The cov er story looks at the President's first four months through the eyes of French political commentators, who outline the challenges facing Sarko over the following months and years.
Poland Holds Up Death Penalty Day
What are "European values" anyway?
Britain's government must be slipping Poland a few quid here and there to draw some flak on the UK's behalf. After all, isn't Britain supposed to be the leader of Europe's awkward squad? That title has to go to Poland, which since it joined the EU in 2004 has gone out of its way to remind Eurocrats of the folly of trying to get the continent to speak with one voice.
Russia Tests "Environmentally Friendly" Bomb
Russia claims to have tested an air-delivered bomb four times more powerful than the American "Mother of all bombs". Video footage shows a payload being dropped from a Russian Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber, followed by a massive blast. Images of what western observers claim to be flattened apartment blocks were broadcast afterwards, as the presenter gushed that the weapon "has no equal in the world."
Imperial Brussels
Only joking!
Last week, reports of even greater divisions between Belgium's Dutch and French halves led to fevered speculation that it might be time for the Belgians to call it a day and announce a Czech-Slovakia style "velvet divorce."
Perhaps surprisingly, rumours that Belgium might some day split into two separate nations doesn't seem to worry Eurofanatics that much. Some arch-federalists are reported to speculate that it would be no bad thing. Brussels, as "capital" of the European Union, might then be granted a kind of "District of Columbia" status within Europe - a separate status befitting a federal capital...
McCann Story: European Media
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann and the subsequent naming of her parents as suspects continues to dominate the headlines.
A quick check of Google News for various countries shows Britain with 3184 recent stories on Maddie's disappearance, France with 1014, Spain with 1300, Germany with 810 and the Netherlands with 513. In Sweden, it continues to be the top story, with 129 links; It is also the top story in Portugal, understandably, with 650 news headlines. Across the pond, AP is listing stories about the McCann affair as the "most read stories" on many US newspaper websites.
Public interest is clearly intense; however, criticism is coming from some quarters about the level of media investment in the story of Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
Give An Inch, Take A Mile
Commissioner attacks British press as EU announces it will not pursue "abolition" of imperial measurements
The European Commission has confirmed that it has abandoned its demand that Britain phase out its system of weights and measures within the next three years. Newspapers are describing the change of direction as a victory for Britain's "metric martyrs" - a group of traders who risked criminal convictions for their refusal to trade in metric measures.
The Death Cult
On the sixth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, Martin Amis continues his excellent series of essays on the Islamist mindset with an investigation on how exposure to militant Islam's "Cult of Death" has changed western society.
Following a bruising experience as a guest on the BBC's Question Time, he writes, "Given the choice between George Bush and Osama bin Laden, the liberal relativist, it seems, is obliged to plump for the Saudi, thus becoming the appeaser of an armed doctrine with the following tenets: it is racist, misogynist, homophobic, totalitarian, inquisitional, imperialist, and genocidal."
Indie In The Sin Bin (Again)
Another day, another made-up story in the Independent. The Independent on Sunday, which along with the daily newspaper has been running a campaign against Wi-Fi, published a triumphant story proclaiming that Germany's government has said that people should avoid using Wi-Fi "wherever possible" because the risks it may pose to health.
The German ruling "puts the British government to shame", the newspaper's environment editor breathlessly reported. It will "shake the industry and British ministers", the Indie gloated, "and vindicates the questions that The Independent on Sunday has been raising over the past four months."
Except that it won't and it doesn't.
Left Calls For Referendum
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is coming under pressure from the left to call a referendum on the EU Constitution. In the Sunday Times yesterday, Gisela Stuart - a Labour MP who was the British representative on the Constitution's drafting committee - argued the case for a referendum. Today's Guardian has columnist Jackie Ashley claims that not only does the new treaty merit a referendum, granting one would seal Gordon Brown's attempts to be seen as "straight dealing" with the British people.
"British Jobs For British People"
Can you imagine David Cameron trying this on? Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a crackdown on immigrant workers, while pledging to create "British jobs for every British worker".
Brown's plan is twofold. First, migrant workers from outside the European Union will face tougher tests. The Independent reports that they must speak, read and write English to GCSE grade C standard (which is hardly reassuring). The points system which filters potential workers according to the demand for their skills is to be toughened up, too.
The second part of the scheme is a series of measures designed to put jobless Brits on the "fast track" to employment.
Choose Your Candidate
Hillary, Obama, Rudy, Mitt... the front-runners for next year's US Presidential election are hardly inspiring. Who are you backing? If you haven't made up your mind, try this very clever Candidate Calculator, which chooses the candidate who most closely matches your viewpoint.
Like many other people who voted on the site, EURSOC Two is advised that Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel (D) is the man for us. No, me neither. But still, er, Run, Mike, Run!...
Quote Of The Day
The Spectator's Rod Liddle isn't looking forward to the Rugby World Cup - a game "almost wholly devoid of skill", he writes. He's got it in for other sports, too:
"In rugby, the act of scoring is three a penny, it is all too easy. It is just one step ahead of that most ludicrous of all sports, basketball. In fact, basketball is the only known sport which is improved as a spectacle when played by paraplegics."
Miranda Called To Rights
Just what exactly is Celia Walden saying in today's Spy gossip column (Daily Telegraph)?
"Just what was Clarissa Dickson-Wright suggesting about Tony Blair in an interview in this week's Spectator? The bombastic Fat Lady used to be a barrister at the time young Anthony Blair began practising at the Bar.
""He was a few years younger than me, but I remember him well. He was very glib, a chancer and, you know, he wasn't really respected by anyone of my generation. Everybody used to say, it's just as well he's going into politics because he'll never succeed at the Bar. We used to call him 'Miranda'."
"Because he was a bit wet?
""No, no. Remember that scene in The Tempest when Miranda sees the sailors? Well then. He got on conspicuously well with all the male junior clerks. Everybody knew it.""
Extremism On The Rise In Europe
Islamist no-go areas in Belgium, British mosques run largely by fanatics
More evidence is emerging of the deep roots Islamic extremism has planted in European cities. Today, a British newspaper claimed that "around half" the country's mosques are in the control of followers of a hardline cleric who preaches armed jihad and hate for the west.
Heart Of Darkness?
It's a depressing old business, reading the Independent newspaper. In between predictable Fiskoid tripe about how Hezbollah doesn't use human shields and piss-on-your-bonfire stuff about French rugby's Nazi past, there's alway some environmental doom and gloom and an obligatory column on the wickedness of European civilisation.
Today's paper doesn't disappoint. A Swiss flag flies on the cover, lined with a list of accusations in a style the Indie usually reserves for the USA and Israel. What could put this prosperous centre of neutrality in the company of the Independent's Great and Little Satans?
Here, There And Everywhere
Nicolas Sarkozy seems to be in ten places at once
While we at EURSOC are keen on France's new President, we are wary of dedicating this blog to his activities. However, it is difficult to avoid covering Super Sarko as he appears to be generating most of the news in France, if not Europe these days.
Ségo Heals Her Wound
Ségolène Royal hasn't been far from the headlines since she was defeated in the Presidential election in May, but this week saw her most active publicity campaign since the election. In an attempt to secure her position as the left's cover girl, she granted an interview to Paris Match, where she lays out her plans for the future - and how she intends to rebuild her private life since throwing her partner of 25 years, François Hollande, out of the family home.
Steve Jobs Apologises To iPhone Buyers
One of the stories behind the headlines after Apple unveiled its new iPods on Wednesday was the news that the company knocked one-third off the price of its 8GB iPhone model, bringing it from $599 to $399. The iPhone had been on sale only since June, and already it was being discounted: Many "early adopters" were furious.
Sensing a disturbance in the Force, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has published an open letter to iPhone buyers, offering a $100 voucher to anyone who paid the previous rate for the phone.
Around Europe
European headlines today:
Britain's foreign minister confirms UK support for Turkish membership of the European Union.
The London-Paris Eurostar breaks speed records for transport between the city centres.
Italy's health ministry has confirmed an outbreak of Chikungunya virus in Ravenna, in the Emilia Romagna region. It is transmitted by mosquito bites.
Environmentalists complain after the BBC drops plans for an "Earth Relief" day, following criticism from senior figures in the corporation.
Britain comes 17th in a world Quality of Life index: Norway, Iceland and Australia top the list, with the US 8th and France 16th.
Complaints follow reports that British public libraries are stocking Islamic terror books
An all-party group in Britain's parliament campaigns for a referendum on the EU constitution
New Privacy Concerns
Two new privacy concerns from wildly different sources today. First, there was outcry after a senior judge remarked that every Briton and all visitors to the country should have their DNA details collected and added to a database. Then, news that fast-growing social networking site Facebook plans to make the details of its users available to search engines and non-registered users.
New iPods From Apple
Still no word of European iPhone release
Apple updated its phenomenally successful iPod line yesterday. Both the best-selling iPod Nano and the iconic iPod "Classic" received an ugrade and makeover, but the top billing went to the iPod Touch - a touch screen media player with wi-fi web browing capability.
English To Pay For Scots Education?
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has proposed education legislation which would lead to English students in Scotland having to pay for their courses, which Scots would receive a university education for free.
According to the Telegraph, the Scottish Nationalists' proposals would mean that the English, the Welsh and the Northern Irish would be the only students paying for further education in Scotland. It would be free to Scots, to EU nationals and to the children of asylum seekers who have been in Scotland for more than three years.
Abramovich Buys A Super Jumbo?
Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, has become the first private client to order an Airbus A380 "Super Jumbo".
The 40 year old Russian oligarch, who is estimated to be worth around $18.7 billion, is reported to be the mystery client who forked out around $300 million for the double-decked four engine aeroplane.
Run, Fred, Run
EURSOC's US correspondent Chris Timmers reports on the latest candidate to enter the race for the Presidency.
Well, things, as they say in Britain, are hotting up (we say "heating up" but no matter) with respect to the possible Presidential candidacy of Fred Thompson, former US Senator from Tennessee. We have been told that this evening, at midnight, Eastern Standard Time (5 Sep) Fred will announce his candidacy on a television talk show.
The Hollow State
The Daily Mail's political commentator Peter Oborne has a new book out later this month on rise of Britain's political class; "an arrogant, out-of-touch alliance of MPs and other insiders who ruthlessly pursue their own interests, ignoring the public good."
His newspaper has been serialising parts of the book, which argues that the political class "encompasses lobbyists, party functionaries, advisers and spindoctors, many journalists, and increasing numbers of onceindependent civil servants. All mainstream politicians of the three main parties belong to it. Gordon Brown is a member, so is the Tory leader David Cameron."
Lurching To The Centre
It has been a busy week for Britain's Conservatives. Earlier, leader David Cameron faced some embarrassment following the resignation of deputy treasurer Johan Eliasch, who complained that by nodding to issues of immigration and crime, Cameron was playing to right-wingers on the "fringes." A day later, party grandee Michael Ancram complained that because of his obsession with holding the centre ground, Cameron risked "losing the soul" of his party - a soul Ancram says is based on traditional values, reward for hard work and opposition to closer union with the EU.
Titan Rain Falls On London
Chinese hackers - possibly from the military - have been targeting British government offices, a newspaper reports.
Computer networks in Britain's Foreign Office and House of Commons were among those hit by what officials are describing as a "constant ongoing problem."
Massive Terror Plots Foiled In Germany & Denmark
Police in Germany and Denmark have foiled two major terror plots - one of which may have been timed to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11 2001 attacks.
German police said that three men were arrested yesterday: They were reported to have 700kg (1,500lbs) of bomb-making chemicals. German papers are reporting that two of the men are German citizens; the third is Pakistani. Under surveillance for six months, the three are said to have trained in Pakistan terror camps. They were targeting US interests in Germany, such as the Ramstein Air Base, as well as nightclubs used by US citizens and military. Frankfurt International Airport - one of Europe's busiest - is also said to be on the target list.
Sarkozy And The Death Penalty
Father of abused boy says Sarkozy supports capital punishment
The father of a five year old boy kidnapped and raped by a recently-released paedophile has claimed that Nicolas Sarkozy confided to him that he, too, supported the death penalty for paedophiles.
Russia's Arctic Firing Range
In another move which seems calculated to raise tensions between Moscow and its former Cold War rivals, Russia has announced plans for 12 bombers to practise firing cruise missiles over the Arctic circle.
The bombers - Tupolev 95 "Bears" - will take off from five bases in what Moscow describes as a "tactical exercise" before the missile test. Russia recently staked a claim for much of the ocean floor lying under the Arctic circle, while other nations bordering the region also have territorial claims which may overlap with Moscow's.
Off The List?
North Korea claims it is no longer on the Axis of Evil
Following discussions on winding down North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, the Pyongyang government has told reporters that the US has taken it off the list of states who sponsor terror. The North Koreans claim that the US is about to lift sanctions on the nation, too.
What Is The Taliban Doing With Chinese Weapons?
UK investigates Iran link
The BBC reports that London has "complained privately" to Beijing after British soldiers have recovered Chinese-made weapons from Taliban fighters.
Socialists Look For Leadership
Rivals set out bids for leadership as leading figures avoid conference
These are not good days to be a French Socialist. The party hasn't won a Presidential election since 1988 and unlike other European left-wing parties it has failed to come to terms with many of the realities of the modern world. And it doesn't look as if there is anyone capable of uniting the party as a force to combat France's hyperactive and popular new President, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Oddly-Shaped Balls
The Rugby World Cup begins in France this month
The French are bracing themselves (but pointedly not strapping on helmets or protective armour) in anticipation of 2007 which kicks off in four days in the Stade de France north of Paris, when the host nation takes on Argentina.
Twenty nations will take part in the competition, which runs until October 20, when the finalists will meet in St Denis once again. Many in France are wary of claims that the hosts will beat sides like New Zealand's mighty All Blacks and win the tournament, as the French football team did in 1998. Nevertheless, the authorities are doing their best to stir up interest in a sport that until recently, was an obsession mostly in the nation's South West.
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Concerns about British racism are way off the mark
One of the Conservative Party's deputy treasurers had an attack of the vapours and resigned his post following leader David Cameron's "move to the right." Businessman and environmental campaigner Johan Eliasch was unhappy with Cameron's recent attention to traditional Tory issues like immigration, tax cuts and lawlessness.
The Tories owe Mr Eliasch over 2.5 million quid.
Besides the embarrassing timing, one has to wonder how brittle Cameron's support is. Long-suffering party traditionalists have put up with their new leader's incessant courting of the mainstream media's centre ground because of the promise of more votes. But Mr Eliasch's resignation makes it look like some supporters of the leadership are willing to break with the party the moment Cameron dips a toe outside the narrow centre ground the BBC and the Guardian have defined as acceptable territory for campaigns to be conducted on.
Cameron's statements weren't racist, Mr Eliasch. Nor, for that matter, is the candidate for London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, who Labour supporters are desperate to depict as a colonialist throwback. What would centrist Tories make of this? It's Ueli Maurer, President of the Swiss People's Party SVP, with the party's campaign poster. The SVP is currently the largest party in Switzerland's lower house, with more than a quarter of its 200 seats.
