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Spies In The Sky
Coming to a sky near you - hopefully without missiles
They're watching you on CCTV cameras. They're sifting through your emails, your web history, even your rubbish. They're following you as you drive your children between home and school. And next, they're going to be circling overhead, keeping an eye on people as they go about their business in British cities.
The government is drawing up plans to adapt the unmanned "drone" aircraft used to spot Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters on the Afghan-Pakistan border for use in Britain. This will be the first time the drones will have been used by a government against its own citizens.
Gold Medal For Censorship
Keep this symbol for the 2012 Games
As thousands of journalists prepare for the Beijing Olympic Games, it has emerged that visiting hacks will not be allowed the same freedoms in China as they may enjoy at home. Chinese officials admit that internet access for reporters will not be completely uncensored.
"This Is My Moment"
You never know who's going to stab you in the back
More radicalism promised as Labour hopefuls jockey for position
"This is my moment." This is what Labour's Deputy Leader Harriet Harman is said to have squawked as she watched results come in from the disastrous Glasgow East by-election.
She has since issued a denial of the claim, but insiders claim she sees herself as a plausible candidate to replace Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.
She would be, it is reported, "the women's candidate."
Meanwhile, young pretender David Miliband defied Brownite whispers that he wasn't up to the job by publishing a recovery plan for the government.
Mediterranean Diet Takes A Knock
An endangered species?
Greece is the word for obesity, says new survey
The British regularly figure at the top of Europe's obesity and overweight tables. We may be tipped at the scales by the Americans and the Aussies, but the EU at least, the British have a reputation as chip-munching lardbuckets. If only we could convert to the healthy Mediterranean diet, nutritionists moan, our health problems would disappear along with our wobbly bottoms.
Indeed, Spain, Greece and Italy have been pushing Unesco to place the healthy Mediterranean diet on its World Heritage register, identifying it as part of the common cultural heritage of the region.
Unfortunately new figures show that even Mediterraneans are tiring of sun-dried tomatoes and sheep's cheese and reaching for extra large helpings of chips.
Cheap At Half The Price
The Mercer Survey, an annual comparative study of the most expensive and cheap places to live in 143 cities across the globe tells us that for the third year running Moscow tops the chart. Poor London takes second place.
Red Planet
"I remember when all this were pits"
Nice post by Greg Hands on Conservative Home on the left-leaning bias of Lonely Planet guidebooks.
Disloyal Courtiers
Will Brown's empire stumble in the Tuscan hills?
Following a weekend of coup speculation, Labour MPs have made a grand show of declaring their support for embattled Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
While the general consensus seems to have settled on the opinion that Brown's job is safe because no one wants it badly enough, some commentators claim that plots are still afoot as the governing party begins its summer break.
Quote Of The Day
"In January, Bush will be history, leaving liberals all alone in a frightening world. Little else will change. Radical Islam will still authorise murder without limit, Iran will still want the bomb and the autocracies of China and Russia will still be growing in wealth and confidence. All those who argued that the 'root cause' of the Bush administration lay behind the terror will find that the terror still flourishes when the root cause has retired."
- Nick Cohen, "Why Bush has been a liberal's best friend", The Guardian.
Europe's Untouchables
A fascinating article in the Independent on the Cagot people, a mysterious group who endured centuries of prejudice in western France. Between the 13th and 18th centuries, the Cagots were limited to a few trades and had to use separate church entrances: Breaking the taboo could lead to grisly punishment. No-one is quite sure why.
Browned Off
Newspapers "debate" Labour succession; PR Man David Cameron shows that "crisis management" can sometimes mean managing the other team's crisis
Much discussion in the papers about Gordon Brown's future, following the by-election loss of the safe Labour seat Glasgow East. Over the weekend, we've seen claims ranging from the bizarre to the frankly ridiculous.
One paper reported that Jack Straw's supporters planned to urge the Prime Minister to stand down to allow their man to become "caretaker" PM until the next election. Never mind that Straw doesn't have any supporters, do they believe that the British people would tolerate a second appointed Prime Minister?
Sarko Heads For Sun
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy's summer holidays are more promising, for him, than his Christmas break.
At the end of 2007, France's Presidency took on the characteristics of a surreal soap opera. The new President, who enjoyed unprecedented popularity, was divorced by his troublesome wife Cécilia - a first for the Elysée. Within weeks he was stepping out with famous supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni. He accompanied La Bruni to Disneyland Paris, and then frolicked with her on the beaches of a swish Egyptian Red Sea resort. Rumours of engagement flew; shivering back home, the French watched their standard of living drop and fumed. Sarkozy's ratings fell at a dizzying pace.
He started January as France's most unpopular President in decades.
Human Sacrifice, EU-Style
EU expects Irish PM to throw himself on grenade
Ireland will vote a second time on the EU's Lisbon Treaty, probably in the Spring of next year. This was the line delivered by President Nicolas Sarkozy both before and during his flying visit to Dublin last week - and, as Daniel Hannan reports, it is also the belief of the Irish punditocracy.
Indeed, there's a precedent for asking the Irish to reconsider. They rejected the Nice Treaty in 2001 and the government, having secured get-out clauses on things like Ireland's contribution to any EU defence force, called another referendum in 2002, which was duly won by the pro-Europe camp.
However, Irish taoiseach Brian Cowan may face political ruin if he asks his electorate to vote on Lisbon a second time.
National Union Of Fascists
A new poll suggests that one third of British Muslim students believe that it's OK to kill for Islam if the religion is under attack (important, this). The opinion poll, conducted by the Centre for Social Cohesion, also indicates that a third of these students support the establishment of a worldwide Caliphate; believe that men and women shouldn't mix; and believe sharia law should be enforced in Muslim communities.
Mark Twain Would Be Sad
The last queen of the Mississippi is going to her grave in November.
Her name is the ‘Delta Queen’, the only active 19-th-century-style real paddle-wheel steamboat travelling up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in the United States.
Burqa Brouhaha
These are tough times for the ‘Burqa’ in France. A Burqa is defined as a loose garment, usually in black, with distinctive veiled eyeholes, covering the whole body, worn in public by Muslim women.
Last week France’s ‘Conseil d’Etat’ (Council of State) rejected the Burqa.
A Place In The Sun
The European Commission's Institute for Energy is studying proposals to build "solar farms" covering an area the size of Wales in the Sahara and Middle Eastern deserts, claiming that 0.3 percent of light falling on these regions could provide the EU with all its energy needs.
The scheme has the backing of Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, it is reported. Combined with "EU windfarms" in the North and Baltic Seas, the continents energy needs could be met with natural energy alone: Some nations, like Britain and Denmark, could export power to needy countries further south.
It is costed at just under £36 billion (€45.5bn) and would involve laying cables under the sea between Morocco and Spain and Sicily and Tunisia. The "daunting" costs reported in the Guardian also include restructuring the entire infrastructures of "transfer" nations such as Greece and Turkey.
Funny Honey Trap
Hilarious stuff from Guido today. Over the weekend, papers carried the story of a "top government adviser" and "senior Downing Street aide" who was picked up by a sultry Chinese girl in a nightclub while part of the official visit to China in January.
The hapless aid fell for the oriental temptress and she accompanied him back to his hotel. The following morning, he discovered that the lady had vanished - and made off with his BlackBerry. "Sensitive official information" and access to Downing Street email servers could mean that British security was compromised. "A senior official said... that the incident had all the hallmarks of a suspected honeytrap by Chinese intelligence", the Times reported.
Dead Ringers
Archbishop, is that you?
Archbishop or arch-villain?
Here's the first photo of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, arrested yesterday and currently en route for a Human Rights showdown at the Hague.
Karadzic was reported to have lived on the run for nearly a decade, moving among a series of safe houses in the mountains to elude his UN pursuers. It now appears that these guerilla tales - mostly reported by foreign hacks who arrived in Serbia hoping to track down Europe's most wanted man - were bollocks.
Europe Round-Up
Venice going under: Rising water levels are bad enough, but if current trends continue La Serenissima will soon face a shortage of Venetians. High prices and lack of basic shopping have driven locals off the islands, leaving many properties to rich foreigners.
Mafia splash the cash: Things are changing at the other end of Italy, too. The three biggest mafia clans control interests worth over ten percent of Italy's GDP - add the drugs trade, and you could double this sum.
Carla Everywhere
No fewer than three French weeklies with La Bruni on their covers. Point de Vue, with its coverage of obscure Euro-Royals, is one of EURSOC's favourite publications, but connoisseurs of cringe will adore this week's Paris Match, which features the Amazonian Carla perched on her diminutive husband's knee in what must be one of the most unusual official photo shoots in the history of the French Presidency.
Britain Ratifies Lisbon Treaty
Britain has put the final touches to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
The Sun reports on the the arcane ritual which saw Britain sign up to the treaty.
"Under the UK’s ratification process, both houses of Parliament must pass the treaty.
"The Queen then gives Royal Assent, and signs goatskin “instruments of ratification” along with the Foreign Secretary.
"These are then sealed, bound in blue leather, and deposited with the Italian ministry of foreign affairs in Rome.
"A spokesman for the Foreign Office said all these stages had now been completed."
Damn Lies And Statistics
Ultraviolent Britain
Do I believe the government, or my own lying eyes? That's the question millions of Britons are asking themselves this week as the government issues figures claiming that crime has tumbled dramatically since Labour came to power.
In Vino Veritas
As any intelligent person knows, red wine is good for your health. It makes no difference if it is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir or Sangiovese.
The new good news is that drinking red wine helps those - who are partial to eating red meat - is a serious aid to digestion. Basically the tummy likes the combination.
Oops He Did It Again
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams caused yet more controversy last night when he said in a letter that Christian doctrine was "offensive to Muslims."
It follows his comments earlier this year in which he suggested that elements of Sharia Law be implemented in Britain.
This time, in an interfaith missive, he identified the Christian belief in the Trinity as being "difficult, sometimes offensive" to Muslims, who believe in a single indivisible God.
Africa, Elvis, Jesus And Coca-Cola
What is the most popular music in Kenya and many other parts of Africa ? Reggae ? No. Elvis. What is the most popular god in Kenya and most other parts of Africa? Krishna? No. Jesus.
The Freedom Agenda
Conservative frontbencher-turned-liberty campaigner David Davis won reelection last week with a thumping majority. The press gave the election scant coverage, preferring to concentrate on a Glasgow East election which could seal the fate of PM Gordon Brown.
Only the left-leaning Independent gave Davis serious leader column treatment, while the BBC ignored his acceptance speech. Curiously, a truncated version of this speech appears on Davis own website. Cranmer publishes the whole thing, which we reproduce here.
"First, may I thank the returning officer, his officials and the police. I would also like to take the opportunity to commend the other parties that contested this election. One of the freedoms I defend is the right of anybody to stand in a democratic election. By and large this has been a courteous and entertaining campaign. I thank everyone for taking part. Four weeks ago, I resigned my position as Shadow Home Secretary, and Member of Parliament. Not for personal gain. Not for political advantage. But to defend a principle. The doubters said it couldn’t be done.
"You can’t win a by-election campaigning for freedom. You can’t shift public support for 42 days.
"You can’t spark a national debate, they said… people just don’t care about British liberty. And yet, 3 weeks on, we’ve sent a shot across the bows of Gordon Brown’s arrogant, arbitrary and authoritarian government. We’ve galvanised a new consensus … across the political spectrum … beyond the world of politics. A new resolve. A new spirit of freedom. A fresh sense of purpose.
Sir Bob On Liberty
Bob Geldof wrote a stunning column for today's Daily Telegraph on the betrayal of British liberties taking place under the current government. Geldof, best known as the man behind Live Aid, has turned his attention to the campaign of David Davis to put a stop to the government's anti-liberty agenda, specifically the 42 day detention act, but, as Geldof writes in his article, the principle can be applied to the entire range of surveillance measures introduced and planned, from ID cards to email and website intercepts.
It's a very welcome intervention, not least because the supposedly Tory press has reserved particular venom for Davis' rebellion, painting him as a dangerous eccentric liable to destroy the opposition's big lead in the opinion polls by "splitting" the party and distracting attention from leader David Cameron. Davis has built up a true cross-party support for his stance, from libertarians like Geldof to old-style Left-wingers like Tony Benn. Yet the best the British press can do is snipe at the man's ambition - for daring to put country before his party!
We're reproducing the entire article below, but do check out the Telegraph, in particular its comments section following Geldof's piece.
Don't let 'Brave New Britain' remove our fundamental rights
Today's by-election in Haltemprice and Howden is not normal. It is extraordinary.
The people there are not being asked to consider the competing policies of government and opposition. They are being asked to think about who we are, what we stand for and whether we will continue to be the country built by previous generations. This is a fight about how much of our liberty the state can remove, before it changes who - and what - we are.
France's Other First Lady
They're coming to take me away, ha ha
Spare a thought for defeated Presidential candidate Ségolène Royal. Rather than going gently into the good night of political obscurity following Nicolas Sarkozy's win last spring, Mme Royal has become something of France's madwoman in the attic.
First their was her much-publicised separation from Socialist Party Chairman François Hollande, who had been fooling around with a flame-haired TV temptress. Then leading figures in her party attacked her for failing to defeat Sarkozy (despite polls indicating that she was the only plausible character in the Socialist Party who had a chance of doing so). Then Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë positioned himself as the "natural" leader of centre-left, a position she coveted.
She hasn't done herself any favours, though, ranting against Sarkozy's Presidency at every opportunity to a diminishing number of people willing to listen. Following the release of FARC terror hostage Ingrid Betancourt, Ségo soured the party by criticising Sarkozy's role in her release (or lack of it) - a complaint that earned her censure from press, her party and the public alike.
Carla Quality
EURSOC has been banging the drum for the fragrant Carla Bruni since before Christmas, so it's with some satisfaction that we note the mainstream media continues to catch up. The Daily Telegraph gives a track-by-track review of her new album - we don't think Bob Dylan, U2 or Michael Jackson have ever been afforded this tribute. As well as traditional reviews, the Guardian publishes a lengthy blog on the subject matter of the CD, again on a track-by-track basis. The media circus in France which has accompanied the release of Comme Si De Rien N'Etait is also noted.
Human Proportions
Following on from yesterday's story on plans for high-rise developments in Paris, EURSOC came across this fascinating article on British classical architect Quinlan Terry.
Terry has become something of a hate figure for the modernist architectural establishment for his quiet insistence on traditional architectural styles: The vocabularly of western European classicism, solid natural materials, buildings which complement their surroundings and, above all, working with human proportions. This latter feature has been a characteristic of western (and particularly British) architecture for centuries but has been deliberately played down by modernist gurus who see people and communities as little more than cogs in the machine.
High-Rise Paris
Architects have warmly welcomed plans by the Socialist Mayor of Paris to build high-rise towers within the perimeter of the city. Green campaigners, conservatives and the public aren't too keen, however.
It's Hungry Out There, So Finish Your Plate
At the recent gathering of G8 leaders at the prestigious Windsor Hotel on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, there was much anguish.
This get-together was billed as 'the world food shortages summit'. The heads of state and prime ministers of the eight most rich and powerful countries on earth debated ways to combat spiralling prices of foodstuffs in the world and increasing starvation for millions around the planet. There was considerable discussion about detrimental famine in Africa. And talk of water shortage.
Mind Games
What's got into your head ? Ever since the pre-war days of Sigmund Freud, only psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts claim to know what is going on inside your mind.
Firestarter
A stunning image of a Vulcan bomber taking to the skies from the EU Referendum Blog. Your correspondent remembers one of these flying over his house when he was a small boy, and the sight - and the sound, oh the sound! - of it never leaves you. This is the Vulcan's first air show appearance in 15 years.
This bomber is said to be the only one of its kind still flying and has recently been restored by a team of devotees. An estimated 125,000 people watched its flight from the International Air Show.
From the Waddington air show: More photos on the EU Ref's other site, Defence of the Realm. More on the restoration of this amazing aeroplane here.
Coming Off The Fence
Britain's most Europhile newspaper, the Financial Times, urges Conservative leader David Cameron to end his posturing and come up with some policy.
The FT says Cameron needs to make tough decisions on issues such as the 10p tax rate and the expansion of Heathrow airport. The newspaper also calls for a new line on the Conservatives fraught relationship with the European Union.
UK Sharia "Vital And Inevitable"
Another top British barrister has called for elements of Islamic Sharia law to be introduced into the UK.
Former chairman of Britain's Bar Council Stephen Hockman QC said last week that "It is vital and inevitable that sharia will become part of British law in some shape or form.
"Given the world situation and our own substantial Muslim population it is vital that we now look at ways to integrate Muslim culture into our own traditions... Otherwise we will find that there is a significant section of our society which is increasingly alienated, with very dangerous results."
A European On The Moon
Blueprints uncovered by British reporters show France plans to bolster the European Space Agency's mission.
The BBC reports that France wants to wrest control of ESA from the bureaucrats currently running it, and bring it under the control of nations. If Europe doesn't take its space program more seriously, it warns, it risks falling behind China, India and Japan's efforts to explore the final frontier.
France feels that a manned mission to Mars would be a suitable goal for the EU's space program to aim for.
Sarkozy Show Continues
Once again, Nicolas Sarkozy's antics have hit the headlines. This time, he's grumbling that an employee of the French state television company where he was being prepared to give an interview failed to respond to his polite "Bonjour."
We Report, You Decide
At times I wish my elderly cellphone had a camera feature. Here's a nice Paris street scene. A few weeks ago, your correspondent spotted an anti-advertising "activist" vandalise one of the publicité displays erected by advertising company JCDecaux in exchange for funding the city's successful Velib bicycle rental scheme.
The vandal, who looked like a cabbage-patch kid, lifted the glass casing, pulled out the poster within and reversed it, after scrawling "Mort au pub" ("death to advertising") and other anti-capitalist slogans on the poster.
The Pain In Spain
Spain won the Euro 2008 Championships, one of the better international football competitions of the past few years. There seems to be general delight in the press at the success of Europe's perennial underachievers: Despite boasting one of the continent's finest leagues and arguably its two best club sides in Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain hadn't won a major title since 1964.
But why did sports reporters across the globe have to curse Spain's victory by claiming that it "united a divided nation?"
Cringe
Surely this gem, plucked from obscurity by England Expects, deserves a wider audience. A song for Europe from some of the Europe Youth's most cultish young federalists.
Don't be fooled by the nicely-filled t-shirt in the opening frame... it's a classic EU honeytrap!
A Euro-Headache For Sarkozy
Paris lit the Eiffel Tower blue during the party to celebrate France's presidency of the EU, but Nicolas Sarkozy woke this morning with a Presidential-size hangover. Not only has Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel given him a dressing-down for his "Sun King" aspirations for European leadership, but Poland's President Lech Kaczynski has refused to sign the EU's Lisbon Treaty following Ireland's rejection of the treaty.
Kaczynski said it would be "pointless" to sign the treaty, even though Poland's parliament ratified it last month. A conservative nationalist (often at odds with Poland's government), he is said to be keen to defend the EU's principle of unanimity on major issues. Treaties can only enter into force if approved by every member state; Ireland has said no, so Lisbon cannot be passed.
"If one breaks the rule of unanimity one time, it will never exist again," he told a Polish newspaper.
Still Smoking In Holland
The smoking ban has come into effect in the Netherlands. But what of Amsterdam's many "coffee shops", where cannabis is a speciality?
Anglican Church Split
Commentators are describing the formation of a new "Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans" (FOCA) as the creation of a global church, which could see the end of the Archbishop of Canterbury's spiritual leadership over millions of Christians.
Archbishops, mostly but by no means all from the Anglican community in the developing world, vowed to rescue people from the forces of "militant secularism and pluralism" created by a "spiritual decline."
The press describes FOCA as "conservative evangelicals": Both this group and newspaper commentators describe the ordination and consecration of gay American bishop Gene Robinson as a focus point for the formation of the church. However, their concerns run deeper than the issue of gay clergymen: The mainstream Anglican line on social issues, the relationship with the Islamic world and its apparent "thrall" to contemporary culture drove many developing world Anglicans to break with Canterbury.
