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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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
The Remaindered Revolution
Some vaches are still sacred. The anniversary of the May 1968 riots provoked a great deal of nostalgic reflection among France's chattering classes. Some daring thinkers challenged the official view of the événements, claiming that the "revolution" was mostly a middle-class protest against stifling social conservatism, rather than the the entire sixties condensed into one month's turmoil, as its participants like to claim.
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!
The Real Crime Figures
The British government claims that crime is falling, pointing to figures which show a decline in incidents, despite horror stories in the press. However, many suspect that not only does the government massage its own figures, but the vast majority of incidents go unreported.
More Communist Jokes
The Times has more Communist era jokes:
Q. "Why do the KGB operate in groups of three?"
A. "One can read, one can write and one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals."
The Disappearing Files
Peter Hitchens has some good stuff on New Labour's Ageing Trots in his Mail on Sunday column.
In an echo of what EURSOC has been saying for a year about how this government is "radical, ideological and extreme", Hitchens writes "This is the most revolutionary government since Oliver Cromwell, dedicated to overthrowing the moral, social and cultural order of this country."
Snobbery Is Alive & Well
Footballer Wayne Rooney married his childhood sweetheart Colleen McLoughlin last week. The wedding, which took place in Italy, was said to have cost the couple five million quid. British newspapers sagged with details of the cost of the rings, costumes for family and friends and entertainment.
Sadly, the coverage was dominated with barely concealed class-based sniping about the background and taste of the couple.
What Are They Doing There?
Peter Hitchens says that British troops should leave Afghanistan: "No member of the Government has ever explained why they are there. This is because they do not know, and also because they don’t have the courage to admit they have made a foolish mistake."
Should Brown Throw Caution To The Wind?
Labour supporters in the press know the game is up; Gordon Brown will lose the next election, Labour is likely to be decimated and condemned to a decade, at least, in the wilderness of opposition. The Project will be over.
Hence calls from some in the ranks urging Gordon to ignore polls and the Daily Mail and spend his final two years as Prime Minister pushing through a radical agenda both he and his predecessor Tony Blair were too frit to introduce before.
Tom Waits For No Man
We know times are hard at the Independent, but we didn't think they'd be passing off month-old blog postings as front page stories.
Today's Indie boasts an interview with singer Tom Waits, conducted by Waits himself. It's very entertaining; Waits is always good value. Except that this interview has been on Tom Waits' own website since May 20.
Quote Of The Day
"(Hate Crime legislation) is used today as a new, fundamentalist arm of political correctness, designed to punish anyone who might say anything which might inflame the tender sensitivities of an endless succession of groups which feel they have been somehow put upon and therefore need redress. You can be accused of a hate crime in Birmingham these days, apparently, for suggesting that Jesus is the one true Prophet and the son of God. Or to advance the opinion that you aren’t too keen on buggery, all things considered. Or even be threatened with prosecution for a hate crime for suggesting — as I did — that Geordies are, by and large, thick. None of these things are crimes at all — they are matters of opinion, based upon faith or upon observable evidence or, in the case of the Geordies, both. Meanwhile, to incite violence against a racial group is not a hate crime either — it is a crime, pure and simple.
"And finally there are our evangelical Christians, with whom I agree about almost nothing. The one religious group which can, with some authority, claim to be speaking on behalf of the faith which formed the cultural mindset of this country has somehow become the most vigorously persecuted and least protected. If you doubt this, ring your local council and tell them you want Christian-only swimming nights at your local leisure centre and see how long it is before the rozzers are banging on your door with their arrest warrants."
Rod Liddle in the Spectator. The Spectator has really going from strength to strength over the previous year or two; one gets the impression that British conservatives are having fun for once, rather like the way the right wing US press was in its pomp between 2002-2006. Even though Liddle's a lefty.
Private Equity Forest Fires
Wall Street and the City's Masters of the Universe are stalking Europe, stomping on pension funds, eviscerating established businesses, bidding on the price of basic commodities to send them spiralling beyond the means of ordinary workers.
Says who? German populist Franz Müntefering, who famously compared speculators to locusts? France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will be using France's stewardship of the EU to press for a cap on executive salaries? A left-leaning British newspaper columnist such as Polly Toynbee, urging Gordon Brown to scupper the speculators in order to persuade voters of his socialist credentials?
Nope: The column "How the Masters of the Universe are murdering the middle class by gambling on black gold" appeared in yesterday's Mail on Sunday, the quintessence of Tory Middle England.
Which People's Party?
An interesting column from EURSOC favourite Denis MacShane MP in the Telegraph yesterday. MacShane advises Gordon Brown to reduce government spending on wasteful services and pass the savings on in the form of tax cuts. All uncontroversial stuff from a Telegraph columnist, though it's queer to come across a Labour MP calling for that party's "client state" to feel the edge of the blade.
However, one little word leapt from the page: Tax cuts "can be targeted at the indigenous working class, furious at the incessant year-on-year council-tax increases above the rate of inflation," he writes (our bold face). Indigenous?
Quote Of The Day
"A message has to be sent, and our judiciary is failing utterly to protect the public in not sending it. But that, helpful though it would be, would deal only with the present problem. What will deal with the next crop of offenders, now growing up in their patriarch-free communes, larded by the taxes of other children's parents, awaiting their turn to drift out on to "the street" and begin the mind-numbing quest for "respect" - from which the chances now seem to be that they will end up either in prison, or quite possibly dead?"
Simon Heffer, "The Welfare State is behind youth crime", the Telegraph
Little Cause For Turkish Delight
Turkey has a diverse selection of newspapers. This is healthy for any country which is purportedly a democracy. Sometimes it's called 'freedom of the press'.
Little Cause For Turkish Delight
Turkey has a diverse selection of newspapers. This is healthy for any country which is purportedly a democracy. Sometimes it's called 'freedom of the press'.
The Mary Whitehouse Experience
In the 1970s and 1980s "decency" campaigner Mary Whitehouse was a media figure of fun for her vocal criticism of obscenity on television. Mrs Whitehouse saw herself as the last bastion against a "tide of filth" that threatened to spill from TV sets and consume the country.
Racist Attacks In South Africa?
Around twelve people have been killed in a series of mob attacks by South Africans on Zimbabwe refugees. The attackers appear to be inhabitants of the poor black townships around Johannesburg, who fear that Zimbabweans fleeing Robert Mugabe's brutal regime are taking jobs and housing, as well as contributing to the high levels of crime in the neighbourhoods. However, news reports say that immigrants from other African countries, including Mozambique, have also been targeted. The murders appear to be particularly vicious, with one reporter claiming to have seen a migrant burned to death.
French Paper Gets Hiroshima Photos Wrong
On Saturday, France's newspaper of record Le Monde published two previously unknown photographs of bodies in piles, labelling them with the headline, "Hiroshima: What the world never saw." An accompanying column claimed that "American censors covered up images of the victims."
Watching You Watching Us
BBC to public: "It's impossible to hide; It's all in the database."
This is the latest, chilling advertisement from the BBC's TV Licensing wing warning viewers that they cannot escape the tax-funded broadcaster's scrutiny.
Police Apologise For "Fake" Documentary Claim
Another little vignette from Topsy-Turvy Britain. A couple of years ago a Channel Four documentary crew smuggled cameras into a number of English mosques and recorded footage of extremist preachers at work. One called for homosexuals to be executed; another praised the Taleban as "heroes of Islam" for killing British soldiers.
The footage was broadcast under the title Undercover Mosque as part of the Dispatches series.
The documentary caught the attention of the Crown Prosecution Service and the West Midlands Police. Frenzied clerics preaching fundamentalist hatred in the heart of Britain? Surely these are the sort of people anti-hate speech laws ought to be protecting us against. Perhaps the culprits could be deported, as their counterparts are in France?
Unfortunately not. The CPS and Police investigated the film makers, accusing them of selective editing, distortion and "undermining community relations."
Quote Of The Day
"Lunch with the Evening Standard. Am asked how I will appeal to Conservative voters.
"I say I'm a former police officer, Oxford educated, business degree, scrub up well, can put sentences together in an intelligent way.
""Yes," says one of the journalists. "But how are you going to appeal to Conservative voters?""
Great stuff from gay Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, Brian Paddick. Paddick's campaign diary has been published in the Daily Mail.
On With Reform
Gordon Brown has had something of a battering from the British press in recent weeks. However, the local elections, which saw Labour lose hundreds of councils to the opposition Conservative Party, coupled with the defeat of Ken Livingstone by Boris Johnson in the race to become London's Mayor, was something of a wake-up call for Brown's allies in the left-leaning papers.
Not least, of course, because the Guardian campaigned strongly against Johnson and for the left-wing incumbent, Ken... the newspaper is still reeling from the rejection of its man by what it sees as the small-minded Daily Mail reading fascists who inhabit Greater London.
So, thwarted in the birthplace of multiculturalism, it's very quickly back to business as usual - Constitutional reform.
Who Killed Litvinenko?
Was former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko really murdered? The Russian died in London in 2006 apparently from poisoning with the radioactive isotope polonium-210. On his deathbed, Litvinenko told media that the order for his assassination had come from the Kremlin. The British government too blamed Moscow for what amounted to an act of nuclear terrorism on British soil.
All The News That's Not Fit To Print
Recently, the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has called some of his country's daily newspapers "prostitutes". This is the most coarse example of leaders of countries such as Bulgaria, Romania and Russia expressing hatred for what is termed a 'free press'. Basically there is worry at declining media freedom in Eastern Europe.
"The Most Right-Wing Man In Britain"
Hilarious profile of Sir Benjamin Slade in the weekend's Independent.
Sir Benjamin, who is childless, hopes to pass his ancient estate in trust to a distant relation. He has plans to turn this quest for a long-lost heir into a "reality TV" show; the Independent's hack investigates. Despite primly describing Sir Benjamin and his friends as "dinosaurs" the Indie can't help but publish his thoughts on every issue under the sun, from Lithuanian labourers to homosexual peacocks.
Shakira Shakes Her Ass With Number Ten
Blair had Oasis; Brown has Shakira. After launching his premiership with the announcement that he would scorn celebrity endorsements, British PM Gordon Brown is seeking some of Colombian sexpot Shakira's glitterdust. Brown held a conference call with the singer yesterday, when the pair discussed the need for "Universal Education" by 2015.
The End Of Empire
Want to find out about the British Empire? Why not look on the BBC's website? After all, the corporation is not only charged with educating the masses, its global target market encompasses those fortunate parts of the world which once made up the empire.
Brotherly Love
"I'm coming down to burn that church."
That's the chilling phone response from the brother of a 28-year-old London Pakistani who announced to her family that she had converted to Christianity.
The BBC publishes a long feature by former Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist Shiraz Maher on the difficulties facing Muslims who convert to Christianity.
Ken's Propaganda Army
The size of London Mayor Ken Livingstone's taxpayer-funded PR machine has been the subject of some debate in Britain's press and blogs. There are said to more than 30 flacks working for the Mayor's office; more, then, that Prime Minister Gordon Brown is able to command.
One highly critical report (pdf) puts the figure of press and communications staff working at the Greater London Authority as a staggering 173. This figure must include hacks working on the "Londoner" freesheet distributed to the capital's homes, dedicated to Ken's activity.
We can find fifteen on the Greater London Authority's website: Besides two press and marketing bosses and their assistants, the Ken PR office is split into six departments, including Strategy, Transport & Environment, Environment (again); Economic Development; Culture & Community; and "Local Media", "Handling all subject areas covered by local media, providing articles by the Mayor for the local press; women's issues."
What do dozens of PR people actually do all day? With the election date fast approaching, they are busy bees, these PRs.
Pot Calling Kettle
The murder in Italy of British student Meredith Kercher provoked a feeding frenzy of prurient speculation from the press. The sad tale came with an irresistible cast of characters: The beautiful star student, an African barman wrongly accused, a drugged-up black guy who fled to Germany, a posh Italian boy playing dangerous games and most spectacular of all, an apparent femme fatale in the shape of Meredith's American flatmate Amanda "Foxy Knoxy" Knox.
The Power To Destroy Planets
The Guardian publishes plans to build something called the Universitas Leadership Sanctuary in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Don't Mention The War
Further to last month's story about the exhibition of photographs showing life in Occupied Paris, The Independent has a closer look at the background of the photographer, André Zucca.
It seems the exhibition has caused red cheeks in the Paris city hall. The assistant cultural affairs mayor said that it the expo was "embarrassing, ambiguous and badly explained." The mayor's office quickly released a leaflet claiming that Zucca's photographs gave a "distorted" picture of life under Nazi rule.
The work, it added, "chooses to show nothing, or little, of the reality of Occupation and its terrible consequences."
The problem seems to be that Zucca depicted life as carrying on much as normal.
Who Goes There?
Could it be that the Hamas-backed creators of Palestinian children's television are fans of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who?
April Fools Day
April 1 is a time for tomfoolery in the British press. It's been a while since anyone but the most dim-witted reader was caught out by the made-up stories published in the name of April Fools' Day. Instead, the annual fun has become more self-referential, with a wry look at the dominant concerns of the newspaper's readers and the leading stories of the day.
The Guardian, for example, leads with a story by one "Avril de Poisson on how Gordon Brown has appointed Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to head a committee designed to bring more style and glamour to British life.
Fitna For Purpose?
"The default 'blasphemy law' in the UK is now Shari’a, and it is under its absolutes that all religio-political discourse must now be conducted."
Carlamania Continues
Having won over the British, the Sarkozy show has left London, and the President has returned to France to face the trickier task of reforming France's stubborn economy. Throughout the weekend, however, the British newspapers continued to bask in the afterglow left by Carla Bruni.
Sunday supplements were packed with reviews of her fashion choices and advice for women hoping to "get the look"; other features drew parallels between France's first lady, Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly.
The Carla Strategy Pays Off
"God bless Carla" says French PM; EURSOC had her right all along!
Nicolas Sarkozy's state visit to Britain had a number of goals. To present a "rebooted" President on his best behaviour following a series of disappointing polls and to dangle the possibility of a Franco-British engine in the European air, following the President's cool reception in Berlin, were the main hopes of Sarko's team.
A less-discussed, but doubtless important personal aim for Sarkozy, however, was to introduce his new wife Carla Bruni on the world stage as Europe's leading first lady.
It's too early to judge the success of his political aims; to judge by the reception in the British press, however, Plan Carla was a huge success.
Carla Wows Brits
Less than one year ago, two women were giving Nicolas Sarkozy no end of grief. His troublesome wife Cécilia was intent on making his home life a misery, while his Presidential opponent Ségolène Royal had determined, with the aid of the media, to depict Sarkozy as a dangerous extremist who would wreck centuries of French tradition.
Missing In Action
Why does this advertisement on the Daily Telegraph's website for a Telegraph-sponsored essay writing competition not include Northern Ireland?
The subject for the competition is the future of the UK; the prize jury includes robust supporters of the Union such as Conservative MP Michael Gove; the prize is due to be awarded by Baroness Thatcher, who is not renowned for her sympathy for Irish Republicanism. And it's sponsored by the Daily Telegraph, which up to recently was one of the few newspapers in Britain who respected the aspiration of the majority community to remain British. Have a word, please.
Quote Of The Day
"(Thierry) Chopin says France has to define its relationship towards the EU. I would argue that many member states still have to do that – maybe even all of them."
So in other words, there's nothing wrong with the EU: If only those pesky nations would fall into line, things would work perfectly. From a letter in Europe's World complaining about the lack of action towards a common EU foreign policy.
Cheaper Than A Press Officer
Thanks to Gawain of England Expects for pointing us in the direction of the European Parliament's Prize for Journalism.
What's Getting The BBC's Goat?
The BBC has come under fire for showing a pattern of anti-Christian bias. A season based on the experiences of Britain's white working classes led with a drama which suggested that conversion to Islam was the only salvation on offer for the downtrodden poor. This is to be followed by a new drama based on Christ's Passion, in which Judas and Pontius Pilate "appear to be exonerated."
This being the BBC one can only assume a level of studied purpose in this new tack. It is however a strange and dangerous road to take. The boffins who make these decisions at the BBC are not stupid, they know who they're likely to offend. The question is why?
Eternal Students
Every nation has its eternal students, but France seems to specialise in their production. Observers of student protests will notice scruffy thirtysomethings marching alongside fresh-faced youth. Not teachers, as you might expect, but fellow students, who entered higher education a decade or more ago and remained there long after it became undignified to do so.
A Dry White Season
The BBC is broadcasting a series of programmes about the UK's "Lost Tribe" - Britain's white working class. It's called White Season, and it features a series of dramas exploring issues of racism (of course) and community in multicultural Britain.
One drama features a white British girl growing up in a mostly Muslim area of a Northern town. Her (white) father is abusive and utterly unpleasant and her life is tough: However, the BBC comes up with a happy ending. Befriended by a saintly Muslim family, she converts to Islam, converts her mother, and waves goodbye to the vile man about the house for ever.
Room With An Ewww
French landlords are demanding sexual favours from tenants in return for cheap or free lodging, the BBC reports.
No Business Like Gnome Business
Residents of an Argentinian town claim they are being terrorised by a gnome. Or rather a little man dressed as a gnome. Here's some video footage: Can't be a gnome, we can't see a fishing rod anywhere.
The BBC's Blessing
Is the BBC trying to put the Pope out of his job? The route by which sinners might be exonerated has been a fraught historical issue over the centuries. As for the Christian tradition's greatest sinner of all, Judas Iscariot, well, it's safe to say that with the exception of the tormented portrayal of Christ's betrayer in Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation, things haven't moved on far since the fourteenth century.
The Price Of Perfection
How did four grammar schools with "near-perfect" results end up listed as being among the 100 worst schools in Britain, according to the government's new league tables?
A Hero To The Left?
British Labour MP Harriet Harman put her dainty foot in it earlier this week by describing Fidel Castro as "a hero to the left" (though she did add that it was "time for Cuba to move on" - I'm sure they're delighted with her advice.
Freedom House has a few statistics on this hero's marvellous legacy.
A Familiar Landscape
London Mayor Ken Livingstone's animated election ad (currently running on EURSOC, click one of our stories to see it) features a very familiar view (above).
Is Ken a EURSOC reader? Perish the thought. Here's his site, anyway. We prefer our EURSOC chick in the top corner to Ken's newt-like mug.
England's Glory
The Independent recently ran a reader's competition to identify 28 of England's glorious cathedrals. Check out the slide show - it's very easy to forget that England boasts an incredibly rich heritage of cathedrals (61 in total), from the middle ages through to more recent constructions.
The government recently earmarked £2.1 million for immediate repairs to these magnificent buildings via English Heritage. The Independent says that the figure is "seems a paltry sum" but argues that for some cathedrals, it represents the difference between life and death. It is too kind: £2 million is a paltry sum, practically an insult to buildings which have represented English culture for almost 1000 years.
EU-Approved Journalists?
Disturbing news from England Expects on the possibility of the European Commission creating its own European Press Card:
"It could mean that it would be the Commission which could decide which journalist were 'proper' journalists and which were not. I know personally of journalists who have been threatened and arrested on the say so of European officials. They are accused of publishing inaccuracies, they are told that 'what they write does not represent the interests of their newspapers'. I know of newspapers that have had their advertisers phoned by the Commission's legal team with suggestions about how the Commission is represented in the paper, and how it would be helpful if they were to have a quiet word with editorial team. I remember when Alessandro Buttice the lawyer who represents OLAF as its press spokesman sent out a 16 page document to the Brussels' press corps advising them of how they should report EU news.
"Access to Commissioners and officials could be restricted to those on the Commission list. Today there is European Institutional press accreditation, but any journalist who is vouched for by an editor is accepted. This new idea has a strong suggestion that the Commission itself will do the vetting not the news organisation and must be opposed as vigorously as possible.
"I cannot emphasise how serious this could be."
What We're Up Against
Britain's biggest ever protest, a march declaring opposition to the invasion of Iraq, took place five years ago. It's provoked a little discussion in the press, such as this column in the Guardian about the impact of the march beyond Iraq.
Yes We Have No Internet
There is a common perception that the Internet is, more or less, infallible. Yes, there can be problems with your server but these can usually be fixed quickly.
And there is the myth that Internet communication is only by satellite. Recently we received a reminder of the fragility of the world-wide-web.
On 29 January two old-fashioned and fibre-optic cables beneath the Mediterranean Sea were damaged, apparently by ships' anchors north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria. (The transport ministry of the government of Cairo is in dispute).
Sarkozy To Sue Over SMS Claim
President Nicolas Sarkzoy's lawyer says his client never sent a text message to his ex-wife pleading with her to come back to him.
Last week, the website of left-wing news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur claimed that eight days before his marriage to Carla Bruni, Sarkozy sent a text message to former wife Cécilia telling her "If you come back, I'll cancel everything."
Sarkozy & Bruni Win Ryanair Case
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni have won damages from budget airline Ryanair after it used an image of the couple in an advertisement in a French newspaper.
The Past Is Another Country
Schools should not encourage patriotism or attachment to one's country, a new report by a leading educational think tank says, because "British history is “morally ambiguous."
"It is hard to think of a national history free from the blights of warmongering, imperialism, tyranny, injustice, slavery and subjugation, or a national identity forged without recourse to exclusionary and xenophobic stereotypes," claim researchers at London University's Institute of Education.
Rare Not So Well Done
What's the motivation behind the BBC's caption for this story?
Certainly, the broadcaster might want to draw attention in its story to the fact that suicide bombings in Israel have dwindled (though it will not credit the "wall" Israel erected around Palestinian regions for this - perish the thought). But in the headline?
Were the London suicide bombings described as "rare" - they happen more often in Israel than in the UK?
The Devil's Best Trick...
The War on "Violent Extremism"
The Guardianreports on a new counter-terrorism phrasebook which has been drawn up by British government officials, advising civil servants to avoid the "aggressive language" of the war on terror. So terrorist acts are not the work of "Islamist extremism" or "jihadi-fundamentalists" but "violent extremists", "criminal murderers" and even simply "thugs."
The guide is designed to "avoid any implication that there is an explicit link between Islam and terrorism."
Carla Corner
Carla Bruni advertises for Lancia in an ad that has made France's left hot under the collar (for all the wrong reasons). Bang bang.
Patio Heaters Ban?
Take me to your leader
The European Commission is likely to look into a ban on patio and terrace heating following a series of proposals drawing attention to their impact on the environment.
An EU ban on patio heating would catch Europe's smokers in a pincer movement: National bans on smoking indoors forcing smokers onto the streets, where they are subject to European laws preventing bar owners from heating their terraces.
War? What War?
As an Afghan student is sentenced to death for downloading information on women's rights, we have to ask: Didn't we go into Afghanistan to boot these barbarians out of power? Have we lost the war?
This comes as news that "half-trained troops" are being "rushed" to Afghanistan battlefields to take on the Taliban (and doubtless clear up the opium crop, too).
A little more transparency here, please.
Department Of No Surprises
More from the health workers' committee for stating the obvious: football fans are three times more likely to have heart attacks on match days.
A German study showed that heart problems peaked during the 2006 World Cup Finals, when Germany beat Argentina in a penalty shoot-out. The next game, when the Germans were knocked out by eventual champions Italy in extra time, also player merry mischief with German tickers. EURSOC could have told the researchers this for free: He has suffered countless cold sweats and blown gaskets while cheering (or more likely swearing at) his team.
Rocket Man
President Nicolas Sarkozy's latest scheme to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants from the Paris banlieue of St Denis.
(In reality, it's an advertisement celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Stade de France... any readers able to come up with a better caption?)
Down The Drain
Just when you thought Britain couldn't get any worse:
Five boys aged 13-15 arrested for forcing a sex act on an 11 year old girl - and filming it.
Teachers told to avoid saying "mum and dad" to kids for fear of upsetting those with gay parents.
Reports of disabled people being beaten to death by young thugs.
Where can I catch the first boat out of here?
Ryanair Flies Into Sarko Turbulence
From the Times
The Elysée Palace is considering legal action against no-frills airline Ryanair after it used an image of President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni in a newspaper advertisement.
Crash & Burn
This is the front page of France's left-wing newspaper, Libération, after Monday's mighty stock market slump. Since then, both Britain's FTSE Index and France's CAC40 have returned to levels close to those they enjoyed before "lundi noir", though it is clear we are not out of the woods yet.
New Independent
The Independent's web edition has had a long-overdue makeover. It looks good. I hope they can promise fewer non-loading pages - that website was a byword for clunky, malfunctioning new media efforts, much as the Guardian used to be mocked for its appalling proof-reading back in the days of print.
Carla Bares All (Again)
Some of the British papers are getting hot under the collar thanks to the appearance of saucy photographs of Carla Bruni, including one where she appears to be wearing a wedding ring.
EURSOC is not usually impressed by American web gurus who make a buck by publishing blogs about how old media "doesn't get it" and how publishers who haven't replaced their entire workforce with bloggers are "dinosaurs".
Sarkozy Closes "English Channel"
French president Nicolas Sarkozy doesn't speak a lot of English but he certainly understands it.
Perhaps this is why he has ordered a Paris-based television channel, France 24, to cease broadcasting in English.
Feminist Jokes: No Laughing Matter
Q: How many feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: One and IT'S NOT FUNNY
Unintentionally (we think) funniest article of the week goes to this collection of "random acts of feminism" in today's Guardian.
Coming Out For Carla
It's a cigarette, honest
There's a nice coincidence. Two days after EURSOC set out its stall as the world's first supporter of Carla Bruni as France's first lady, the Guardian publishes a profile of the former supermodel which is a great deal more sympathetic than anything else we've read to date.
We expected more of a feminist angle from a dissenting newspaper like the Guardian, though. Bruni has been criticised in the French and international press as a "man-eater" and your correspondent was horrified to read her described in one French newspaper as a "praying mantis." This is distasteful, as well as grotesquely sexist: Pity the Guardian didn't pick up on this.
Call That Justice?
Here's an interesting claim from the Guardian, a newspaper not known for its "kill them all, let God sort out the guilty from the innocent" line:
The Facebook Conspiracy
Tom Hodgkinson's background piece on Facebook makes for fascinating reading, particularly on the philosophy of some of the nutters inhabiting the world of SF venture capitalism.
Like most other theories, the article begins to disappear up its own conspiracy theory when - as ever - the CIA is involved: "After 9/11, the US intelligence community became so excited by the possibilities of new technology and the innovations being made in the private sector, that in 1999 they set up their own venture capital fund, In-Q-Tel, which "identifies and partners with companies developing cutting-edge technologies to help deliver these solutions to the Central Intelligence Agency and the broader US Intelligence Community (IC) to further their missions"."
Spot the deliberate mistake? I know the CIA is often credited with pulling the strings behind events, but setting up a VC fund in response to an event (which of course they planned) which occurred two years later shows a prescience beyond the reach of even the most visionary spook.
Medical Fact Or Fiction?
Do not believe everything your doctor tells you. A fresh report in the respected 'British Medical Journal' (BMJ) gives evidence that we may have problems in the surgery. (Respected or not the BMJ is a reference bible for many general practitioners in Britain).
For example, there is the idea that mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals. Most hospitals in the United Kingdom and in other countries in Western Europe and in North America still ban the use of cell-phones in the belief that they can affect medical instruments and the the safety of patients at risk. This is not true.
Our Man In Washington
Who said this:
"My family and I go to a little home-town July 4th celebration and it always strikes me as the opposite of that kind of Soviet military-style parade with all the military hardware, which in fact showed you how brittle the state was. In small-town America what's important is the volunteer fire-truck coming down the main street with crowds throwing sweets and waving flags. It's terribly easy to laugh at it all, but actually it has an incredible bonding effect and it creates a feeling of happiness and solidity in where you come from and what you believe in. From my British perspective, I can see real advantages to the American way."
Defence Ministry "Glamorises War"
A charitable trust dedicated to "seeking the creation of a peaceful world, political equality and social justice" has complained that recruitment advertising for Britain's Armed Forces "glamorise war" and "fails to point out the risks and responsibilities associated with a forces career."
Playing With Fire
This video, produced by Holland's consumer safety council, caused a stir before Christmas. For those of you who missed it, it's very funny and worth revisiting. Muslim groups in the Netherlands protested that the spoof firework safety videos showed a "negative stereotype" of Islam.
More videos from the same source after the break...
The Internet Iron Curtain
2008 is likely to be a worrying year for advocates of internet freedom. The new Australian government has announced plans for a "Great Barrier" on the net, designed to filter access to disagreeable sites. Web freedom activists complain that the Labor government has equated criticism about the impact on freedom of speech with child pornography; others argue that the filter is unlikely to work effectively.
Europe In Action
On December 12th, members of the European Parliament gathered in Strasbourg to celebrate the signing of the "Charter of Fundamental Rights." A small group of Eurosceptic MEPs decided to use this orgy of self-congratulation to make a point about the European Reform Treaty, which had just been signed by heads of government.
They protested that the Treaty was merely a rehash of the EU Constitution, which had been rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Governments had refused voters a say on the revised Treaty. Protesters held banners calling for a referendum and chanted slogans as the vast majority of MEPs applauded the Treaty's signing.
Here's a video of the protest:
Just days after this video was posted on YouTube, it was mysteriously removed.
Airbrushed From History
Old habits die hard, especially if you're a German Communist.
Hardline leftist MEP Sahra Wagenknecht was snapped in a restaurant by a colleague, tucking into a plate of lobster in a Strasbourg restaurant.
Not wishing her voters to see her enjoying a "rich man's dish", Frau Wagenknecht dispatched a lackey to the office of the photographer, who is also a member of the Left Party.
Dawkins: "I'm A Cultural Christian"
Scourge of religion and the religious Richard Dawkins says he may be an atheist, but remains culturally Christian:
"This is historically a Christian country. I'm a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims."
Radio Free Europe?
A multinational group of broadcasters has joined forces to create a "European Radio Project" funded by the European Commission. Broadcasters such as Germany's Deutsche Welle and Radio France Internationale will produce "informative radio programmes on EU affairs" including daily hard news shows, weekly "magazine" features and coverage of big EU events.
The European Commission insists that the 16 broadcasters will have "full editorial independence" over their programmes: The Commission will subsidise their broadcasts to the tune of €5.8 million a year.
Paper Chase
Can anyone tell us why the sentencing of Conrad Black merits front page coverage in every British broadsheet (with the preposterous Independent leading the charge, above)?
Certainly, Black's punishment is a story. But on this scale? Bigger than the appointment of Russia's next leader? One truth of media is that journalists are self-regarding buggers, obsessed with stories about their industry. Another is that they loathe their proprietors, and work themselves into a frenzy of self-righteousness whenever an opportunity arises to see a newspaper publisher upended.
Guantanamo Four "Coming Home"
The government has fought long and hard to secure the release of four British "residents" from Guantanamo Bay. It worked, and now the four are due back in the UK, where a warm media welcome and lucrative speaking tours doubtless await. Except the four have no real connection with the UK.
Quote Of The Day II
"With every passing week, Muslim sensibilities seem to become more delicate. Your average “community spokesman” sounds like Mary Whitehouse after sitting through a Derek Jarman film. What a load of old women they are. Still, they’ve got the measure of the BBC."
Damien Thompson on the BBC's latest grovelling apology to Muslims.
Quote Of The Day
"The consistent failure to immobilise criminals properly has been a wicked and sanctimonious betrayal of the working class by middle-class intellectuals, who have dressed up a refusal to spend tax money on the preservation of law and order, especially in poor areas, as compassion and understanding for the working class. It is true that most criminals are working class; but it is also true that most victims, always much more numerous than criminals, are working class. By indulging in anti-prison propaganda, middle-class intellectuals have demonstrated what they really thought deep down about the working class: that is it inherently and ex officio criminal."
- Theodore Dalrymple, "Finally, an admission that prison does work", The Times
Bah Humbug At The Beeb
How about a little parity of esteem?
Christians have greeted news that this year's Christmas Special from the BBC will feature washed-up soap stars and a "glamour model" acting out scenes from the nativity less with not so much dismay but weary resignation at the predictability of the broadcaster's religious output.
2007's Christmas story shifts the action to Liverpool, where asylum seekers Joseph and Mary face a crackdown on immigration by paranoid minister Herodia. You can probably fill in the rest yourself, to be honest, though devotees of sacred music will doubtless look forward to the prospect of the 300-strong cast wandering the streets of Liverpool singing Beatles songs.
Quote Of The Day
"When you warn people about the dangers of climate change, they call you a saint. When you explain what needs to be done to stop it, they call you a communist."
George Monbiot in the Guardian.
BBC Man Praises "Good Natured" Calls For Slaughter
Following Friday prayers in Khartoum, a crowd of savages poured from a mosque, some brandishing swords, calling for the death of English teacher Gillian Gibbons, currently serving part of a 15 day sentence for allowing a child to name a Teddy Bear Mohammed.
Luckily the BBC had a man on the scene to report on this display of barbarity: Check out the sound clip: It beggars belief.
Quote Of The Day
As a British teacher faces trial in Sudan for the crime of allowing children to name their class mascot Mohammed:
"This sad little Sudanese tale is part of a larger story, from the Rushdie affair to the storm over the Danish cartoons, in which some Muslims, and some Muslim governments, seem to be almost searching for slights and fights, to be almost determined to be insulted, pushing aside those ready to take a more tolerant and relaxed view.
What Gets Banned
Honour-crazed fanatics in the Sudan and a hymn-banning Bishop in Britain
After the Cartoon Jihad, the Teddy Bear's Lashing. British commentators have been queueing up to register their shock at the fate Sudan's sharia fanatics are demanding for British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, who faces forty lashes for allowing children to name a school mascot Mohammed.
Joan Smith has the most interesting column, in the Independent, titled Islam and the modern world don't mix.
More Riots In France
Well, we had a go at the Independent newspaper earlier for imagining that a student union protest against two BNP nutters amounted to an "uprising against fascism." It's only fair to criticise the other end of the political scale, this time the Daily Telegraph, which today claims that the riots which flared up in several housing estates north of the French capital have "left Paris in flames."
Come on. Your correspondent is in Paris today and can guarantee he saw no flames of any sort. The scene of the riots is more than 20km from Paris.
Oh, Grow Up!
Further evidence, if such was needed, that the Independent has the editorial mentality and obsessions of a students union newspaper.
Yesterday, a couple of hundred students protested against the appearance of far-right politician Nick Griffin and Holocaust-denying historian David Irving at the Oxford Union Debating Society.
Quote Of The Day
"Earlier this year, Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel, an account of how she escaped from a world of genital mutilation and forced marriage to find asylum and the free thinking of the Enlightenment in Holland, was published. She was attacked, as feminists are, but the assault wasn't led by the churches and Daily Mail but by Timothy Garton Ash and Ian Buruma, men who saw themselves as liberal thinkers. There was an intellectual scandal in Europe, and the New Republic in Washington devoted most of an issue to what the controversy revealed about the contortions of liberal thought. Accusations of double standards weren't thrown about simply because academics who knew no terror in their lives had turned on a woman who can't step outside without bodyguards - just because fanatics want to kill her doesn't make Hirsi Ali right - but because the liberals treated her with a superciliousness unthinkable in the late 20th century.
"Garton Ash wrote in the New York Review of Books that journalists were more interested in her beauty than her ideas. 'If she had been short, squat, and squinting, her story and views might not be so closely attended to.' She was an 'Enlightenment fundamentalist', he continued, as bigoted in her way as the Muslim Brotherhood she opposed. On this reading, there is no moral difference between those who would subjugate women, kill Jews and homosexuals, place the dictates of a seventh-century holy book above the parliaments of free peoples... and those who wouldn't. Liberal intellectuals have no obligation to make a choice between religious fundamentalists and 'Enlightenment fundamentalists', and indeed could devote their energies to condemning the latter rather than the former."
Nick Cohen in The Observer
England, What England?
EURSOC recommends readers go to the Sunday Times to check out Jeremy Clarkson's epic polemic on the demise of Englishness.
It's hilarious and inspiring: Forget vows of Britishness and quizzes on British identity, this column should be printed off and read in school assemblies across the country.
What Ties With Moscow?
British MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee claim that Britain's closeness to the United States has "impacted negatively" on the UK's relationship with Russia.
"We recommend that the government should seek to improve its relations with Russia without damaging its relations with the U.S," the Committee concluded.
Come In, Mahmoud, Your Time Is Up
An Iranian newspaper with close ties to the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has condemned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for "immoral, illogical and illegal" treatment of his enemies.
French Sabotage: The Conspiracy Begins
That didn't take long. Reporting on the sabotage of France's high-speed rail lines yesterday, we predicted that it was only a matter of time before some hard-left conspiracy theorists would blame the government for setting up the attacks to harm the strikers' cause.
Precitably, the leader of France's most extreme rail union got the conspiracy rolling. The Times reports that Christian Mahieux, head of the Trotskyite Sud-Rail union, said "who would profit from the crime?"
Quote Of The Day
So it's something of a non-story about how the EU is "set to quiz women on their sexual history" (yeah, right), but at least the UK Independence Party's MEP Derek Clark got this cracking quote from it:
"When will politicians realise that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual?"
You've Been Hitched
Reading a blogger giving a reporter a thorough "Fisking" is one of the great pleasures of the Internet. Sometimes, however, you just have to leave it to the professionals.
Check out the Guardian today for Christopher Hitchens' demolition of Ronan Bennett's attack on Martin Amis.
Press Photographer A Terrorist - US
The US military claims "convincing and irrefutable" evidence that a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist is linked to the Iraqi insurgence. The US says that Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein Zaidon appeared with suspicious timing at the sites of insurgency attacks, which suggested he had insider knowledge of targets. After the US requested to use his house as a surveillance platform, troops found insurgent propaganda and bomb parts in the building.
Some Europeans Are More European Than Others
Italy's plans to expel undesirable immigrants has already run into controversy in the EU, not least because the new measures appear to be directed towards one ethnic group, the Roma.
World Politics Review publishes an article by Cristina Arion which calls into doubt the figures released by Italy's media and Rome's mayor, the whiter-than-white "Blairite" Walter Veltroni.
Strikes And Support
A third day of misery for the France that gets up early, as transport union strikes against pension reforms continue.
Traffic on the Paris Metro is slightly better today than yesterday, but despite agreements for talks between the main union leaders, the management of state industries and government representatives, the strike seems set to rumble on through the weekend. The French media is reporting this morning that talks between the three groups have reached a "dead end" today, which suggests that travellers will struggle on Saturday and Sunday.
More radical unions, who claim the strikes as an opportunity to hobble President Nicolas Sarkozy's promised reform programme or even to "bring down the capitalist system" are calling for extended, broader unrest. In this, they're joined by student activists, some of whom have defied votes by their peers to call an end to the blockade of university buildings.
The Real Bias At The BBC
On the Independent's dismal new blog site Open House, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown claims that the BBC is indeed biased - in favour of the right.
She bases this staggering claim on the fact that that "several BBC broadcasters" have told her "they are not interested in ‘Guardian and Independent’ points of view. We are passé, irrelevant, annoying, elitist, too middle class and soft."
Maybe it's just you they're tired of, dear.
The Smoking Ban
It's been tried before: A classic clip from the BBC's finest ever comedy series (and Margaret Thatcher's favourite), Yes Prime Minister:
The Dangers Of PC
"But, even if they perhaps dwell too much on the faculty and journos, one of the best aspects of Taylor and Johnson’s exhaustive account is that you cannot help but notice how widespread political correctness extends. It’s not simply a case of ‘PC gone mad’; PC is now the given etiquette that everyone has to work with. All the major cultural institutions now share basic PC assumptions."
Spiked Online has an excellent review of Stuart Taylor Jr and KC Johnson's analysis of the Duke Lacrosse Team scandal, Until Proven Innocent.
Quote Of The Day
"When men and women with sweeping ambitions for Europe decide to make use of this treaty, they will be able to rekindle from the ashes of today the flame of a United Europe."
Former French President and president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the rejected 2005 Constitution Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on the new "reform treaty."
In an open letter to newspapers published in the Independent, Giscard is critical of Britain's stance, but argues that "the proposals in the original constitutional treaty are practically unchanged".
Simply The Best
As if some football fans didn't suffer enough, here's a group of losers from Holland's Pop Idol putting on the half-time show from hell...
Sarkozy Storms Out
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy walks out of an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes show. The President apparently took issue with a question about his estranged wife, Cécilia: He is also seen describing his press secretary as an idiot...
Getting The Pints In
A new study shows that Britain leads Europe in levels of obesity, alcohol abuse, diabetes and smoking related deaths.
The report, compiled as a "snapshot of the nation's health" by the Dept of Health, paints Britain as "the sick man of Europe." Nearly a million children under 11 are classified as obese - a rise of 50 percent in ten years. In some regions, obesity levels are higher than the US national average. The average British level is 24.2 percet. The amount of alcohol consumed per person, per year is, at 11.37 litres, half a litre higher than the EU average.
The Culture Wars
"If you think Bush is a fascist and Castro is a progressive, you are not a democrat. If you think cultural traditions can trump women’s rights, you are not a feminist. And if you think antisemitic rants are simply an expression of frustration with American and Israeli policy, you have learnt nothing from history."
- Sarah Baxter on spotting progressives in a world of useful idiots, The Sunday Times
