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Oldies But Goodies
On Thursday, 10 July, at the grand salon of Christie's auction house in London's South Kensington, an old yellowish piece of paper written with a black felt-tip pen will be sold for over £300,000. (Experts at the auction house say privately that they expect a higher sale price).
The item in question is the original hand-written lyrics from John Lennon's anthem 'Give Peace A Chance'. It was penned at the legendary 'Bed-In' in 1969 at the stately Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
From Chelsea To Israel
Tense times at the upper end of the British Premiership. Manchester United and Chelsea are vying for the title, while both clubs will be playing in the final of the Champions League in Moscow later in the month, the first time two UK sides have appeared together in Europe's top club event.
The Israeli manager of Chelsea FC Avram Grant knows that while (as Bill Shankly famously said) football is more than a matter of life and death, there are greater concerns.
Better To Die Than Be A Coward
The newly 'elected' Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) do not like the elite soldiers known to all as 'The Gurkhas'. The deputy leader of the 'Maoists', Baburam Bhattarai, says: "Having the citizenship of Nepal and serving in a foreign army is totally unacceptable ... They are mercenaries".
Keeping Up With The Sarkozys
Moscow is abuzz with rumours that President Vladimir Putin is planning to marry an Olympic rhythmic gymnast and MP half his age.
Putin, 56, is linked with 24 year old Alina Kabaeva, who is famed for her "extreme natural flexibility."
Berlusconi's Back!
Big vote for Berlusconi defies and dismays MSM Commentariat
Someone (it might have been EURSOC) once said that about the only good thing about Italy's Silvio Berlusconi is that he is guaranteed to drive Europe's left into a frenzy of loathing and bitching. Expect more of the same, after the ageing Il Cavaliere scored a third general election victory. Berlusconi defied late predictions and defeated "Blairite" centre-left opponent Walter Veltroni convincingly, securing both the Senate and the lower Chamber of Deputies.
Death Of The Fifth Beatle
Neil Aspinall, manager of the Beatles, died last month, aged 66. He was the man whom the Fab Four trusted most. From the start of thier work until the end of the career of Aspinall, the four musicians from Liverpool dubbed him 'The fifth Beatle'. And many others came to refer to him in exactly the same way.
Brown Is The New Black
Dark clouds of gloom at Labour party headquarters this week as polls suggest that Gordon Brown has quickly become the lowest-ranked Prime Minister since Neville Chamberlain.
Following a brief honeymoon period, when Brownite hotheads almost persuaded their boss to call a general election which they believed would crush the Conservatives for good, Brown's support has plummeted. The financial downturn hasn't helped the man who made certain that his name and mug were attached to any news of British economic success during the Blair era.
Management, Margaret-Style
The Daily Telegraph's Margaret Thatcher season means dozens of fabulous anecdotes and quotes from the reign of Britain's greatest post-war PM have been aired again. Here's one of EURSOC's favourites, from Shadow Home Secretary David Davis MP:
"Soon after my election to Parliament in 1987, I happened to be walking through the Members’ Lobby when I observed an old friend, Michael Forsyth, a well-known Thatcherite who was later to become a leading light in the No Turning Back group. Michael had been elected in 1983 and by now had become a junior minister. He was running, literally running.
"His hair was dishevelled and he was carrying not only his box, but somehow balancing a full tray of papers on his arm. “Slow down,” I called out. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” I added as an afterthought. “Yes,” cried Forsyth over his shoulder, as he swept past me. “But Margaret wasn’t the foreman on that job.”"
Holding The Torch
Guard of dishonour?
The Olympic flame makes a troubled voyage through London... Paris today
When you're walking through the streets of London, it's usually the home-grown thugs in hideous sportswear you need to look out for. However, this weekend a gang of Chinese heavies dressed in blue-and-white "shell suits" - the favoured garment of Britain's "feral youth" became the centre of press attention as the Olympic torch made its journey through central London.
Latest: Torch extinguished three times in Paris; Mayor cancels welcome ceremony.
A Winning Suit
Each year the British version of the magazine GQ (Gentlemen's Quarterly) publishes a chart of the best-dressed men in Britain.
Mugabe's European Lesson
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe seems to have lost his country's election. He hasn't admitted defeat (though others in his government have), and most national governments are holding off from congratulating the opposition on peacefully removing from power one of Africa's most disastrous despots.
Sarkozy's Speech
The full text of President Nicolas Sarkozy's speech to the British House of Commons and House of Lords:
Madame Speaker of the House of Lords, Mr Speaker of the House of Commons, Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, members of parliament.
For the president of the French Republic, it is an exceptional honour to address members of both houses of the British parliament.
It is indeed here, within these walls, that modern political life was born. Without this parliament, would parliamentary democracy have ever existed in the world? Hasn't this parliamentary practice, begun in this place, become the best guarantee against tyranny?
Shakespeare In The Dock
We all know he was the greatest playwright. But it has emerged recently, thanks to good work by American scholars at the British Public Record Office in Kew, west of London, that William Shakespeare was involved in a lawsuit.
The Ballad Of Paul And Heather
What can we say about the new celebrity Heather Mills? Is she a gold-digger and a whore ? Or the victim of a tortured childhood and a dutiful mother ?
'The Dark Underbelly Of Britain'
The Bishop of Oxford, Rt Rev John Pritchard, has supported Muslims who want to broadcast an amplified call to prayer in his city. Dozens of residents disagree with the Bishop and those at Oxford's Central Mosque - it's fair to say that the issue has been strongly contentious.
As with any contentious issue in Britain, the nutters are out in force. The Bishop claims he has received death threats for his stance.
Move On, Citizen
Melanie Philips makes some excellent points in her column on British citizenship today.
Tomorrow sees the release of a review on citizenship commissioned by the Prime Minister. Leaked reports says it includes suggestions such as an oath of allegiance to The Queen and pledges to obey the law for schoolchildren.
France Doesn't Back Blair
Well, that didn't last long. No sooner did a rising chorus of disapproval spread across Europe following Nicolas Sarkozy's declaration of support for Tony Blair to become the EU's first President, but France's EU minister has changed tack to claim that Paris has "no preferred candidate" for the post.
The Mystery Of The Missing Cigar Case
London Mayoral candidate Boris Johnson is coming under investigation by police following the alleged "theft" of a cigar case supposedly belonging to former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz in 2003.
Conservative candidate Johnson is claimed to have found the leather cigar case in the ruins of Aziz's Baghdad villa and taken it as a souvenir. He wrote about his exploits in The Telegraph shortly afterwards.
Renault To Build Sarkomobile
It's somewhat gratifying to know that no matter how much time one spends in France, some aspects of the national culture can still appear mysterious. Did you know, for example, that left-wingers are said to favour Renault motors? Your correspondent certainly didn't, not until it was explained in an article in today's Guardian as one of the possible reasons behind Nicolas Sarkozy choosing the venerable car maker to construct his presidential transport.
Quote Of The Day
Mark Steyn on the death of Britain:
"I said a while back that I thought Britain was in danger of turning into Somalia with chip shops, that it’s a country that I think has been hollowed out by Islamism in many ways. What is particularly tragic about Britain is it’s a country that didn’t fall for any of the other great evils of the 20th Century, for fascism or communism. It’s a country that has probably contributed more in terms of its ideas to civilization in the world. That’s why there are over fifty English speaking countries, that is why English common law can be found all over the world, English ideas, Westminster parliamentary system. The dominant powers in every corner of the world, the United States, South Africa, Australia, India, descended from Britain.
"And the death of Britain, the sort of suicide of Britain, is a tragedy to watch."
- From an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Town Hall. Steyn also calls Dr Rowan Williams, Archmullah of Canterbury, a "weird, Welsh druid who’s been promoted way beyond his abilities."
Who Killed Napoleon?
He was a boy from Corsica who made it very, very big. He made an attempt to conquer Europe, killing more than two million people in his military campaigns, including many of his own troops. His name is Napoleon Bonaparte.
Getting Sarkozy
Son of Sarko
Nicolas Sarkozy's son, Jean (21) is proving to be a chip off the old block. It looks like he has positioned himself on the list for the council elections for the rich Paris suburb of Neuilly, his father's old power base. And, in doing so, he stabbed a former ally in the back.
Sarkozy Junior led a revolt among centre-right UMP supporters against the President's handpicked candidate for the post of Mayor of Neuilly, David Martinon. Martinon, who is close to the President's ex-wife Cécilia and has served as Sarkozy's press spokesman, was "parachuted" into Neuilly as a candidate last year. However, he has proved to be such a dud that voters in the solidly conservative town have considered the unthinkable and selecting another candidate.
Enter young Jean Sarkozy. The golden-locked student (one of Sarkozy's sons from his first marriage) was one of the first to "break rank" and declare Martinon's candidacy unacceptable. An alternative UMP list now replaces Martinon, who has bowed out of the race.
Will Jean follow his father into politics? It's a little early for him to run for Mayor: His father won the job in 1983 aged 28. In an interesting parallel, Nicolas nipped into the post after outwitting a bunch of party heavyweights and persuading them to back him, rather than his boss Charles Pasqua who had fallen ill.
"I screwed them all", he is reported to have said afterwards.
Sharia Law "Unavoidable" For UK
It's hard to know where to start with the Archbishop of Canterbury's startling claims for the desirability of sharia law in Britain.
Dr Rowan Williams said yesterday that while he (clearly) opposes the dreadful crimes committed in the name of Islamic sharia law elsewhere in the world, he believes that Britons should get used to the idea of the system being used in Islamic communities for cases dealing with finances and weddings.
He added that Britain also needs to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens "do not relate" to the British legal system. He said Muslims are "Faced with the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty" and that as a multicultural society, Britain's legal system needed to adapt to these new circumstances.
I Spy
GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) is known as the world's best global eavesdropper.
They have a new impressive all-purpose glass-clad landmark building in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It is home to what is probably the most powerful computing facility in Europe.
This Britsh government organisation also has a 'retreiving and receiving' satellite dish at a secret location in the north-east of England which is greater in size than Westminster Abbey.
Quote Of The Day
"The point the Conservatives might like to contemplate if they are serious about wanting to be re-elected is one that we have made a few times before (and shall make again): we, the electorate, owe them nothing. Even those of us who dislike the present government and its disastrous policies do not necessarily think that the alternative would be any better, unless Her Majesty’s Opposition demonstrate this fact by their ideas and policies. Let me spell it out: while we owe them nothing, they owe us an explanation and a reason as to why we should vote for them."
- The EU Referendum Blog has some wise words on the failure of Britain's education system and the Conservative Party's inability to come up with useful alternatives.
Across The Universe
NASA has sent The Beatles into deep space. Of course, the song is 'Across the Universe', composed and sung by John Lennon.
Mitterand Privatisation Completed
Another bling-bling President
The macabre sell-off of late President François Mitterand's relics seems to have been a success, with the auction raising a total of €150,000 (£111,300 / $221,560) - nearly three times what was expected.
Some items fetched well beyond their estimate. One of Mitterand's prized fedora hats was sold for €7800, reportedly to the President's Parti Socialiste.
Another Blair Job
Not in the red for long
Tony Blair's retirement won't be spent in penury (unlike that of other British pensioners). He's just taken a six-figure-salary job with Zurich Insurance as a "climate change adviser".
Mitterand: Everything Must Go
From Castro with love
Fans of late French President François Mitterand will soon be able to own part of his heritage, as a collection of his relics goes on sale in a Paris auction house.
The President's widow, Danielle, is auctioning hundreds of items of clothing, gifts and other personal belongings to raise money for her human rights charity. Price estimates range from €20 to €4000 for a coffee table.
President Blair?
Nicolas Sarkozy's campaign to crown Tony Blair Europe's first "President" continues apace, despite grumbles from senior French political figures.
Sarkozy has pushed "this most European of Britons" as the semi-permanent President demanded of the revised EU Constitution almost since he came to power in May. EURSOC initially believed that Sarko was using Blair as a bargaining tool, and would throw his weight behind whichever Belgian nonentity the anti-Blair camp supported in exchange for concessions in other areas. There definitely appeared to be some support for this theory in the French papers last week. However, we're beginning to think that Sarkozy is serious about the Presidency, and serious about Blair.
Sealed With A Kiss
Why is "radical farmer" José Bové, the scourge of globalisation, kissing France's hot young Deputy Minister of Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet like she's an old mate? Shouldn't he be dumping a burning sheep on the steps of her ministry, or smashing up her office with his soap-dodging cronies?
The notorious protest leader recently escaped yet another prison sentence, while the government has made clear that it's coming round to his way of thinking on genetically-modified crops. For a man who has spent the past two decades posing as the radical conscience of France's peasants - and who ran for President on a fiercely anti-establishment platform - this is a remarkable rehabilitation.
John Rosenthal has the full story.
The Next Jackie O?
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly set to wed his girlfriend Carla Bruni: According to some reports in the French press, they married at a "secret ceremony" in the Elysée Palace a week ago.
Much of the press, both in France and overseas, has criticised the President for his very public affair, while commentators have scorned Mme Bruni's colourful past and the President's apparent haste to marry her.
Here at EURSOC, however, we're going to stick our necks out and say that perhaps Sarko has made a wise choice: Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Carla Bruni, the World's Leading First Lady.
Sarkozy And His Slappers
Few of you will have missed the latest reports from France's compelling Sarko Show. At the weekend, the President's former wife Cécilia was in the spotlight again, as she fought to block the publication of a book written by a "friend" which she said invaded her privacy.
The French and British press published the juiciest extracts from the book with delight: Sarkozy, according to his ex-wife, was a serial shagger, a miser with behavior problems and a ridiculous streak. His UMP party colleagues were all "queers and machos" and as for the women, they're all "boring wallflowers." "Why aren't there any smart birds (nanas) in the UMP - like my friend Ségolène?" bemoaned Cécilia (allegedly).
It's Sarkozy's life after Cécilia moved out which has drawn the most attention. According to her former friend, the ex-first lady claims that Sarkozy was surrounded by puffed-up young men who think they're the Princes of Paris: He spent his nights hosting karaoke parties and enjoying the attentions of "slappers."
The British press in particular has been delighted to report on Sarkozy's slappers.
A Nice Little Earner
Remember when Tony Blair and his wife bought that pad on Connaught Square? How could someone on a modest Prime Minister's salary afford to live among the world's wealthiest Arabs in this swish part of central London, observers wondered. After all, there are only so many "human rights" cases lawyer wife Cherie can get involved in, plus she missed out on the Bloody Sunday free-for-all farce enquiry.
Hub Of Hope And Glory
Great men throughout history have shared their vision of Britain. There was Shakespeare's sceptred isle, Churchill's promise of "blood, sweat and tears." Even Tony Blair claimed that "The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts, we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth."
So what has the new government, under PM Gordon Brown, got in store for the nation? One might look to this article in the Sunday Times by Foreign Secretary David Miliband for evidence of the New-New Labour "vision of Britain."
DJ Sarko In The House
Rock da Elysée
President Sarkozy's son Pierre is making a living as a producer of hip-hop and rap records, it was revealed today. Here's his MySpace page where the 22 year old bigs himself up as a "young Parisian producer" hanging with his "crew", "Da Crime Chantilly."
Beating The Smoking Ban
English singer-songwriter Joe Jackson is best known for his musical prowess, but did you know that he was also a fierce opponent of the ban on smoking?
The Britney President
Can France's President Nicolas Sarkozy really be preparing to announce his engagement to former supermodel Carla Bruni?
We've been treated to the sight of singer Britney Spears going off the rails in 2007: Is Sarkozy risking the same fate?
France's BSD
Quote of the day:
"I couldn't give a damn about people's commentaries.
"For 12 years they were used to having granny and grandpa [Jacques Chirac and his wife] at the Elysée.
"I have a new style. Everyone is going to have to adapt. Now the French have a real man at the Elysée who has balls and uses them."
Time For Putin
Time Magazine has named Russia's President Vladimir Putin as its "Person of the Year" for 2007.
It's a controversial choice: Even Time's managing editor Richard Stengel admits that Putin "is not a good guy." But it's beyond doubt that the combative Russian leader, set to step down as President in 2008, has done "extraordinary things."
Indecent Proposal?
Has Sarko asked Carla Bruni to marry him? Say it ain't so!
Mothers, eh. Where would we be without their wisdom and indiscretion? Only yesterday, President Nicolas Sarkozy's maman weighed into the media frenzy surrounding her son's relationship with former supermodel Carla Bruni, claiming she was a nice enough lass but that she'd had it with brides. No more weddings, Nico, she warned.
And now La Bruni's mother has hit back with her view: Not only is the French President besotted with his new girlfriend's feline charms, but he has asked her to marry him - just two months after his divorce from Cécilia.
Has Sarkozy gone mad?
The President And The Supermodel?
Is President Nicolas Sarkozy really dating supermodel-turned-singer/songwriter Carla Bruni, formerly Mick Jagger's squeeze?
Got to hand it to the man if he is.
Moscow Culture Club
The repressive government of Vladimir Putin has ordered the British Council to close its offices in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg. The deadline is: before Christmas. The office in the capital, Moscow, will be allowed to remain open for the moment.
Standing Up To Mugabe
We've known for a while that our favourite clergyman John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, is a man of principle. We didn't realise he was such a showman, too!
During an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, the Archbishop tore off his dog collar and cut it into pieces, claiming he wouldn't wear it again until Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is "gone."
Here's the clip:
Big Mouth Struck Before
"England is not England in any real sense of the world. It has been internationalised, and that's screechingly evident wherever you look around the country. The English people are not strong enough to defend their sense of history. Patriotism doesn't really matter any more. So I think England has died."
Morrissey, in a 1992 interview, quoted by The Independent.
The Great British Dissident
Morrissey, Burchill and Amis
Morrissey, who faced accusations of racism following an interview with music paper the NME, has his say in an exclusive post on the Guardian's site.
Even though the former Smiths singer gets some good lines, one can't help but feel there is something disturbing about a grown man being so passionate about a magazine aimed at bedwetting teenagers. Perhaps Morrissey should have let his legal counsel do the talking for him - or he should have saved his breath for court, where his one-liners could have been up there with his hero's "He was a particularly plain boy -unfortunately ugly - I pitied him for it."
Morrissey mentions that other great English dissenter, Julie Burchill.
There's Life In The Old Girl Yet...
Matthew Parris shares a drink with Lady Thatcher:
"Lunch was exceptionally good, and my friend and I, with conversation of our own to pursue, wouldn't have dreamt of staring at the table commanded by the Baroness, in striking green. But then the head waiter glided over and said: “Lady Thatcher would like to send you a glass of champagne.”
Blair And The Nutters
Last week, Tony Blair discussed the importance of his religious faith and its guiding role during his ten years as Prime Minister.
Blair said that he kept the strength of his faith under wraps because "Frankly, people do think you're a nutter".
I'm A Dutchwoman, Get Me Out Of Here!
Spare a thought for Tanja Nijmeijer, who isn't enjoying her jungle adventure very much. The 29 year old bourgeois Dutchwoman gave up teaching and volunteer work in Bogota's slums to become of a member of terrorist group Farc's International Brigade.
Even the Guardian, which is generally sympathetic towards leftist terrorists, describes Farc as "South America's biggest, bloodiest and possibly last Marxist insurgent group."
See You Next Tuesday
It's clear that the past few years have seen an increasing number of laws and limits placed on "acceptable" speech. A whiff of prejudice will finish careers; shortly, speaking ill of certain religions and sexual preferences could land you with a prison sentence. It's bad enough that the public will no longer be able to hear, and thus confront, the idiocies of British racists and homophobes: But what about the fact that you can now lose your job for speaking the truth?
Thursday night saw Scotland's Politician of the Year dinner in Edinburgh. At the climax of the evening, the Scottish National Party's leader (and Scotland's current First Minister) Alex Salmond was voted the winner, and marched from his table to receive his award.
A young Labour aide, Matthew Marr, said what doubtless many in the room (and perhaps hundreds of thousands more throughout the UK) were thinking: He muttered that Salmond was a "c***."
First Against The Wall
Here's "writer and lunatic" Arundhati Roy in an interview in Haaretz:
"All the battles that we fight, if the people that we are supporting end up winning, we will be the first ones to be hanged from the nearest tree. The Maoists, the Islamic movement in Kashmir. Sometimes you are fighting on the side of people who have no space for you in their imagination. But that's okay."
The Right Stuff
Depressing stuff from Jay Rayner in the Observer this weekend. Rayner set himself the task of discovering whether any "right wing" directors or writers existed in the contemporary British theatre scene.
To cut a medium-length article short, there aren't any. Some thespians dismiss the idea that conservatives could create art: Others say that even if one did, they would have no interest in bringing their work to the public. What a dreary and small-minded place the London theatre world must be!
Rayner makes a brave attempt to seek out anything even remotely resembling nuance or ambiguity among the views of those he interviews. Sir Peter Hall comes out best, admitting that "Political theatre is simplistic whatever wing it's on."
Shut Up, Chavez!
Now we did say that EURSOC was going to lay off Hugo Chavez for a while, following the revelation that the Independent newspaper was printing government propaganda as news items. But this story, of how Spain's King Juan Carlos tried to silence one of Chavez's endless rants by asking him to "shut up" is just too good to resist. Finally!
Quote Of The Day
"Here is a country, one of the few across the world apart from Poland, with which we have never been at war. It is really not a reason for us to hate each other."
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy, prior to his first official visit to the United States. Sarkozy was responding to opposition critics who claim he is too close to US President George Bush. Sarkozy's affection for the US doesn't seem to have harmed his standing in France, however. A new poll published this morning shows that if a re-run of May's Presidential Election were to be held tomorrow, Sarkozy would beat his opponent Ségolène Royal by an even larger margin than the 53-47 percent he scored in Spring. The poll showed Sarkozy's support up to 55 percent to Royal's 45.
Poland Gets The Horn
Poland voted to ditch one-half of its "Terrible Twins" partnership this weekend, replacing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with centre-right free market conservative Donald Tusk.
Tusk's Civic Platform party, which is described as both Atlanticist and pro-EU, scored a victory over Kaczynski's party, who were, the Guardian insists, a "two-year experiment in isolationism, nationalism, and intolerance."
Kaczynski's twin brother, Lech, remains President and has veto powers.
EURSOC hasn't followed the antics of the Kaczynskis very closely, but they must have been bloody awful if the left-wing Guardian is jubilant about the election of a fiercely anti-Communist right-winger who has pledge to slice taxes and privatise much of Poland's economy .
Brown Talks Oval-Shaped Balls
A teenage Gordon Brown, when rugby was an uncomplicated thing.
Prime Minister celebrates England victory.
Gordon Brown sparked much mirth in summer 2006 when he declared his support for the England football team's campaign in the World Cup. Few Englishmen believed the Scot could bring himself to cheer on the Auld Enemy, not least because every other Scot the media spoke to claimed he would be backing anyone but England.
Brown's supposed support for England was linked to something of a mini constitutional crisis. The English wondered why they should fork out to support a country which affects to loathe everything England stands for; opportunistic commentators linked the ill-will to discrepancies in tax contributions and voting rights between Scotland and England.
Now Prime Minister, Brown has to continue his dedication to all things English.
Quote Of The Day
"He is not ashamed to espouse values that are routinely derided or are not politically correct, including a sincere and deep love of his country and for the countryside. When driving back to London from a family Christmas in Gloucester last year, his heart rose when, despite the hunting ban, he saw the size of the crowds gathering for the traditional Boxing Day meet. He loathes prejudice. He has a deep respect for tradition and the Royal Family, and is honoured to be an Englishman. To challenge that makes him angry. Why is it all right to be a passionate Welshman, Irishman or Scot, yet to profess delight at being English brings charges of arrogance and racism?"
Mark Souster in the Times on the "backbone of England", Rugby captain Phil Vickery. Full story Here.
Iranian President's Hitman Past?
Vienna, 1989. Three leaders of an Iranian Kurdish group lie dead in an apartment. Outside, two Iranian agents drag their wounded colleague into the street. A man pulls up on a motorbike, exchanges words with the agents, and one mounts the bike. They speed off.
Sixteen years later, a "Witness D" claims to have identified the man on the motorcycle as none other than Iran's controversial President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Quote Of The Day
"When the mosques in our cities are bigger than cathedrals and churches, then we must tell our Muslim fellow citizens: 'No, that is going too far. Church towers, not minarets, should be what you see when you look out across the state."
Outgoing leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union, Edmund Stoiber, delivers his final speech to the party faithful. He is succeeded by Erwin Huber, who is expected to continue to rule Germany's most prosperous region in the same manner as his predecessor. The CSU is an important part of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, but its broadly conservative, Catholic membership often sits uneasily with the dominant Christian Democrat and Social Democrat parties. Should Merkel face an election, however, she would probably depend on the CSU to build a centre-right ruling coalition.
Quote from Deutsche Welle.
Tehran Meltdown
Ahmadinejad give democracy the finger
There's an excellent long article in the Observer on the struggle for human rights in Iran.
Here's veteran dissident Ebrahim Yazdi's conclusion:
"This is the [present system's] last bus. What its precise destination is, I don't know. But my prediction is that it will end similarly to the old Soviet system. That didn't end through a revolution - red, orange or velvet - or through an outside military attack. More than anything, it ended because the collective Russian leadership came to the historical conclusion that the continuation of that system was impossible. It will not be a revolution. It will be gradual. But ultimately, it will be democratic."
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.
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.
Sarkozy's Flat?
A property deal by Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cécilia comes under scrutiny in the French press
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.
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.
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.""
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.
So, What Attracted You To Billionaire Signor Berlusconi?
Michela Brambilla shows some of the form that has led Silvio Berlusconi to tip her as the new face of Italy's centre-right.
La Rossa, as she's beginning to be known throughout Italy, is a fascinating character. A striking redhead (hence the nickname) from a family of steel magnates, she is a former beauty queen with a philosophy degree, and a professional career as a businesswoman and journalist. She's a mother, president of an animal rights association and a media player in her own right, founding a Freedom TV channel and a newsheet given away free with Berlusconi's Il Giornale. The kind of complex, rounded character that Mr Berlusconi reckons is ideal to take on the increasingly crusty left-leaning coalition that's currently running the country.
Fannying Around
Regular EURSOC readers will be aware that we have little time for the pronouncements of entertainers on human rights and political issues. So, we're not surprised that French actress Fanny Ardant let it be known that she admirered Italian Red Brigade terrorist Renato Curcio for "not becoming a businessman" and staying true to his beliefs.
Ardant described him as a "hero" and said that the Red Brigade's campaign was "Very moving and passionate."
Her remarks have been met with outrage - and a lawsuit - in Italy.
London's Third World Subsidy
Details are finally emerging of the deal Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez struck with London's Mayor Ken Livingstone on providing subsidised fuel for Londoners. According to a report in today's Guardian, low-income Londoners will get half-price bus travel thanks to a 20 percent discount on fuel provided to London transport by Mr Chavez.
In return, London will provide Venezuela with its "expertise" on town planning, tourism, public transport and environmental protection. As anyone who has ever experienced London's town planning, tourism, public transport and environmental protection will testify, this is a fairly shitty deal for Venezuelans.
Fat Argie Cheat Admits "I Cheated"
Former football star Diego Maradona did his bit to improve relations between London and Buenos Aires this weekend by once again admitting that he cheated to score a crucial goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter final.
There Must Be An Angel...
Norway's Princess Martha Louise - fourth in line to the throne - claims she is in contact with angels. Launching her alternative therapy programme, she said that she made contact with angels after working with horses.
The 35 year old BABE believes her gift will help people "create miracles" in their lives.
Axis Of Resistance Round-Up
Busy goings-on on the Iran-Venezuela axis. The African "third wheel", Robert Mugabe, is also in the news today, apparently plotting to push parliament to allow him to name his successor without putting it to the vote (shades of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair?).
The Guardian has a look at what the Marxist radical Hugo Chavez sees in Holocaust-denying fundamentalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Does Anyone Come Out Well?
Jacques be nimble, Jacques be quick, Jacques cheats the ticket barrier too.
Oliver Kamm quoting Christopher Hitchens:
"Just look at the gang that strove to prevent the United Nations from enforcing its library of resolutions on Saddam Hussein. Where are they now? Gerhard Schroeder, ex-chancellor of Germany, has gone straight to work for a Russian oil-and-gas consortium. Vladimir Putin, master of such consortia and their manipulation, is undisguised in his thirst to re-establish a one-party state. Jacques Chirac, who only avoided prosecution for corruption by getting himself immunized by re-election (and who had Saddam's sons as his personal guests while in office, and built Saddam Hussein a nuclear reactor while knowing what he wanted it for), is now undergoing some unpleasant interviews with the Paris police. So is his cynical understudy Dominique de Villepin, once the glamour-boy of the "European" school of diplomacy without force. What a crew! Galloway is the most sordid of this group because he managed to be a pimp for, as well as a prostitute of, one of the foulest dictatorships of modern times. But the taint of collusion and corruption extends much further than his pathetic figure, and one day, slowly but surely, we shall find out the whole disgusting thing."
In Like Flynn
France's new President Nicolas Sarkozy has wasted no time making up with Libya following the Gadafy regime's release of six Bulgarian medics yesterday. As Eurocrats huff over the Sarkozy family snatching publicity for their release at the last minute and French Socialists complain that the entire event has been stage-managed to give the First Lady Cécilia Sarkozy a foreign policy role, Sarko has jumped on the first flight to Tripoli and is currently trying to flog guns and warplanes to the Libyans.
Boris Goes In
Conservative MP for Henley Boris Johnson has announced his intention to stand for Mayor of London. EURSOC hopes he does to Ken Livingstone what he did to this German footballer:
Chavez Boots Out Critics
Quote of the day:
"How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it? (...)
""No foreigner can come here to attack us. Anyone who does must be removed from this country."
Whispering Campaign
British newspapers are covering what they describe as a "whispering campaign" against France's new justice minister Rachida Dati. Mme Dati is the first North African woman to hold a key government post in France and upon her appointment was touted as an emblem of President Sarkozy's multi-cultural non-divisive stance. A long-time Sarkozy adviser and loyalist, it was hoped that she would be able to build bridges between the President and the denizens of France's troubled housing estates, where Sarkozy is widely loathed, particularly by young men of North African descent.
Unfortunately, it seems her first two months in office have been less than trouble-free. Her top aide and three magistrates resigned from her office yesterday. The aide cited personal reasons; the magistrates were claimed to be on their way out anyway. Nevertheless, rumours circulated that all four were unhappy with Mme Dati's "authoritarian" manner.
Sarkozy Rejects Traditional Pardons
Sarkzoy's view of Presidential pardons, and seeks to build bridges with a former rival. Plus, the new President finds the Clearstream enquiry searching closer to home
Unlike some Presidents we could mention (cough), Nicolas Sarkozy is not considering his Presidential Pardon this summer.
Speaking in an interview in the French press yesterday, he said that he was not likely to grant a mass pardon of prisoners this Bastille Day, turning around a longstanding tradition in modern French history.
Quote Of The Day
"New York, Madrid, London, Paisley...we're all in this together and make no mistake, none of us will hold back from putting the boot in."
The magnificent John Smeaton, tracked down by the News of the World.
De Villepin Could Face Charges
More high-level skullduggery in France. Former Prime Minister Dominque de Villepin had his Paris home searched for six hours yesterday by French police investigating his role in the Clearstream Affair.
Investigating magistrates Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons are said to be close to charging de Villepin with conspiring to implicate his former colleague Nicolas Sarkozy in a corruption scandal.
Cécilia, We're Takin' Your Card
That handbag's a wee bit lighter now
Cécilia Sarkozy, wife of the French President, has returned her Elysee Palace credit card. Last week, a left wing newspaper revealed that Mme Sarkozy had been given a card in order to take care of "protocol gifts for the wives of heads of state, wreaths and entertainment", but the legacy of budget abuses during Jacques Chirac's presidency meant that Presidential aides felt it better she do without.
The Luck Of The Irish
Irish premier Bertie Ahern has apologised for suggesting that people sitting on the sidelines complaining about Ireland's economic revival should kill themselves.
George Melly RIP
Jazz singer and author George Melly has died in London aged 80.
Here's George, speaking to Mick Jagger a few years ago:
Melly: "Why is your face so wrinkled?"
Jagger: "They're not wrinkles, they're laughter lines."
Melly: "Nothing's that funny."
RIP.
Why The Left Loves The Tories
Are the emasculated Tories more than New Labour's faire-valoir?
David Cameron's "New Conservatives" have enjoyed an extended honeymoon among pundits in the left-wing media. Both the Guardian and the Independent have published approving coverage of Cameron's ecological initiatives and his determination to transform the nasty old Tories into a modern, caring equal opportunities party. Even the BBC has invited Conservative MPs on its discussion shows and treated them as (almost) human, rather than the marginalised oddities they were under previous leaders.
But the Tories, as a party, seem to be on their way out.
Chavez: "Prepare For War"
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has told his army to prepare for a "guerilla war" against the US, whom he claims could try to invade the oil-rich country.
Not In Clooney's Back Yard
George's place
George Clooney has joined the NIMBY brigade. The actor usually lives like a recluse in his home on the shores of Lake Como in Italy, but has made a public appeal opposing a €12 million development next door to his Villa Oleandra.
Don't worry George, if the car park and bridge development drive you out of the Villa Oleandra, EURSOC will take it off your hands at a knock-down price.
Blair To Convert To Catholicism
British PM to look to Rome for spiritual blessing
It comes as a surprise to see Tony Blair's reportedly imminent conversion to Catholicism hitting the headlines in the British Press: Roman Catholicism is hardly a controversial religion in Britain. Nevertheless, the PM, who has been attending Catholic Mass for over a decade, appears to be awaiting the end of his premiership before completing his conversion.
Quote Of The Day
"You're telling me Ségo is single? I'm moving to France, she is my kind of Milf!"
- EURSOC reader Davros, responding to the news that Ségolène Royal and her partner of 29 years François Hollande have split.
President Blair
Strangest story in a weekend full of unusual events was the report that President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Tony Blair to go for the job of President of the European Council.
25 Years Later
Baroness Thatcher gave a speech praising Britain's armed forces to mark the 25th anniversary of victory in the Falklands War.
You can listen to the speech here, and there is a full version after the cut that we filched from The Thatcher Foundation.
How things change. As Margaret Thatcher explains that fortune really does favour the brave, Guido reports that Gordon Brown was in Iraq telling troops that they were going to get lower-than-inflation pay rise.
An Albanian Welcome
President George W Bush has one constituency where they love him more than any borough in the United States.
It is Tirana.
Quote Of The Day II
"I still prefer Tony Blair."
- Margaret Thatcher, on being asked what she thought of new Conservative leader David Cameron. Via Andrew Sullivan
Another Vine Mess
Ségolène Royal is positioning herself for Socialist Party leadership after Sunday's forthcoming elections, but another member of her family has put herself in an even more unusual position. On Friday, Ségolène's cousin, Anne-Christine Royal, chained herself by the ankle to a vine to show her solidarity with the troubled winemakers of Cadillac-en-Fronsadais.
He's My Japanese Boy
How do we say this sensitively?
If former President Jacques Chirac had hoped for an uneventful retirement, he must be disappointed.The Independent has an interesting round-up of Chirac's latest travails. Police are said to investigating reports of a secret Japanese bank account with around £30 million stuffed into it over the years. This comes as judges hope to question the ex-Prez on a party funding scandal, which claimed the scalps of several Chirac loyalists while he was in power.
Shame
A Victoria Cross winning World War Two veteran has been refused the right to live in the UK because he "has no strong ties" to Britain. This is despite the fact that former Gurkha Tul Bahadur Pun (84) risked his live many times over, once storming Japanese machine gun positions single-handed, in the name of Britain in the War.
Joke Of The Day
A reader forwarded us this story from Popbitch:
Following on from Boris Yeltsin's funeral, our favourite story from a British journalist who interviewed him: Journalist: "So, President Yeltsin, how would you describe the state of the Russian economy in one word?"
Yeltsin: "Good".
Journalist: "Okay then Mr President, perhaps you would describe it in more than one word?"
Yeltsin: "Ah, in that case - not good."
Quote Of The Day
"The real division in the world isn't between East and West, North and South. The real division is between arseholes and non-arseholes. And arseholes are international."
- Author and artist Marjane Satrapi in Metro Paris this morning. Marjane's film based on her memoirs of live in Revolutionary Iran Persepolis opens in Cannes this week before release in France at the end of June. Persepolis will be released in an English-language version in the US later in the year.
Bad Luck Jacques
EURSOC is sure your hearts are bleeding for ex-President Jacques Chirac, who has been linked to a secret £30 million account in Japan. Chirac has denied the allegations, which appeared in a French newspaper last week, but it is clear that his retirement will be a busy time, if France's prosecutors have their way.
Cannes Tottywatch
You'd look as happy as Quentin Tarantino if you were in his position. Death Proof, the US director's celebration of trash movies, played to cheering crowds in Cannes yesterday, proof indeed that even Festival Critics are human. After days reviewing tortuous Central Asian movies, a spot of Tarantino sounds just the ticket.
EURSOC is also delighted to see that Tarantino is continuing a great European cultural tradition into the bargain. It is always cheering to see that the Cannes Film Festival remains the place for homely men to attach themselves to dazzling starlets. Or for auteurs to discover muses, to use the correct terminology.
Speedy Sarkozy
A French motoring magazine has been stalking presidential contenders for the past few weeks, and discovered that tough-cop Nicolas Sarkozy's entourage is the worst offender for breaking speed limits.
Auto Hebdo clocked the former interior minister's car doing 130kph (81mph) in a 70kph zone. The newspaper claims that had Sarko's driver been caught by police, he would have faced an immediate ban and a €1500 fine.
Arise, Sir Bono (And Pay Up)
Irish pop star and activist Bono received an honorary knighthood yesterday in a ceremony at the British ambassador's residence in Dublin.
The U2 singer was awarded the gong for his contribution to music and humanitarian aid. Because he isn't a Brit, he can't call himself Sir, but joked that members of the press might wish to consider other titles, like "lord of lords, your demi-godness."
Those who consider his hectoring of governments and industry while arranging his tax affairs to avoid contributing to those governments might be able to think of a couple more names.
Red Ken Baits Japan
It is clear to most reasonable people that London's left-wing Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is an idiot.
A few years ago he likened a persistent Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard. He shares "peace" platforms with ranting extremists. Now he's back to the war imagery again, and he's gunning for the Japanese.
Commenting on the Japanese Embassy's failure to pay the London Congestion Charge, Ken likened the Embassy's stance to Japan's alleged unwillingness to admit to war crimes.
Heart On Your Sleeve
Madrid victim told off for t-shirt
A victim of the 11 March terror attacks in Madrid caused a stir in a courtroom yesterday by wearing a t-shirt decorated with one of the cartoons of Mohammed that have inflamed many Muslims.
The woman wore the t-shirt as the trial of 29 terror suspects accused of being linked to the bombings took place.
UPDATED & CORRECTION: See below.
The Romance Of Violence
The capture of Italian killer Cesare Battisti in Brazil this weekend has divided France's left.
Author and Figaro journalist Guillaume Perrault has written a book about Battisti, who was sentenced in absentia for his part in four murders during Italy's "Years of lead" of the late 1970s-early 1980s.
Here he is on what Battisti means in France:
"The Italian left isn't at all fascinated by violence. It has completely abandoned this vision. That hasn't been the case for a certain element of the French left.... it is easy to mystify things we didn't have to live through. French intellectuals are always searching for revolution by procuration: Cuba was in fashion, Maoist China too. Battisti plays that role too. The fascination for violence remains intact for some people."
Quote Of The Day
“We would be better off with only six million people, with our own people who support the liberation struggle; we don’t want all these extra people.”
Zimbabwe's Secretary for Administration in charge of food distribution, Didymus Mutasa, quoted by David Aaronovitch in the Times.
Fugitive Caught In Brazil
Italian "militant"-turned-crime writer Cesare Battisti, who disappeared from France in 2004, has been captured in Brazil, according to reports from Brazilian police.
Battisti, a convicted murderer, had lived in France under former president Mitterand's amnesty for terrorists fleeing Italy. The centre-right French government reversed Mitterand's "sanctuary" following requests from the Italian government that Battisti be returned to face the music.
Battisti went on the run and had gone off the radar until a joint Italian-French-Brazilian operation tracked him down in Rio de Janiero, close to Copacabana Beach.
Quotes of The Day
Two vintage columns in the Times and Telegraph today. In the Times, Gerard Baker lays into the BBC's mindset, while in the Telegraph, Jeff Randall lays into "The Grievance Community" for whom "it's always someone else's fault."
Here's Baker:
"London’s political culture has been uprooted from its English heritage. It is run — if you can call it that — by a sort of postmodern communist Mayor, whose political voice — minus the annoying nasal whine — would sound right at home in Paris, Bologna or San Francisco. It hosts a metropolitan elite that loftily gazes three ways: outward, at the supposed superiority of anything not British; inward, at its own ineffable genius; and down its elegantly pampered nose, at the provincial trivialities that consume the dreary lives of the rest of the population... (continued after the cut)
The Naked Civil Servant
The ambassador in conventional outfit
Israel has recalled its ambassador to the Latin American state of El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked in the capital.
According to reports, San Salvador police found Mr Tzuriel Refael two weeks ago in the compound of the Israeli embassy buildings, naked apart from bondage gear. He was unable to identify himself until a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth. Sex toys were reported to be lying beside the bound ambassador (though we have heard no reports of Ferrero Rocher).
Chirac Won't Run
France's president declares he won't be a candidate in April election: PM Dominique de Villepin endorses Sarkozy
So, this is how Jacques Chirac's long and controversial political career ends. The president, first elected in 1995, declared in a specially-recorded speech broadcast on French TV last night that he would not be a contender in the forthcoming presidential election.
Few expected him to be, but Elysée Palace insiders claim that he harboured hopes of running one last time until Christmas. He was put off by rival Nicolas Sarkozy's ratings, which remained high despite Chirac's hopes of a meltdown.
Most French political figures have praised the "dignified manner" of his retirement speech, with the exception of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who described Chirac as "the worst president in France's history."
However, Chirac has seen his approval ratings rise again in recent months. Probably in part down to the realisation he was not going to run for president again - at one point in 2005 only 1 percent of French voters hoped he would try for a third term.
Quote Of The Day
Professor Phyllis Chesler spent two years in Afghanistan: An experience which she claims forged her western feminism. Here she is in the Times today:
"Now is the time for Western intellectuals who claim to be antiracists and committed to human rights to stand with these (Muslim and ex-Muslim) dissidents. To do so requires that we adopt a universal standard of human rights and abandon our loyalty to multicultural relativism, which justifies, even romanticises, indigenous Islamist barbarism, totalitarian terrorism and the persecution of women, religious minorities, homosexuals and intellectuals. Our abject refusal to judge between civilisation and barbarism, and between enlightened rationalism and theocratic fundamentalism, endangers and condemns the victims of Islamic tyranny."
France's Traditional Election Surprise
Jean-Marie Le Pen's career shows that some people don't know when to give up
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front (FN) party is making his fifth and probably final bid to be the next president of France. Political observers in Paris say he has little chance of winning.
Mr Le Pen astounded friends and foes alike by coming a surprise second in the 2002 presidential race. But now he is trailing in the opinion polls, with a rating of 12.5 percent.
Le Pen and his supporters counter that polls tend to underestimate support for right-wing candidates. Having the media and rival candidates depict your man as a dangerous hate figure makes FN sympathisers embarrassed or frightened to admit their preferences: Le Pen could still cause another big upset in April.
Trouble Brewing For Ahmadinejad?
Iran's Holocaust-denying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be strutting his stuff on the world stage, but at home his popularity is sinking fast.
A catastrophic election; rumours he enjoyed a dancing girls extravaganza while visiting the Asian Games (even though his regime has led an unprecedented crackdown on women failing to observe strict dress codes); International condemnation for his extremist views. Added to this, on his watch the economy has floundered and unemployment remains stubbornly high. House prices are increasingly beyond the reach of the ordinary Iranians he claims to represent.
Now, the real power in Iran - the mullahs - are beginning to shift their allegiances. The BBC has a round-up.
9-11 Compared To Dresden Bombing
France's far-right leader causes storm with dismissal of terror attack
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of France's National Front party, is no stranger to controversy. Best known in the United States for coming second in France's 2002 presidential election and for dismissing the Holocaust as "a detail of history", he turns his attention this week to the September 11 terror attacks and the Iraq War.
In an interview with French Catholic newspaper La Croix, Le Pen described the September 11 terror attacks as "an incident" and added that the total of "3,000 dead... is how many die in Iraq in a month and far less than the deaths in the Marseille or Dresden bombings at the end of the Second World War."
Unhappy Birthday
Robert Mugabe makes it to 83. Ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe can count themselves lucky if they live half as long
Today, Zimbabwe's president Mugabe celebrates his 83rd birthday. The leader plans a birthday celebration, where selected children will come to greet the president and enjoy what is, by Zimbabwean terms, an enormously extravagant party.
British papers report that the party will cost around £30,000 in real terms: Not an excessive sum for a head of state's celebration. In Zimbabwe terms, however, it is difficult to tell. One quoted figure is 30 million Zimbabwe dollars, but as the inflation rate of 1600 percent makes many household essentials double in price overnight. The average Zimbabwean worker needs to toil two months to be able to pay for enough maize to feed his family for a month. By the time those two months are up, however, it's likely that the price of maize will have become even more inaccessible.
Mugabe is lucky to reach such an advanced age. Doctors report he is still healthy and sprightly. If only the same could be said for his fellow citizens.
Zimbabwe now has the lowest life expectancy ratings in the world.
London Gets Third World Aid
London. Europe's wealthiest city. The worl