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Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas from the EURSOC team to all our readers. EURSOC is taking a short break over Christmas but we'll return next week with more stories - and, in the New Year, a stunning new look.
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Enjoy the holidays!
EURSOC
Not-So-Secret Army
The Guardian leads with the news that one of its reporters spent seven months undercover with the hard-right British National Party, rising to the rank of Central London Organiser.
Another Country
The power to photograph and fingerprint all non-EU nationals, currently living in the United Kingdom, has been announced by home secretary, John Reid.
Under Cover Escape
Outrage as suspected cop killer evades UK customs in a niqab
A man wanted in connection with the murder of policewoman Sharon Beshenivsky is thought to have fled Britain to Somalia using his sister's passport and wearing her niqab.
France On Terror Alert
Warning level Rouge as three plots foiled in build up to elections
The head of France's interior ministry terror unit says that three terrorist attacks have been scuppered by his department in the past 18 months. Targets are reported to have included the Paris Metro underground network and Orly, one of Paris' two major airports.
To Nuke Or Not To Nuke
The future of Britain's strategic nuclear submarine-based deterrent remains upon what Chancellor Gordon Brown said in his annual Mansion House speech.
Language Gap
If you had one country that spoke one language, that would be OK, or at least, simple. If you have a union of 25 (soon to be 27) nations, speaking in different tongues, you have a bit of a problem.
Quote Of The Day
"Statistically speaking the typical Anglican is a young black woman in her twenties..."
The magnificent Archbishop of York John Sentamu gives excellent value in a Q&A session with readers in today's Independent. His responses could keep EURSOC in Quote of the Day material for a year, but we'll limit ourselves to the excerpt below and urge you to check out the entire interview.
" I am concerned that there are some aggressive secularists and intolerant atheists who are hell bent on erasing Christianity and Christian values from public life as a precursor to privatising or banning the public practise of religion. Sir John Mortimer, the playwright and atheist, wrote: 'Our whole history and culture in Europe is based on Christianity, whether you believe in it or not. Our culture is Christian; Shakespeare, Mozart- all that makes life worth living is part of the Christian tradition.' All I have been doing in my recent statements is to remind this great nation of Edmund Burke's warning who said in the House of Commons 'when ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment we have no compass to govern us.'"
Go Johnny Go
French rock legend Johnny Hallyday is at the centre of another scandal. This time there's not a dolly bird or rolled-up fifty Euro dotted with suspicious powder to be seen: The 63 year-old rocker has fled France, seeking tax exile in Switzerland.
Street Level
Magistrates demonstrating in Paris this afternoon.
See anything interesting in your neighbourhood today? Snap it and email it to us at eursoc@noos.fr - we'll publish the best.
Not MySpace
Since Rupert Murdoch spent $580 million buying MySpace last year, News International boffins have worked overtime trying to think of means to link the networking site with newspapers like The Sun and News of the World. MySpace was plugged at every opportunity - much in the same way NewsInt used to draw guffaws from Private Eye by publishing "publicity material for Sky Broadcasting Services masquerading as news items" in the Murdoch press.
Tom Stevens, the man arrested by police this morning in connection with the murders of five prostitutes in Ipswich, has a MySpace site (It's here, for the time being). Many of the photos of Stevens being used in the press - The Sun included - come from Stevens' site.
However, The Sun is at pains to avoid mentioning MySpace as the source of the information on Stevens, instead reporting on how he posted information on "a social networking site", where he used the name "the Bishop."
Ségo And Hillary Show Postponed
Ségolène Royal's remarks apparently in support of a Hizbollah politician's rant against Israel and the United States continue to haunt her. It's now claimed that the Socialist Party's presidential candidate has had to postpone a trip to the US, where she hoped to share a triumphant platform with Hillary Clinton, after Mrs Clinton refused to meet her.
Ethical Foreign Policy
EU Serf reports that London is coming under pressure to agree to EU plans to lift a visa ban on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe in time for next year's Euro-African summit.
Quote Of The Day
"Political blogging has now taken off in Britain with big bloggers such as Paul Staines (aka Guido Fawkes) and Iain Dale exerting real influence and seizing the agenda from the mainstream media. (Dale is also going into television on the net through his 18DoughtyStreet site.) Just about all the successful political blogs are on the libertarian right. Guido, in particular, has created his own form of libertarian satirico-anarchism. There are two reasons for this: a) to a rough approximation the left hasn’t been able write for at least 30 years and b) the left is so keen on politically correct self-censorship and on dogma — that, for example, America is to blame for everything — it cannot adapt to the wild, heretical style of the bloggers. Somehow the left will have to work this out or the Tories will sweep into power on a blog-powered tide of giggling, ribaldry and abuse."
From "Eureka! What where the big ideas of 2006?", Bryan Appleyard, the Sunday Times. Bryan's own blog is very good, by the way.
The Media Gap
Aren't the blogs meant to be the frivolous ones - while the mainstream media concentrates on serious, grown-up issues?
Then why are the blogs seething with discussion of Tony Blair's questioning by police as part of the Cash-for-Honours inquiry, while the newspapers bought into Labour's "Media Management" strategy hook, line and sinker, splashing their front covers with news of the report into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales?
Love Is In The Airwaves
Can't French politicians and sultry reporters keep their hands off one another? Yet another star presenter has admitted that she's having a dalliance with one of Jacques Chirac's government, and found that she'll be sidelined during the build-up to next year's presidential election.
With journalists and ministers copping off at this rate, there won't be anyone left to read the news.
Despite our Anglo-Saxon sniffiness at the prospect of leading reporters sharing their beds with government figures, it makes sense in a matchmaking way. Everyone hates journalists and everyone hates politicians, so it is natural that these often isolated figures are drawn to one another. It's like tax inspectors leaping into bed with estate agents - who else would want to?
Street Level
Blue shirts on the Eurostar, from a reader.
See anything interesting on your journey to work today? Send us a photo and we'll publish it. eursoc@noos.fr
Scent Fit For A Queen
Look like this and you can wear whatever perfume you want
The French have always loved perfumes, it seems - not least during the ancien regime, when idiosyncratic bathing habits and a miasma of foul everyday odours made it necessary to dip practically everything you came into contact with in rich scents.
Of course, this kind of portable air conditioning was only for the rich.
Belgian Split No Laughing Matter
Belgium was struck with an Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" panic last night when state broadcaster RTBF announced that the northern, Dutch speaking part of the country had declared independence.
Distressed viewers called the television offices and politicians as the broadcast showed groups of merrymakers waving the Flemish flag outside government offices, spliced with library footage of traffic jams cramming routes to Belgians airports. King Albert and Queen Paola were reported to have fled the country in a military jet.
Only later was it revealed that he show was a spoof.
Street Level
"Turqia is Asia No Europa", Paris 2006.
See anything interesting on the way to work this morning? Snap it with your mobile phone and send it to us at eursoc@noos.fr
Euro Looks Shaky
The Euro might be running high against the US Dollar, but support for the single currency in France is headed for an all-time low. Today's Telegraph reports on a crisis of confidence in the Euro among the elite of one of the single currency region's most influential nations.
Copy, Paste
The Daily Mail offers some free publicity to the News of the World
Britain's media is gripped by news of a serial killer who is targeting prostitutes (or 'sex workers', if you read the Guardian) in sleepy Ipswich. With newspapers and broadcasters seemingly falling over one another for latest news of the murderer's actions, or expert 'insight' into his mindset and motivations, it's inevitable that mistakes are made.
But lifting huge chunks of a feature from a rival newspaper - especially when that source is indulging in a bit of flagrant self-promotion - is taking things a little far.
Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane? No, It's SuperSégo!
Ségolène Royal's Second Life
French presidential contender Ségolène Royal promised to use the internet to listen to voters' concerns, but it's unlikely she had this in mind. Users of virtual world phenomenon Second Life can meet and interact with a Ségo avatar, SuperSégo, complete with cape and her famous turquoise bikini.
SuperSégo is proving to be quite a hit with the French blogosphere. You can see her riding a rodeo machine (see above), and, after the cut, sunbathing on one of Second Life's nudist beaches.
Quote Of The Day
"Strategically we're all on the same track. We may be more concerned about Iran than Britain and the United States... We are vitally interested about the preservation of the non-proliferation regime because we have Iran on our borders. We would be the last country in this world that would want the existence of nuclear arms in Iran."
- Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the Independent. Russia has been notably slow to condemn Iran's drive for nuclear weapons.
Street Level
From reader Dylan Kissane: "A middle class crisis? HA! The whole state is in crisis!"
Spotted in the TGV station, Lyon.
Street Level
What caught your eye on the way to work this morning? Snap it with your camera and send it to eursoc@noos.fr and we'll publish.
Student Protests In Iran
A group of Tehran students burned images of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as groups of Holocaust deniers, Ku Klux Klansmen and anti-Semitic fanatics gathered to "revise" what the Iranian president describes as "the myth" of the Holocaust.
French Made
The Independent's excellent John Lichfield has been doing some snooping into Ségolène Royal's past, and found, well, if not dirt at least something interesting: Back in the late sixties, the French presidential contender worked for a while as an au pair in Dublin.
Holocaust Deniers Gather In Iran
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's conference on the truth of the Holocaust opens today in Tehran. Infamous Holocaust sceptics from around the globe have answered the president's call to investigate whether or not 6 million Jews were killed under Nazi rule in Germany - though one Palestinian academic, known for his struggle against Holocaust deniers among his own people - has already been barred from the event.
France 24 Goes Live
24 hour news channel goes on air tonight
7.30 GMT tonight sees the launch of France 24, France's first 24-hour global news broadcaster and what President Jacques Chirac has long seen as a vital weapon in the struggle against "Anglo-Saxon imperialism."
Green Day?
He looks like a scarecrow, but Green campaigner Nicolas Hulot could cause a major upset in next year's French presidential election
Even Ségolène Royal's most dedicated fans would admit that her image has helped her race to the front of the pack for the Elysee. Her chic suits, slick makeover and media-friendly grin come as part of the package that reads "modern, conservative-but-forward-looking, professional."
Most French voters sneered at their cousins across the Channel when they elected Tony Blair. A nice presentation, but no real policy, they said. Does it look like the French, after a decade of disdain for media-created politicians, would fall for the same thing themselves?
Enter Green campaigner Nicolas Hulot. Compared to Ségo, he's shabby: He wears tatty fleeces, and those awful hemp shirts that you see for sale in organic clothes fairs. His hair looks like it's been cut by Abu Hamza. Despite his background as a television presenter, he's a lot less polished than the Socialist candidate. In many ways, he's the anti-Ségo.
However, a poll today shows that he is far and away the most popular man in France.
Scare The Kids This Christmas
Not that any self-respecting EURSOC reader will be watching Channel Four's "alternative" Queen's speech on Christmas Day, but be prepared to calm the kids afterwards should your finger stray to the 4 button after too much seasonal spirit.
In the latest in a long tradition of attempts to épater le bourgeois, Channel Four's Christmas message will be delivered by a veiled Muslim woman known only as Khadja. The BBC - which will be broadcasting the traditional Queen's speech at the same time - notes that Khadja "is a freelance lecturer in Islamic studies and the Koran". She will be delivering her speech wearing the most severe form of Muslim costume, the niqab (pictured right).
Hopefully the kids won't think it's Hallowe'en all over again.
An Expensive Rubber Stamp
British MPs are demanding a pay rise - up to £100,000 (€148,000/$198,000) a year.
This, they say, brings them into line with senior civil servants and doctors. The current salary is around £60,000 pa, which forces some poor souls into other jobs. Former MP Michael Portillo says that if salaries don't rise, MPs will take second or third jobs, and this will make voters even more unhappy.
Of course, any rise would be hugely unpopular with hard-pressed taxpayers. Two million households are having difficulty paying their council tax, for example. And besides, the average MP is getting £140,000 in expenses and allowances.
But what do MPs do to command such high salaries, never mind merit a 66 percent rise? EU Referendum Blog has a characteristically scathing post on the subject. Worth reading in its entirety, but here's a key quote:
"Do you legislate? Well, not in the eighty per cent of the legislation that comes, one way or another from the European Union and is passed on the nod because you do not have the right to reject or amend it. Let’s face it, you do not even bother to read most of it."
Rwanda: France "Must Face Trial"
The 1994 Rwanda massacres - one of history's bloodiest events - continue to haunt France. Last month, the tiny African nation broke off relations with Paris after a French judge accused ethnic Tutsi leader Paul Kagame of being being behind the killing of Hutu President Habyarimana; an act widely believed to have sparked the slaughter of up to a million people.
Kagame is now President Kagame, and he has always accused France of playing an important role in the massacres that followed. Some experts agree with him. Linda Melvern, who has published a study of the Rwandan massacres, told the BBC that the genocide was well-planned. 47 senior French officers had been "embedded" in the Rwandan army at the time - on the direct orders of the French government. It is difficult to believe that the subsequent massacres, which had been prepared for by the purchase of thousands of machetes, went on under France's nose without its officers knowing.
Private Dancer
Iran's president Ahmadinejad spotted enjoying Qatar's dancing queens
You're a religious fundamentalist devoted to ridding your nation of impure and improper conduct. On your watch, women can't dance or sing for male audiences. They can be stopped in the street for wearing costumes your religious police disapprove of. Books, websites and films believed to be likely to corrupt the morals of youth are banned.
So what's to stop you enjoying a spot of fancy dancing girls when you're on a jolly abroad?
Lost In Translation
Ségolène Royal has run into a spot of bother in the Middle East. The French presidential candidate, who is on a publicity-raising tour of the region, appeared to give her approval to a Hezbollah politician who compared Israel to the Nazis and attacked the US as "insane."
Passport Control?
There was a time when the East Germans had a monopoly on manufacturing pretend passports, in what was then East Berlin.
Now, it is an international industry.
Anywhere from Bangkok, Prague, Budapest, and anywhere in between, it's more than easy.
It's An Unfair Cop
It's tough being a copper these days. There are the usual problems of rape, domestic violence, robbery and, of course, keeping an eye on the threat of terrorism.
But the London Metropolitan Police have added a new priority.
They will swoop on your traditional office Christmas party. According to the Daily Mail, the boss might be sued for letting staff drink too much.
Steyn: He Hasn't Gone Away, You Know
Many EURSOC readers will miss columnist Mark Steyn, who hasn't been publishing on British or European issues in recent months. Steyn was always guaranteed to brighten the dull pages of the British newspapers with his fiery, funny and incisive commentary. Lucky readers across the Atlantic can still find him writing on North American issues - and, of course, Brits and Euros can find him on his website, Steyn Online.
It's not the same, though. So it's great to see that the New Culture Forum has published an interview with the great man. Steyn's on fine form on Europe, Britain and the culture of appeasement.
Won't someone give him a column on a British paper?
London Bones
Discovery of a 6th century burial points to early Christian site in London
Archaeologists excavating a site beside London's Trafalgar Square have found evidence suggesting the area was one of the major centres of early Christianity in Britain.
Black Is The New Black
To buy a Hermes silk scarf - go to 24 rue du Faubourg St Honore in 75008 Paris. If you want to buy a Gap shirt, go to 14 rue Lobineau in the Marché St Germain in 75006 Paris.
But, if your taste is slightly more Islamic, head for Marché Voltaire, in Asnières, in the north-west suburb of Paris (Postal code 92600). The shopping centre is not far from Porte de Clichy. The metro station is Asnières-Gennevilliers.
China Syndrome
Hope this doesn't give Alastair Campbell and his goons any ideas. The Chinese authorities are considering forcing web users to give their real names and ID card numbers when they open a blog. The BBC reports that the repressive regime worries that anonymous bloggers are spreading "libel and slander" - and adds that bloggers who do "nothing illegal or harmful to the public" have nothing to fear from the measures...
Quote Of The Day
“A lot of these types of very violent young people are thermostatically impaired. They’ve been exposed to so much violence and trauma that they almost get addicted to operating through adrenalin. This adrenalin recharges their system into a violent state of being...
"They have very poor self-soothing repertoires because they’ve been deprived of loving care... they are supercharged with traumatic memories which disregulate their management of energy.”
- As Britain undergoes another bout of soul-searching thanks to its murderous youngsters, Woman of the Year 2006 and the founder of the charity Kids Company Camila Batmanghelidjh tells the BBC what's to blame. Quoted by Rosemary Behan in The Times.
