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Microwaving The Mob
American military technologists have demonstrated a new 'heat ray' weapon, designed to control riots.
Chirac Flips On Iran
President Chirac says Iran Nuke isn't a worry - then summons reporters for second round to withdraw remarks.
Strange goings-on in the Elysee. On Monday, president Jacques Chirac granted a rare interview with the French and foreign press. At the beginning of the week, the papers were feverishly speculating that a US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities was imminent: As you might expect, the president was asked for his thoughts on the matter.
Sarko & Tony's Love-In
France's centre-right presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, has been invited for lunch with British prime minister Tony Blair at No 10 Downing Street.
He Shoots, He Scores
Welcome to EURSOC's new sports section. Here we'll cover sport with an emphasis on, well, "Great Sport." In keeping with EURSOC custom, sport will be covered with the same irreverence and disdain for the lop-sided, unimaginative and boring drivel that is the main staple of the traditional channels.
Please keep us informed with your feedback on eursoc@noos.fr !
Footballer Wayne Rooney is controversial, sometimes disappointing. He has been in the news again, thanks to a run-in with an ageing hooker. However, let's not forget what the Manchester United striker does best. Here's his goal-of-the-month contender against Portsmouth:
Welcome To EURSOC
You might have noticed EURSOC has had the decorators in. They haven't quite finished yet, but over the next few days we'll add some new features, fine-tune the design and reactivate features like Comments and photography.
We hope you like the new look: Over the coming weeks and months, EURSOC will introduce more new features. Please let us know what you think!
Until the Comments are switched on again, you may contact us on eursoc@noos.fr EDIT: Comments are working now. You can still email us if you prefer!
Thank you for your continued interest in EURSOC!
Quote Of The Day
"I don't mean to denigrate the mental acuity of Jane Fonda - this, after all, is the woman who has produced and scripted no fewer than 23 workout videos, culminating in the 1995 triumph Abs, Buns and Thighs - but the presence of actors at the forefront of a political campaign usually tells you that trivialisation cannot be far behind."
Dominic Lawson in the Independent on do-gooding actors, Xenu and Ségolène Royal.
Royalism Of The Day
Having upset the government of Canada, including prime minister Stephen Harper, and a majority of Canadians by calling for sovereignty for Quebec, France's socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal has moved to new territory.
Size Matters
Spain's government has introduced a measure to enforce that shop window mannequins should be be displayed wearing clothing of a larger size.
Street Level
Paris, Place du Marché St Catherine, Saturday afternoon.
See anything interesting today? Snap it with your digital camera and email it to us at eursoc at noos dot fr and we'll publish.
Generation X
A new poll suggests that a generation of religious extremists is growing up in Britain. According to the report published by think tank Policy Exchange, over a third of British muslims aged between 16 and 24 would prefer to live under Sharia law than British law. Just under a third of this age group believes that converting from Islam to another religion should be punishable by death, while 74 percent of the age group preferred women to wear the veil or Muslim headscarf.
The youngsters interviewed for the poll are radically more extreme than their elders: Among over 55s, only 28 percent would prefer women covered.
Let Them Eat Fruit (Lots Of It)
Oh, how we laughed when the government started employing people as "Five a Day Fruit and Vegetable Advisers". Now, Britain's legions of vegetable pushers could be out of work, as the EU unveils plans to offload its farmers' surplus fruit and veg production onto schoochildren, hospitals and care homes.
The Spying Game
Have you ever wondered whether the world of James Bond is fact or fiction ? Well, here are a few answers.
A Right Royal Cock-Up
No nukes is bad news
Royalism of the day
Ségolène Royal, France's socialist presidential candidate, is now subject to more harsh words from Canada. In plain terms, she has provoked what used to be called a 'diplomatic incident'.
Blogging On Your Back
For those of you who take the idea of Pyjamas Media too literally, Office Organix has the perfect solution. With the $4000 Ergoquest 500 you can work from bed - though if you want to avoid bedsores, it can adjust to standing and desk positions. Sleeping on the job? Never! Via Gizmodo
Another Day, Another Ban
A councillor in York has tabled a vote to ban the sale of foie gras in the English city's restaurants.
Pay Per View Propaganda
"By and large BBC journalism starts from the premise of leftwing ideology: it is hostile to conservatism and the traditional right, Britain's past and British values, America, Ulster unionism, Euroscepticism, capitalism and big business, the countryside, Christianity and family values. Conversely, it is sympathetic to Labour, European federalism, the state and state spending, mass immigration, minority rights, multiculturalism, alternative lifestyles, abortion, and progressiveness in the education and the justice systems."
- Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre. An abridged version of his speech on the BBC's "cultural Marxism" is published in The Guardian
Surprisingly (well...) the abridged version does not include Dacre's references to the "subsidiarat " - those left-leaning newspapers, including the Guardian, that could not exist without financial support from either the government, benevolent proprietors or cash cow sister publications.
Bigmouth Strikes Again
Every time Ségolène Royal opens her mouth, she can't help but put her immaculately-shod foot in it. The latest nation to benefit from her foreign policy wisdom is Canada, where the Socialist presidential contender told the head of the separatist Parti Québecois that she shared his values of "freedom and sovereignty" for Quebec.
The BBC's "Cultural Marxism"
The editor of the Daily Mail attacked the BBC's "cultural Marxism" and accused it of failing to take into account the views of the majority of British people.
Al-Qaeda Back In Town
President George Bush said at the White House in October: "We're winning. Al-Qaeda is on the run".
Unfortunately, western intelligence and security officials beg to differ. America's CIA and FBI, Britain's MI6 and MI5 and France's DST and DGSE, all say that there is a continuing and serious threat from Al-Qaeda and its associates.
French Twist
Only a year or two ago, the French media was filled with reports of how Britain, a nation with a similar population and economy size, was storming ahead. Unemployment in France's oldest rival was low, business was dynamic, culture vibrant - the Brits even swiped the Olympic Games from under French noses. France, by contrast, was in the doldrums. A corrupt and failing leadership. Top heavy economy, sinking fast. Inner-city riots, spiralling unemployment, unreformable working practices.
Why, then, do birth rate statistics show France storming ahead - while more Brits are moving across the Channel than ever before? And why does Britain, Europe's economic powerhouse, seem gripped by gloom?
France's Priest Dies
Priest Abbe Pierre has died at the age of 94. The cause of death is said to have been a lung infection.
He was renowed as a leading champion of the destitute and the homeless.
The Media Gap
The MSM doesn't do blogs; Iranian bloggers face crackdown - who's next?; Hillary Clinton, Virtual President?
The Guardian reports that left-leaning rival The Independent is seeking voluntary redundancies from among its reporting staff. The newspaper, which along with its sister paper the Independent on Sunday lost £10m in 2005, faces a struggle to adapt to the new media world.
The Big Chill
Events over the weekend have brought a distinct Cold War chill to international relations. On Thursday, western governments claimed that China's Peoples Liberation Army had blasted an ageing weather satellite out of the sky with a missile - the first such test by any nation to date. China's action left even its own diplomats lost for words and drew criticism that Beijing risked opening new Star Wars arms race.
Airbus Take-Off Delayed
Airbus, the European consortium of aircraft manufacturers, is flying low these days.
Ségo Stumbles?
Senior Socialist Party figures are reported to have growing doubts about Ségolène Royal's candidacy. Well, it's a little late now - and their worries, it seems, are not reflected in the most recent opinion polls. Is it just that "senior Socialist Party figures" are helplessly out of touch?
Biggest Brother
Even George Orwell could not imagine a Big Brother on this scale.
A giant database of people's personal details is to be created by the British government. The official explanation is that it will help "improve" public services.
Artificial Intelligence
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it
For one country to have one or two intelligence orsecurity services is necessary today. But to have 16 is a bit much.
Great Train Robbery
The head of railways at Britain's department of transport has warned travellers that they can't be guaranteed seats if they travel at peak periods - even if they have paid up to £5000 a ticket.
One Man, One Vote
Labour is so rattled by concerns that Gordon Brown's ascension to Prime Minister will be attacked as a "coronation" that it is considering holding a vote of party members. Trouble is, Brown's name is likely to be the only one to appear on the ballot, which is sure to lead to further accusations that the vote will be "Communist-style."
Comment Is Free...
Update: Comments are live again. Fire away!
Here's a beauty from Horris you may have missed:
"I thought that it was meant to be the west that was decadent. Now we have more and more stories of cross-dressing Jihadists.
"Have they no morality?"
Far-Right Wobbles Already
Well, that didn't last long. The far-right group in the EU parliament that everyone was getting their knickers in a twist about yesterday might crumble before it gets off the ground. The only British member of the Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty Group, Ashley Mote, has criticised his 23-year-old Bulgarian colleague, Dimitar Stoyanov, over Stoyanov's anti-semitic remarks.
Sanctuary, Still
The medieval right to sanctuary was abolished in Britain by James I in 1623. After that date, it was no longer possible for wanted men to seek shelter in religious property. However, it appears that a form of sanctuary still exists in Greater Manchester. The Times reports that an alleged terrorist suspect hid out in a mosque earlier this month - and was smuggled to safety while police negotiated with religious and community leaders outside.
Sarkozy Exposes Himself
You have to hand it to the French. When British leadership contenders want voters to get to know what they are really like, we get Webcameron, or, worse, claims that they likes nothing better than to listen to "yoof" music on their iPods.
France's Nicolas Sarkozy has opted for a classier approach: The centre-right candidate for the presidency has invited France's leading playwright to follow him around for several months, to create a portrait of his "existential inner being."
EU Far-Right Rallies
One unintended consequence of the EU's recent expansion into Bulgaria and Romania is the arrival of six new extreme-right members to the European Parliament - allowing far-right parties to band together and demand full parliamentary status for the first time.
Frangleterre
The papers are having great fun with the revelation that Britain and France considered a 'union' in the 1950s. According to declassified documents uncovered by a BBC documentary team, in September 1956 French Prime Minister Guy Mollet held a meeting with Britain's Anthony Eden, during which Mollet raised the possibility of a union between the two nations.
Exit Wearing Burka
News today of yet another suspect attempting to flee disguised in full-length Islamic costume. Last month, it was reported that alleged cop-killer Mustaf Jamma was waved through customs at Heathrow airport dressed in his sister's niqab. Now we hear that in 2005, one of the men wanted for attempting to massacre Londoners travelling on the Tube on July 21 attempted to flee the capital dressed in a burka.
Quote Of The Day
"Worse, campaigners want to bar (BNP supporters) from thinking bad thoughts in private. Thus Unite Against Fascism dismissed the English National Ballet's sensible suggestion that Clarke’s views were a personal matter: “There should be no difference between a private racist opinion and a public racist opinion.” In which case, abolish the secret ballot! Record everybody’s views and voting records on a national database along with their DNA! Those who think this an Orwellian fantasy might recall that the Macpherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence recommended making it a crime to use racist language in your own home."
- Mick Hume on "hounding the BNP ballerina" in the Times.
Hugs All Round
Sometimes a hug is all we need - at least, that is the message from the Freehugscampaign. 'Free hugs' is the invention of an unsusual person by the name of Juan Mann.
It's The Real Thing
Has Coca-Cola reached its sell-by date?
Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world. Pepsi is just behind in sales. But change is always possible. Next month, Americans will be told through a massive advertising campaign that there is an antithetical alternative to Coke.
It's Sarkozy vs Royal
The British papers are all over the news that as expected, Nicolas Sarkozy won his party's presidential nomination at a UMP rally yesterday. Some note that the shine was taken off Sarko's Saddam-like 98 percent of the vote by news that only 69 percent of the centre right party bothered to vote for him, but by most accounts the interior minister seized the day with a rollicking speech outlining his vision for France.
She Was The People's Cetacean
This warm winter must have confused the radars of the Guardian's editorial team: Evidently, they still think it's the silly season. What other reason could there be for a "commemoration" of the first anniversary of the demise of the unfortunate northern bottle-nosed whale, which swam up the Thames last year?
The online supplement was given top billing on the newspaper's website (above). Poor old thing (the whale, not the Guardian).
Browned Off
Gordon Brown’s defence of the Union of the UK would be laughable if it were not so sad
Having jointly presided over 10 years of the systematic dismantling of Britain’s historic institutions, Brown is trying to paint himself as a champion of the Union and of Britain.
As usual for New Labour, the reasons are motivated purely by self-interest and power.
You Can Dance If You Want To
An antifascist demonstration has been organised for today's performance of Giselle by English National Ballet principal Simone Clarke - her first since being "outed" as a member of the far-right British National Party.
Rocket Attack On US Embassy
Athens building rocked by explosion
Greek police and US authorities are investigating reports that a far-left terror group was behind the rocket attack that caused minor damage to the US Embassy building in Athens this morning.
Big Apple Dries Up?
Prohibition is in the air in New York. It is already well-known that you are not allowed to smoke in bars, restaurants or public places. You are not allowed to talk on mobile phones in cars or in schools. You are not able to eat what you want because the Board of Health has has voted to ban "fat food" in most of the city's restaurants.
EU Energy Bust-Up
Energy has been in the news this week, as Europeans once again found themselves at the sharp end of Russia leader Vladimir Putin's attempts to influence his neighbours by twisting the tap of the Eurasian continents fuel supply.
With exquisite timing, the following day the European Commission unveiled plans for a European strategy on climate change, in which energy policy plays an important role.
Quote Of The Day
"Africa has traditionally been considered such a special case in Paris that France's policy is run out of the presidency. At the time, the 'Africa cell' was headed by (President Francois) Mitterrand's son, Jean-Christophe (who) later said that there could not have been a genocide because 'Africans are not that organised'. France's president did not deny what had happened, but took a view no less racist: 'In such countries, genocide is not too important.'"
From a report on the Rwanda genocide in today's Guardian. Racism, as the Guardian's writer Chris McGreal describes the statement attributed to Mitterand, is probably the least worse thing about the former President's opinion of the Rwanda genocide: It displays a disgusting arrogance and complacency more suited to a defendant at Nuremberg rather than the President of a western European nation.
Taliban Fast Track
The Times reports today that Molly Campbell, the British 12 old at the centre of a custody battle, has taken to wearing a burkha and attending an extremist religious school linked with the Taliban and allegedly al-Qaeda.
China Attacks Terror Camp
Assault on camp "linked to al-Qaeda", authorities say
China says its special forces have killed 18 terrorists during a pitched battle in what it describes as a secret training camp in the remote Xinjiang Uighur region.
"Anything Can Happen"
Centre-right presidential contender Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled his campaign slogan for April's election: It's "tout devient possible avec Nicolas Sarkozy" - "everything becomes possible with Nicolas Sarkozy."
Isn't that just what's worrying people?
iPhone Arrives (Soon-ish)
Well, he did have one up his sleeve after all. Following much speculation, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs wowed guests at yesterday's Macworld with the company's first step into the mobile telecommunications world, the iPhone.
The Media Gap
Over at No Pasaran, Eric Svane notes a timely comparison between the media's treatment of pro-US and anti-American hardmen. Or, as the mainstream media would have it, pro-US "dictators" and Communist "leaders."
"Whereas the MSM had called unequivocably for moving heaven and earth to go after Pinochet while depicting Chile's (Augusto Pinochet) as nothing but a monster, they have taken to referring to the environment in which Warsaw's (Archbishop and alleged collaborator) Stanislaw Wojciech Wielgus met his fate as 'Eastern Europe's widening witch hunt for former Communist secret police informers'.
Terror Talk
Here's a cracking piece of doublespeak from Spanish terrorist group ETA. According to a report in the Telegraph today, ETA has admitted responsibility for the murder of two people in a Madrid airport bombing on December 30. However, it claims it is "still committed to the ceasefire" it announced last March.
MI5 Opens Its Doors (But Not Too Much)
In Britain's secret world, sometimes politely called its 'intelligence community', old habits die hard.
Codes, practices, and above all, attitudes, have not changed much since the war.
Here We Go Again
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, a new version of the European constitution has its jaws threatening European citizens.
iPhone Home?
Most of the tech and business worlds seem convinced that Apple will announce a mobile phone at today's Macworld event in San Francisco. All the elements are in place for a big declaration from the computer manufacturer-turned-lifestyle giant: CEO Steve Jobs is lining up another keynote speech; Apple banners, their displays frustratingly draped in trademark black are being snapped and distributed around the net to eager blogs; and, most typical of all, the hype machine has gone into hyperdrive.
Alternative History
What would Britain be like if its people had come out against entering the "Common Market" in 1973? Back the, Europe (though it was never really called "Europe") was presented as the only alternative to inevitable decline. Outside the shining uplands of the European Economic Community, Britain was doomed to remain a damp, miserable, poor and irrelevant island.
New Powers For The Taxman
Following on from EURSOC's report last week that tax inspectors will be offered bonuses for trapping Inland Revenue cheats, the Sunday Times reveals that Britain's tax inspectors are to be given new powers allowing them to tap tax-payer's telephones inside their homes and offices. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) says its inspectors need such covert surveillance to combat organised crime.
Bond, James Bond
Sony Pictures, under its subsidiary, MGM/UA, has received a licence to kill competitors at cinema box offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Warning: Gratuitous Nudity
The second season of best-show-on-the-telly Rome begins on HBO this week.
The first season, part funded by the BBC, was served up with plenty of violence, gore and sex - though most of the controversy rested on what the Beeb cut out, rather than the rutting Romans it broadcast.
Thank heaven, then, for the moral watchdogs of the Sunday Telegraph, who warn potential viewers that the new series has even more blood and bosoms. "A blood-soaked soldier carrying a head through the streets", it gasps, and "a slave being tortured to death" await viewers...
The clincher that will have US viewers rushing to their Tivos is the breathless report that in one of Rome's "numerous scenes of nudity", "Kerry London — the scheming Octavia — is pictured naked in bed." (Actually, it's Kerry Condon.) Is the Torygraph really trying to put us off this show?
If Telegraph arts and media editor Chris Hastings can guarantee that Atia (above right) gets her kit off too, EURSOC will be booking flights to the US.
Fear Of Flying
There is no need to be concerned about taking off your shoes or your jacket or giving over your hand bag for inspection if you travel from Britain to the United States.
These procedures have become perfunctory.
Think, now, about whether authorities have a right to your credit card details, transactions, airline travel destinations and e-mail mesages and much more.
Springtime For The Taxman
As a New Year's present, British tax inspectors are being offered bonuses to encourage them to collect more money from individuals and businesses, according to the Daily Mail. The bonuses are worth up to £2,000 (2,900 euros) per head.
Rampant Passport Forgery in EU
If you lost an old-style, pre-electronic passport, it was fairly simple. You went to your local consulate overseas or a passport-issuing office.
The new 'machine-readable' passports are different. You can 'clone' an identical to the original, undetectable, with ease.
