Andrew's Blog from Brussels

The big talk in Brussels today is the eager-awaited decision of the Czech Constitutional Court which today has rejected a challenge to the EU's Lisbon Treaty, paving the way for the sceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus to sign it.

The court ruled that the treaty - an overhaul of the EU's institutional rules and laws - is compatible with Czech national law.

The treaty "is not in conflict with the constitutional law of the Czech Republic," Pavel Rychetsky, the court's chief justice, told state TV on Tuesday (3 November).

The decision was warmly received in Brussels, where European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek said: "The final hurdle has now been cleared. The decision clears the way for President Vaclav Klaus to sign and finalise the ratification of the Treaty and I am very confident he will do so."

"The Treaty of Lisbon should now enter into force by the end of the year."

"When I met President Klaus in October in Prague, I said that I was optimistic that we could find a solution," he continued.

"The Czechs have secured their opt-out on the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and due legal process has been respected. We now look forward to working on the implementation of the Treaty which greatly enhances the powers of the democratically-elected European Parliament. "

The case had been brought by a group of 17 senators and came on the back of a similar though narrower challenge last year, which the top Czech judges also dismissed.

The Czech Republic is the last EU member state to fully ratify the treaty. The process has been held up by Mr Klaus, a eurosceptic and arch opponent of the document.

His signature is all that is required to complete ratification.

Now the decision has been announced, the mass attention will now again return to just who will occupy the two major posts that the Treaty will create...

UPDATE (15.35): Reports suggest Czech President Vaclav Klaus has now signed the Lisbon Treaty! Click here for BBC report

Labels: Current Affairs, EU

Posted by Andrew at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments

With the second round of the latest postal strikes starting today and the Communication Workers Union warning of "more strike action, for longer periods" in the future (oh great), the cartoon published by the excellent "Matt" in the Daily Telegraph (18 September) that I have republished below becomes more and more salient.

I liked the cartoon back then, and I still like it now - I just don't like the way the UK postal service is heading.

With seemingly constantly disrupted services and the future threat, who is likely to remain loyal in the future.

Even I am starting to think twice.

An email is quicker and cheaper...

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

Now that the dust has settled on the massive Irish 'Yes' vote in the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, the question of who would eventually become the new President of the European Union has remerged.

Tony Blair, the former UK Labour Prime Minister, is the favourite for this post, which would be created when the Lisbon Treaty comes into action after being ratified by all 27 Member States. Now that Ireland gave their consent, Poland has indicated it too will sign soon, leaving the Czech Republic the only country yet to ratify.

Its perhaps most significant action would be to create the post of EU President to replace the rolling six-month presidency that is in operation at the moment (currently Sweden, Spain will assume control on January 1 2010). This would allow the EU to have a fixed figurehead on the world stage, which it believes will give it much more weight in international relations.

It was The Times last week that reported French President Nicolas Sarkozy as saying he believed Blair is the best man for the job and that German opposition from Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to have softened.

Asked if Blair was the only real candidate, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is quoted as replying: "For the moment, indeed." While the opinions of attitude of France and Germany are crucial to any decision, the future president will have be elected by all 27 EU leaders.

But here is the interesting bit, Blair, who appears to be disliked by all political parties in the Parliament, especially by his supposed allies on the left, and many of the national leaders for the UK's terrible decision to engage in war with Iraq amongst other things, may end up being elected because of the lack of another suitable candidate!

[Imagine how Gordon Brown would feel should his former boss, who he finally displaced, became his 'boss' again...]

Because of the arrangements to share posts between the two most represented political groups in the Parliament, the future president will be either a social democrat or a conservative, and while a few other candidates have emerged (for example former Danish prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, and former prime minister of Spain, Felipe Gonzalez) you can hardly say they have the international clout that Blair possesses. The same is true of the potential conservative candidates Jean-Claude Juncker, the current Prime Minister of Luxembourg, and Jan Peter Balkenende, his Dutch equivalent.

Renowned blogger Jean Quatremer (fr) says that such international status will raise the EU to an equal footing on the world stage with the other big players, such as the USA. But symbolically, how would we all feel with a Brit holding the most powerful post in Europe?

For me, this feels rather uncomfortable considering how disengaged and unenthusiastic we have become to engage with the rest of Europe and participate fully in the European Union.

If Blair's appointment would be a catalyst for the UK to integrate further with the EU, i.e. declare the five economic tests passed and adopt the Euro and become a full member of the Schengen area for starters, then I would be very enthusiastic about the appointment.

But I don't think it will be, even more so with the ominous threat of a Conservative Government with anti-EU David Cameron at its head. At the party's conference, Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague reaffirmed the desire once in power for a referendum of our own, and consult the public on whether we still want to be part of the EU. Naturally, this would be a catastrophic step and one which I hope will be avoided, but with Blair potentially at the helm of the European ship, you get the feeling it might make the Conservatives even more hostile and more willing to jump ship.

The role of President should be awarded to one of the founding countries, or at least to a country that over the years have proved that it is fully committed to the European cause.

So that would certainly rule out the UK then. But just what is the alternative now?

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, EU, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm in shock. I'm speechless. I'm utterly distraught.

The LA Times has reported that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died in hospital in California after suffering a cardiac arrest at the house he was occupying in preparation of his upcoming massive 50-date tour in London.

On it's website it reads: "Updated at 3:15 p.m.: Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times".

Earlier in the day, paramedics had been called to a home in the 100 block of Carolwood Drive off Sunset Boulevard where the King of Pop had rented the Bel-Air home for $100,000 a month. It has been described as a French chateau estate built in 2002 with seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a theater. The chateau is located only a short distance from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where he later died.

This news is absolutely devastating. I loved Michael Jackson as a child and I still love Michael Jackson now. His music always created happiness and has transcended generations. I am sure it will continue in the same vein for many many years to come and so it is deeply upsetting that the man himself is no longer with us. He meant so much to so many people; Jessica Yellin of CNN has even described him as the "Princess Diana of America".

RIP Michael Jackson. 50 years young. I will moonwalk in memory of you.

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments

In a highly significant and very symbolic act, France accepted this weekend on European territory an array of precious Buddhist relics entrusted to them by the Patriarchs of Thailand.

The relics, which depict Siddhārtha Gautama, a spiritual teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism and is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of our age, will be on display to the public in the Pagode in the Bois de Vincennes (Paris 12).

Their arrival in France is just the latest event in the long history of these precious artefacts. At the end of the nineteenth century, the collapse in India of a stupa that belonged to the clan of the Shakyas resulted in the discovery of authentic relics of the historical Buddha that had been preserved for more than two millennia.

Because India and most of Asia were colonized at the time, and Thailand was the only Buddhist country not to be so, G. N. Curzon, then Governor General of India and former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Siam, entrusted Thailand with the precious relics. They were displayed in the Golden Mount, one of the major temples in the capital city of Bangkok.

Over a century later and faced with constant political upheaval in Asia and the spread of Buddhism in the West, especially across Europe, the Thai Patriarchs decided to present the relics to the Western World, entrusting them to a European nation, their new land of asylum.

The Patriarchs selected France; the land that gave the world the Rights of Man and more specifically Paris, a city that according to them embodied the dynamic nature of European Buddhism.

France is one of the most prominent arenas of Buddhism in Europe and according to the country’s Minister for the Interior there are currently five million followers of the religion within its borders of which one million are active participants.

Speaking to the Figaro newspaper today, Olivier Reigen Wang-Genh, the president of the Buddhist Union of France who accepted these gifts, said “France is today the European country where Buddhists are most numerous, notably because of the waves of Asian immigration in the 1950s and the installation of the grand masters.

“This moment is historic,” he continued, “because it is the first time that authentic relics of Siddhārtha Gautama have been confided to a Western country.”

The Union have been entrusted with the responsibility to receive and keep the relics and to make plans to celebrate this historically significant event. Over the course of last weekend numerous celebrations and ceremonies took place in Vincennes that also featured exhibits of Buddhist art and objects from private collections and museums, including the excellent Guimet Museum of Asian Arts.

It is a very significant gesture and as one Buddhist commented to the Figaro “symbolically, it also proves that the teachings of Buddha is very much alive today and that it continues to spread from the Orient to the West.”

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 4:29 PM | Permalink | Comments

So here we are, Eurovision 2009, and I think the UK might genuinely have a chance with their entry this year. Who knows? Stranger things have happened: Follow my comments as the evening unfolds below:

Notable Final Scores: 1st: Norway 387pts; 2nd: Iceland 218pts; 3rd Azerbaijan 207pts; 4th Turkey 177pts; 5th United Kingdom 173pts; 8th France 107pts.

10.05 Relive the victorious entry now: watch the Norwegian entry from Alexander Rybak below:

00.18 Ok, it's all over for another year, and I really cannot remember who the winning Norwegian singer/violinist looks like! Suggestions in the comments at the bottom please! In the meantime, thanks for following me tonight, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Until next year in Oslo, Adjø, god natt og passe.

00.11 Well I for one am chuffed. My top-two both finished in the top-three. Well done to Norway, off to Oslo will go the Eurovision bandwagon. The French commentators are keen to sign off and cry, no doubt because they finish so far behind the UK, guess that must really hurt. Let's here the winning performance once again.

00.09 Norway have won, and they're also the last to give their points. Well done to Norway, running away with the competition in what is a new competition record. The UK was beaten down to fifth place by Turkey in the final two sets of results but it is still an excellent result.

00.07 Looks like the UK is going to finish fourth. Not bad at all.

00.00 Will Ireland give their neighbours 12 points? No, but we'll take the 10 though, cheers!

23.58 Excellent. The French commentators have just described being behind the UK and Bosnia as being a "horrible dream". Time to wake up...

23.51 Haha absolutely love the dismay in the sighs of the France 3 commentators when they get given two or three points. Be grateful for what you get! Another eight for the UK from Albania, and another eight from Serbia, wow thanks. Can we make the top-three? Perhaps that's too optimistic... Oh and you've got to love the hateful oh la la la la la when the UK outscore France...

23.47 Thank you Greece! 12 points for the UK! Get in! How long has it been since we last got a 12 points? Anyone know? That confirms it, this evening has been a success for us British :-)

23.43 Half-way through the voting and the top-three is all-but decided: Norway, Iceland, Turkey. UK are doing very well and are beating France, much to the dismay of the commentary team I'm listening to - good stuff!

23.40 What the heck is that idiot from Blue doing presenting the UK vote?! One point for France, oh they were not happy with that. Seven for Germany and the 12 points for Turkey, interesting choices UK.

23.36 Andorra to give 12 points to Spain? Oh yes... so predictable sometimes...

23.32 Russia give 10 to France - the commentators are very happy with that! Another 12 from them and another 12 from Latvia to Norway though, so it definitely looks like it's off to Oslo next year... But where is this 12 points for the UK?!

23.29 Nor there, 12 points to Norway from Iceland. Oh and the French have given us four points - how generous.

23.27 Norway get 12 points from neighbours Sweden, pas de surprise there...

23.23 Another 10 points, this time from Malta. 23 from four countries, and we've already passed our total from the last few years! French commentators are again bemused with only three points from their even more special 'friends' Germany, who give the UK another eight points. Really looking good for the UK, even better for Norway. Will the UK get a douze points?

23.22 The French commentators are not happy at all that Belgium, their 'friends' gave them only one point... Norway gets another 12 from Belarus. Heading to Oslo already?

23.20 Spain gives 10 to the UK - wow this could be our night! Norway gets 12...

23.10 Voting closed. Now let's see if neighbours will vote for each other again and leave the UK all alone at the foot of the table... Oh we have another spectacle to sit through, might use this opportunity to grab some food then.

22.55 Voting open: 15 minute break now for everyone to submit their vote - can that really be enough? Oh yeah the public don't 'actually' have a vote.

Anyway my top three (as I can't vote for UK): Iceland, Norway, Malta.

22.51 Well Spain have completed the proceedings. Their entry was far more 'normal' than it was last year and wasn't as bad as Finland's - really why dance music?!

22.47 URGH! Dance music. Thank you Finland, was going so well...

22.45 Hairs on the back of the neck standing on end, what a song. Despite my hatred for Andrew Lloyd Webber, he's done well this year. Well done Jade Ewen, it was your time (pun intended), excellent job. Even the French commentary team admitted (perhaps begrudgingly) that our entry is strong this year. At least we can't finished last with that, surely?

22.42 It's time for the UK. Come on!

22.41 According to the Romanian entry Balkan girls like to party like nobody, like nobody, like nobody. That I did not know. What I also did not know is that Romania has a very good entry this year. Could the contest be heading to Budapest next year? I think not but not bad nonetheless. Like that one.

22.37 Ukraine's entry wants us to be her Valentine - "anti-crisis girl". I think they're playing for the male vote somewhat with the costumes but what's going on with the giant cogs and the male dancers dressed as gladiators? This might just be the odd entry of the year, à la Lordi, and we all know what happened to them...

22.32 Oh now this I like, Norway. Power-ballad violin solos, press-ups, backflips and amusing lyrics. The singer looks familiar too, can't think where from. The Nordic countries (not Sweden) are impressing me this year!

22.25 It's not world-class but what on earth is that dancer wearing. Looks like an all-in-one green sequin suit - bet that's comfortable.

22.24 They boasted in the song that it was the 'best in the world' but sorry Turkey I'm not convinced. Do we have a Shakira wannabe here too? Has to be one of the favourites this one. Albania next, and let's be honest even if the song was world-class, they won't win...

22.20 Well I would be lying if I said I expected that from Germany, what a shock. Seems very inappropriate for them but heck that could very well win. We have a Ricky Martin wannabe here and I don't like it. Saying that I would disqualify him solely because of those tight silver trousers. Enough said.

22.17 That's more like it - good ole Denmark with the pop-ballad, the waistcoats and what looks like Simon Pegg on keyboards. This could win, it's real Eurovision material. Just needs a few more fist-clenching power strides... Oh and now he's on the knees and we have fireworks. Yes, real contender.

22.09 Malta and 'Chiara' are certainly contenders after that performance. Politically speaking, it's an interesting choice, with the lyrics 'What if we could be free'.

22.05 One word for Moldolva: interesting.

22:00 Bosnia & Herzegovina are being represented by a band whose promotional photo makes them look like Coldplay. They only found their singer through adverts in local newspapers and magazines but amazingly they have been a supporting act for the Rolling Stones. Not a bad entry at all - still Iceland for me so far.

21:55 Is Azerbaijan really part of Europe? Have to admit their song is real Eurovision material so certainly not out of place there...

21:52 After Armenia's strange contribution here we are, Russia, and interestingly a Ukrainian is singing for them... In terms of geopolitics the Ukraine still belongs to Russian when it comes to singing it would seem. Her name is Anastasia Prihodko and apparently she sings quite unordinary minor songs and folk songs in both the Russian and Ukranian languages. Her entry sounded rather ordinary though...

21:43 I don't like Greece's entry already -please oh please don't let this win!

21:42 Why oh why is Iceland's entry singing in English? If I was in charge I would rule that all countries sing in their native language - sure there would be language barriers but surely this beautiful range of languages is what makes Europe so unique and diverse? Nonetheless that was an excellent entry, my favourite so far. Next is the favourite Greece, great...

21:35 Is it me or is Portugal's guitar entrance rather similar to that of Green Day's 'Time of your Life'?

21:28 France’s wasn’t bad at all, best I’ve heard from them in years. Cannot say the same about Sweden and Croatia’s entries though, just sound like a load of shouting to me…

21:16 Wasn’t overly impressed again with the Israeli entry, they may have won the contest for their country before but I’m not sure that will be good enough – long way to go though. France is next and they actually boast a proper singer this year and are very enthusiastic about her success.

21:04 Well I finally have managed to find an online stream and was just in time to catch the end of the Lithuanian entry, didn’t sound too bad but from number one it will always be hard for them to leave such a lasting impression. Next Israel.

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, Eurovision

Posted by Andrew at 8:28 PM | Permalink | Comments

In order to launch the opening this weekend of a new Parisian architectural exhibition the Figaro newspaper conducted a survey amongst its readers in which they were asked “in an ideal Paris, which structure would they like to see disappear”! The results are surprising to say the least.

On top with 35.4% of the vote was the Tour Montparnasse, a 210 metre-tall, 59-floor, black-coloured tower that dominates the southern Parisian skyline. I disagree with the French public here because I quite like this building, and much prefer the view from the top than that offered by the Eiffel Tower (read blog entry)*.

While I do accept that it does somewhat dominate the area and isn’t the most attractive-looking building in the world, it is certainly not as ugly as some of the others on offer, such as the Pompidou Centre* or the Finance Ministry*.

Neither of those however is as horrible as my personal choice: The Finance Ministry’s neighbour out at Bercy, the Palais Omnisport*.

I can safely say that this is one of the most bizarre buildings I’ve ever seen. It is actually, for those who don’t know, a concert arena, and quite a large one at that as it can accommodate between 7,000 to 17,000 people depending on the event.

It was designed by a team of architects (For Neil: Andrault-Parat, Prouvé and Guvan) and its doors were finally opened to the public in 1984. I don’t quite know how else to describe it other than it looks like a giant octagonal molehill.

When I came across this monstrocity on one of my strolls I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing. It hardly suits the area, then again I challenge you to name somewhere that it would fit it – perhaps that’s the attraction?

It’s walls are covered in grass which is alive and not even artifical, which raises the question of just how is this maintained? The angle of the grass-covered walls is so steep that no sit-down lawnmower is going to be able to make the climb to the top and at those angles no-one is going to be able to cut it manually without developing severe ankle and knee injuries, if not worse. The solution however is therefore quite novel and ingenious – they use a motorised mower that climbs the mount via pulley systems.

That, and the fact that the venue attracts a lot of big-name acts to Paris (Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Iron Maiden, The Cure, Radiohead, Oasis, Kiss, Green Day to name just a few), is the best I can say about this structure. That would get my vote and considering the selection on offer I am amazed that it only got 6.84% of the vote.

The survey however did not include the Eiffel Tower as one of the options. It would be interesting to see if the Tour Montparnasse would still come out on top if that was the case…

Click here for full results (in french)*

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

There was to be no upset tonight at the Stade de France as the Girondins de Bordeaux emphatically dismissed their lower-league opponents to win their third Coupe de la Ligue. Goals from Géraldo Wendel, Marc Planus and Yoan Gouffran within the first 12 minutes completely killed the game as a contest before Yoann Gourcuff added a fourth goal just minutes before the half-time break to make the scoreline more emphatic.

Truth be told it could, and should, have been more. Bordeaux were simply too good for their lower-league opponents - who were competing in their first-ever cup final. With Bordeaux due to play Rennes in the postponed Ligue 1 contest on Wednesday night, manager Laurent Blanc rotated his squad, with reserve goalkeeper Mathieu Valverde starting between the posts, Franck Jurreti came back into the side as captain and was joined by Argentine Diego Placente and young midfielder Abdou Traoré. In the attack, Marouane Chamakh was partnered by Yoan Gouffran who maintains his place up front after having seized his opportunity last week against Lyon and excelling.

Before we all entered the Stade de France I said that the worst thing that could happen in this game was that Bordeaux scored an early goal. And sure enough, only 140 seconds were on the clock when Wendel latched onto a through-ball from Placente and lofted it over the goalkeeper with the ball creeping just inside the post. 1-0. It was the quickest goal scored in the competition’s history and caught everyone off-guard – even us supporters.

Just five minutes later and things got worse for Vannes OC. When their goalkeeper Christophe Revel came and failed to collect a Bordeaux corner from Wendel, defender Marc Planus could not have done anything else other than tuck the ball in the back of the net from a matter of yards. 2-0.

At this time all of us in the Bordeaux end were joking around that the match would finish 10-0 such was the gulf in class, so when Gourcuff whipped in a free-kick and Gouffran got in front of the keeper to glance the ball into the net less than 60 seconds later, this absurd thought looked like a shrewd judgement.

Thankfully however, it would not end 10-0, and Bordeaux only found the net once more – Gourcuff capping another outstanding display with a shot (albeit with a heavy deflection) beating the goalkeeper in his bottom corner just before the half-time interval.

At 4-0 at half-time the game was over. Vannes OC had exhausted themselves just trying to close down Bordeaux and extinguish their attacks. They had not managed a single shot on goal and never even looked like threatening. Unfortunately as a contest, David vs. Goliath would not even come close as an adequate description.

Full credit to Vannes OC in the second half however, as they emerged from the changing rooms as they pressured Bordeaux’s defence and even managed to create themselves two excellent chances. Both of which were rather tame efforts, but they were efforts nonetheless. They did manage to strike the crossbar from a freekick, but play was called back for an offside.

As Vannes OC seemed to grow and grow in confidence, the supporters in the stand opposite to us started to make themselves heard, and finally a sense of atmosphere arrived at the stadium.

The crowd had been subdued somewhat by the early goals, and the normally ever-vocal Ultramarines Bordeaux Supporters Club was deadly silent and sat motionless for the entirely first hour of play as they were staging a protest.

The so-called "grève d'ambiance de 60 minutes" was organised as a high-visibility response to ever-increasing ticket prices, the poor condition of most national stadiums and the new radical ‘indiscriminate and ‘disproportional’ security measures introduced by the French Football Authorities (LFP, FFF…) that would make many objects banned within the stadium and make the tribunes more ‘English’ as a result.

During the match the Ultramarines displayed two banners. The first, displayed during the ‘strike’, read ‘Des tribunes telles que vous les voudriez’ (the stands as you would like them). As the clocked ticked onto the hour mark, the banner was removed to reveal the second which read ‘Des tribunes telles que nous les vivons’ (the stands as we live them).

Within seconds the noise level in the stadium rose dramatically, and finally we got singing and cheering on our team. Flares were lighted and the atmosphere improved dramatically, which unfortunately could not be said of the match, which had been progressing at a snail’s pace since half-time.

Bordeaux could have made it 5-0 shortly after the hour, but Pierre Ducasse’s shot bought out an extremely good save from Revel in the Vannes goal. Two minutes later, an ambitious shot from distance by Gouffran, flashed just inches past the post. But there was to be no more goals.

Just like the last time I was at the Stade de France to watch Bordeaux all of the goals were scored in the opposite end to where I was, and also like last time, Bordeaux emerged with the victory and the trophy.

As a fitting tribute to the Vannes players, the Bordeaux team gave them a guard of honour and the fans gave them a standing ovation as they went up to collect their runners-up medals. It may have been the biggest scoreline in a French Cup Final but despite this the Brittany outfit - currently 10th in the second division - should be proud of their run in the competition. After all, they were only founded in 1998 and only turned professional this season. 4-0 was a fair reflection on the game, and also a fair reflection of the vast difference in quality and experience of the two teams.

Overall it was a very enjoyable evening but it was a shame that the game as a contest was ended so soon. Had Vannes opened the scoring then the match would have been far more exciting, but naturally I was delighted with the outcome.

Watch all the goals here [Video: YouTube]

Even from their team selection it was noticeable that Bordeaux was looking ahead to the match mid-week against Rennes. Because of Olympic Marseille’s 2-1 victory over Lille this evening, Bordeaux simply have to win on Wednesday to keep their Championship hopes alive. If they lose, they will be five points behind Marseille with only five games of the season remaining.

Before the final had even kicked off, Bordeaux manager signaled his intentions to cancel any victory celebration should they win the final and explaining they would be travelling back straight away and training the next day because the Rennes game was that important. Unfortunately however, best made plans don’t always succeed, as the supporters encouraged the victorious Bordeaux players around the pitch on a lap of honour after the final whistle.

I returned home late, tired and content and unfortunately due to my enthusiastic singing, without a voice. This could prove to be a problem especially as I have an important presentation to do on Monday morning…

Labels: Current Affairs, Sport

Posted by Andrew at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

It may have been the week that the G20 met and NATO celebrated its 60th anniversary, but a hot topic in the French press last week was the shocking revelation that a police officer had uploaded a video of a viscous assault onto the social networking site Facebook.

I have only just today seen this video and besides being in a state of disgust and shock, it unfortunately resonates somewhat with my horrible experience. Le Figaro even revealed on Monday that the victim is a current student at Sciences Po in Paris.

Anyway, the six-minute video shows a student being surrounded and set upon by four youths while on a night-bus in the north of central Paris late one night last December. The youths, after emptying his pockets, can be seen setting upon fellow passengers as they tried to intervene, which resulted in a fracas on board.

While this all commotion was taking place behind him the driver remained impassive and continued the journey. At the next bus stop, the driver pulls over and the youths leave the bus, throwing more punches in the process. One is even seen to return to land one last blow.

The RATP transport authority (who operates the public transport in Paris) says that its bus drivers have explicit orders not to intervene in defence of passengers but to stay at the wheel and press a silent alarm button. Whatever happened to the ‘customers come first’ business morale?

Naturally the video has since been removed from Facebook, but not until after the media had picked it up. They are naturally (and rightly so) calling for the police officer to be charged for releasing this video, presumably done so for his own amusement. The police have said that two of the youths were arrested on the spot after the driver called for help and a third has since been detained, so I guess that means the fourth is still out there. I hope that he is found and they all get the sentences they deserve.

If you would like to watch this video click here* (please be advised that it is quite disturbing).

But besides the issue of the leaked video, which is very serious in itself – especially if the case is still open – I believe this constitutes further proof that security cameras work on public transport.

It truly is amazing how one event can dramatically change how you feel. When security cameras first appeared on buses and trains back in the UK I felt like I was being constantly watched, constantly under surveillance and that I was no longer ‘free’ to travel as I pleased. Now however, after one certain train journey in Paris four weeks ago, my whole view on this has changed.

Security cameras are there for a reason, and that reason is to protect us. If this constitutes an invasion of my privacy then that is something that I can live with. I now only wait on platforms under the nose of a security camera and I always travel in populated coaches. Because of this I feel safe travelling, and I am no longer afraid.

In the case of this unfortunate student in the video, if the security cameras were not on board, would any of these youths have been bought to justice? This footage will enable the assailants’ faces to be visually captured rather than recreated through witness statements, and the whole passage of events can be accurately compiled and thanks to the video evidence, can be undisputable.

Security cameras are therefore in my eyes essential and should be accepted as part of daily life rather than rejected. But of course, the footage recorded must be treated with the utmost respect, something that was hardly exhibited by this certain police officer.

Another argument put forward by the public transport authorities for these cameras on their vehicles is that they act as a deterrent for such crimes. However, on this point I’m not so sure. But when (and heaven forbid should it) something like this happens to you, I’d like to think you would take some comfort knowing that there are cameras there to have caught it, and that justice can be done. With no CCTV and no proof that anything happened to me, the police were not interested in my instance.

So what about on the Parisian buses? Well, according to RATP drivers, such attacks are fairly commonplace on the buses that run through the night. One is even quoted in the local paper le Parisien saying: "If you do not have money for a taxi on Saturday night, it's better to stay in the disco and wait for the morning.”

Useful advice - I’ll be sure to remember that.

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today marks the start of the Songkran, AKA the Thai New Year. Although Thailand has recognised January 1st as the official start of the year since 1940, this time of the year (13th – 15th April annually to be precise) is still honoured traditionally as a nationwide public holiday.

Normally falling in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, I understand under good authority that what normally now ensues is a large-scale water fight, with the water symbolic for the washing away all of the past years’ evil and the renewal of each person for the year ahead. Songkran therefore is a time for personal development and national cleansing.

However, this year, the water fights have been cancelled.

What normally is a time for peace and respect for elders, has descended into a war-zone set upon a background of increasing political tensions, violence and Molotov cocktails.


Thailand is a divided country; you have the ‘yellow shirts’ on one side and the ‘red shirts’ on the other. Politically speaking, Thailand has been remarkably instable for the last few years and as a result we have seen one crisis after another ever since the military coup that disposed of Thaksin Shinawatra* from power back in September 2006 whilst he was attending meetings at the UN in New York.

Since then the ‘yellow shirts’ and the ‘red shirts’ (pro-Thaksin) have engaged in a bitter tug-of-war over which side should govern. Naturally both sides reject the other's view of who should run the country, and each has staged long-running protests to push their cause.

Cast your mind back earlier this year to November, when the ‘yellow shirts’ staged a sit-in at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, which subsequently blocked the arrival and departure of hundreds of flights and hit the Thai economy hard.

It was described at the time as “the most dramatic move so far in the protesters' campaign to oust the government”, but it succeeded. A few weeks later, their man – Abhisit Vejjajiva*, who represents the Peoples' Alliance for Democracy (PAD) – was democratically chosen by the members of the government as the new Prime Minister. At the time, many Thais must have thought that their troubles were over. That however was not to be the case.

Their opponents, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), believes that Prime Minister Vejjajiva came to power illegitimately and is a “puppet of the military” and so are demanding his immediate resignation and calling for a fresh set of elections from which it strongly believes it would emerge victorious.

To demand this change, the protesters have engaged in similar acts of protest to those of the ‘yellow shirts’. Since March, the protesters have held sit-in protests outside government offices, and have occasionally prevented the cabinet from meeting.

Their major achievement (if you can call it that) is that they successfully managed to force the cancellation of a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last weekend, which was an important event for the Thai government.

They did this by storming the intended venue for the summit in the seaside resort of Pattaya, making it nigh-on impossible to guarantee the safety of the foreign dignitaries due to attend. Prime Minister Vejjajiva therefore had no choice but to declare a state of national emergency.

The following day, the protesters succeeded in breaking into the interior ministry and have established roadblocks on main of the busy roads in central Bangkok. Tens of thousands of ‘red shirts’ remain camped around Government House, where the Prime Minister's office is based, and are continually spurred on everyday by the words of Shinawatra, broadcasting daily via a video-link.

Shinawatra, who now lives in self-imposed exile here in the UK, faces two years in jail after being found guilty in a conflict of interest case should he return to Thailand. Following this conviction he fled to the UK, where he purchased Manchester City Football Club, only to later sell it on.

Back on the ground in Bangkok, the protesters have now been surrounded by the Thai military. As expected faced with such circumstances, the ‘red shirts’ have started to hit out and the army has not restrained itself from joining in the retaliation. The BBC News website currently displays videos showing soldiers firing hundreds of live rounds, some into the crowds of anti-government protesters, in a bid to clear a big road junction, while the protesters reacted by hurling petrol bombs and driving buses they had commandeered at the lines of troops.

The armed forces chief has since vowed to restore order using "all possible means". These three words can only mean one thing for me: further violence.

Prime Minister Vejjajiva, through his rhetoric and actions this past week, has indicated very clearly that he has no intentions of stepping down and relinquishing his power. The ‘red shirts’ too have shown no signs of stepping down their protests.

In an interesting interview conducted by the BBC today, Thaksin Shinawatra said that while he never ‘instigated’ the attacks, he wants his supporters to fight for democracy and that he offers them ‘moral support’. To watch that interview click here*.

Prime Minister Vejjajiva has since come out and explained that the protestors are allowed to exercise their constitutional rights and demonstrate peacefully but they are not allowed to resort to violence. Under the current state of emergency, gatherings of more than five people can be banned, media reports can be censored and the army can be deployed to help police maintain order. "We will try to find the best solution we can over the next couple of days," he added. Uh-oh.

In the current climate it appears impossible that a solution to end this conflict can be found quickly, peacefully, and more importantly that will be acceptable to both sides. But it is essential that a solution be found, and soon.

Tonight the British Foreign Office issued a statement advising British nationals against travelling to Thailand, a move that will surely be echoed by other embassies as this conflict continues. With Thailand’s economy so terribly dependant on tourists, this could not come at a worst time, especially as the tourist season approaches. Even if a resolution can be found soon, will the country regain the trust of travellers quick enough?

So far only two people have lost their lives, and the injured tally stands at 70 people, 23 of whom are soldiers. The longer this conflict continues, the greater these figures will rise.

Songkran is supposed to be a time of peace, a time of clensing and time of respect. You can hardly say that this is the case this year. Water has been replaced by blood, and water pistols have been replaced by guns and rifles.

So far, it’s not such a Happy Thai New Year. Sawasdee wan Songkran.

Labels: Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments

And so the G20 has come and gone, and much to my surprise, they actually came to an agreement on what should be done. The result of the media-circus-cum-summit was the announcement of a series of measures that will cost in the region of $1.1 trillion dollars (approximately £681bn).

But that to me is just a number. So here is my way of putting this immense sum of money into perspective.

$1.1 trillion dollars (approx. £681bn) would enable the bailout of the disgraced AIG insurance company no less than 12 times, but in the real world would buy you:

	853 Wembley Stadiums (£798m)
	26,000 Wayne Rooney’s (Man. Utd paid £25.6m in 2004)
	681,000 Aston Martin One-77 (world’s first £1m car)
	400,000,000 Tata Nano’s (world’s cheapest car: $2,500)
	11,350,000,000 youth return trips on the Eurostar (£60)

But this still doesn’t reflect real everyday purchases, so how many espressos (€1) will that get you? The answer:

756,666,666,667. That is 3 espressos a day for every Frenchman for an incredible (and caffeine-induced) 11.5 years!

Wow.

That is a lot of money, but will it be well spent? I guess only time will tell…

Calculated using the exchange rates: $1 = £1.46 and €1 = £0.90 (correct at time of writing)

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

Did two more translations for cafebabel today. The first piece was about the anti-mafia manifestation in Italy last weekend, where hundreds of people marched through the streets of Naples on a national day of protest and commemoration for its victims organised by the Italian Libera association (click here*).

The second translation, much longer and more interesting, was on the subject of the first round of the Slovakian presidential elections, which were thought to have been a foregone conclusion but now have become interesting.

The incumbent president and favourite for re-election, Ivan Gašparovič, did not command an overall majority in the first round as was expected so as a result, he will face a second round of elections on 4th April.

Here he faces Iveta Radičová, who is the countries' most successful female politician as she is the first woman to reach the second round of a presidential election and one glance at her campaign strategy evokes instantly that of Barack Obama - and we all know how he fared... To read more on this story read my translation*

This now takes me to 49 in total, click here* for more...

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

In the same week that marks International Women’s Day, it would be relevant to pay tribute this week to a woman who has certainly proven that she has balls (pun intended). This woman, of course, is US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who this week sought single-handedly to reverse decades of tensions and hostilities between the USA, Iran and Russia and impose the new American administration’s views upon the world.

She was in Brussels this week on what was her first trip to Europe as Secretary of State, and held discussions with both NATO and EU bodies on topics relations with Russia for NATO and climate change for the EU. Two increasingly important topics.

While on Thursday we learnt that NATO will resume high-level contacts with Russia after having frozen contacts over the conflict between Russia and Georgia, the most interesting development in my eyes came on Tuesday when the world learnt of President Obama’s letter to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

In this letter Mr Obama asked for his counterpart’s support in stopping Iran acquiring long-range missiles. As a trade-off for their support, he is thought to have proposed scrapping the USA’s plan for a missile defence shield to be constructed across Eastern Europe, a plan that quite frankly is one of paranoid-drenched madness.

The US maintains that its planned missile defence system in Europe was conceived to destroy incoming ballistic missiles fired from "rogue states", such as North Korea and Iran, but seen from Russian eyes, this interpretation could also easily be seen to include them, and as a consequence be interpreted as a renewed effort to recreate another east-west division (albeit this time virtual not concrete).

Even its proposed location is significant because those countries were the barrier would be were part of the now defunct Soviet Union, which in the view of the Kremlin still falls within its sphere of interest. The Russian’s therefore were understandably unhappy with the USA’s defence shield plan and the EU was most likely uncomfortably also as this would not only intrude upon its own defence strategies but also give the Russians the impression that it was overtly cooperating against them; an act that could so easily have triggered Cold War II.

But one must still ask whether such a defence shield is really necessary? The Iranian military insists its missiles have a range of only 2,000km (approximately 1,240 miles) which would mean they could potentially hit targets in Greece, Bulgaria or Romania, all of whom are NATO member states. But America, being America, is extremely paranoid and does not believe that. After all, relations between the USA and Iran can hardly be described as warm, friendly and ‘special’ in the same terms as that of the UK.

Just last week I finished watching the BBC2 series ‘Iran and the West’ that I had downloaded, which was an extremely interesting programme outlining this key events in this relationship. From the citizen revolution which disposed of the US-supported Shah in favour of the banished Ayatollah Khomeini, who preached his revolutionary messages from a small safe house on the outskirts of Paris, US-Iran relations have never been great.

In November 1979 the US embassy in Tehran was overpowered by Iranian students who took 63 staff hostage and prompted the US severing all diplomatic ties and imposing strict sanctions upon Iran. Initially the students demanded that the Shah return from the US to Iran to face trial, but later their demands changed to require the USA to promise it never interferes in its affairs in the future. Evidently the superpower did not comply and the subsequent failure of a top-secret military attempt to rescue the hostages did nothing help the USA’s cause nor did the mistakenly shooting down of an Iranian Airbus by a US gunboat in July 1983…

With Hillary’s husband Bill as US president and Muhammad Khatami elected to the position of Iranian President in 1997, there was a brief glimmer of hope as Khatami appealed for a "dialogue with the American people" in American TV interview he requested set up. However, this hope was short-lived, when in a sermon a few weeks later he was sharply critical of the US and its "oppressive policies".

Then, when in January 2002 the-then president George W Bush describes Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil" in his State of the Union address, it became near impossible to see any cooperation and resumption of friendly ties being resumed.

While these are only a small number of incidents (more here*), there is a long-running animosity between the two countries, perhaps as hotly contentious as that between Russia and the USA. So is President Obama’s plan realistic or just extremely optimistic? His campaign may have revolved around the banner of ‘hope’, but I think that this latest step is simply just too hopeful.

Indeed, the arrival of Obama in the White House has exhaled a huge breathe of fresh optimistic air around the world, bought about a renewed sense of global friendships and more importantly brought about a sense of real change. Unsurprisingly, UK Prime Minister was very quick to head to the States and reaffirm the UK’s love and support of America in his speech to Congress. Mr Brown recognises that America is moving forward.

But can the same be said about US-Russia relations? Is there a real possibility now that the Cold War sentiments are really going to evaporate away? Perhaps not entirely. The USA may want a fresh-start but that certainly wasn’t the message that Secretary of State Clinton delivered to Moscow on Saturday (albeit unintentionally).

In case you missed this piece of news, Hillary Clinton gave her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, a mock "reset" button with the complete intention for the gift to symbolise the USA’s hope to mend its frayed ties with Moscow. A good gesture in itself, it didn’t have quite the desired effect as the word written on the button was "peregruzka" meaning "overloaded" or "overcharged", rather than the desired "reset".

Naturally this was a too good an opportunity for the Russian press to miss, and so they poked fun at the Americans, with the one of the daily newspapers Kommersant apparently declared on its front page rather wittily: "Sergei Lavrov and Hillary Clinton push the wrong button."

In true Woman’s Day fashion, Hillary Clinton said in a statement this week that “women's full participation is the key for the international community to combat challenges in the 21st century, since women have a crucial role in tackling major issues such as the global economic crisis, sectarian warfare and terrorism.” She is certainly making her mark and combating the challenges of the 21st century, and her efforts have already bought about changes this week. With talks due with Turkey and China next, you have to wonder what will be next…

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments

I, for one, was very upset to learn last week that Woolworths and MFI have called in the administrators after suffering massively at the hands of the credit crisis.

For me these two companies are national ‘institutions’. Woolworths especially was one of the many aspects of my Christmas preparations, I would always have a look around, yet admittedly more often that not I’d leave without finding anything for a present.

So perhaps in that sense its fall into administration comes as not much of a surprise.

The article in the BBC online ‘Magazine’ raised two very good questions; what is the point of Woolworths? And when was the last time you bought anything from them? (article here) I actually cannot remember the last time I purchased something in Woolworths, let alone what it was, which I guess underlines its lack of success – we’re all very happy it’s there and shop happily knowing its there, but do we actually shop there?

Arguably its most infamous items on sale was its ’pick and mix’ sweets, but you can hardly maintain a national enterprise specialising in areas as diverse as children’s clothing, to CDs, to kitchen utensils etc on the sale of its sweets. You could argue that it was the diversity of product created more potential competition from other retailers for Woolies, but wasn’t that one of the very reasons why we loved it? Certainly was for me.

But looking ahead, the decline of Woolworths is very likely indeed to drag the whole of the high-street down with it. In the ultra- competitive IT sector, big names Currys and PC World (both owned by DSG International), have both reported half-year losses of £29.8m, and retail group Kingfisher (B&Q, Screwfix, Brico Depot) have said sales at its B&Q home improvement chain have fallen by nearly 9%.

The upside of this, however, is that the fall of Woolworths (and its ‘Entertainment UK’ subsidiary which is a major wholesaler of books, DVDs and the like) and the decline of DSG and Kingfisher, is that it is likely to trigger a price-war across whole sectors.

This of course is great news for shoppers, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, but on the other hand this come as very bad news indeed for those smaller independent stores who simply do not have the margins to be able to compete to such a level.

Thankfully, Mr Brown has leaped to the nation’s rescue again and pledged that the government will work hard to ensure that Woolworths stores remain open, at least over the Christmas period. Perhaps he needs to do some of his Christmas shopping there!

Because I’d be sorry to see Woolworths disappear from the high street I shall make a special effort to shop in Woolworths and other independent smaller stores this Christmas, (so yes Mum and Dad you’ll be getting some weird and wonderful things I’m sure). So who knows, perhaps all I will end up buying is some ‘pick and mix’, but at least I’ll feel I’m doing my part to preserve this ‘national institution’.

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last Tuesday evening I attended a seminar hosted by Temtsel Hao, a producer from BBC World Service China, on the issue of the press in China and the subsequent reporting of the Olympic Games. The impression that emerged from the seminar was that there ‘undeniably existed’ an overwhelming heavy ‘anti-China bias in the Western media’. This is something that I wholeheartedly disagree with and has been on my mind since then. That is, until now.

I should firstly state that while speaking in a personal capacity, that opinion was not that explicitly expressed by Mr Hao, but was that inferred by his speech which referred heavily to the supposedly anti-China coverage by the ‘West’ surrounding the Free Tibet campaign. In his talk he also showed a video from YouTube that was blatant pro-China propaganda produced by a Chinese local, which he then proceeded to explain why each of the ‘facts’ presented in the video was correct and confirmed this bias.

One of those arguments he expanded on revolved around the coverage, particularly by the BBC, of the protest surrounding the Olympic Torch as its global parade reached the streets of London. Apparently the BBC’s articles, such as this one (click here to read)*, drew more attention to the protests than the symbolic message the torch carrying conveys.

Well Duh! In media terms, the successful completion of a torch parade is not news, unless of course all the previous attempts had been interrupted.

Therefore the protests that occurred inherits a massive news value because this is news. I certainly don’t believe that reporting this was anti-China, or even pro-Tibet for that matter. It is called news reporting, and is an essential part of any news media, especially the free press - something that China currently does not enjoy.

And it is there that I believe the real issue lies. For me, a free press is an essential instrument of democracy, but then again you cannot call China, with its one-party system a functioning democracy. The press in China is far less free than the press in the United States or France or here in the UK, and there are no clear signs that the ruling Communist Party of China led has any intention of changing the rules of the game in the future.

Media outlets, although numerous, are continuously subjected to government censorship and newspapers, magazines and web sites are being shut down on a regular basis because the powers that be don’t like the substance being produced.

In some instances, the very content that was censored was just the simple facts (e.g. the number of people at a protest), but even those facts would create a more transparent political atmosphere and induce government accountability. These two factors, I feel, are all the more critical in a society, such as China’s where governmental authority is monopolised by a single party that continues to play a major role in the economy through its ownership of the banks and controlled of inward investment policy that has seen its massive rise on the global scene.

Such transparent and investigative reporting, whether you like it or not in the English press, has made the English government far more accountable to its citizens and gone a long way to ensuring that massive scandals and corruption (something that is rife in China) is exposed and actively discouraged.

As for the issue of the anti-China bias, I will admit that I believe such a bias exists, but it is not as strong as those who attended the seminar believed. My personal opinion is that China has brought it on itself – if it had nothing to hide then why does it exercise censorship so often and rigorously?

It may claim that reporting restrictions in the run-up and during the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing will be unrestricted, but why then was the Panorama journalist John Sweeney assigned a government supervisor who ensured he only reported on things ‘permitted’ by the government? (Episode details here)*

It has been true, however, that some allowances are beginning to be made. For example, back in July the Chinese authorities removed the public-access restriction allowing locals to browse the BBC’s China pages (story here)* and the Party has gone further to suggest that its ruled may be permanently relaxed after the Games to allow foreign correspondents to travel around China without first getting permission from the authorities - as they had to do previously, and being able to interview people without prior consent.

But significantly, the regulations do not apply to Chinese journalists, who will continue to face a high degree of control and censorship by the Chinese government.

With that in mind it might be many more years before the Chinese Press can enjoy the same freedoms as their English counterparts can over here on a daily basis. Until China loosens the straight-jacket on the reporting of its national media, its government cannot be held accountable, and whose to say that public discontent will not rise to a level witnessed in the horrifying events of Tiananmen Square in 1989?

After all, next year will be its 20th anniversary, and the eyes of the world’s press will no doubt assign that some attention…

UPDATE: 25/11/08 18.42

Funnily enough, the Chinese have today reacted negatively to the release of the highly-anticipated new album from Guns N' Roses, labelling it as 'venemous'.

Released around the world yesterday, it is the band’s first studio album since their last 15-years ago in 1993, is called Chinese Democracy (surely a contradiction in terms). As reported on the BBC news website, an article in the Global Times that was published by the Chinese ruling communist party, says the album "turns its spear point on China".

Inevitably it has been on the receiving end of the censorship treatment. Already, the official website for the album has been blocked, the title track of the album refers to the banned Falun Gong spiritual group. Although I’m personally not a fan of the band and so have not listened to the album, lead singer Axl Rose apparently during the title track sings: "If your great wall rocks, blame yourself”, and if that wasn’t enough, the artwork for the album includes the oil painting Red Star by Beijing artist Shi Lifeng - the one which depicts the Chinese people as powerless.

With China's reluctancy to allow anything that undermines the regime and their perception of such an anti-China sentiment from America and the West, I wonder if the Chinese authorities will ever allow this American band to play a live show there in the future? I believe not...

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

So now we all know the complete line-up. In the red corner representing the Democrats we have Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden. In the blue corner representing the Republicans we have John McCain and his surprise choice, Sarah Palin.

Mr Obama, in Joe Biden, has opted for a safe candidate, one that will bridge the hole that many political commentators across the pond have remarked in Mr Obama’s campaign, and that is his relative weakness in the field of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Biden has plenty of experience in the US Senate having represented the small state of Delaware in the US Senate since 1972, but what is crucial is that he has chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee three times.

Although he voted to approve the Iraq war, he started warning of the costs of a long occupation of Iraq long before it began, and just like Sarah Palin, the Republican prospective VP, he has a personal attachment to the conflict. His son, Beau Biden, is a captain in the Army National Guard, and his unit is set to be deployed to Iraq shortly. Mr Biden apparently told US media sources recently that "He'll go… I don't want him going".

Mr Biden is also no stranger to presidential races, and all that they entail as he ran against Mr Obama for the 2008 nomination but dropped out in January. He also ran for presidency in 1988 but was forced to withdraw after it emerged that he had plagiarised a speech by the then leader of the British Labour Party, Neil Kinnock.

He also apparently has a reputation as a forceful speaker and can be prone to the occasional gaffe – BoJo anyone? In 2007, he described Mr Obama as "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy". Barack will be hoping he’ll be able to control his mouth, after all they are on the same side now…

Mrs Palin, on the other hand is a surprise selection. Following all the media hype that Mr Obama’s announcement generated I had expected John McCain, now 72, to select a surprise candidate.


Of course, we all knew it was going to have to be someone younger than him as age is currently one of main areas the Democratic camp are exploiting in their attack. I had a small inkling Mr McCain might opt for a female candidate to try to draw in the female vote that Hillary Clinton proved was so strong across the country. But realistically, I had never expected Sarah Palin to be the one chosen.

In truth, I like many I suppose, had never heard of her. A “devoted wife and mother-of-five”, at 44 she was the youngest to be elected to her post as Governor of Alaska, a role she has held since 2006. She has been credited with managing to bring about reforms in her first years in office but the point that stands out the most is that Mrs Palin is the first woman Republican to be put forward as a vice-presidential candidate.

In addition, she also has all the essential extras to appeal to the mass public. The governor, a former local beauty queen in her small town of Wasilla, near Anchorage, is keen on hunting and fishing and reportedly enjoys eating moose hamburgers. She has been married for 20 years, has five children, one of which has Downs Syndrome. Predictably perhaps, her oldest son joined the US Army on 11 September last year and is set to be deployed to Iraq next month.

Reacting to the selection, the Obama camp was predictably speculative. Mr Obama told reporters that Mrs Palin had a "terrific" personal story and would help make a case for the Republicans, but added: "Unfortunately, the case is more of the same."

However, could Mr McCain have inadvertently shot himself in the foot by choosing his prospective VP who herself only has two years experience in office when that was such a critical spear of McCain’s attack on Mr Obama?

The BBC’s North American correspondent, Justin Webb, believes so and added that: “The choice seems an audacious, perhaps slightly desperate, effort to bring youth and vigour to the Republican ticket.”

The two selections have battled for media publicity and each candidate has battled to make his stand out more. In rather an unprecedented act, Mr McCain issued a TV commercial message praising Mr Obama's achievement in becoming the first African American selected by a major party as presidential nominee (watch below).

Was this a genuine congratulatory message, or simply one to steal the spotlight? Only time will tell.

Overall when comparing the two candidates, you see that while Mr Obama has played safe, Mr McCain has been braver. He has shown how he can change and be bold, while Mr Obama will hope that Biden will fill the hole of his relative inexperience. The appointment of Mrs Palin will have accumulated the most newspaper column inches, but will she be enough to pull Mr McCain over the finish line into the White House.

Don’t expect a clean fight over the remaining 60 days or so, but also don’t expect a knock-out.

This will surely go to a point decision but at the moment I would put it at ‘advantage Republican’…

Labels: Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday August 24: 3am GMT: the two former cooling towers at Tinsley, an iconic image of Sheffield's industrial past have fallen.

Often referred to as the 'Tinsley towers', the 250ft high structures stand approx 17 metres away from the M1 viaduct, and were previously dubbed the 'gateway to the North' by some and were generally thought of as landmarks by the locals.



But it was E.ON UK who owned the two cooling towers at the Blackburn Meadows site in Sheffield, and who sought the demolition to make way for the site to be regenerated.

E.ON* plans to build a £60m new biomass power station that will generate enough electricity for around 40,000 homes and its planning application was approved by Sheffield City Council earlier this year.

The locals protested the proposed action so much that a trust was set up to preserve the towers. On the website of the Tinsley Towers Trust*, it reads: "English Heritage wrote that the Towers, built in 1938, are the oldest surviving hyperbolic Cooling Towers in the UK and that their prominence provides a visual indication of the former scale and importance of Sheffield’s steel industry."

The Trust's website also quotes a BBC online poll established whose results said that three quarters of the public want to see the two towers saved. According to the poll, this figure equated to more than half a million supporters in Sheffield and Rotherham alone.

When I first arrived in Sheffield I thought of the two towers as eyesores over the landscape near to Meadowhall, the large shopping centre that I made a point in not visiting. But over time, and many trips to Sheffield and back in the car, the two towers start to grow on you and when you see them from the M1, you know that you're back in Sheffield.

The worry for the Trust and local residents is that the loss of the Towers will result in a loss of identity for the city and that the new proposed biomass plant will not create enough jobs for the area. Sheffield will rise again but its two towers have fallen, and now motorists will have to pay extra attention when they approach the city to make sure they take the correct exit!

BBC Article (plus demolition video): click here *
Further photos from the demolition: click here *

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Today marked the day when the trailer for the next instalment of the James Bond series was released(displayed below). As much as it pains me to say it, it looks quite good...

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments

Image credit: Peter Brookes, from the Times dated 13/06/08

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

... that is the verdict of some 'experts' at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Apparently, obese people consume 18% more calories than average and so are therefore responsible for using more fuel, which has an environmental impact and drives up food prices as transport and agriculture both use oil. Obese people are more likely to rely on transport more and so put "more strain on that transport because of their mass, which again drives up prices and usage"!

But the researchers did say there was a solution - exercise... You can read the rest of the article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7404268.stm


Another absolutely shocking article I read today was one in the Times: the plan to make Bordeaux wine available to buy in cartons! To be introduced into the UK next weekend at the London International Wine Fair, they will appear in 25cl packs in all supermarkets - call me traditional but this is just wrong! Will probably have to try one though... You can read the rest of the article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/wine/article3941731.ece

--

I'm now in Oxford, and have a pretty good day overall. Managed to complete one of my essays this morning and then went to have a pain au chocolate and expresso breakfast before playing snooker. The less said about that the better as I had a terrible game - just couldn't pot anything, but I'll manage as I spent a fair bit on some new French politics books beforehand...

Tomorrow me and Neil are off to London, and plan to visit a few exhibitions (James Bond!!!) before heading to the O2 for the main event: Roger Waters...

In the meantime we're settling down in front of the TV with a dessert. My choice: a whole mandarin cheesecake which is defrosting in the sink now... [It's the healthy eating one so it's not that bad!]

Labels: Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

Wow, what a game! In what maybe my final game in the stands at Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday (needing to win to guarantee their safety) pulled out all the stops and came back from a goal-behind to record their biggest home victory, winning 4-1 against Norwich City in front of a league record crowd of 36,208.


Norwich, who had confirmed their Championship status last weekend, started better and scored within the opening 10 minutes, which was not the start the Owls were hoping for! With Southampton and Leicester both drawing, Wednesday as it stood were heading down to League 1, and it didn’t seem that would change – the carnival atmosphere in the ground before kick-off suddenly fell very silent.

The wet conditions were not helping either team’s defence and consequently the players were slipping all over the pitch and one slip almost cost Wednesday another goal, Lee Grant in the Wednesday goal pulling of an incredible reaction save with his shoulder. How important that save was! Moments later, Grant’s clearance fooled the Norwich defence and out of nothing Wednesday had a penalty as the last-man hacked down Deon Burton who raced onto the bouncing long-ball. Burton converted the spot-kick and Wednesday were back in the Championship.

The Owls were a completely different side in the second half and completely bossed the game and deservedly took the lead, on-loan striker Ben Sarah prodding the ball home from an un-defendable cross from fellow loanee Bartosz Slusarski. A win was good enough for Wednesday regardless of results elsewhere, so suddenly what went on in the other games became irrelevant.

Southampton and Sheffield United were producing an interesting game down on the south coast and word filtered around the stands that Leicester just could not score against Stoke, who were chasing an automatic promotion place.

Then it happened; Wednesday scored and absolutely confirmed they would still be playing Championship football next season. Deon Burton (of course) converting from a cross this time by my player of the season Tommy Spurr, a goal that was almost identical to the second. Everyone was standing and jumping around, now the carnival atmosphere had returned – Wednesday were safe!

A fourth goal, added soon after by substitute Leon Clarke, was the icing on the cake. Easrlier in the season Wednesday were struggling to score, and Deon Burton was as one fan remarked “Wednesday’s fifth-choice striker”, and now they’ve scored 7 goals in the last two games and could have had more.


Because of Southampton’s win over Sheffield United, denying them a place in the play-offs and completed a dream-day for Owls fans, Leicester were relegated to League 1 after drawing 0-0 with the now promoted Stoke.

An amazing conclusion to an amazing season. Only 18 points separate the relegated teams with those in the play-off position, which is madness and is just another way of proving that the Championship is the most competitive league in the world.

Labels: Current Affairs, Sport

Posted by Andrew at 6:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

The announcement this morning of the death of Chantal Sébire, the 52-year old French schoolteacher with an incurable facial tumour and whose euthanasia plea was refused by a French court last week, will no doubt reignite the debate into whether euthanasia should be allowed.

Mme Sébire (left), a mother of three who lived near the northern town of Dijon, had suffered from an extremely rare form of cancer in the nasal cavity known as an esthesioneuroblastoma. So rare in fact that apparently only 200 cases of the disease have been recorded worldwide in the past two decades.

She said the tumour left her blind, disfigured and suffering intense pain and appeared on French TV last month to gain the right to die. She even described how children ran away from her in the street.

She took her fight to a French court where the magistrate admitted that although the her situation "merits compassion" her request "can only be rejected under French law."

Now the legal aspect is a little more complicated. In France, legislation was adopted in 2005 that allowed families to request that life-support equipment for terminally ill patients be switched off. The bill allows doctors to stop giving medical assistance when it "has no effect other than maintaining life artificially". However, this law does not allow a doctor to take action to end a patient's life.

Of course, you also have the moral issue to contend with. In the case of Mme Sebire, her life was seriously affected and she was suffering from a terminal bout of cancer so was perhaps within her moral right to request an early death. But with the legislation and the Hippocratic oath sworn by doctors, euthanasia will probably always be denied by the state.

That is why people such as Noel Martin (left) are contacting associations that will aid people to end their lives early. Noel Martin, who is the subject of my latest translation for cafebabel (click here), became a paraplegic after his car was attacked by a band of neo-Nazis in a small town just south of Berlin in 1996.

The British citizen of Jamaican origin made headline news in Germany last year and is still fighting to be able to decide the date of his death. He had originally announced on German TV that he had chosen the date of 23 June 2007, the day of his 48th birthday, to end his life. However, two months before that date he postponed his trip to Switzerland indefinitely; he still needed time to organise his affairs and leave his legacy on his foundation and educational projects.

In 2000, he lost his wife to cancer, and says that he doesn't feel like a normal person, so does he have a valid case for euthanasia? Personnally, I believe that in such cases, the patients should be free to make that choice, after all "normal" people can make the choice of committing suicide. Everyone is entitled to a decent quality of life, and as Mme Sebire said on French TV: "One would not allow an animal to go through what I have endured".

Whatever the circumstances surrounding Mme Sébire's death, the euthanasia debate is now very much alive and in public discussion. So what do you think?

Labels: Comment, Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

I've just heard on the news that the tremour I felt late last night was indeed an earthquake.

I remember it being just before 1am when I heard a rumble which started to grow in sound. I thought it was actually my stomach, but then everything in my room started to shake, a couple of books fell off my shelf and I honestly thought the house was coming down.

The tremour only lasted a couple of seconds which led to me thinking that maybe I had just imagined it. My housemate Chris just oput it down to water flowing through the pipes violently but I wasn't convinced, and I'm actually quite glad it was an earthquake and I hadn't just imagined it.

I never thought the UK could be subject to earthquakes but I have to admit it was one of the scariest moments I've experienced so far...

More info about the earthquake can be found here courtesy of the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stm

Labels: Current Affairs

Posted by Andrew at 7:31 AM | Permalink | Comments

Fifty years ago today, 6th February 1958, was the day that will be remembered as the day when football as it used to be known died.

The Munich air crash claimed the lives of 23 people, including eight Manchester United players who were returning from a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade. Those eight players were eight of the most exciting footballers of the generation; the Busby Babes.

The plane had stopped to re-fuel in Munich en route to Manchester but it had been snowing in Munich and the plane over-shot the runway when the pilot attempted to take off for a third time. One of its wings hit a house and then the plane hit another building causing it to crash and catch fire.

United manager Sir Matt Busby was badly injured and had to have blood transfusions after the crash, while Sir Bobby Charlton suffered minor injuries. Others weren't so lucky, Manchester United and the whole of the footballing community lost Roger Byrne (captain), Mark Jones, Eddie Colman, Tommy Taylor, Liam (Billy) Whelan, Duncan Edwards, David Pegg and Geoff Bent.

The crash also claimed the lives of many sporting journalists, including Alf Clarke, Don Davies, George Follows, Tom Jackson, Archie Ledbrooke, Henry Rose, Eric Thompson and Frank Swift.

Others killed:Walter Crickmer (Manchester United club secretary, who was in charge of the side during the Second World War); Bert Whalley (chief coach and former United player); Tom Curry (club trainer); Captain Kenneth Rayment (co-pilot); Bela Miklos (travel agent); Willie Satinoff (fan); Tom Cable (air steward).

The tragedy of the crash changed football as we know it today and many argue that it was the birth of Manchester United as we know today. Busby's methods of using younger players is still in force today with the average age of the United team well below that of other Premiership teams.

On Sunday, there will be a minute's silence prior to Manchester United's home Premier League game against Manchester City. United players will wear a 1950s-style kit, free from sponsorship and numbered one to 11, while City will also wear a special strip. It will no doubt be a very poignant occaison, a chance to remember those special players who in the words of Sir Bobby Charlton were the best he's ever played with and whose lives were snatched away from us.

We will remember them.

Labels: Current Affairs, Manchester United, Sport

Posted by Andrew at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well what a day I'm having! Wednesday beat United in a superb derby match, I finish my final essay in the early hours and then go to the pub with one of my favourite people! :-)

Of course it goes without saying that it rained all day, but I don't really care about that. The match was a really superb affair and was played as if it was a cup final (as Wednesday manager Brian Laws described it in the match programme).

Wednesday played the best football that I have EVER seen them play and in my opinion fully deserved the win. Sheffield United though had by far the better oppotunities to score and dominated large periods of the game, but it was two moments of sheer brilliance that won the game for the Owls; two goals that I would have beaten any team. (Video below is the Calendar News highlights of the match:)

Labels: Current Affairs, Sport

Posted by Andrew at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments

When you think of France, what image do you conjure up in your mind of the average citizen? A Frenchman wearing a beret, riding a bike with a baguette and a necklace of garlic per chance? But what about a cigarette in their mouth?

I knew the French smoked a lot but I did not realise quite how much until I saw (or should I say smelt) it for myself on my Year Abroad. But now, January 1st 2008, France is officially smoke-free!

I have to admit when I read this story on the news I wondered whether it was actually April 1st and not January 1st...

Last year I was surprised that the first reform was implement that banned smoking from all workplaces. I remember reading at the time how companies had to adapt their work environments to the changes with some even installing smoking "chambers" which the smokers had to enter to have their fix.

I never thought it would last, but it has! So successfully in fact, that now smoking has now been banned in all cafés, bars, restaurants and nightclubs. The same ban has worked wonders here in the UK, so as a non-smoker and someone not wanting to contract cancer through other peoples' smoke, I am in favour of the move.

Charles Bremner on his excellent blog for the Times talks about the 'café-clope' ("the ritual expresso and smoke that gets you going in the morning"), a tradition that will surely die a slow death now - maybe it contracted lung cancer...

So will France be the same? I'm not so sure. Although I am in favour as a non-smoker, it just would not be the France I know without the smoke...

Labels: Current Affairs, Politics

Posted by Andrew at 9:26 PM | Permalink | Comments

What a game! This was my very first Boxing Day football match, and also my first time witnessing a local Devon derby match and it didn't disappoint! Exeter, who were a good five places below Torquay in the Blue Square Premier League before kick off, were outstanding and against the run of play scored twice in the first half to take a two goal lead into half-time.

Then after a real farce (when I had to stand in the queue for refreshments for the whole of half-time as we waited for some water to boil and meant I missed Torquay scoring to make it 2-1), Exeter scored a superb third and then were reduced to ten-men as the referee decided he would ruin the game.

One of the Torquay attackers (Sills) lashed out at an Exeter defender after the ball had gone and then the Exeter players rushed around him pushing etc. One of the defenders (Seabourne) leaned in to shout at the player, who then took a dive as if he had just been hit by a mortar. Disgusting. And then just as I had said to brother Neil, the referee gave the Exeter defender his marching orders. The attacker (surprise surprise) escaped without even a warning.

How did Exeter react? Pretty good, they scored to make it 4-1 - surely game won! But no; Torquay scored twice late on, had four shots cleared off the line and dominated the play. Exeter (somehow) held on to take the win which they did deserve for playing our of their skins.

If I manage to find a clip of the game I shall post it here, but in the meantime you can read a full match report here.

One thing's for sure, I'm unlikely to see a more action-packed game this season!

Labels: Current Affairs, Sport

Posted by Andrew at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments