You are currently browsing the daily archive for March 27th, 2008.
. . . I know, I know. There are no words, really.
The Press Association:
A 15-year-old boy has been convicted of kicking and stamping to death a young woman in a park because she was dressed as a Goth.
Brendan Harris attacked Sophie Lancaster, 20, as she begged him and four other youths to stop beating her boyfriend, art student Robert Maltby.
Preston Crown Court heard the assault was totally unprovoked and the two victims from Bacup, Lancashire, were singled out because they looked different to their attackers…
While she’s met her end at his “child’s” hands, as a “child” he’s far from finished. Remember, as a 15 year old killer, he won’t be in state custody for very long. Her murder (or anyone’s, for that matter) isn’t viewed by British law currently as being worth as much as his life.
“Goths”. Indeed, given our embarrassing inability to deal with the “barbarians”, ever feel sometimes like you are living the last days of ancient Rome?
My new French dentist did an excellent job. Any pain is all but gone this morning, as promised. So, naturally, my mood is considerably more upbeat than it was yesterday.
And even though England lost to France last night in Paris, in a dull game, that hardly matters. It was a “friendly”, and all is very “friendly” currently. Indeed, here in Britain, be it left, right or hysterical tabloid, major media has evidently awoken this morning, in love:
Actually, he is president, not premier/prime minister. Obviously, she so dazzled the Mirror that they couldn’t care less what job he holds.
The Independent tries to be witty, while looking her up and down in a proper, “restrained” Indy manner:
The Daily Mail initially produced a thoughtful header:
. . . and then within hours, predictably went downhill. That link immediately above . . .
. . . now has a different title. Leave to the Hysteria Mail to concoct this replacement: “The day Carla remembered to put her clothes on to meet the Queen”.
The World’s Greatest Newspaper Daily Express feels the need to shout:
In The (normally is not exactly Francophile) Telegraph, it’s all Carla:
- Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in the UK but we all love Carla Bruni
- Carla Bruni is diplomatic with the stamp of Dior
- Is Carla Bruni the new Princess Diana?
Although, The Times and The Guardian, respectively, seem somewhat under-impressed, at least in a strictly fashion-sense:
- The verdict: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s air hostess chic
- The demure Carla: two parts Jackie O, one part lycée girl
As to the French president’s somewhat important part in his new wife’s visit, the Guardian’s Simon Hoggart pulls the two together, neatly:
He loves us. He adores us. He reveres us! Listening to Nicolas Sarkozy address Parliament yesterday was like being underneath a torrent of crème Chantilly sprayed from a high-pressure hose.
He actually said “thank you” for the liberation! Previous French presidents have implied that events in Normandy were mere skirmishes while the French got on with the job of throwing off the German yoke.
But Mr Sarkozy could not thank us enough. Grateful? It was surprising that he didn’t grab the Speaker round his legs to thank him personally for everything his forebears had done. France would never forget - never! She would never forget the English blood, Scottish blood, Welsh blood, not forgetting the Irish blood. They would never forget the welcome given in London to General de Gaulle (something which seemed to slip the General’s own mind quite quickly). “France will never forget because it has no right to forget!”
(Compare and contrast with the General, who ordered all US troops out of France. One diplomat asked: “does that include the ones under the ground?”)…
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Meaning, these ones, of course:
Part of the U.S. military cemetery at Colleville-sur-mer. (Photo by yours truly.)
A section of “Omaha” Beach. Owing to the Allies having bulldozed a great deal of it, the beach is now substantially different than it was at 6:30 AM on June 6, 1944. (Photo by yours truly.)
The grave of General Lesley McNair, chief of the Army Ground Forces. He was killed in July (among 111 U.S. soldiers) accidently, when Army Air Corps bombs were dropped just short of the German lines. (Photo by yours truly.)
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It’s a shame it took such overt statements by Mr Sarkozy to try to make the point. For no one ever previously really demanded such. Indeed, previous French leaderships’ attitudes were likely always rooted in the half-understandable: who likes to feel they owe someone anything?
What Britain and America had only ever wanted was a sense that we had been all in it together. That he has conveyed . . . and more. The more only became perceived to be necessary because of the “so little” that had always been the norm for decades. What a shame that it took so many decades, and such an overt commentary in this president’s part, to point out something of what should always have been obvious.
Mr Hoggart, of course, couldn’t also avoid mentioning what everyone else had noticed:
…Ah, Carla. She entered, cool, calm and poised, as if nude pictures in the tabloids hadn’t greeted her arrival on our shores. (Why do I suspect Sarko doesn’t care?) She sat at the back of the stage and her audience seemed transfixed. Crusty old codgers who spend their lives steeped in policy documents smiled for the first time in years…
Not that Mr Sarkozy needed any help, given his statements; they themselves would have been enough, but might have gotten somewhat lost among other news. She got the front pages, thus probably helping his statements get wider coverage. As anyone can tell from this morning’s British reporting, in a PR sense she helped him immensely.
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UPDATE: Now that today is upon is, the BBC reported just a few minutes ago:
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni have been welcomed to Downing Street by Gordon and Sarah Brown, ahead of bilateral talks.
The two leaders are travelling to Arsenal’s football stadium for talks on issues including nuclear power, Afghanistan and global finance.
They will agree joint measures against illegal immigration - but Mr Sarkozy wants an EU-wide policy.
Ms Bruni will be taken to lunch by Mrs Brown during the summit…
And at which two-some do we think media would prefer to be?
The Press Association:
Hundreds of demonstrators are expected to stage a “flash mob” protest against airport expansion to mark the opening for business of Heathrow’s £4.3 billion Terminal 5 (T5).
Formed by local residents and what are described as “environmental activists”, the protest at T5 will, according to organisers, be a “peaceful and legal event”.
The demonstrators will gather at the international arrivals area at the new terminal at 11am…
The first BA flight — from Hong Kong — landed at Terminal 5 before 6 AM. The first departure was to Paris at 6:20 AM. In contrast, for these “activists”, 11 AM apparently rates as the “opening” for business.
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