Category: Current Affairs

Le Figaro reports that Valéry Giscard-d’Estaing, the visionary statesman whose leadership of the constitution drafting process worked out so well for the EU last year, has plunged back into European debate. Showing himself to be every inch the washed-up former French President, VGE has been lambasting the Turks and calling for an immediate end to accession negotiations with them, on the grounds, essentially, that it’s better to tell them to get lost now in case France loses the argument on their entry in ten years time.

Oh, and he says that the Austrians agree with him – that’ll be the famous Franco-Austrian motor of the Union then.

A new environmental report bashes air travel as a huge greenhouse gas generator. That’s why I take the train.

The BBC is reporting that a group of CofE bishops are suggesting a meeting of Christian and Muslim religious leaders to apologise for the Iraq war.

Whatever your view of the rights and wrongs of the war, this is surely really stupid. I’m never convinced by the ‘Bishops shouldn’t involve themselves in politics’ line that the Tories trotted out from time to time, but on this particular issue, they’re miles off.

First, the war was not – to my knowledge – started by the Church of England, so it’s not for them to apologise, except in a rather pathetic hand-wringing ‘It’s not my fault, honest’ sort of way.

More importantly, though, the war was not about Christians vs. Muslims. It was a war of nominally Christian western states against a secular state inhabited mainly by Muslims. To start going on about apologies from one faith to another plays right into the terrorists’ claims that this is a ‘Crusade’ against Muslims which – for all its faults – it most certainly is not.

Confused (or more likely apathetic) about the German elections? Don’t be! They’re important, quite interesting, and now Der Spiegel’s English language edition gives you a handy primer to the issues and people. Link via A Fistful of Euros.

Salon.com (click-through advert or paid sub, sorry) has a good review of the new book The Republican War on Science, talking about such things as stem cell research, the anti-global warming campaign, and – of course – intelligent design.

See the John Stuart Mill quote in the title.

Just been watching Bush and Blair speaking at the UN Security Council (clips on Newsnight for the next 24 hours, about 10-12 minutes in).

My God, Bush is an atrocious public speaker. He reads from his notes, he gabbles, he hesitates, he mumbles. I’m glad I’m not his translator. Compare that with Blair – still reading, but using his notes intermittently, speaking forcefully. World of difference. Now, who’s the leader of the free world again?

From the BBC.

Compare:

EU countries have come under pressure to control fuel costs amid a clamour for action from hauliers, farmers and motoring groups.

The French government announced a package of measures on Tuesday designed to ease the situation for farmers.
They will be offered tax breaks and refunds on fuel worth about 30m euros ($36.6m; €20.2m).

“The rise in fuel prices penalises farms, which cannot always pass the cost on,” Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told a meeting of farmers in Rennes.
“We must help them.”
Similar financial assistance was announced for hauliers on Monday.
Farmers unions have said that they would study any government proposals before deciding whether to step up direct action.

With:

The British government has ruled out any direct action over fuel costs.

Chancellor Gordon Brown ruled out cuts to fuel duties, instead urging Opec members to boost production and invest in new refineries.

I’m with the British on this one.

The Washington Post reports that five out of eight leaders of FEMA (the emergency management agency that had such a triumph in New Orleans) had “virtually no experience” in disaster management when they were appointed.

This is – like so much about this Administration – astonishing but not surprising. The political appointment is so widespread in America, and so ill-managed in this administration, that there’s a wearying inevitability about the FEMA acting leader (the now-disgraced Michael Brown) and two of his senior officers having had ties to the Bush election campaign.

The alternative system, of life-term senior officials appointed through a career structure, has been around in the UK since the Northcote-Trevelyan report of 1854. It’s not perfect – it’s conservative, slow-moving and generally resistant to reform – but it does produce experts and permit expertise to flourish. It can, on its day, even produce a radical and innovative appointment.

The quick-change act at the top of most American governmental organisations must surely lead to demotivation and confusion in the lower reaches of the organisation. The British civil service may be frustrating, but if I were picking someone to lead on civil contingencies, I’d rather have Sir Humphrey Appleby than some random Muppet.

Delinquency and youth violence in 14 French departements has prompted Nicolas Sarkozy to read the riot act to the relevant prefects. Le Figaro also reports from Isère, one of the affected areas.

Poll results suggest the forthcoming (Sept 18th) German elections will be close, and Alex Harrowell at A Fistful of Euros comments. Brief summary:

“Coalition negotiations are the hard-core porn of politics, and this looks like it’s going to be absolutely filthy.“