And the World Turns

Three weeks away from my blog, a mostly forced hiatus due to moving house, and the world has become a very different place now to the one I was looking at when I last posted.

Of course, that last post was about the French presidential election and those of us that follow the news will know that socialist Francois Hollande was elected by what Alex Ferguson might call 'a squeaky-bum margin'. Of course, that means that despite the left-wing victory, France remains a deeply-divided country, and the sheer weight of debt across Europe means that no leader will be able to instantly approve large swathes of public sector spending. However, it was cheering that since the majority approval of Hollande's plan for growth on the night of his victory in Tulle, David Cameron has started slipping the 'g' word into his speeches. Of course, there is a big difference between words and deeds, but who knows, maybe the notion that you need growth to boost tax revenues is finally getting through to our leader. Meanwhile, for Hollande, there will be no time to settle into his new role. His first job will be finding an economic plan that mollifies the puffy German premier, Andrea Merkel.

And frankly, who would be poor Andrea at the moment? It's not enough that Great Britain continue to cock a snook at Europe and that she has now lost her closest ally in trying to preserve the fragile finances of the Eurozone (and I think we can agree that 'Merllande' just doesn't sound as sexy as 'Merzoky'.) She now has to contend with Greece's fractured election process, which sees the vote spreadeagled over a variety of left and right wing parties, some pro-Europe and pro-austerity, and others against. With the chance of a coalition being formed that can take the country forward virtually non-existent, there will most likely be further elections in a few weeks time, and a further period of political instability and economic stagnation.

Across the pond, American president Barack Obama has come out in favour of gay marriage, a view apparently shared by our own David Cameron but one which he is afraid to run past his own rumbling backbenchers. Nick Clegg has sold yet another portion of his party's soul for a vague suggestion that there might be a chance to reform the House of Lords, but I hope he's not holding his breath waiting for the discussions to begin.

Finally, I would like to offer my solidarity to the 400,000 public sector workers from PCS and Unite who have gone on strike today in the UK protesting at the proposed changes to their pension schemes. When will our government learn? They cannot continue to pay bankers fat bonuses while in the same breath claiming that the pensions of low-paid workers are unaffordable. It is a stance that lacks credibility and hopelessly undermines their 'All in this together' tagline. And while our own health workers are out on strike protecting their agreed terms and conditions, worldwide that trend is echoed. The foreign office notes that multiple social conflicts are ongoing in socialist Bolivia, where public transport strikes and ongoing health worker strikes have paralysed the capital city, La Paz, and other urban areas across the country.

Hollande Offers Hope to Progressives

As the afternoon votes in the French Presidential election are counted, it seems that it will be extremely likely that Presidential incumbent Nicolas Sarzoky will face off against socialist contender Francois Hollande in the second round on May 6th.

In the French constitution, unless any contender has a clear 50% of the votes in the first round, a second round is required when the two main contenders are pitted against each other for the spoils.  With those contenders rumoured to be virtually level-pegging, the significant factor could be far-right contender Marine Le Pen's monstrous 20% share of the first round vote.

It is amazing to think that less than a century after France was humbled by the war machine of Nationalist Germany during WWII, one in five French people can be found voting for a nationalist French party linked to fascists and extremists.  Having said that, at least the French contenders cover the entire political spectrum, giving voters a far better range of choices than that offered to us here in the UK.

Far-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon has already come out in support of Mr Hollande, who favours a 75% rate of tax for high earners as one of his major planned policies should he win on May 6th.  In order to avoid becoming the first single-term president since the early 1980s, Sarzoky will now have to convince Le Pen's far-right voters that he is the man to tackle major issues such as national debt and immigration.  In doing so, he must be careful that he does not alienate his central-right supporters by adopting a racist anti-Muslim stance.

As in England with it's narrow, incestuous three-party politics, it is the small number of those in the middle of the voting spectrum which may have the decisive say.  The final reckoning in the election may be decided by the 6 - 8% of people who voted for centrist candidate Francois Bayrou.  The future of politics in Europe could decide whether those small number of potential swing voters land on the left or the right side of the fence.

France has the fifth biggest economy in the world and is one of Europe's two remaining economic powerhouses.  The outcome of this election will be felt worldwide, not just within the Gallic borders.  It's most pertinent for the United Kingdom that while we have opted for a conservative stance that sees us heading into double-dip recession, favouring lower taxes for the rich and reduced opportunities for everyone else, France may provide us with a comparitive position that would allow us to learn from our mistakes.

Whether our position improves or not, Hollande is a key step closer to ending the toxic austerity program in the heart of Europe and perhaps offering hope of an alternative to progressives everywhere.

French Police Hunt Anti-Semitic Executioner

French police are linking an attack by a gunman on a Jewish school in Toulouse earlier in the week to previous attacks on military targets in the south of the country.

The attack left a 30 year old teacher and three children under the age of nine dead. CCTV images reportedly showed a lone gunman dressed in black stepping from a scooter, pursuing one of the children through the school before cornering her and shooting her in the head, execution-style, at point-blank range.

The most recent attack, coming so quickly after the murder of two soldiers of North African origin at a cashpoint in Montauban last week, have prompted one of the largest manhunts in French history. President Nicolas Sarzoky said of the killer that 'everything, absolutely everything, will be done to track him down.'

At the moment, it seems that the gunmen has the upper hand. His lethal hit-and-run tactics have now claimed seven victims, with a 17-year-old still in a critical condition in hospital. Authorities fear that it is only a matter of time until he kills again.

With the first round of the French Presidential election a little over four weeks away, the notion that the murders may be racially and politically motivated is a compelling one. With international focus very much on the recent political tensions between Israel, Iran and the US, it is not hard to imagine a hardline Islamist extremist pre-empting perceived aggression against the Islamic regime by targeting Jews and soldiers from a pro-US government.

It also adds another unwelcome strand to the election campaign itself. With Socialist candidate Francois Hollande having been very much in the ascendancy in the last few week, Nicolas Sarzoky has responded with a tough stance on immigration that he believes will secure him re-election. The idea of a foreign killer with a grudge against the state stalking the streets of Southern France might yet impact upon the consciousness of the French electorate.

The Cheese of the Day is...

In one of those rare-but-essential occasions when Four Thousand Words gets distracted by the utterly frivolous, I have responded to popular demand and today's blog entry will be about cheese.

Cheese! Milk-based wonder sent down from heaven to enrich the lives of future heart attack victims everywhere. The reason that Jacob's crackers were invented. Nutritional and cultural staple throughout large sections of the developed world, as varied in its appearance, smell, taste and texture as any generic food type known to man.


In these circumstances, it seems appropriate to choose a Cheese of the Day - but which one?

When choosing a cheese, I feel that you have to start with a country of origin. England has a growing reputation as a cheese producer, with 700 reputed local cheeses in production. The USA leads the world in production volume, making over 4 million metric tons each year. Switzerland, Germany and Finland import and consume over 20kgs of cheese per capita in the same time. Greece have a claim as potential inventors of cheesemaking, as the process is first mentioned in detail in Homer's Odyssey. More romantic souls refer to subtle hints about cheesemaking equipment depicted in tomb murals from Egypt two thousand years prior to that, and it is feasible that informal production may have first begun thousands of years earlier again when sheep were first domesticated by humankind!

Phew. But despite the dizzying scale of the task, I have to make a choice and given their reputation as the world's largest cheese exporter, producer of the some of the finest and most pungent cheeses in the world, not to mention those wonderful, full-bodied red wines that complement the cheeses so well, it seems appropriate to me that the Cheese of the Day would come from that fine land of gastronomic adventurousness, France.

This gives us a wealth of options from which to choose. My own personal favourite, Reblochon, is a nutty French cheese that was popular in Italy up to the 1960s and is an essential ingredient in tartiflette. However, it is not widely known in England.

Another friend recommended Livarot, a hearty-odoured cheese from Normandy that forms an important part of the local festival. I have the quality on good and trusted authority, but due to the lack of availability locally, I can't put it forward without having tried it myself.

In the context of a bunch of grapes or a bacon sandwich, cheese connoisseurs will tell you that only Brie will do. Produced in the Champagne region from whole or semi-skimmed milk, Brie is surrounded by a rind of edible white mould and new varieties of Brie recently produced have seen the inclusion of herbs, fruit and nuts to vary the flavour and texture. France have leaped to the defence of one of their finest exports, designating that only two types of cheese produced (Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun) may be sold under that name.


But despite strong competition, the Cheese of the Day is...Camembert!

Camembert is a soft cheese very similar to Brie and indeed, was reputedly first made in Normandy in the eighteenth century from instructions given to locals by visitors from that region. However it is usually produced and sold in much smaller wheels, meaning that the rind makes up much more of the taste. Camembert gets its distinctive flavour from many naturally-occurring chemical substances, including ammonia, succinic acid and salt. It achieved prominence in the French conscience after being given to their troops as part of their rations during World War I.

Right, enough about food - next time, we're back onto politics or international events. Cheese may be the ultimate convenience food, but in absence of the product itself, I just camembert talking about it any longer.

'Necessary, Legal and Right'

I made the mistake today of getting involved in one of the BBC's fiscal blogs, when I became incensed at a suggestion on the website that the ideal way to tackle the country's financial crisis was to do away with the minimum wage and send those Jonny Foreigners back where they came from. What an idea! Let's add skills shortages and an ever-decreasing wage spiral to our many, many problems. Just don't tell Dave, right?

Fortunately, David Cameron is currently distracted from bothersome domestic difficulties by channelling the spirit of Tony Blair and carving himself a Legacy as a Politician on the World Stage.

Except of course, he's at great pains to point out that he is not Blair and this is not Iraq. In Libya, France led the charge to force the resolution through the UN and has seized the moral high ground by doing so. The US has shown that it has learnt from past indiscretions by indicating its desire to transfer its lead role in Libya within days of becoming involved. The Arab League has skirted around the issues raised by the situation in Libya, but has carefully avoided supporting the idea of further regime changes in the region. In the midst of the maelstrom Britain strode around, an overzealous and wizened schoolteacher with an ever-shortening ruler, looking for a way to assert some authority over proceedings.

It was a familiar feeling for me as I turned on the evening news. Hand-wringing MPs jostled uncomfortably in the House of Commons as justifications for British involvement in the conflict were bandied around. The news cut to eerie green night-vision pictures of tracer fire in the sky over Tripoli and I thought, 'Here we go again.' Just once, it would be nice to get through a five-year political term in Britain without our involvement in another yet another futile, expensive and unnecessary war.


After reading an article in the 'i' newspaper today by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a writer I am really beginning to appreciate, I have taken the time to consider the position I felt initially when the bombs began to drop.

As an self-described Arab exile in Britain, Alibhai-Brown admits to a feeling of political anxiety about the UK's involvement in Operation Odyssey Dawn. I'm not of Arabic descent but I can assure her that she is not alone. I am in agreement that allowing the conflict (note that no-one uses the word 'war') to escalate would be to offer a permissive stance towards a potential civilian genocide, but nonetheless I am still very uncomfortable about our role in proceedings.

While I am willing to give David Cameron the benefit of the doubt with regard to the genuine issue of defending human life, it is unfortunate (or very fortunate, depending on your viewpoint) that supporting this cause has so many potential positive aspects for Britain that could be viewed sceptically from a retrospective standpoint. Yes, we are defending civilians by bombing strategic military targets - in the full knowledge that contracts will surely be offered to British firms when rebuilding work needs to begin and new military hardware is purchased. If we go the whole hog and support the removal of Gadaffi from power entirely, we do so knowing that any potential replacement will make their gratitude clear when determining the price of their oil.

The irony is that the Libya conflict could potentially be a watershed for the countries involved in the coalition force. Britain can go a long way towards cleansing our international reputation by making it clear that our loyalties are not determined solely by the money that lines our pockets. The true measure of our role in this saga will be determined by what happens next. So far, what we have done is indeed, to use David Cameron's own words, 'necessary, legal and right'. It is a phrase he will do well to remember and observe in the weeks ahead.

Anyone want to watch the Footy?

Anyone who says there are no easy international football games clearly hasn't played Honduras lately.

Yes, I think it's time for a World Cup post. I've resisted the urge, watched enough stale football matches in the last couple of weeks to make even the most ardent fan gag on his vuvuzela and I'd really like to write about tomorrow's budget...but let's face it, financial reports are only really going to make England's climate seem cheery in comparison.

So then, time to move from fiscal self-destruction to football self-destruction...and Fabio had better find a big selection to back up his big words against Slovenia on Wednesday. He rightly tore into John Terry for his disgraceful press-conference earlier this week, describing his decision to do so as a 'big mistake'. Terry should remember that while he might still think of himself as the captain, that distinction was removed a few months ago when he proved himself unable to demonstrate behaviour in his personal life appropriate to his professional position.

That said, it is surely time to sit down with senior players and get their opinions on a starting formation for the Slovenia game. Terry should not be demanding the inclusion of his former team-mate Cole - it is certainly not his place to do so - but it cannot be denied that Cole would add some much-needed width against a Slovenia side who will have watched the Algeria game and will surely come prepared to park the bus against England.

Fortunately, when we need someone to take the media spotlight off our beleaguered national team, there are many other sides and individuals vying to do just that. While world champions Italy were only able to scrape a narrow draw against minnows New Zealand and European champions Spain decided that they really didn't fancy it much against a spirited Swiss side, France have apparently decided that the 'hand-grenade' approach to teambuilding is the way to ensure success.

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka has been sent home amid allegations that he told manager, Raymond Domenech, 'Go screw yourself, you son of a whore', while Fabrice Evra was pictured scuffling with the fitness coach during training. In true French style, the squad is now boycotting training in protest against Anelka's explusion and may even do the same for tomorrow's match against South Africa, conveniently avoiding the chance of suffering yet another defeat. The French Football Association could have saved the cost of Le Sulk's ticket, given that the rest of the squad will be joining him on the flight home by the end of the week.

North Korea were found wanting against Portugal and cannot now hope to qualify for the knockout stage. The same is true of Cameroon, who threw away a comfortable lead against Denmark over the weekend. In fact, all of the African nations have been mediocre at best, with the much-hyped Ivory Coast set to be eliminated from the Group of Death and South Africa odds-on to become the first host nation to fail to get beyond the group stage of their own tournament. At least in Siphiwe Tshabalala's strike against Mexico, they have given us one of the moments of the tournament so far.

Germany may have lost to Serbia but have looked dangerous in front of goal, while Holland have been quietly effective and Argentina devastating, Lionel Messi's trickery laying on a hat-trick for Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain. Question marks remain over their ability to defend against better sides, but I am hedging my bets and saying that with the excellent performances seen from Mexico and Uruguay in addition to the usual suspects, it will be a South American hand that raises the winner's trophy at Soccer City, Johannesburg on July 11.

I found the little gem below doing the rounds on the internet. I don't know if it's a genuine picture, but if it is, it's true genius. England for 2018!