Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

Category: News and politics

  • Plus Ça Change

    You didn’t really think that Nicolas Sarkozy and friends would change their spots, did you?

  • The Seven Year Itch

    It would appear that the US Republicans are assembling a less-than-star-studded cast of contenders all hoping to be the next President of the United States. Last week, for example, we had the revelation that three out of the ten candidates do not accept the theory of evolution. Now we have the fact that one of them, Mitt Romney, apparently believes that in France people frequently get married under contracts that expire after seven years. Where do they get these idiots from?

  • Skeletons In The Closet

    I see that The Times today carries a story on the late Ted Heath, and the suggestion that he "propositioned men for sex". Whether that’s true or not, I have no way of knowing, but what I find faintly risible is that, even now, some of his friends will still publicly deny that he was gay, claiming that he "had close relationships with unmarried women". Well, I have "close relationships with (unmarried) women" as well, but it doesn’t alter the fact that I’m queer.
     
    I think a truer view of the matter is the portrait offered of Ted by Matthew Parris.

  • A Trifle OTT?

    A trifle over the top, was my reaction to the news that a Swiss man living in Thailand has been jailed for 10 years for insulting the country’s king. But it could have been worse – the judge wanted to impose a sentence of 20 years, but had a flash of leniency, because the accused pleaded guilty…

  • Sauce For The Goose…

    …Is not always sauce for the gander. I think Ronan Bennett makes a very good point in his article in The Guardian today.

  • Beyond Parody

    There are some things that are clearly beyond parody. Such as the news that Dr. Ian Paisley has comissioned a bio-pic of his life. The end result will be clearly something that will have to be experienced in a cinema equipped with full Dolby sound in order to appreciate the decibel levels of his stentorian oratory at full blast.
     
    My favourite (I think apochryphal – but you never know) story about the old rogue and bigot is when he is addressing a rally of the faithful…
     
    "When the day of Judgment comes, there will be a weeping, a wailing and a gnashing of teeth!"
     
    A little old man mumbles with his gums and interjects at the front: "Dr Paisley, what will happen to us who have no teeth?" "Teeth," says the great man, "will be provided." Or, as he would say: "Tayth wull be provayded!!"

  • Safe Haven

    And yet another story from today’s Observer – this time about a row that appears to have erupted over the Isle of Man and its status as a tax haven. As a native of the island, I can’t say that I’m totally surprised that perchance in some instances tax avoidance has shaded into tax evasion. Nonetheless, what really caught my eye were a couple of elementary mistakes in the article in the opening two paragraphs.
     
    The story refers to the population of the island as being 26,000. Erm, what happened to the other 54,000 people then? Have they all just disappeared? And then in the second paragraph, the Common Purse Agreement is referred to as the Common Pure Agreement. Sloppy.

  • The Blair Farewell Tour

    And while we’re on the subject of satire coming uncomfortably close to reality, here’s news of a proposed reality that has already crossed over into satire: retail jails. The ever-dependable Marina Hyde is on hand to give it, and the progenitor of this idea, the blasting that they both richly deserve. 

  • What’s Sauce For The Goose…

    Justin, over at Chicken Yoghurt, points out that New Labour only gets steamed up about dawn raids in certain cases… But somehow, unlike Justin, I don’t think that it will teach the people concerned to have a little humility – not when Tony clearly doesn’t understand it himself. 

  • A Deep Respect

    Once again, Tony Blair displays why it is that he deserves no respect. In an interview today he stated: 
    He had "a deep respect for the British people and it’s been an honour and privilege to lead them".
    Er, Tony, a true man of the people would have said "it’s been an honour and privilege to serve them". That’s what my father, a member of the Manx parliament, would have said. You have merely confirmed how wrong I was to put my trust in you.

  • Submission 2

    Interesting interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali here. Some good points, but I couldn’t help but raise the ironical eyebrow at this:
    Ms Hirsi Ali made a relaxed impression during her visit to Barcelona. She seems more at ease having exchanged the snakepit that is Dutch party politics for the very proper American Enterprise Institute. 
    Methinks that either Hirsi Ali, or rather more likely, the interviewer, has not realised that she has exchanged one snakepit for another. Mark my words: out of the frying pan and into the fire.
     
    Still, I do, and sincerely, wish her good luck in the next phase of her life.

  • Wot War On Terror?

    Not Saussure draws our attention to a speech made by Sir Ken MacDonald, the UK’s Director of Public Prosecutions, in which he said:
    “London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, ’soldiers’. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear about this. On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a ‘war on terror’, just as there can be no such thing as a ‘war on drugs’.
    Absolutely. Read the rest. 

  • How Not To Rant

    As I noted before, the issue of gay rights versus religious rights has recently been in the news in the UK. Of course, such things are fodder to the media, and the radio phone-in debate is the perfect platform for some knockabout fun.
     
    This BBC Radio Fivelive debate is a good example. There are some gems in here worth listening to. The studio guest, Andrea Minichello Williams of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, is not the shiniest example. Her "we certainly don’t want to discriminate against gay people, but…" schtick becomes irritating very quickly, as it is blatantly obvious that this is precisely what she wants. If it is enshrined in the law that one can’t discriminate on the grounds of religion, but one can discriminate on the grounds of the fact that someone is gay, then how could it be otherwise?
     
    The star of the show is definitely Dr. A Majid Katme, apparently qualified in psychiatry, and spokesman of the Islamic Medical Association in Britain.
     
    His contribution, if one can call it that, begins about 29 minutes into the broadcast. A fine example of spittle-flecked invective against gays, and the perfect example of how not to rant. The fact that this man might conceivably be a psychiatric practitioner in the UK gives me pause for thought.  

  • Good News

    Alright, I admit it. I’m a simple person. I always have a feeling of schadenfreude when someone delivers a reprimand to the lovely Rita. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving case.

  • How To Rant

    While I enjoy having a good rant, I am nowhere when it comes to the masters of the art. Here is an extended nine minute rant from Keith Olbermann on George Bush’s latest misstep in Iraq. Part of me exults at the justness of Olbermann’s rant and part of me weeps at Bush’s idiocy.

  • Highs and Lows

    Two articles in today’s Guardian illustrate the highs and lows of the quality of their opinion pieces. The high is Terry Jones’ blackly humorous piece on the cost of the war in Iraq. The low is a shrill piece by Tobias Jones (no relation, I hope) on the mythical beasts called the secular fundamentalists.

  • Reflections From Iraq

    Riverbend is an Iraqi blogger. She reflects on the year, and on Saddam’s execution. Her voice is worth listening to.
     
    (hat tip to Not Saussure for the link)

  • Pure Coincidence

    I see that minutes after it was announced that Gazprom has taken over control from Shell as operator of the Sakhalin project, Putin pops up to announce that the environmental issues that were being used to threaten Shell have mysteriously vanished. Funny, that. Pure coincidence, I’m sure.

  • Political Fireworks

    Lovely Rita is up to her usual tricks, being at the centre of a political storm once again. I hope she resigns soon, but I fear that the malaise runs deeper than just her. She acts as a lightning rod for something dark and nasty in Dutch society.

  • Chalk and Cheese

    For those of you who are not Dutch, but have a passing interest in the outcome of the recent Dutch elections, here’s a useful article about the process that is being followed to form the next Dutch government. The problem that we have is that the parties involved in forming the coalition hold radically opposing views, so don’t expect a new government to be announced any time soon.
     
    Oh, and yesterday I had a telephone call from a civil servant at the local townhall to tell me that my application to become a Dutch citizen has been approved. So I can trot down there next week, sign a few papers and pay my 133 Euros and then I’ll have dual nationality. Apparently there’s even going to be some sort of ceremony held the day after my birthday in January to mark the fact. Doubtless there’ll be a little group of disparate people gathered in front of the mayor, who will deliver a little speech at us, followed by coffee and cakes. All very homely, and typically Dutch.