Miriam Courage

Seeing the Queen cry

Bloody media types. Did anybody else see the adverts for 'Ten days that made the Queen' on Channel Four which show the tears running down an old lady's face at a memorial service? Someone who has kept much of their persona private for so long must have a strong sense of privacy. I can only imagine the triumph of the photographer who managed to zoom in and intrude upon the Queen's grief and get a nice emotional picture to splash all over the newspapers, proving that she is as emotionally vulnerable as all of us. Surprise, surprise. The rights of the media are clearly greater than those of any individual in this country and will continue to be so as long as people buy the publications that are so intrusive. Hooray for rule by mob!

On a lighter note, Ms Rice has announced that all the options are on the table (nothing new there) including a coalition of the willing similar to the one which dealt so effectively with the WMD's in Iraq . Apparently several countries are considering how to deal with the threat from Iran on their own terms. Given the fact that both Spain and Italy are now under considerably less willing centre-left rule, I imagine she must be referring to perhaps hitherto ignored uproar in Nigeria and Kasachstan on the issue and am pleased to see Ms Rice giving the less prominent countries of the world a voice. Incidentally I have heard that Luxemburg might be willing to lend a lightbulb to the endeavour so they should definitely be signed up. I am curious though about when it was decided that Iran was next. Before or after the decision to invade Iraq? Or maybe the leaders who signed up to Iraq signed a very long document with extensive small print concerning surrounding countries? Perhaps when Iraq was on the table, Iran was already lurking under the table?

I have to say that I would be interested to see what else is lying around on that table as we speak. The table I picture is a beautiful long conference table and I imagine that there is room for plenty of other little projects on its shiny expanse.Should they run out of room they can always use the empty seats vacated by fleeing neo-cons in their rush to jump ship. 

Fools!

I have been fooled indeed. Safe in the knowledge that it was the first of April I assumed that the story concerning ex-chancellor Schröder's dubiously lucrative dealings with the Russian Gazprom was a joke. Not so, it would appear! I am shocked and appalled, Mr. Schröder, and you such a grandfatherly looking type. On the other hand perhaps it was to be expected, a cursory look at the governments of the world will reveal that there is a flourishing symbiosis between power of any kind and the middle-aged man. They cling to each other like limpets in a snowstorm and are rarely seen apart.

When Schröder finally faced the fact that he had LOST THE ELECTION ( these are words that need to be spelled out with care to this m.-a.m. who will otherwise remain blissfully unaware of what they might mean) there was no question of a relaxing retirement. Instead he spent the first weeks creating more news than the new chancellor. We were all informed in great detail of the English course he attended, although by this time it was already far too late for him to pretend to understand the americans. His business plans, accounted under the dodgy title of 'consultant' were given similarly enthusiastic press coverage, while in the middle of it all sat this slightly tubby m.-a. m. who clearly couldn't bear to relinquish an ounce of the attention going.

Speaking of corruption, Malaysia are apparently clamping down on the kind of public activities that are likely to corrupt the moral fibre of passers-by. Interestingly the couple accused of passionate kissing on a public bench explained that she was playing the violin while he was reading her a letter. Given the extent of the misunderstanding that must have taken place I imagine that the passers-by were more endangered by possible breaks in the space-time continuum inhabited by the bench at the time than in their worldly values. But of course that's just a subjective point....

How to select the picture...

It was of course a very difficult process.  Torn between  the happy presentability of left-over cv photos and the come-hither potential of those photos taken in joyfully compromising situations I was forced to admit to myself that this is not going to be a sexy blog. Not for me the tales of swinging in Berlin (or at least not for you!) In the end I settled for the comforting thought that if it was good enough for Lenin it is certainly good enough for me.

I am getting increasingly annoyed with those French students these days. Damn them  and their ability to organise effective demonstrations! ( Or to use the Old English: Abreode hire angin!) That wonderful German newspaper Die Zeit ran a depressingly representative special on this at the weekend, contrasting the typically apathetic yet intriguingly named German student Lux with the far more attractive leader of the French student union. Needless to say she was a bit more  punchy about things in general.

The accompanying article described us as the  'precarious generation'. I get the feeling  that if our whole generation is precarious then the French are certainly not going to be the first to topple over the edge. Apparently the  German response to the uproar in France was to organise a strike of the internees. On a Saturday in order to cause minimum upset. I feel that this does not bode well for the revolutionary potential of the German youth.

On the other hand it might be unwise to place too much faith in an article that let itself be tempted by the expressive power of an extended metaphor based around chocolate spread. Apparently we children of the 80s and 90s have grown up in Nutella-land and are now ashamed to cry 'More Nutella'. Although I am more of a Marmite person myself (excuse the shameless product placement) I can follow the logic of this. Nonetheless I am not happy wth the general Nutella reference. I ask myself is this a valid contribution to the vital debate surrounding the future of our young people? Well, precisely. More importantly I am simply unable to identify with those who are shy to call for more luxurious spreads. Should I ever feel the urge for more Nutella I am confident that I will happily cry 'More Nutella, right now and be quick about it' without further hesitation. Maybe more general gluttony is what this country really needs...

How to get published!

Check, two, three, testing, testing... O the power, the pure joy of knowing that I am writing for a potentially infinite audience, never mind that likely readers will presumably be limited to Philipp, who is already suspiciously informed about my life and those of my random acquaintances sufficiently bored to google the names of random acquaintances in a pleasingly circular manner.

Today is certainly a great day for the internet community, no doubt about it. Obviously what the internet really needs is one more self-obsessed and self-confident blogger to set the world to rights with the use of dubious orthography, so here I go...

Apparently Ms Rice has urged Iraqi leaders to surge ahead with negotiations for creating a new government. Nothing surprising there then. More surprising, however, that the BBC has this running as the big headline of the hour. Is it really that fascinating when a politician makes the precise statement they could be expected to make in a given situation? In my opinion ( which is obviously the be all and end all of things at this particular cyber-address) they should have put the 'Pakistan to move Quake-hit City' in top billing. Surely this is a far more intriguing proposition. Not only does it offer scope for endless punnning concerning locomotion, it also raises interesting questions regarding what constitutes a city. If you take a city, destroy it and then rebuild a different set of houses in a different location under the same name to what extent is it still that city? Is it enough if it has the same name and inhabitants? More importantly, how do you refer to the former geographical location of the city- 'the city formerly known as Balakot'?