Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

When I started teaching English there in the early 1990s, it was called Bayerische Vereinsbank and the atmosphere in its headquarters in the centre of Munich was like that of a country club. One afternoon while making my way around the maze of offices near Kardinal Faulhaber Straße, which have since been replaced by an upmarket shopping mall, I opened a door and found a roomful of bankers dozing away. I had entered what was called the "Liegeraum" (the "reclining room"). Such was the genteel corporate culture of the time that employees were encouraged to take a rest after lunch.

All such charming remnants of 19th century privilege were swept away when the bank went on an expansion course that saw it merge with its main local rival, Bayerische Hypotheken-und Wechsel-Bank, in 1999 and change its name to HypoVereinsbank (HVB). It was a tainted merger, however, as it appeared that a healthy bank (Vereinsbank) knowingly joined with a sick one (HypoBank) to fend off a takeover by a rival, Deutsche Bank. How ill was HypoBank at the time of the merger? Well, back in 1990, convinced that German reunification would create an economic boom, most banks rushed to fund projects in the East Germany, but none was more aggressive than HypoBank. It bought heavily into the infrastructure and funded offices, roads, and even rail links. After the boom failed to materialize, HypoBank admitted its holdings were overvalued and the losses were enormous. And things have gone from bad to worse as falling stock markets, Germany's economic downturn and rocketing insolvencies have pushed HVB's loan loss charges to record levels.

That brings us to yesterday when the HVB Group, now Germany's second largest bank, said that it was considering a bond issue to strengthen its balance sheet. The market speculation is that HVB is poised to issue a €4 billion mandatory convertible bond. What? Why? Well, it's simply a backdoor into the equity markets. Analysts were not terribly surprised by the news, although €4 billion would be a huge amount for a bank that has seen its market capitalization fall to €4.5 billion. HVB is seeking to play down fears about its financial health, but a bank which suffered losses of €858 million last year and scrapped its dividend payout cannot inspire much confidence anymore.

Maybe they should have stayed in their "Liegeraum", those white-blue-blooded Bavarian bankers.

Diarist of the day: Drew Pearson, 28 February 1958

"Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures died yesterday. I shall always remember him for having padi $750 for the title of 'Washington Merry-go-Round' [the title of one of Pearson's newspaper columns] in 1931 and made a million-dollar movie out of it. He used to laugh when he saw me in later years. My share was $375. Latterly he has been chiefly famous around Broadway for paying $25,000 to the Nego nightclub singer Davis [Sammy Davis, Jr] not to sleep with Kim Novak. Cohn claimed he discovered her first."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 28 February 2003 at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The speaker? The occasion? "The 1930's taught us a clear lesson: aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. This nation is opposed to war. We are also true to our word. Our unswerving objective, therefore, must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country..."

Did you know? Guess? Well, it was President John F. Kennedy on 22 October 1962 speaking about the Soviet arms buildup in Cuba. And now, his moving and very relevant conclusion:

"My fellow citizens: let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can see precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead — months in which our patience and our will will be tested — months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing...

Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right — not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved."

Today, we ask how did people fail to recognize the evil of communism in the 1960's, and forty years from now, when the world looks back at 2003, many will ask how could so many people have made the same mistake then when faced with malevolence. One answer will be that many of those who read communism wrong a generation ago were among the leaders of 2003.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 27 February 2003 at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As the Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar is being whisked along the streets of Rome today on his way to meet the Pope in the Vatican, he'll surely remark on the profusion of "PACE" flags hanging from the city's balconies. The rainbow-coloured banners are everywhere and they certainly make a memorable impression. However, like the peace movement they symbolise, the flags are more about convenience than principle because they represent an argument that's flawed and, deep down, dishonest.

The dishonesty of the anti-war movement's language stems from its refusal to address the brutality of the Iraqi regime. How many speakers at the mass anti-war rallies in Rome, Berlin, London, Sydney and New York condemned Baghdad for its use of chemical weapons, its invasions of Iran and Kuwait, its torture and murder of opponents? How many "concerned" protestors demanded an end to the suffering of the Iraqi people at the hands of a tyranny that is a threat to its neighbours and world peace?

The current peace movement cannot claim to be principled until its adherents acknowledge the awfulness of Saddam's regime and accepts that the threat of force is necessary to compel this particular despot to disarm. Such an honest peace movement could actually help to prevent war, but most of the "PACE" leaders are content to provide flags of convenience for the usual anti-America crowd. After all, it's easier to indulge knee-jerk reflexes than to debate the complexities of global security; it's simpler to wave a flag than to confront the hard fact that talk does not impress those who have nothing but contempt for "PACE".

Diarist of the day: Denton Welch, 27 February 1948

"In Gide's Journal I have just read again how he does not wish to write its pages slowly as he would the pages of a novel. He wants to train himself to rapid writing in it. It is just what I have always felt about this journal of mine. Don't ponder, don?t grope -- just plunge something down, and perhaps more clearness and quickness will come with practice."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Perhaps one reason Saddam is hedging about his al Samoud missiles is that he already believes war is inevitable. If that's the case, those missiles will come in handy in the middle of March. Knowing full well that he's going to lose on the battlefield, the Iraqi dictator's final desperate act will be to go down in flames (burning oil wells!) while hoping to take the UN, the EU and NATO with him. And he's doing remarkably well on that front, isn't he?

Along with Iraq, two other countries, Germany and, especially, France stand to lose an awful lot in such a G?rd䭭erung scenario. Lacking serious military power, the French are unable to challenge the US in the global theatre and so must use the European Union to project their influence. But a successful Iraq war would tarnish the image of French leadership within the EU and cede power to the Washington-friendly pivot of Britain, Spain and Italy. Such a military outcome would also swell anti-French feeling in the pro-American Eastern European countries scheduled to make up a 25-nation EU. Not a very pleasant prospect for the Eleysee Palace.

Outside the EU, the main source of French global influence is, of course, the United Nations, but another failed resolution there followed by war would surely signal the end of the UN as a plausible world body, meaning that the international ability of the French to punch above their weight would then be decided by the performance of US and British armed forces in Iraqi. Again, an indication of how little France has to gain and how much it stands to lose with its present course. Knowing this, and having made his point, the cynical Chirac will now be looking for a way to climb down. Maybe Saddam's al Samouds will be it. In the case of Germany, all the above holds, except that the Chancellor does not have the "Ausweg" (way out) that might open up for the French.

Diarist of the day: Derek Jarman, 26 February 1989

"1950 millibars, the lowest pressure recorded in the last 120 years. A long walk around the Ness to the power station; then up to the coastguard cottages, which I've never explored before. They are set in the middle of a moated mound which encloses a large area -- once kitchen gardens. It's difficult to find a good vegetable garden; even in the marshes I came across only one last autumn, as I travelled around with my camera filming the countryside for War Requiem -- the supermarkets have wiped them out. Once all these little cottages grew their own, before the road was constructed during the war. Now no-one does."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 26 February 2003 at 7:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[ROME] What better city to stage a chocolate festival than this, a capital whose glorious past is filled with tales of gluttony? All over town, there are posters for Eurochocolate, which will take place from 1 to 9 March. Most of the events — tastings, conferences, exhibitions — will take place on the Villa Borghese's magnificent Terrazza del Pincio, renamed "Pincioc" for the occasion, and all around the city on 8 March there will be "sweet surprises" to mark Festa della Donna.

The festival atmosphere has been somewhat soured, however, by the exclusion of Nestl頦ollowing protests from anti-globalization activists. Rome's mayor Walter Veltroni asked the organizers to withdraw their invitation to the multinational after being presented with allegations about its powdered milk, which is used as a breast milk substitute in developing countries. UNICEF claims that it leads to the deaths of 4,000 infants a day. Nestl駳 forced absence is a major embarrassment for the Italian chocolate industry as the company owns the Baci-producing Perugina. And that 's not the only chocolate-related setback that the Italians must cope with this year. In August, the country is being forced by the EU to change its legal definition of the sweet stuff. A new EU ruling means that Italy (and Spain) will have to accept as "chocolate" products that contain up to five percent non-cocoa butter vegetable fats. These products, legally acceptable as chocolate in other EU countries, are defined in Italy as "chocolate derivatives."

Given the innate genius of Italy's confectioners in matters sweet, I'm sorry to see them lose this particular battle with Brussels. Must slurp up more of the real stuff this evening before heading back to Munich. Who knows? Might not be back until after August.

Diarist of the day: Stendhal, 25 February 1808

"Since the last entry I've killed three hares, the first quadrupeds of my life."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 25 February 2003 at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] Staying on the Via di S. Prassede, which is just a candle's throw away from the magnificent basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The typical day begins by turning onto the Via di S. Martino Ai Monti where the very friendly character running the corner newsstand hands over The International Herald Tribune in exchange for two euros, and the paper is then enjoyed over a cappuccino e cornetto (typically 1.10 euro) in one of the many cafes along the Largo Brancaccio.

Then it's time for blogging and there is no shortage of keyboards in this part of Rome as every second premises seems to offer “Internet” or “Internet Phone”. The quality of service ranges from the average (slow connections, clunky keyboards, small screens, tiny cubicles) to the impressive (ADSL 640 KBPS, webcam, scanner, Office XP, Telnet and Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Arabic support). That latter range of services is offered by the Internet Point group, which has outlets near Santa Maria Maggiore, Termini station, the Vatican Museum, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.

Diarist of the day: Lord Longford, 24 February 1981

"The papers tell us that Prince Charles's engagement to Lady Diana Spencer will be announced today. [His wife] Elizabeth's book on the Queen Mother will be out in June; there will be just time to insert a statement that the engagement will give special pleasure to Prince Charles's grandmother. It all fits in very well with Elisabeth's conception of the Queen as a sublime exemplar of the family principle. We learn that Lady Diana's parents have a house next door to Sandringham and that her father was an equerry of King George VI. Elizabeth's thinks of saying in he book that 'Lady Diana will fit into the royal family like a hand into a glove' this, however, is too much of a clich頭- can I think of a better simile? I rack my brains hopelessly. She then comes up with this: 'She will fit in like a royal crest into its nest.' It is this which gives Elizabeth, in addition to all her academic qualities, the edge on other biographers."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 24 February 2003 at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] Came across this inscription today while reading about ancient Rome: "Summa sedes non capit duos." Translated, it says: "Supreme power cannot be shared." When one considers the recent rows about the role of the UN, the shape of NATO, the nature of the EU and future of the trans-Atlantic alliance, that pithy sentence sums up the real politics of the moment. It would be easier for all concerned if current debates about coming events included more candid talk about the true nature of power. The Romans had it right.

Diarist of the day: Andy Warhol, 23 February 1977

"I really had to pee. Fred [Hughes] came back from the bathroom and I asked him if there was anybody in there and he said no, that it was empty. I went in and was peeing and suddenly there was someone next to me saying, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe I'm standing next to you, let me shake your hand,' and then he realized and said, 'No, I'll wash my hands and then we can shake.' I lost my concentration and had to stop peeing. And then more and more people started coming in and saying, 'Is it really you?' I got out."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 23 February 2003 at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] There are lots of fine restaurants in and around the Campo De' Fiori, but they tend to be a little too touristy. One place that does not pander to visitor tastes, however, is al Bric on the Via del Pelligrino. For food-savvy Romans, wine merchant Roberto Marchetti has created a bistro where wine is given full play and the list runs to over 1,000 labels, mostly from Italy and France. He has a stock of excellent single malts as well.

And the food? Fresh ingredients are why al Bric has earned its reputation. The seared tuna was superb and an amazing cheese selection rounded off a scrumptious meal. The three of us washed down the food with a bottle of local medium-bodied red and the lot came to 100 euros, including tip. Closed Monday, open for dinner Tuesdays to Sundays; book in advance. Al Bric, 51 via del Pelligrino, phone: 06/687-9533).

Diarist of the day: No묠Coward, 22 February 1962

[San Francisco] "Coley [his secretary] saw me off in Kingston on Tuesday, and I sped off through the bright skies at approximately the same moment as John Glenn Junior sped off in his capsule into outer space. He had been around the world three times before I landed at Miami airport. I did a little shopping and had my hair cut, and while this was going on I heard over the radio that Glenn had landed safely. It was a tremendously exciting moment, ruined me for me by a blonde manicurist with a voice like a corncrake who made it almost impossible to hear what had happened."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 22 February 2003 at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[ROME] Quick question: What do Joschka Fischer, Tariq Aziz and Kofi Annan have in common? OK, one could come up with lots of smart answers, but the fact is that they have all recently had private audiences here with the Pope. Now it's Tony Blair's turn.

The age-old issue of the "just war" is back on the agenda and many of the key players in the current drama are hoping that a photo op with the Pontiff will help their case. But Blair has the toughest task of the recent high-profile visitor to the Holy See because he has come out in favour of a strike against Saddam, while the Pope has stated that he is against war with Iraq.

On the face of it then, given the starkly different positions on the central issues, Blair has little to gain and a lot to lose by attempting to make his case here. But that would be a false reading of his political strategy. Strong moral arguments have been made down through history deposing tyrants and by presenting his point of view in this particular case, Blair gains the advantage of being regarded as a leader who is more a man of principles than the warmonger that his critics attempt to paint him as.

Blair, Fischer, Aziz and Annan are all very welcome guests at the Vatican these days because they keep the profile of the Catholic Church high and they demonstrate that the key western religious leader continues to be the Pope. His blessing still carries weight.

For the Catholic Church, there are other considerations involved in all this. Catholics form minorities in many countries where an Anglo-American led strike on Iraq might produce violent reaction and lead to attacks on Christians. Pakistan is the most obvious example.

So, is the Vatican a player in what is unfolding or are the leaders who come to see the Pope being as cynical as their hosts, as many would have us believe? It might be worth recalling the last great geopolitical tectonic shift here: "How many divisions does the Pope have?" Stalin is reputed to have mocked, when FDR suggested Pius XII might be consulted on Europe's fate. Where are Stalin's divisions now?

Diarist of the day: Beatrix Potter, 21 February 1885

"I saw a most extraordinary tricycle pass today. A bath chair made of wicker work in which reclined a smart lady, and behind, where one should push, a gentleman treadling, puffing and blowing and looking very sheepish. I wonder any one will make such an exhibition of themselves. How the bicycles swarm now, and yet a few years since, every one turned around to stare at a velocipede!"

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 21 February 2003 at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] Back on 26 January, Hamish McRae of The Independent used the occasion of the death of Gianni Agnelli to muse upon Italy's economic prospects. What most alarmed him was population decline. He pointed out that although Italians are said to love children — they just don't have very many of them anymore. He also noted that the ratio of people of working age, relative to over-65s, will shift from the present 2.2 to 1 ratio to a 0.8 to 1 ratio in 2050, leaving fewer workers than pensioners. In "The pros and cons of Italy", he wrote:

"For most Britons, including our Prime Minister, Italy is the place for a holiday: culture, food, music and style have been interwoven into a way of life that is hugely seductive for many British people. Alongside the obvious attractions is the wonderful 'slow food' project of a clutch of Italian towns, which are trying to get people to pace their lives in a more healthy and relaxed manner — for example, to walk rather than drive as well as to eat traditional food instead of junk...

Now, there are several unusual features to the Italian economy. One is that the number of hours worked is relatively low. But more remarkable is the low labour participation rate: less than 60 per cent of the people of working age are in jobs, compared with 76 per cent here. You could say that the country manages to achieve a high standard of living — as well as a high quality of life — without having to work too hard. Many would find that a rather attractive combination — if it were sustainable. Sadly, I fear it is not.

...The danger is that the brightest young Italians will look elsewhere for jobs. For example, Italy happens to produce very good economists, many of whom have come to Britain. Were outward migration to rise, the population decline would become even more serious. The big issue for Italy is in some ways the same as for Germany: how quickly can it reform? Fiat will now reform because it has no choice. It is sad, is it not, that it takes the death of a giant for that to happen?"

The answer to Italy's looming crisis? More immigration and a genuine commitment to structural reform.

Diarist of the day: Cynthia Gladwyn, 20 February 1967

"A party to meet our new leader Jeremy Thorpe. A huge crowd came and drank too much champagne. Paul Hislop took Yehudi Menuhin for a Liberal candidate; David Frost kissed Violet Bonham Carter; Lord Gardiner, who looks so impressive when dressed in his Lord Chancellor's robes, came; but neither George Brown nor the Prime Minister did -- just as well, I thought. Jeremy won't be as good as Jo [Grimond], whose wonderful looks, voice, and integrity were a tremendous asset to the party, especially on television. Jeremy is a bit of an actor; in fact he would have made a marvellous actor. His imitations of Harold Macmillian, Harold Wilson, even Jo, are terrifyingly funny; and best of all is that of Ted Heath saying, Out of the House'. Admittedly, Ted behaved rudely to Jeremy, walking 'Out of the House' when Jeremy took his place there as Liberal leader."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 20 February 2003 at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] Bright blue sky, crisp sunshine and a pleasant 12 degrees Centigrade was the weather at midday today. Ideal conditions, then, for displaying the Roman winter wardrobe. If there's one brand that stands out, it's Barbour quilted jackets, especially olive green and navy blue, are hugely popular and in the competition to see who can look most English, the men appear to be ahead of the women. I should point out, though, that when it comes to wearing Burberry, the women have the field to themselves. Trousers sporting the famous stripes are big. Classy insulation against the chilly evening cold.

Today's consuls and their ladies seem to prefer the squire look. It should come as no surprise then that the Italians are becoming such fine rugby players. What's next? Horary membership of the Anglosphere?

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 19 February 2003 at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[ROME] To visitors from the other side of the Alps, the Italian capital appears chaotic. But here's the thing — it works. Maybe it's got something to do with the extraordinary creativity of the people. Life is fluid and lateral thinking is required constantly. Take the traffic. Staying alive on the streets requires extraordinary motor skills, in every sense of the expression, but most of the participants in the fray seem to survive.

To better understand what's going on here, the book to read these days is The Dark Heart of Italy: Travels Through Space and Time Across Italy by Tobias Jones. A Brit, who moved here in 1999, Jones loves the country and its people, its food, its culture and the extraordinary sense of style that the Italians possess. The things he doesn't love about the place, he loathes and they include Italian television, "The only thing on offer is bosoms, football and money." He also scourges the bureaucracy and the corruption, and the collusion between the Mafia and politicians.

No book about contemporary Italy would be complete, of course, without an assessment of Silvio Berlusconi and Jones, excellent journalist that he is, has a great old time with the media magnate turned prime minister. How could such a character emerge from a maze of business and legal puzzles and still be elected to the highest office of a western democracy? In pursuit of the answer Jones turns over the stones that hide a host of unsavoury facts about a nation that exerts such a fascination on so many people. What he unearths should make us all shudder — thousands of ghastly, dangerous buildings erected without planning permission, to mention but one example — but it seems to have the opposite effect. The more grotesque Italy appears, the more people feel drawn to it. Is it because there's too much order and not enough chaos in our own lives?

Incidentally, Tobias Jones is also very good on the Italian language, which he says doesn't have words for concepts such as "self-control" or "hangover". Facing into a weekend among Italian and Irish rugby enthusiasts, that's incredibly valuable information.

Diarist of the day: H. L. Mencken, 19 February 1932

"Ellery Sedgwick, edior of the Atlantic Monthly, was her for dinner last night. Later in the evening Paul Patterson, Hamilton Owens and John W. Owens dropped in. When Sedgwick left, along about midnight, Patterson and John Owens remained, and I finally got to bed a little after two o'clock. Sedgwick was full of curious anecdotes. He told about being at a dinner party with the late Moorfield Storey. The name of Hearst came up, and Storey said: 'Hearst married a prostitute, and then gradually dragged her down to his own level.' "

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Last night's joint EU declaration placed the onus on Baghdad to "disarm and co-operate immediately and fully", and added that the EU is "committed" to working with the United States. Greece, which currently holds the EU's revolving presidency, hailed the final statement as a triumph and the Greek Foreign Minister, George Papandreou, was moved to declare: "The message from this summit is loud and clear — Saddam Hussein must comply and Europe speaks with a united voice. We come away from this summit with flying colours."

Really? Mr Papandreou knows full well that the declaration has achieved no more than a papering-over of the EU's cracks.

At the press conference following the issuing of the declaration, British prime minister Tony Blair said that if Iraq could not be disarmed peacefully "it has to be done by force". France and Germany, however, said they would still not support any military action, while the French president scolded the EU's prospective new members for backing America's tough approach. "It is not really responsible behaviour," Jacques Chirac said. "They missed a good opportunity to keep quiet," he added, referring to the recent signing by seven of the ten would-be EU members (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) of a letter supporting the US.

And where does Italy stand? I ask because I'll be in Rome shortly and it's always nice to know the lie of the land, so to speak. Well, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is doing a neat balancing act between displaying loyalty to the US and staying friends with France and Germany. But how long can this last? Especially when three million anti-war protesters were on the streets of Rome on Saturday, and Pope John Paul has taken a position against war. Although, not very Catholic anymore, the Italians are still believers.

So far, Mr Berlusconi's position is that his government will allow US forces the use of Italian bases and airspace if it comes to war with Iraq. He's not quite as vocal in his support of the US as Britain and Spain are, but neither has he put himself in the German situation of total opposition to war.

The job of keeping a four-party coalition together at a time when polls show that over 60 percent of Italians oppose a war even with UN Security Council approval is not for the faint hearted. And, it should be noted that within Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, there's quite a bit of opposition to his pro-US stance. Still, one gets the feeling that Mr Berlusconi is going to stand with Washington on this one.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 18 February 2003 at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mike Smartt, Editor-in-chief at BBC News Online, is announcing a major site redesign to be rolled out later this week. This will be the first big alteration to the look of BBC News Online since 1999. The most obvious change will be an increase in page width, a full 30 percent, no less: table width="760". This means more news higher up the screen and less scrolling. The site's way of linking to news analysis and features along with the archive of more than two million items is also being spruced up.

BBC Sport will be changing along the same lines, too, and if you take a look at its wonderful Cricket World Cup special, you'll get an idea of what's in store for the news pages. I like it. It's bright, it's inviting and it's different.

Diarist of the day: Evelyn Waugh, 18 February 1925

[While teaching at Arnold House school, Wales] "On Sunday I started on an awful thing called week's duty. It means that I have no time at all from dawn to dusk so much to read a postcard or visit a water-closet. Already -- today is Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday -- my nerves are distraught. Yesterday I beat a charming boy called Clegg and kicked a hideous boy called Cooper and sent Cooke to the proprietor. Yesterday afternoon I had my first riding lesson and enjoyed it greatly. It is not an easy sport or a cheap one but most agreeable. No letter from Olivia. Yesterday in a history paper the boy Howarth wrote: 'In this year James II gave birth to a son but many people refused to believe it and said it had been brought to him in a hot water bottle.' "

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you noticed? No? Well, Rainy Day is enjoying a bit of a makeover. Tweaking will continue for another day or two, so, refresh now and again. The rebuild uses XHTML and CSS, and that means goodbye forever to nested tables, spacer gifs and pandering to the faults of bad browsers. The goal of the redesign is to save visitor and server bandwidth by avoiding the kind of coding that makes so many CSS/table sites as ugly as the rubbish they're supposed to replace. The next step on this journey will be a full CSS layout in summer. Forward compatability! That's the idea.

Glogger?

So Google has bought Pyra Labs, the company that developed the Blogger software. It's certainly an exciting development for blogs in general, and it's bound to raise their level of exposure, but is it a good fit, especially for a company that focuses on finding content, not on creating it? Too soon to say but those clever Google-persons wouldn't be acquiring part of the blogosphere if they didn't have something up their sleeves. Right? It might be an R&D move and Blogger will enable them to tinker with nanopublishing and its associated technologies: commenting, trackbacking and so on. When the time comes, Google will then offer these tools publicly. For information to be accessible for Google's users, it has to be on the Internet in the first place, so by distributing blogging tools, which can be used to make more content, Google's services would become even more valuable.

And as Dan Gillmor, who broke the story, wrote "The buyout is a huge boost to an enormously diverse genre of online publishing that has begun to change the equations of online news and information." Next Google purchase? Moveable Type?

UPDATE: "Google gets Blogger and better" is the headline on this fine article by Neil McIntosh in The Guardian today: "The fact that the world's favourite search engine has bought one of the pioneers of the online diary is probably good news for most net users," he says.

War

WAR consisteth not in Battle only, or the act of fighting, but in a tract of time, wherein the Will to contend by Battle is sufficiently known: and therefore the notion of time is to be considered in the nature of War, as it is in the nature of Weather. For as the nature of Foul weather lieth not in a shower or two of rain, but in an inclination thereto of many days together: so the nature of War consisteth not in actual fighting, but in the known disposition thereto during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary. All other time is Peace.

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan XIII

Diarist of the day: Rev. James Woodforde, 17 February 1763

"I dined at the Chaplain's tale upon a roasted Tongue and Udder. N.B. I shall not dine on a roasted Tongue and Udder again very soon. "

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 17 February 2003 at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nice one! The Irish win at Murrayfield for the first time since 1985. And in style, too. David Humphreys racked up 26 points and Brian O'Driscoll ran the porridge-footed Scots ragged. Next Saturday's game in Rome against the Italians should be all the more enjoyable as a result of this win. The Irish feel this could be the year for memorable deeds and the Italians, encouraged by their win over Wales, will have everything to play for. Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 16 February 2003 at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

E' finita in un autentico trionfo, as the Italians say. Yes, indeed, Italy 30 - Wales 22 was the final scoreline yesterday as the Azzurri won only their second Six Nations rugby match ever when they defeated Wales in the Stadio Flaminio under the Rome sun. For the record, the last time Italy enjoyed a Six Nations win was against Scotland in 2000. Yesterday, the outstanding fly-half Diego Dominguez scored 15 points, and tries from Giampiero De Carli, Carlo Festuccia and Matthew Phillips were simply too much for a Welsh side which looked extremely uninspired.

Later today Ireland face Scotland in Murryfield, and the Rainy Day team will be in the Stadio Flaminio next Saturday to witness the clash of the Irish and the Italians. Blogging HQ will alternate between The Drunken Ship in the Campo de' Fiori and The Fiddlers' Elbow on the Via dell Olmata.

Diarist of the day: Captain Robert Falcon Scott, 16 February 1912

"12.5m. Lunch Temp.+6.1?; Supper Temp. .+7?. A rather trying position. Evans has nearly broken down in the brain, we think. He is absolutely changed from his normal self-reliant self. This morning and this afternoon he stopped the march on some trivial excuse. We are on short rations, but not very short, food spins out until tomorrow night. We cannot be more than 10 or 12 miles from the depot, but the weather is all against us. After lunch we were enveloped in a snow sheet, land just looming. Memory should hold the events of a very troubled march, with more troubles ahead. Perhaps all will be well if we can get to our depot tomorrow fairly early, but it is anxious work with the sick man. But it's no use meeting troubles halfway, and our sleep is all too short to write more."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The cover image of the current Economist features a construct called "The West" fracturing to expose a raging river of fire or maybe blood — like the chasm, it's open to interpretation. This disturbing graphic appears under the questioning headline "How deep is the rift?" Famous for not mincing its words, The paper says: "The Atlantic alliance, NATO, the United Nations and the European Union have been gravely weakened by the events of recent days. Good-faith differences over Iraq are part of the story, but only part. Also blame shifting attitudes and awful leadership-above all, by France's Jacques Chirac ..."

How did it all go wrong, asks the leader writer?

"Generalisations are odious. But there exists a widening gulf of comprehension between the people of America and the peoples of Europe. Since the felling of the twin towers, Americans have by and large come to think that the world is a dangerous place from which unexpected threats are liable to emerge unless the western powers take forceful and timely action to nip them in the bud. Iraq, say most Americans, poses just such a threat. Most Europeans think the opposite."

The forces acting upon bodies such as the UN, NATO and the EU are addressed in tectonic terms, and then The Economist comes down hard on the person it sees as being responsible for the current wobbling of all three institutions, Jacques Chirac. Referring to the fact that war might be necessary at some point, the leader writer says of Mr Chirac:

"He seems chiefly interested in making sure that the point will be of France's choosing, not America's . This is not only a folie de grandeur, given that it will be American soldiers who will end up doing the fighting. It is also an unforgivable pose to have struck just when the threat of imminent military action might have extracted a last-minute change of heart from Mr Hussein. By proposing the "alternative" of more inspections, Mr Chirac has succeeded brilliantly in telling the dictator that his last minute is not nigh."

If Mr Chirac wants the EU to be a counterweight to the US, history may judge that he did the opposite, and by trying to stop NATO from responding to a Turkish request for help, he has added that organisation to his victims, argues the paper, which then reserves its most vehement barb for the closing paragraph:

"When Mr Bush took the Iraq issue to the [Security] council in September, the unilateralists in his own administration were aghast. They shut up when it passed a unanimous resolution warning Iraq of serious consequences if it failed to comply. Now the perverse Mr Chirac looks set to prove their original point. A body which thinks that 'serious consequences' spells 'more inspectors' does not deserve to be taken seriously."

In a special report (subscription required), the paper looks at the rift with stories titled "Dealing with Iraq", "NATO hits a crisis" and "The view from elsewhere". If economics is referred to as the dismal science, The Economist, this week, should be called the dismal journal.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 15 February 2003 at 4:23 PM | Permalink

It's at times like these that a reading of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius (121-180), Roman emperor and philosopher, brings comfort. A brilliant general, he was engaged in wars on the northern and eastern frontiers of the empire throughout his reign.

In his domestic policy, Marcus Aurelius was a champion of the poor, for whom he founded schools and hospitals and lessened the burden of taxes. He even sold his personal possessions to alleviate the effects of famine and plague within the empire. He also tried to humanise criminal law and the treatment of slaves by their masters

As a philosopher he is remembered for his Meditations, a compendium of 12 books of moral precepts written while on his various campaigns. The work is an important formulation of the philosophy of Stoicism and reveals his belief that the moral life leads to tranquillity. It stresses the virtues of wisdom, justice, fortitude, and moderation. Consider:

"Every moment think steadily as a Roman and a man to do what thou hast in hand with perfect and simple dignity, and feeling of affection, and freedom, and justice; and to give thyself relief from all other thoughts. And thou wilt give thyself relief, if thou doest every act of thy life as if it were the last, laying aside all carelessness and passionate aversion from the commands of reason, and all hypocrisy, and self-love, and discontent with the portion which has been given to thee. Thou seest how few the things are, that which if a man lays hold of, he is able to live a life which flows in quiet, and is like the existence of the gods; for the gods on their part will require nothing more from him who observes these things."

The legions of Marcus Aurelius succeeded in repelling the Parthian invasion of Syria in 166, but Rome was again forced into battle in 167 by the Germanic tribes on the Rhine-Danube frontier. He returned to Rome intermittently during the German campaign to undertake legal and administrative reforms but he was back on the northern frontier in 176 hoping to extend the boundaries of the empire north-eastwards of the Wisła river. He died of the plague in Vindobona (now Vienna) on March 17, 180, before he could begin his invasion.

Take a few minutes now to read The Meditations By Marcus Aurelius.

Diarist of the day: Virginia Woolf, 15 February 1915

"We both went up to London this afternoon L[eonard, her husband] to the Library, and I to ramble about the West End, picking up clothes. I am really in rags. It is very amusing. With age too one is less afraid of the superb shop women. These great shops are like fairies' palaces now. I swept about in Debenham's and Marshall's and so on, buying, as I thought, with great discretion. The shop women are often very charming, in spite of their serpentine coils of black hair. Then I had tea, and rambled along to Charing Cross in the dark, making up phrases and incidents to write about. Which is, I expect, the way one gets killed. I bought a ten and elevenpenny blue dress, in which I sit at this moment."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Rainy Day would dearly love an exclusive Q&A with Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, but visitors must accept that the man of the moment has a rather full schedule. Vienna, Baghdad and today New York where he presents his much-awaited report to the United Nations Security Council. As a result, we've had to supply the questions and answers ourselves. Here goes.

Q: Why did the United Nations Security Council pass resolution 1441?

A: Simple. Saddam Hussein's regime has been in material breach of all its obligations to disarm since 1992, and resolution 1441 demands that this state of affairs be ended.

Q: Has Saddam complied with the terms of the resolution?

A: Although he's made absolutely no effort to do so, there are people who believe that he might comply if he's given more time.

Q: Why does he need more time? Surely he's had enough.

A: I suppose he's got his reasons.

Q: Hmmn. Maybe it would help if the US and the UK supplied more evidence about Iraq's weapons program?

A: Actually, there's no mention in resolution 1441 of any requirement for the international community to provide more evidence. The resolution places the burden solely on Iraq to prove that it has complied.

Q: What about the idea of deploying more inspectors? Even doubling the number? As the French and Germans suggest. They might find the hidden stuff.

A: The inspectors are in Iraq to monitor compliance with resolution 1441, not to find any kind of proof. Looking for hidden weapons would be investigation, not inspection, and would require armed personnel, not civilians, to make it work, and lots of them, too, given the size of Iraq. And it's possible the Saddam would see that as an invasion.

Q: Inspection, investigation, invasion, Iraq. All "i" words.

A: Aye.

Well, that's all we've time for now. Back later with a look at plans for the future of Iraq, post-Saddam.

Diarist of the day: Adrian Mole, 14 February 1983

"ST VALENTINE'S DAY
Got four cards, one from Pandora [girlfriend], one from Grandma, one from my mother and one from Rosie [babysitter].
Big, big deal!
I got Pandora a Cupid card with a mini pack of After Eights. My parents didn't bother this year, they are saving their money to pay for the solicitor's letter."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 14 February 2003 at 6:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An Iraq free of Saddam Hussein would be an Iraq free of the need to amass weapons of mass destruction, say many commentators, and it seems to be a reasonable argument. How to free Iraq of Saddam is the sticking point. It may mean war, but it might mean exile. If the latter is a real option, one can immediately see how damaging the Franco-German approach has become.

From what we know about Saddam, it's safe to assume that he'd only leave Iraq if the threat of war were real and immanent. The military build up in the region would have to be so credible as to leave him in no doubt at all about the outcome. But, by announcing their opposition to war, France and Germany are guilty of allowing Saddam to (mistakenly) convince himself that a war will not take place. As a result, the chances of Saddam choosing exile have been reduced. His continued presence in Baghdad, however, has the effect of confirming the US-UK belief that he is not committed to disarming Iraq and this is making war more, not less, likely.

Diarist of the day: Earl Mountbatten of Burma, 13 February 1965

[Singapore] "At 21.00 the whole of our party were sent to the fantastic home of Run Me Shaw, the brother of Run Run Shaw of Hong Kong. The story goes that the elder brother used to hang about for messages, saying 'Run, run?', and then when he had been sent on a message the young brother would say 'Run me?' At all events they are both multimillionaire magnates now. The house is set in an elaborate garden with a large swimming pool, fountains etc. With continually changing lighting systems. We were shown into an immense private cinema and then with evident pride he said to Patricia, Solly and me, 'Now I will show you my wonderful pink Toyland.' Solly and I expected to see a display of toys, but in fact is was the most luxurious ladies' loo imaginable with two pink WCs a the far end, indeed a pink toilet."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 13 February 2003 at 7:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NATO update: Unable to agree to plan to assist one of their own members who may be under threat, (Turkey, in this case), NATO ambassadors have decided to refer new proposals aimed at breaking the deadlock to their governments. The latest discussions today in Brussels failed to end a damaging split over Iraq. Read the story here at the BBC.

So what does this mean for Turkey? And for Europe? Nothing good, I fear.

On 1 February, while the world was busy with its affairs, the Treaty of Nice, which paves the way for the enlargement of the European Union, came into force. This was of considerable significance for the 10 countries set to join the EU in May 2004: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. While Bulgaria and Romania are on course for accession in 2007, Turkey was told in December that it must wait until the end of 2004 for a possible beginning of talks on joining the club. In response, the front page of the popular Turkish newspaper — Hurriyet — carried a photo of da Vinci's Last Supper with the caption, "Will the EU, like Christ's last supper, be purely for Christians or will there be a Muslim at the table?"

The current NATO crisis has added to Turkey's feeling of isolation and this is not good news for Europe, especially because Turkey has got something that Brussels, with all its bureaucrats, can't produce — youth. Almost 30 percent of Turkey?s 70 million population are under 15, compared to an average of only 15 percent in the ten new entrants. In other words, Turkey could give EU growth a badly needed consumption boost as did Spain, Portugal and Greece when they entered the union. Back then, the Mediterranean countries brought that all-important "demographic gift" to the table but that?s not going to happen next year because the incoming ten are ageing societies whose birth rates have long been among Europe's lowest. No one can expect an increase in internal consumption to be driven by decrepit economies which are still recovering from the miseries of central planning.

By compounding the cold-shouldering of the EU, NATO is sending the totally wrong message to the Turks and to those Islamic peoples who have no more sympathy for Bin Laden than we do. Continued rejection of Turkey is bound to be seen by this moderate Muslim country of 67 million people as a desired division between the Christian West and the Islamic East. How long now before someone comes up with the idea of building a wall?

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 12 February 2003 at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The headline on the lead story in today's Irish Times is "Cabinet to support US even without UN input" According to Mark Brennock, the paper's political correspondent, the Irish government "... are deliberately crafting their statements on Iraq to leave open the possibility of supporting a US war with neither UN nor EU backing..." Brennock's "well-placed sources" go on to say that "the Government does not intend to take any position that would put it in opposition to the United States".

Should it come to a showdown at next Monday's emergency EU summit in Brussels which has been called to try to resolve EU differences over Iraq where will Ireland stand? Brennock says:

"While still optimistic that such a stark choice can be avoided, the sources said that Ministers had resolved privately that there were no circumstances in which they could tell the Bush administration that US aircraft could no longer land at Shannon Airport for refuelling or overfly Ireland on their way to the Persian Gulf.

Other sources confirmed the Government was therefore pursuing a strategy designed to leave open the possibility of supporting a US-led attack that was opposed by many EU colleagues. This was due partly to the immensely valuable economic and political relationship Ireland has with the United States.

However, it also accorded with the personal political instincts of the Taoiseach, Tᮡiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, who all privately had an emphatically pro-American approach to the Iraq crisis, the sources said."

Diarist of the day: Cynthia Gladwin, 12 February 1961

"Had supper at the Savoy. Ted Heath was of the party. A complete bachelor, with great qualities. I wonder whether he could become Prime Minister one day -- he is one of those mentioned. He has a funny schoolboyish habit of giggling and shaking his shoulders up and down when he laughs -- rather endearing, but odd. Yet perhaps no odder than Rab's [Butler] strange hooting."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 7:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'll be blogging from Rome next week and this prospect has got me thinking about history, power, alliances and trouble with the Gauls and the Germans. There's a long history of it — trouble, that is. Highly amusing, therefore, is "Bloggus Caesari, A weblog by Julius Caesar", who describes himself as "The original warblogger". The Governor of Gaul updates his site regularly from the front lines and here's a rather pertinent post:

"Some of you have questioned why we intervene in Gaul at all. I too have been thinking about it, especially in light of these recent uprisings. The Gauls are fickle, and their constantly shifting allegiances are difficult to manage. Because of recent events even our longstanding allies the Aedui are suspect, for example.

Now, of course their are material resources to be had in Gaul, and this provides a reason for conquest — for who wants to conquer a barren land? But there are resources everywhere in the known world. What matters is the cost of extraction. In this case, the Gaul's lack of unity works to Roman advantage; as separate tribes, they are easier to master than such united peoples as the Parthians. But it also means they are easier for other nations to dominate, and this brings us to the strongest reason for intervention in Gaul, one that transcends Rome's need for resources. We need a Romanized Gaul to act as a buffer against the Germans.

When I started as governor, Gaul tribes had begun a dangerous practice of requesting German help with their intertribal conflicts. As you know, this led to my war with Ariovistus. Without Roman intervention, Germans would overpower Gaul and settle their people there, which would create an unacceptable situation: a powerful, warlike people on Rome's northern border. So, ultimately, the war in Gaul is not about Gaul — it's about Gaul's more powerful neighbour, Germany.

Got to be vigilant with these tribes, eh?

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 11 February 2003 at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although the headline here suggests a posting about global politics, this is about something else entirely. Blogging, actually. The frighteningly intelligent Clay Shirky has taken the theory of "power law distribution", which has created such catch-phrases as Winner-Take-All and the idea that 20% of the population holds 80% of the wealth and applied it to blogging. The result? A small set of bloggers will always account for a majority of the traffic. Says Shirky:

"Though there are more new bloggers and ore new readers every day, most of the new readers are adding to the traffic o the top few blogs, while most new blogs are getting below average traffic, a gap hat will grow as the weblog world does. It's not impossible to launch a good new blog and become widely read, but it's harder than it was last year, and it will b harder still next year."

So, is inequality built into the blogging business? That's the wrong question declares Shirky. Because of the ubiquity of power law distribution, inequality is built into almost every social system. The question should be: "Is inequality fair?"

And it's most fair he says. In arguing his case, he points out that blogging is a daily activity. "Blogs are not a good place to rest on your laurels," he comments.

Oh, well. Let me add now to Clay Shirky's disproportionate traffic by pointing you to this splendid essay: Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality.

Maybe it will inspire some of us to apply the theory to current political events and produce something equally stimulating. What do you think?

Diarist of the day: Edith Velmans, 11 February 1941

[Holland] " 'Seize the day,' says Mother. But I'm worried. At home, everyone is so optimistic, but others are pessimistic. Many people are hanging around aimlessly in the streets, out of work. There are riots and demonstrations. It doesn't bode well for us. Enfin. Let's hope that "Alles sal reg kom' -- soon! Actually, I'm an idiot to grumble on like this. I'm still enjoying my life as much as I can."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel had a brief moment in the limelight today when his country joined fellow NATO members France and Germany in blocking proposals to increase Turkey's defences in case of a war with Iraq. Observers are describing the situation as "unprecedented" and many are calling it the worst crisis in the security alliance's history.

Surely one of the most fascinating things about observing this escalating trans-Atlantic crisis from the vantage point of Central Europe (your blogger is based in Munich) is the extent to which it is bringing dusty history out of the attic and exposing it to the light. I mean, who would ever have thought that Belgium might end up involved in a bust up between Europe and the USA? After all, it's a tiny place that earns a substantial part of its living by hosting the enormous EU bureaucracy so it's not the kind of country that stands to benefit from antagonising anybody.

Time to hit the books, then, and brush up on Belgium. I'm starting with W.G. Sebald's mesmeric Austerlitz, published in 2001. In short, this superb novel tells the story of Jacques Austerlitz, who is sent on a Kindertransport to England in 1939 and placed with foster parents. The childless couple erased from the five-year-old all knowledge about his identity and he grows up ignorant of his past. Later in life, after a career as a successful architectural historian, the past begins to haunt Jacques and he is forced to go looking for the drowned history of Europe.

Early in the book, we find him in Antwerp, in the city's magnificent railway station, which was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Let's listen now to the novel's narrator:

"Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Austelitz began, in reply my question about the history of the building of Antwerp station, when Belgium, a little patch of yellowish grey barely visible on the map of the world, spread its sphere of influence to the African continent with its colonial enterprises, when deals of huge proportions were done on the capital markets and raw materials exchanges of Brussels, and the citizens of Belgium, full of boundless optimism, believed that their country, which had been subject so long to foreign rule and was divided and disunited in itself, was about to become a great new economic power — at that time, now so long ago although it determines our lives to this day, it was the personal wish of King Leopold, under whose auspices such apparently inexorable progress was being made, that the money suddenly and abundantly available should be used to erect public buildings which would bring international renown to his aspiring state."

In many ways still an "aspring state" although it remains "divided and disunited in itself", Belgium enjoyed another fifteen minutes of international renown today when Louis Michel, its Foreign Minister, called NATO's credibility into question.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 10 February 2003 at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

mirage (plural "mirages") noun

1. an optical illusion of water appearing in the desert, caused by light being distorted by layers of hot and cool air

2. something illusory, unreal or merely imagined

Origins: from the French mirer "to look at", from the Latin mirare "to wonder at", variant of mirari "miracle"

Codenamed "Mirage", the mooted Franco-German plan for regime change in Baghdad is evaporating as quickly as it appeared. Marked from the outset by frivolity, it also lacks substance and logic. One of the main planks in Berlin?s arguments against the US resolute approach to Saddam has been concern about the legitimacy of "regime change". That it should then float the notion of a semi-permanent occupation of Iraq by the UN and not see that this would represent regime change in all but name makes one wonder about the intelligence of those charged with running Germany these days.

Collateral damage victims of the Mirage manoeuvre include the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. He's been put in an untenable position and his future in the ruling coalition is being debated openly. The ruling ?Red-Green? coalition is now so rudderless that no one should place bets on its survival. Making a mess of the domestic economy while torpedoing the country?s international standing is a remarkable achievement but it has been done.

Now that France and Belgium have blocked a request from the US to provide NATO protection for Turkey in the event of a war, the rift between parts of Europe and the US is formal. Collective security? A mirage.

Diarist of the day: Franz Kafka, 10 February 1915

"My neighbour talks for hours with the landlady. Both speak softly, the landlady almost inaudibly, and therefore so much the worse. My writing, which has been coming along for the post two days, is interrupted, who knows for how long a time? Absolute despair. Is it like this in every house? Does such ridiculous and absolutely killing misery await me with every landlady in every city?"

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

?or run a conference on joint security. The idea behind this year's Munich Conference on Security Policy was the bring together NATO and EU partners to discuss common issues and iron out differences. The result was a farce.

Given the existing tensions between Germany and the US, one would think that Munich was neither the time nor the place for springing surprises — the stakes are too high now — but, sure enough, a surprise was sprung and what a beauty it was. From out of the Franco-German hat came a conjured rumour that a proposal involving the deployment of thousands of UN peacekeepers and tripling the number of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq was being readied for presentation to the UN Security Council next Friday. The French representatives at the conference denied the existence of such a plan. The German defence minister Peter Struck appeared unwilling or unable to confirm or deny the reports. The US delegation was shocked by the amateurishness of it all. Remember Charles de Gaulle's verdict on the Americans? "Ils ne sont pas s鲩eux." Well, the tables have been turned and it perfectly describes the actions of the Old Europeans at the moment.

Quite a few observers felt that the entire episode had been concocted to cover German Chancellor Schr?'s rear. He's dug himself into such a hole with his opposition to US plans for dealing with Saddam, goes the analysis, that he's decided to float this improbable balloon, with the help of the friendly Der Spiegel newsweekly, in the full knowledge that it will be shot down. He can then turn to supporters and say, "Well, I tried to offer an alternative to war, didn't I?" Bit late in the day, though.

Is Schr? that cynical? Hard to say. But regardless of the manoeuvring, it's now clear that NATO is in deep, deep trouble and efforts to get Europe to speak with one voice on the Iraq issues have taken a further serious knock. For the organizers of the Munich Conference, one can only feel pity. The threat to the event was predicted to come from the thousands of protestors on the streets, but the real damage was done by some of those who got in wearing accreditation.

God, I need a stiff drink. It's been a long weekend and the day job is only a few hours away. I'm taking a break from the blogging now to catch up on sleep but Amiland is keeping watch so take a look. Good stuff coming up I expect on the Donald Rumsfeld interview with Sabine Christiansen.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 9 February 2003 at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaking at The Munich Conference on Security Policy, Iran's deputy minister for international and legal affairs, Gholamali Koshroo, has urged Iraq to disarm, but emphasised his country's opposition to a war. He also stressed the need to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Koshroo spoke in English and delivered a moderate message that ended with a call for the Muslim world and the West to develop a broader view of each other. This is the first time Tehran has been represented at the Munich gathering.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Endgame phase. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives in Berlin today for talks with Chancellor Schr?. On the agenda will be the leaking plan to put UN peacekeepers in Iraq. By the way, one very unpalatable aspect of the plan is that Saddam would be allowed to remain in power. Sure, he would be reduced to a figurehead, his country policed and spied upon by an army of outsiders, but his very presence would turn containment into contamination — morally if not physically.

Another reason for keeping an eye on Berlin tonight is that Donald Rumsfeld will be interviewed by Sabine Christiansen. She's Germany's heavyweight talk show host and her stance on issues affects the agenda. Also on the show will be Richard Perle, Klaus Naumann, Karsten Voigt, Friedbert Pfl?nd Claudia Roth. It's hawks among doves so feathers will fly.

But back to Putin. After Berlin, he's off to Paris to take a reading on the French position and learn more about the Franco-German "peace plan" that's supposed to be aired on Thursday. In the real world, the logistical problems of placing thousands of UN troops in Iraq, especially by France and Germany (especially Germany), mean that the idea is nothing more than a ploy to put pressure on Washington on the eve of the UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The real agenda, in other words, is the wording of a second UN resolution. The last thing Moscow wants is a vote that might lead to a veto, thereby forcing Washington to go it alone. That would do enormous damage to Russia's relationship with Washington and signal the end of the world order built around the UN. So, what Putin, Chirac and Schr? will be working on this week is a resolution wording that strengthens the weapons inspectors' mandate without opening the door for the use of force against Iraq.

And London? Well, with the headline "48 hours to flee", today's Sunday Telegraph (registration required), is reporting that the US and the UK are drafting plans to give Saddam Hussein as little as 48 hours to flee Baghdad or face war, if Blix reports on Friday that Iraq is still refusing to disarm fully. Moscow-Berlin-Paris will not enjoy reading this.

And talking of Britain, if you want to hear democracy in action take a listen to Jeremy Paxman interviewing Prime Minister Tony Blair on the Agenda programme. This is thirty minutes of great give and take between a brilliant journalist, who does not flinch from asking the toughest questions, and a leader who comes across as determined, moral and fully convinced that, although war is hell, it may be needed because today's enemies will stop at nothing, such is their hatred of freedom, justice and enlightenment.

Diarist of the day: Gyles Brandreth, 9 February 1991

'Iraqi morale wilts under allied onslaught'. Mine has rather wilted too. And the country has disappeared beneath a blanket of snow."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Perhaps Munich will live up to its historical reputation, after all. You know, that one involving war and peace and their hanging in the balance and documents being waved that turn out to be, well, infamous. Out of the blue, and much to the annoyance of the NATO partners form the other side of the Atlantic, German officials here have started dropping strong hints that France and Germany are considering a plan to deploy thousands of United Nations peacekeepers within Iraq to support beefed-up weapons searches by hundreds more weapons inspectors. At the same time, the whole of Iraq would be declared a no-fly zone, and sanctions on exports to Iraq would be tightened.

Both the BBC and Germany's leading newsweekly, Der Spiegel, are reporting the move and word is that the plan will be made public on Thursday in Berlin and Paris.

Such a move will not find favour in Washington, of course. The word here is that Rumsfeld and team were "livid" that they first heard about the initiative from the press and not from their German counterparts. Standing here in the heart of Old Europe, one can feel the transatlantic rift widening by the minute.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 8 February 2003 at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

How does one explain the condition of the woman holding the "Osama Bush Laden" sign aloft? Deranged? Depraved? Demented? After witnessing the evil wrought in New York and Bali by what Christopher Hitchens calls "Islaofascism", how can anyone create such a sign and then parade it around in public?

Looking today at such signs today in Munich, I was struck by the sheer absurdity of the pro-Saddam apologists. They are cut from the very same cloth as those who felt it was better for the Afghans to live in the Middle Ages under the Taliban than to free them with firepower. Confronted now with the possibility of ridding the world of a tyrant, they opt for further enslavement of his subjects. Deranged, depraved and demented, indeed.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (1)

At least Albrecht had the imagination to come up a slogan other than "No blood for oil". The majority of the Munich demonstrators opted for the cliché. Many of them drive cars and most of them are now on the way back to their cosy dwellings, oil-heated, of course. I asked a few if they thought there was a relationship between the security of oil supplies and their own obvious affluence, but they acted as if they'd been insulted. Those who should feel insulted, however, are those who shun cliché and try to join the dots between foreign policy, security and, yes, energy supplies. Obviously, freedom is more complicated than the slogan makers can comprehend.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 3:17 PM | Permalink

Key segment from Donald Rumsfeld's address to The Munich Conference on Security Policy this morning:

"To understand what is at stake, it is worth reminding ourselves of the history of the UN's predecessor, the League of Nations. When the League failed to act after the invasion of Abyssinia, it was discredited as an instrument of peace and security. The lesson of that experience was best summed up at the time by Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, who declared, 'Collective bluffing cannot bring about collective security.'

That lesson is as true today, at the start of the 21st century, as it was in the 20th century. The question before us is — have we learned it?

There are moments in history when the judgement and resolve of free nations are put to the test. This is such a moment. The security environment we are entering is the most dangerous the world has known. The lives of our children and grandchildren could well hang in the balance."

Read the full speech here.

While Rumsfeld was speaking, an estimated 12,000 demonstrators were massing to protest against his presence and politics. Wearing her "Ami go home" placard, Gudrun was defying the driving snow in Odeonsplatz as she waited to hear a series of speeches condemning the US and its policies. She kept her feet warm, as did many others, by stamping her feet to the music of Ron Williams, an expat American now living in Germany. And what was Ron singing? "Give peace a chance?" No. It was, actually, "Mustang Sally".

Listening to him work the crowd, one felt inclined to agree with that fine central European writer Gregor von Rezzori, who once said: "What was left of Europe after World War II was not European any longer. Most of it had been transformed into a secondhand America."

But back to Gudrun the dove. Her "Ami go home" sign, she said, expressed her dislike of the superpower's "interfering" all over the world. Would she then prefer an isolationist USA? One that hadn't flinched in the face of communist tyranny and borne the burdens of the Berlin Airlift, and displayed the resolve that led to the re-unification of Germany? The incredibly convoluted response would need a billboard, not a placard, for presentation. For the Gudruns of Germany, the US is damned if it does, and damned if it doesn't.

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

As I prepare to head into the centre of Munich to listen to Donald Rumsfeld's address to The Conference on Security Policy and observe the of anti-American-war-globalization demos, snow is falling persistently. Whether it's the mood of the times or the nature of the weather, I don?t really know, but something about the atmosphere has put me in mind of James Joyce's classic short story, The Dead.

For Gabriel Conroy, the main character, the gaiety of the Misses Morkan's annual dance is replaced by bitterness when his wife tells him of the passionate love she once felt for Michael Furey, whose tragic death at seventeen was due, perhaps, to her rejection of him. Stunned by his wife's admission, his worldview shattered, a despairing Gabriel stares out of the window at the falling snow:

"His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead."

The rending of the trans-Atlantic alliance with all its associated feelings of loss and fear, anger and recrimination may yet inspire a Joyce-like wordsmith to capture the mood of our times. What happens today in Munich won't determine the course of war or peace, but it may be as revelatory as Gretta Conroy's confession.

Diarist of the day: Alan Bennett , 8 February 1983 [Dundee]

"A day off from filming An Englishman Abroad and I go to Edinburgh with Alan Bates. We climb the tower near the castle to see the camera obscura. The texture of the revolving bowl and the softness of the reflection convert the view into an eighteenth century aquatint in which motor cars seem as delicate and exotica as sedan chairs. The traffic is also rendered more sedate and unreal for being silent.

An element of voyeurism in it. The guide, a genteel Morningside lady, trains the mirror on some adjacent scaffolding where workmen are restoring a church. 'I often wonder, she muses in the darkened room, 'if one were to catch them?well, unawares. I mean' she add hastily, 'taking a little rest.' "

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Overcome by the prospect of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld setting foot in the city, Munich's most popular metro paper, Die Abendzeitung, abandoned German for English today and startled it's readers with the front-page headline "Peace, not war Mr. Rumsfeld!" And very much in keeping with the pacifist mood in Germany at the moment, the message was superimposed on a 60s peace sign.

After rallying the troops in Italy, Rumsfeld has just arrived in the Bavarian capital for The Munich Conference on Security Policy, an annual talk fest that attracts decision-makers from more than 40 countries, who cogitate on transatlantic and global security issues between the beer and sausages. Guests this year include senators McCain, Hagel and Lieberman, the Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi, the Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov and his French counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie. Richard Perle is also on hand in case the appease-Saddam-at-all-costs crowd gangs up on Rumsfeld.

A huge anti-war demo is planned for tomorrow by a range of groups that have come together under the umbrella of No Nato. Their homepage is filled with the usual clich鳺 "Annually a high ranking-conference of war mongers takes place in Munich in February. In camouflage as 'security conference' representatives of the military, economic and political elite vote for their hegemony strategies..." Because violence is expected tomorrow, the US embassy in Germany has warned Americans to avoid Munich, but this prompted Günther Beckstein, the Bavarian minister responsible for internal security, to respond that US citizens will be safer in Munich tomorrow than they would be in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, no one is expecting Rumsfeld to emerge from his Munich meetings waving a peace of paper and declaring "peace in our time".

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 7 February 2003 at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Of course it's the years of the blues you say. After all, it's only early February and a brace of eastern tyrants are busily assembling Armageddon while the markets are nose-diving south. And on top of all that, winter has its chilly grip upon us. Isn't that's enough to give anyone the blues? Actually, when I say "blues" here I'm talking about that most influential form of American roots music upon which jazz, rock 'n' roll, soul and hip-hop are based. You see, the United States Congress has proclaimed 2003 to be the "Year of the Blues". Sadly, other, less sonorous, events have stolen the spotlight so far this year.

Be that as it may, the place to be tonight is New York's Radio City Music Hall where a momentous ?Salute to the Blues? concert will take place. Take a look at the amazing line-up: B.B. King, Robert Cray, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Natalie Cole, Solomon Burke, Honeyboy Edwards, John Fogerty, Macy Gray, Mos Def, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, Gregg Allman, Chuck D, India.Arie, Angelique Kidjo, Alison Krauss, The Neville Brothers, James Blood Ulmer?

One artist not on the list, however, is R.L. Burnside. Now 76 and in poor health he tends to stay in his native hill country near Holly Springs in Mississippi. He did manage to get to New York last year where he played at Richard Gere's birthday party, and he followed up with a gig at the Village Underground where those trooping backstage to shake his hand included Uma Thurman and Deborah Winger. Now that Burnside's music graces the soundtrack of the hit TV series The Sopranos, he's hotter than hot.

So, what can one say about Burnside except that his life is the stuff of the blues. Cotton farmer, fisherman, father of twelve and convicted murderer, he has lived the music and his blues talk about painful alienation. When he launches into "Bad Luck and Trouble" with that great opening line, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have had no luck at all", you know he's telling the truth about sharecropping, racism, illiteracy, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and prison time.

By the way, "Bad Luck and Trouble" is one of the dozen live tracks on the album Burnside on Burnside, which was recorded in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, during his triumphant January 2001 march up the West Coast. This is his finest work since "Too Bad Jim" (1994), which was produced by Robert Palmer, and if you're looking for the authentic North Mississippi blues sound with its heavy shuffle and one-chord guitar drones, this is as good as it gets.

One cannot discuss Burnside, of course, without mentioning Matthew Johnson, the man who rescued him from poverty and obscurity. It's thanks to Johnson's blues label, Fat Possum Records, that the careers of such Mississippi Delta bluesmen as Burnside, T. Model Ford, Cedell Davis, Paul (Wine) Jones and the late Junior Kimbrough were revived. An artist, a wheeler dealer and a superb raconteur, Johnson has been drawn to the blues by its spirit of anarchy, something, by the way, which he says exists also in the music of modern-day nihilists like Eminem.

Back to Burnside on Burnside. After five highly propulsive numbers, a thirsty Burnside is getting ready to crank out "Walkin' Blues". One can almost sense the sweat and the aroma of the Jack Daniels in the crowded club. And then this from Burnside: "After tonight, I'm not goin' to drink anymore, unless I'm by myself or with somebody." Well, well, well.

Diarist of the day: John Evelyn, 7 February 1682

"I continu'd ill for 2 fitts after, and then bathing my leggs to the knees in Milk made as hott as I could endure it, and sitting so in it, in a deepe Vessell, covered with blanquets and drinking Carduus posset, then going to bed and sweating, I not onely missed that expected fit, but had no more."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on at 12:01 AM | Permalink

So, here I am, thinking about things and I surf on over to Germany?s leading weekly and type the word "blog" into its search window. And what does Der Spiegel deliver? "Suche: BLOG (Volltextsuche) Treffer: 0 Dokumente". Sobering result, that, for those with nanopublishing notions of challenging big media. Undeterred, I visit Spiegel's great rival and search again. But "Ihre einfache Suche nach 'blog' lieferte leider keinen Treffer" is what Focus says. Hmmn.

What gives? How come blogging with its hundreds of thousands of practitioners isn?t on the radar of the big German newsweeklies? A similar question was posed on 24 January by the excellent Norwegian blogger Bj?t沫:

"Why aren't there more European political blogs? There's the language barrier, of course, and the countries that have practiced linguistic protectionism most faithfully — France, Germany — will probably be underrepresented in the blogosphere for a long time."

This prompted the very talented German blogger, Tobias Schwarz, to respond with the following insight:

"I don't believe linguistic protectionism carries the day when it comes to explaining the absence of political blogs from, say, Germany or France, that are published in English. I don?t think there?s a simple explanation for their relative scarcity, apart from the obvious truism that English is not the native language of most European countries — as the discussion regarding Bjoern's entry amply demonstrates. I think, the most important variables have been named by those commenting in his blog — penetration of internet connection, especially flat-rate connections allowing to spend a significant amount online reading, awareness of blogging as a concept as well as a technology, motivation to put one?s opinion out there — someone mentioned a possible connection between 9/11 and a rise in blogging — , the main topics of the blog in question, one?s native language?s market size, the target audience, and evidently, the ability to write in English in a way allowing to express sometimes complicated issues and thoughts in a (hopefully) clear and mostly coherent manner. Just by looking at this range of factors (and there are probably a lot more), it becomes obvious to me that c.p. only a small fraction of blogs will be written in English instead of their author?s native language."

Blogging at its interactive best is a bit like top-class tennis, and Bj?allied beautifully with this comment:

"A blog in German or Norwegian stays locked behind borders. A blog in English transcends them. I'm sure there are a lot of Germans below the political and media radars, who have interesting views on what is happening these days. But as long as they write on the web in German only, few outsiders will ever know they exist. All we ever see of Germany is Schr? & Co. I don't know your political views, but if I were you I wouldn't be very content with that.

I very deliberately chose to write English on the web. It's partly to increase the number of readers, but also my own small way of going against the flow of cultural imperialism. Language isn't culture, and linguistic protectionism only protects foreigners against your culture, not your culture against foreigners. As long as Norwegians write their books, music, movies — and do their political thinking — only in Norwegian, we will be a sattelite to Western (ie our own) culture. To use Norwegian is a defensive measure. To use English is to go on the offensive. Many Europeans disagree with this, and German is of course more read than Norwegian, but I believe that is a sure way to shut yourself out of Western culture. Unless you are equally able to shut Western culture out of Germany, you too risk becoming a sattelite to your own culture. Perhaps you have succeeded better in shutting Western culture out than Norway has, but I doubt that's a good bargain.

I don't mean to say that Germany isn't a part of Western culture. It's a major part. But almost all its contributions were made in the past. Most of the _new_ contributions to Western culture are being made by the US and Great Britain. And they're all made in English. We can't expect to change that, but we can drop our linguistic pride, get out of the audience and onto the stage."

This is not an issue where one is required to take sides but I feel more inclined to follow Bj? reasoning here. With an era of global governance centered in Washington on the horizon, European bloggers who want to be heard above the noise will need to express themselves in English or, at least, bilingually. Check out Emmanuelle and The Dissident Frogman.

Diarist of the day: Dearman Birchall, 6 February 1881

"George Eshelby [local vicar] ells me that Mrs Travel's girl has been confined in her cottage of a still born child and that Williams [groom] has confessed that he is the father. Mrs Travel came with the same story. I blame her very much after the experience she had with her other girl that she permitted the daughter to come home from service without sending Williams away. The cottage is too small. Williams says it was no seeking of his. She laid on the top of him when he happened to drop asleep over his book. Even young Morris [footman] was found in equivocal positions with her. It appears to Williams she had tried to entrap him."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 6 February 2003 at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There are many grounds for advocating the complete disarmament of Saddam Hussein, but one that those who value freedom of expression should support is that of doing justice to the memory of Farzad Bazoft. The Iranian-born journalist with The Observer newspaper tried to expose the Iraqi dictator as a menace to the world and was hanged for his efforts in Baghdad on 15 March 1990.

Some background: on 17 August 1989, a huge explosion shook Qaqa, 35 kilometres from Baghdad. Bazoft, an eager freelancer, who was in Iraq to cover the upcoming elections in the Iraqi Kurdish community that Saddam was gassing to death, secretly visited the Qaqa site twice, where he collected soil samples. He was accompanied by a British nurse, Daphne Parish. On their return to Baghdad, the two were arrested on charges of espionage. In custody, Bazoft "confessed" to having spied for Israel, but it is generally agreed that his confession was completely involuntary. Under Saddam, torture has become a routine procedure.

The Observer and the British authorities denied that he was on any kind of intelligence mission, but there were rumours at the time that he was collecting intelligence for the British and possibly, through them, for Israel. On 10 March 1990, after a spurious trial, Bazoft and Parish were found guilty of espionage. Parish was sentenced to 15 years in prison; Bazoft was sentenced to death. He was hanged on March 15. On 16 July 1990, in response to a plea by the Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, the Iraqis released Parish.

Bazoft's suspicions about the nature of the Qaqa explosion were well founded. On 28 March 1990, a sting operation intercepted a shipment of capacitors — vital for manufacturing nuclear weapons — at Heathrow Airport, bound for Iraq. On 10 April that year, a shipment of cylinders to Iraq, for use in a possible "supergun" capable of launching missiles hundreds of kilometres, was intercepted. Despite these warnings, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is charged with ensuring nuclear non-proliferation, gave Iraq a clean bill of health as late as May 1990. However, after the first Gulf War, the IAEA announced that as of August 1990, Iraq was only "12 to 18 months" from its first atomic bomb and Qaqa, in particular, was one of its most important nuclear facilities.

In attempting to expose Saddam Hussein's nuclear designs, Farzad Bazoft became a victim of the tyranny he had chosen to investigate. But his and Daphne Parish's investigation helped show the world the brutal nature of the regime which thought itself fit to possess such awesome power.

Writing about regimes such as Saddam's, Adrian Hamilton, deputy editor of The Observer from 1989 to1993, noted:

"The face they present to the outside world — the face they present to foreign diplomats, the international press and even the business and other communities — is one of accommodation and pragmatism. If you never go beyond that level there is no reason to feel there is anything else. Actual power, however, is exercised through a network of security forces held severally, and competitively, at the centre. These are more than just an instrument of oppression. The generals and the agents are held by favours and obligations, as well as fear."

We would do well to remember this.

Diarist of the day: Andre Gide, 5 February 1931

"The mother-in-law of Davidson (who is making a bust of me at whose house I lunch today), a charming old lady of eighty-four, when -- on the point of lighting a cigarette after the meal -- I asked her if smoking bothers her, tell us that a similar question was put to her, before 1870 by Bismarck in a train between Paris and Saint-Germain in which she happened to be alone with him. To which she replied at once: 'Sir, I do not know, No one has ever smoked in my presence.' Bismarck immediately had the train stopped so that he could change to another compartment."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 5 February 2003 at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Me and the zheena pitted the rasoodocks at the weekend against those of oomny ptitsas and malchicks, one of whom was named Alex and it got me thinking about the droogs Pete, Georgie, Dim and Alex. Remember?

"What's it going to be then, eh?"

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry.....Our pockets were full of deng, so there was no real need from the point of view of crasting any more pretty polly to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him swim in his blood while we counted the takings and divided by four, nor to do the ultra-violent on some shivering starry grey-haired ptitsa in a shop and go smecking off with the till's guts. But, as they say, money isn't everything..." A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

If you're interested in language, Anthony Burgess is on your bookshelves, right? His ability to inflect words with so many shades of meaning makes every aspect of his writing intriguing. Take Alex, the main character in his disturbing book, A Clockwork Orange. Obviously, the hero needed a noble name and Alexander ("leader of men") the Great suggested itself straight away. But given that Burgess was a Joycean, other linguistic considerations were involved, too. Two spring to mind: "a lex(icon)", a vocabulary of his own, "a lex", a law (unto himself) because, as readers of the book know, Alex speaks a teenage argot called Nadsat and he does not shy away from crime. Brilliant, eh?

And the title, A Clockwork Orange? Well, there is a Cockney expression "as queer as a clockwork orange" (neither rhyming slang nor an allusion to homosexuality, by the way), which describes something that is normal on the surface, but unnatural inside. Burgess readers have also pointed to the Malay "orang" meaning "man" (orang-utan = hairy man). As we learn, his clockwork orange, Alex, is human on the surface, but is no such thing inside.

Appy polly loggies, my brothers, because I'd like you to put on your otchkies now and take a look at the choodessny Nadsat Dictionary. Dobby words here. Lots of bits of Russian, French, English, Dutch and Malay to viddy.

Diarist of the day: Simone de Beauvoir, 4 February 1947

"During the night, New York was covered with snow. Central Park is transformed. The children have cast aside their roller skates and taken up skis; they rush boldly down the tiny hillocks. Men remain bareheaded, but many of the young people stick fur puffs over their ears fixed to a half-circle of plastic that sits on their hair like a ribbon -- it's hideous."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 4 February 2003 at 6:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The music sounds simple, but the more one listens, the more one begins to notice the depth of details: ephemeral harmonies, strings rattling against guitar necks, piano hammers clacking and Kurt Wagner's breath. That's the sound of Lambchop. The band's latest album is called Is A Woman.

Imagine a small bar in Nashville with worn-looking customers and dusty sunlight streaming into a faded back room where a small band is playing. If you can, you can picture where Lambchop's music comes from and what it sounds like. It might best be described as country folk — plain and direct but wistful and expressive at the same time. On a grey day and with a glass of bourbon in hand, Lambchop's idiosyncratic lyrics are perfect.

"i can flick a cigarette butt further and with more accuracy

lots of practice, I guess
someday we will all be editors"

flick, Lambchop, Is A Woman

Diarist of the day: Roy Jenkins, 3 February 1977 [Brussels]

"Dinner at a very good fish restaurant enlivened, if that is the word, on the way out by sensing a slight feeling of embarrassment amongst the staff, which was indeed well founded, as we saw on the ground floor -- the upturned soles of a Japanese who seemed at least unconscious and possibly dead. When we got outside an ambulance drew up and a stretcher was rushed in. We asked Ron Argen, our inimitable driver, whether he knew what was happening. He said, 'Oh yes, certainly, oyster poisoning. Quite often happens but the restaurant is insured against it, so there is no need to worry.' "

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 3 February 2003 at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Died 1 February 2003, the brave astronauts: Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Blair Salton Clark, Rick Husband, William McCool, Ilan Ramon

An Irish Airman Foresees His Death

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My county is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

Diarist of the day: John Wesley, 2 February 1751

"Having received a full answer from Mr P -- [Vencent Perronet], I was clearly convinced that I ought to marry. For many yeas I remained single, because I believed I could be more useful in a single, than in a married state. And I praised God, who enables me so to do. I know as fully believe, that in my present circumstances, I might be more useful in a married state; into which, upon this clear conviction, and by the advice of my friends, I entered a few days after."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 2 February 2003 at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anois teacht an Earraigh
beidh an lá dúl chun shíneadh,
Is tar eis na féil Bríde
ardóigh mé mo sheol.

So wrote Raftery (1779-1835), the last of the Gaelic-order poets. His beautiful verse here says that spring is coming and the days will begin to lengthen, so he's going to move out in the world once the feast of St Brigid has taken place.

Today, 1 February is the St Brigid's Day Raftery commemorated in Anois teacht an Earraigh, but there's certainly no evidence of the coming of spring here in Bavaria. Snow has fallen most days this week and the temperature is parked under zero. It's not as cold in Ireland but the weather is anything but springy. To be sure, there's "a stretch in the evening", as the people say, but the weather is bone chilling. An unscientific analysis of Raftery's poem then might lead one to conclude that our winters are getting colder, not warmer, as many environmentalists would have us believe. The poet certainly suggests that it was quite mild in early February around the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Note: must check those climate charts.

Why would the wandering poet Raftery have been so aware of St Brigid's Day? Well, back in his time, when Ireland was an agrarian society, the first of February was considered the start of the growth season. The date had long been held sacred as Imbolg, the Celtic festival of Spring, but after Christianity arrived, Saint Brigid was honoured instead of the pagan gods. She was a fifth century mystic who became the patron saint of blacksmiths and healers. By the way, my mother will attend the "blessing of the scarves" in the local church today and, like many believers, she considers the wearing of such a scarf to be far better protection against a sore throat that any amount of antibiotics. Saint Brigid was also the patron saint of poets, a second reason, perhaps, for Raftery's mentioning of her feast day.

Being a saint, naturally Brigid was able to perform miracle. Most of hers involved the multiplication of food such as providing butter for the poor. It is said that she once caused cows to give milk three times the same day to enable visiting bishops to have enough to drink. As Irish monks wandered through Europe, they carried their belief in Brigid with them. In England, many churches were dedicated to her, most notably St. Bride's Church in London's Fleet Street. Designed by Wren, it was the spiritual home of the printing and media trades for 200 years. And now it's in cyberspace — where most hacks and ink-stained drudges (St. Matt?) hang out.

Apart from the blessed scarves, the last vestiges of the Brigid cult in Ireland today are plaited crosses fashioned from rushes. In 1963, when the Republic decided to launch a national television service, the St Brigid's Cross was chosen as its symbol. It remains part of RTE's logo, but in such a stylised form as to be all but unrecognisable.

Diarist of the day: Frances Partridge, 1 February 1971

"Yesterday evening ?Eardley and I spend some time goggling at the television -- partly at yet another American moon shot, party at a film about Anne of Cleves. The moon shots disgust me in some curious way; there seem such wide disparities involved -- between the boredom of listening to a flat American voice reciting figures and distances, mixed with 'OKs' and 'ERs', and the horrifying human tensions and anxieties laying behind them -- and between the courage and dange of the astronauts and the cowardly Eardley's enjoyment of that courage and danger. Perhaps I malign him or exaggerate the nature of his emotion, but I take his feelings as typical of many people's. So what is left but dismay and semi-disbelief as I loll back gazing with a sort of diastase at the infinitely brilliant mastery of space by men's minds."

Posted by Eamonn Fitzgerald on 1 February 2003 at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)