Much to my astonishment, John ‘Lord’ Birt (who likes to put it about that he is Tony Blair’s Best Pal), has announced his intention to divorce his wife of umpteen years, and take up with one Eithne Wallis, a former head of the National Probation Service. Curious to see what his new inamorata looks like, I went searching on Google Images, which turned up a solitary photograph of the lady (with Princess Anne). Result shown above, with Her Royal Highness callously removed.
The man knows how to build a crowd.
Bill Clinton, observing the crowds pouring into the Vatican yesterday.
As someone who saw the repressiveness of the Catholic church at close quarters as a lad, I am less than impressed by the unctuous posturing on display in Rome today. This little report in The New York Times nicely conveys the institutional hypocrisy of the regime presided over by JP II.
Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign in disgrace as archbishop of Boston two years ago for protecting sexually abusive priests, was named by the Vatican today as one of nine prelates who will have the honor of presiding over funeral Masses for Pope John Paul II.
And how nice to see that not everyone in Britain is going overboard on the premature canonisation of a pope whose medieval stance on Aids, among other things, has contributed to the death of millions. Lovely Op-Ed piece by Polly Toynbee in today’s Guardian. Excerpt:
The millions pouring into Rome (pray there is no Mecca-style disaster) herald no resurgence of Catholicism. The devout are there, but this is essentially a Diana moment, a Queen Mother’s catafalque. People queue to join great public spectacles, hoping it’s a tell-my-grandchildren event. Communing with public emotion is easy now travel is cheap. These things are driven by rolling, unctuous television telling people a great event is unfolding, focusing on the few hysterics in tears and not the many who come to feel their pain.
Thanks to Boyd Harris for the Toynbee link.
From this morning’s New York Times.
The funeral rites for popes stipulated by John Paul in 1996 specifically prohibited photographing the pope on “his sickbed or after death,” except for specially accredited photographers. Signs in St. Peter’s Basilica also prohibit photography.
But this week, the heavy air around the pope’s bier has not been filled with prayer so much as with tiny popping flashes and clicking shutters.
“Of course everyone is taking pictures,” said Antonio Parente, 19 , who had managed to take eight pictures in the 30 seconds it took to walk by the body. “They want to remember this moment.”
Here’s a great marketing opportunity for Nokia — offer to sponsor the funeral of the next pope!
Here’s a question: the UK and France are countries with comparable populations. How come then that the French market can support three volume car manufacturers — Renault, Citroen and Peugeot — while Britain cannot support one? One possible answer: the French like to drive French cars, while the British clearly didn’t want to be seen in the products of their local industry. There’s a lesson there, somewhere.