According to this Associated Press article, for approximately the price of one bottle of milk per year, in Great Britain, you will get all the pageantry and pomp of the english Royal family. In a communiqué from Buckingham, this is presented as “good value for money”. Not cheap mind you, just “good value for money”. I wanted to repeat that so it’s real clear that in today’s world even grand traditions which are very much a part of a specific country’s identity need to justify the fact that they’re relevant and affordable. I would love to see what stuffy Prince Charles thinks of such a press release 😉

We now have a wonderful government in France. The prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, has never faced a voter in his life and the number two man in this government, Nicolas Sarkozy, is only thinking about what he should do (and not do) to get elected president two years from now. The unions, the Left, and every traditional special interest in France are honing their weapons to make sure that the country remains completely static. And to top it all, the european summit scheduled this weekend is already being called a failure even before it has started. Time for a little satirical humor to get us out of this black mood : this illustration does it just fine 😉