Kiwiblog

I wanted an apology from the French Rugby Union (who took part in the cover up) but never thought the Bastareaud affair would become an issue for the French Government.

So one can only praise French PM Francois Fillon for an unexpected apology. Fillon is a huge rugby fan and this may have motivated him to intervene.

I hope he tears the French Rugby Union a new orifice, and that they do not just discipline Bastareaud but all those involved in covering up the false allegation.

The Dom Post reports:

The French embassy refuses to apologise for damage to Wellington’s reputation from Mathieu Bastareaud’s false assault allegations, despite a scathing article penned by its ambassador.

You can read the Ambassadors’ article for yourself here. He said:

More serious is the assault against a French rugby player in the street, on the grounds that he is French and identified as one of the best French player. At least, this is how the local press reports the event. We thought rugby was safe from such behaviour which, alas, plagues other sports. Supporters’ passion cannot fully explain this incident. Maybe the assailants took literally an article entitled “Ten reasons to hate the French”.

Is one of those reasons their arrogance and inability to say sorry?

The Dom Post editorial also makes some good points about the cover-up:

The players who entered the hotel with him and the team doctor who stitched him up almost certainly know the real cause of his injury, and so probably do coach Marc Lievremont and manager Jo Maso. Why else delay for 48 hours before telling the world?

New Zealand and France have a long and rich history on and off the rugby field. On the field it is a relationship marked by equal parts brilliance and skulduggery – both admired qualities in rugby circles. But, off the field, the skulduggery should stop.

Bastareaud has apologised to the New Zealand Rugby Union and Wellington for his lies. The French rugby union and team management should do the same to try to repair the damage done to Wellington’s name by their complicity in the Bastareaud Affair.

The lies told were not that of a sole player. Management approved the lie and attempted cover up and the French Rugby Union should discipline those responsible and apologise. If a NZ team did what the French did, the senior management would be sacked.

1. Neil Sanderson has research from Pew. In 2008, the number of people gettign their news off the Internet went from 24% to 40%, beating newspapers at 34% for the first time.  Tv remains top at 70R% but is slowly declining.
2. Chris Trotter has a repost of a 2001 address he gave on defence. Many may be surprised by his views. I found myself agreeing with much of it!
3. Tim Blair notes that *only* 1,147 cars were burnt in France on New Year’s Eve, which was described by authorities as “rather calm”
4. MacDoctor finds the new English requirements for foreign nurses as idiotic at a time of nursing shortages, and points out most NZ nurses could not meet the new standard.

My final full day in France was spent in Versailles. Versailles is the former capital of France and home to the Château de Versailles, former home of the French Kings.

The Palace is magnificent, with features such as the Hall of Mirrors. It is a match for anything in the UK. But the true jewel is the Gardens. The Gardens are 800 hectares in size with over 200,000 trees. I could have spent days and days there. There are 50 fountains and 23 hectares of water in the main canal.

This is at the top of the gardens. You need a full day to properly get around the gardens as there are scores of things to see. You can also hire a bike or even a boat to get around!

German Girl next to an angelic statue.

This is a section of the grounds at the far end from the palace where Marie Antionette used to live in the Petit Trianon. It’s been restored as a wonderfully tranquil hamlet. Probably the most beautiful part of the Gardens.

Fish galore. You could probably jump in and grab a dozen!

A garden at the back of the hamlet.

They also had a small farm there with goats, pigs, roosters, and of course donkeys!

The back of the palace.

It really is a wonderful place. Anyone visiting France should look around it.

Sadly for me, not all my time overseas was a holiday. In Paris I also attended an IDU meeting. The International Democrat Union is a grouping of centre-right parties from around the world – around 95 parties are now members.It was founded by Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Helmet Kohl and Jacques Chirac.

I’ve been involved in the IDU and IYDU for a number of years. This meeting is the big one though – the party leader’s meeting which is held every three years. The last one was in Washington DC in 2005.

The French National Assembly where we met for the Party Leaders Plenary. There were representatives from 46 countries, including eight Prime Ministers and a further 24 Party Leaders. The Prime Ministers included France, Croatia, Denmark, Georgia and Iceland. Some of the Leaders included David Cameron (UK), Bosnia, Chile, Ecuador, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru and Portugal.

The Conference lasted for two days with Regional meetings on Wednesday morning, an IDU Executive meeting on Wednesday afternoon and the main plenary session on Thursday.

The lady speaking is an Opposition Leader from Venezuela. A growing number of attendees are from semi or fully autocratic countries such as Venezuela, Cuba and Belarus where their parties are banned back home. It is quite inspiring talking to them and realizing how much they risk to get what we take for granted.

John Howard (IDU Chairman) greeting the French Prime Minister – François Fillon. The French PM gave one of the best speeches I have heard – hard to believe it was from a French politician. He quoted economic heroes of the right and the merits of free trade and liberalism which is not socialism or conservatism. I am going to try and get a copy – it really was that good.

On the Wednesday Night we were taken out to the Elysee Palace to meet President Sarkozy. The bus even got a police escort who cleared traffic for us, and you can see us travelling on the wrong side of the road here. A lot of pedesterians were wondering who was on the bus to warrant such treatment and must have been very disappointed to see me on the front seat. Mind you there were also half a dozen Prime Ministers with us!

The attendees are entering the Palace. Quite unusually there were no security checks (despite us all having been told to bring our passports. We were just escorted from the bus straight into the Palace without even a metal detector.

I did get to meet President Sarkozy (who is even shorter than Winston!) and The Stig remarked to me that it was the first time meeting someone who actually has his finger on the bomb!

The photo above is a poor quality one (taken via cellphone) of Sarkozy and UK Conservative Leader David Cameron. Cameron was in attendance for the full two days, and is a very engaging personality. He is quite charismastic and a good public speaker, but also very engaging on a one on one level. You feel you are talking to a person, not just a politician.

Sarkozy was, well, very French.

After a couple of hours of champagne and nibbles at the Palace, we were taken to the Senate for a reception dinner. Also a fine venue, to say the least. And the food was absolutely first class.

This was taken out the window of the Senate. What is really amazing is the photo was taken a bit after 10 pm. Paris has amazingly long days, staying light until after 11 pm. It was one of the many things I loved about the city.

I’m in the United Kingdom and France for around 13 days from 18 June to 1 July. Mainly road tripping in the UK, and attending an IDU conference in Paris after that.

If UK readers are keen to catch up for a beer, let me know.  I should be in the south of England until around the 21st and in London from 22nd to 24th.

Euthanasia, like any issue to do with death, is a highly emotional issue. I used to be against it, but changed my mind after the death of Martin Hames in 2003.

The photo above is of Chantal Sebire who has appealed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy to allow her to die by euthanasia.

Sebire suffers from esthesioneuroblastoma, which attacks the nasal cavity. She has lived without a sense of smell and taste since 2000 and now the tumour has evolved and eaten into her jaws, and then eye sockets, leaving her blind since last year.

She suffers from “atrocious bouts of pain that can last up to four hours at a time”.