Levenson, Winter And Passports

Levenson

The Levenson enquiry and its recommendations seems to have been a dominant topic of conversation among my friends here, with very divided opinions expressed. Assuming that some action needs to be taken (a significant assumption, I know) the topic has seemed to me extremely complex. If any rein is to be put on the Press, and leaving aside the question of Internet content, it seemed obvious to me that whistle-blowers had to be protected and also the role of government minimised. Why not pass the problem straight to the judiciary, I thought, with the emphasis of control being on means of acquisition, not content? But there are foreseeable problems there also; the complexity remained.

It should have taken me minutes to see the way out but in fact it took me a week of pondering. Everything in my experience tells me not to mess with complexity; stand back, take a deep breath and look to Occam's Razor. Why the clamour for Press censorship? It's because many people feel that a right to privacy has been infringed. So why not forget all the questions of Press freedom/censorship and simply strengthen the privacy laws? These are reputed to be much stricter in France than in the UK, although I don't know the detail, so why not make a move towards French-style privacy legislation? That, plus possibly suitably heavy penalties for infringement, should resolve the problem and put aside any debate about Press freedom. The Press then remains as it has always been, as free or constrained as any other person or entity within the law.

Winter

Winter arrived today. The temperature is barely above freezing even in the early afternoon and it's caught a succulent plant that Claudine and Jacques gave me and which has been sitting out front on my letter box. Fortunately at least half the plant looks healthy still so I shall put it in my terrace room with the other plants I am trying to keep over winter. And I shall now need to cut back and protect the blue solanums (solana?) I have in the front.

Winter also means beef to me: stews (which the French don't have), casseroles, etc. The French don't have meat pies either and I made one last week when Steve, Jo, Mana and Michèle came to eat. All enjoyed it, especially Michèle, but I got the same initial suspicion from Mana and Michèle that I always get from French friends when they are faced with unfamiliar food. The conservatism that even quite cosmopolitan French people display when it comes to cooking continues to surprise me. The idea that French cooking is not only the best but probably the only way to cook food does seem to be really deeply engrained in them. I'd normally serve mashed potatoes with the pie but, as I had a jar of duck fat, decided on roast potatoes. The French don't have these either; same result.

Passports

Friend Steve commented about paassports in his blog recently and that reminded me of a money-making wheeze for the giovernment which I thought of some time ago but which doesn't seem to have occurred to the UK government.  After all, the government is strapped for cash.  Why not offer organic (or eco-friendly) passports? We aleady have organic alternatives for almost everything else.  As far as I know, passports already are organic, though there may be a question mark against the dyes used.  Eco-cheerleaders would no doubt happily accept a £10-15 surcharge for the cost of maybe just an "organic" sticker on the passport so the extra money goes tsright to the bottom line.  Or maybe it's just that I have too much.time on my hands in winter.