Happy birthday M. President

So the French president, François Hollande, turns 60 on August 12.

No big bash planned, which is a bit of a shame really as the nation could do with a little glamour and glitz at the moment (especially as the weather ain't doin' what it's supposed to be).

All right, so all those economic indicators are far from being fine and dandy. But hasn't a party always proven a good way of, at least for just a moment, lifting the spirits and enabling people to focus on something other than their own plight.

Or is that war?

Although Hollande is indeed thinking about military involvement (for purely humanitarian reasons, you understand) in Iraq, or at least supporting US air strikes, he's much more reticent and indeed "pudique" when it comes to personal matters.

All part of his oxymoronic "President Normal" concept perhaps, whereby as a head of state he tries to appear to be like any other "regular" citizen both in terms of behaviour and image...except, well he clearly isn't because he's...er...head of state.

Anyway, apparently Hollande will be blowing out the candles  on Tuesday at an "undisclosed location" somewhere in the southeast of France - and not even one of the official presidential residences such as the much-disliked (by him) Fort de Brégançon in the département of Var (which instead is open to the public throughout the whole of the summer)

He'll reportedly be surrounded by Thomas, Clémence, Julien and Flora, his four children from his 30 plus year partnership (remember the president who reluctantly saw through legislation for "Mariage pour tous" has never actually tied the knot himself) to Ségolène Royal.

That's all.

Not even his closest political allies and long-time friends Michel Sapin (the current finance minister who was also a classmate during Hollande's - and Royal's - days at École nationale d'administration) or Stéphane Le Foll (the minister of agriculture and government spokesperson) have been asked along.

Now, you can bet your bottom centime that had You Know Who been re-elected back in 2012, there would have been a suitably Bling Bling affair in January next year when the nation could have joined in the festivities - or not, as it saw fit.

Ah well. Tant pis.

As the French haven't been able to offer up their esteemed current leader a collective birthday wish and as nobody in the media seems about to come forward and do the necessary tra-la-la.

And because neither Seggers, Valérie nor Julie have uttered a public "joyeux anniversaire" for their (respectively) former, former, future (???) other half,  here's a borrowed present from the past to wish Hollande all the very best.

It's how a certain Hollywood icon interpreted the song "Happy birthday" for "her" president back in 1962, when he turned 45.



Come to think of it, maybe Hollande's oldest son, Thomas, will drag his girlfriend along, French singer Joyce Jonathan, for a bit of celebratory warbling.

Jonathan might not be nearly as sultry as Marylin, but she sure has a pretty enough voice.

Now, how do you do those irritating smiley-face emoticons?

World Cup fever - let's get a grip

What is it with football?

Yes the World Cup - warts (Fifa) and all - is a major sporting event.

There's no doubting that.

But really, does it mean our elected leaders can afford to forget the really important things happening in the world to ride - albeit briefly - the crest of the feelgood wave they hope might somehow benefit them?

Russia reduces its gas supply to Ukraine "raising the possibility of disrupted transit of gas to Europe" and a difficult winter ahead if things aren't sorted.

And what are our illustrious leaders up to?

Well, the German chancellor Angela Merkel hot-footed it over to Brazil to watch "die Mannshaft" make clinical mincemeat of Portugal (with a little help from an imploding Pepe early into the game)

Back in France as the country limps through its economic muddle, now complete with the inevitable industrial ("non") action from SNCF employees and les intermittents du spectacle, how did the president François Hollande spend his time during Les Bleus' opening game?

He ostentatiously invited 200 people (and the cameras) to la salle des fêtes at the Elysée palace to gawp ("with collective passion") at a giant screen as France ran out victorious over mighty Honduras in their first match.

Giant screen at the Elysée palace (screenshot BFM TV)

Oh well. Winter is months away, so why should politicians care about gas supplies right now?

Perhaps the football commentators will help jog their memories by broaching the subject during Russia's first game against South Korea on Tuesday!

Nigeria kicked off its tournament on Monday with a thrilling 0-0 draw against Iran, and in the meantime the 200 or so missing schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in April are still being held hostage. They've been located apparently, but still haven't been freed.

Never mind. Who gives a damn anyway?

French TV news reports spend an inordinate amount of time analysing and speculating on the Les Bleus' chances, interviewing individual French players and managers - past and present - wheeling in the "experts" to give their opinions and asking the man and the woman in the street what they think.

And at the same time Sunni Islamist militants have taken control of Iraq's second city Mosul and are now approaching Baghdad.

The world watches - says little and does nothing as the focus of media attention seems to be elsewhere.

And that "elsewhere" of course is Brazil - the host country, profiting from the glory and the money it's not going to make and the prestige the whole tournament will bring as an answer to its social problems.

Just ask South Africa, the host of the 2010 tournament.

Don't get me wrong. I love the so-called beautiful game. But I also care about other things.

And a World Cup which is as much about business and displays of exaggerated patriotism (whatever that might be) as it is sport, surely simply deflects attention away from those other things that really matter.

A top French interviewer gets a lesson in journalism from his (fellow journalist) wife

French broadcast journalists don't really have much of reputation for aggressive interviewing.

They often treat their political "guests" with proverbial kid gloves, allowing them to avoid the real question that has just been asked by refraining from posing a follow-up.

All right, let's be kind, It's hard to stop someone who clearly refuses to answer a question and chooses instead to read from the hymn sheet, ignoring the "facts" quoting statistics to bolster their argument and never, ever admitting they could be wrong.

And let's face it, there's nothing most politicians love more than pontificating...well, that and the sound of their own voice.

There are some exceptions of course among those actually "doing" the interviewing on the radio and the TV. And among them is undoubtedly Jean-Jacques Bourdin,

He has a daily radio programme on RMC, around 20 minutes of which includes a face-to-face interview with a guest,
 (usually, but not always a politician) on his or her views on some of the stories making the headlines.

The interview is also broadcast simultaneously on BFM TV, and the least that can be said is that the men and women who agree to sit across the table from Bourdin (and there are plenty of them) know exactly what to expect.

Jean-Jacques Bourdin (screenshot Nouvel Obs report)

Bourdin is direct, blunt, doesn't suffer fools and seldom allows his guests off the hook easily.

His somewhat intimidating style seems to bring out the best in many of his (political) guests and it's also an approach he uses throughout the whole of his four-hour radio programme dedicated to subjects making the headlines and during which he mixes interviews with "professionals" from whatever domain with 'phone calls, emails and text messages from listeners.

Nothing seems to faze the man and he appears to be the one in control.

Well most of the time that is.

Recently though he had his knuckles well and truly rapped, albeit briefly, by the only person really capable of doing so. His wife, Anne Nivat.

Bourdin called upon Nivat in her capacity as a journalist who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan for her comments on the Volgograd bombings on December 29 and 30.

Nivat knows her stuff when it comes to Russian politics - if you have any doubts just take a look at her Wikipedia entry - and was clearly none too pleased with her husband's rather shoddy approach to the subject.

Right from the start of the interview it was clear that Bourdin was not exactly at his confident best, admitting that, as Nivat was his wife, he would tutoyer her but, habit getting the best of him, he slipped into the formal vouvoyer.

"After the first bombing the decapited head of a suicide bomber was found," he began, only to be interrupted by Nivat.

"A suicide bomber - that's what you say, because nobody knows anything at the moment,"

"You're simply repeating a newswire from Agence France Presse which is in turn repeating the propoganda of the Russian government," she continued.

"At the moment we don't have enough information. We don't know anything. It could also be a man who was an accomplice."


Jean-Jacques Bourdin se fait houspiller par sa... par Gentside

Bourdin continued his unintentional floundering by opening the door for another lesson on Russian politics by trying to move the interview along briskly with, "Nobody seems to talk much about the Caucasus. It has apparently all been 'settled'but nothing has been 'settled'..."

"No, but we no longer speak of the Caucasus because the media (in other words you and your colleagues) choose to talk about other things," replied Nivat.

"Just because we (the media) no longer talk about the Caucasus, doesn't mean that everything has been 'settled'."

Ah yes. There's nothing like being put in your place by your nearest and dearest.

Little surprise then, that Bourdin appeared to thank his wife a little too hurriedly before moving on to the next item.

There's a lesson in the tale somewhere - and it's not just one of journalism.

And, dear reader, just a reminder of how important independent journalism is and how dangerous it can be to fall into the trap of rehashing what politicians might want us all to believe...courtesy of the latest campaign spot from Reporters sans frontières.