Wrapped her thighs around a hot tube

Ladies have the right (like men, for that matter) to choose the kind of hot tube around which they would like to spread their thighs. And we have no right to interfere with their tastes. But this Belgian cyclo-cross rider, Femke van den Driessche, went a little too far when she decided that her chosen tube should contain an electric battery, so that it powered her pedaling.

She was caught red-handed—or I might say red-thighed—and made to face a trial for cheating before the Union Cycliste Internationale. She was promptly stripped of her European title, fined 20,000 Swiss francs, and kicked out of the sport fo six years, which will give her ample time to cool down.

Bad bugger back on French soil

France's most-hated man, the 26-year-old terrorist Salah Abdeslam, is back on French soil, no doubt permanently. He was captured on 18 March 2016 at Molenbeek (Brussels).

As far as I can gather (which is never very far in this kind of context), the evil creature has been deposited in a particularly tough prison, Fleury-Mérogis, south of Paris. From this afternoon on, in the context of his new residence in France, the ugly pile of shit should wither away rapidly into oblivion. It is unlikely that Abdeslam will provide the world with any significant information.

Meanwhile, the moronic terrorist will be defended by a highly-reputed and courageous French lawyer, Frank Berton.

Handling terrorist idiots in Australia

Ever since the Lindt Café affair in Sydney, I've been shocked by the non-professional level of the men in charge. Recall that the 38-year-old woman Katrina Dawson was cut down, not by the crazy terrorist, but by ricochets from bullets of the NSW police force. Only today, the police officer in charge declared that he "had a gut feeling something was seriously wrong but still expected it to end peacefully". To my mind, policemen should not rely on "gut feeling". This nice fellow in blue deserves to lose his job, and be replaced by a more competent, tougher and highly-trained professional.

Australia has just offered a gigantic submarine contract to France. Why doesn't Australia ask France to give them technical assistance in the professional training of Australia's future anti-terrorist police and snipers? France is pretty good in that field. This problem should be handled rapidly, before the risk of having idiotic terrorists infiltrate the docks where Australia's future submarines are to be built. Don't remain at the level of last-minute "gut feelings".

Excellent decision, Australia!

"La France est reconnaissante de la confiance que lui témoigne l’Australie et fière de l’excellence technologique dont ses entreprises ont su faire preuve dans cette compétition de haut niveau. Ce nouveau succès sera créateur d’emplois et de développement en France comme en Australie", s'est félicité François Hollande.

Australian crocodile enters a camper's tent

An Australian family, on a fishing trip in the Northern Territory, set up their camp about 15 metres from a creek in the Daly region, a couple of hours away from Katherine. In the early hours of the warm morning, a 19-year-old member of the family was awoken by the presence of an animal tugging at his leg. He soon realized that he had been attacked by a saltwater crocodile, which was trying to drag him out of his tent.

The fellow succeeded in using his other leg to kick the animal away. The following morning, his family drove the fellow to Katherine, to receive medical attention for his wounded lower leg. He was psychologically shocked, because people don't normally imagine that they might receive the nocturnal visit of a crocodile inside a tent. A safety campaign tries to warn people that they should be "crocwise", and a video on this question uses local Aboriginal language. The organizers will now need to define the precise meaning of the expression "crocodile wisdom".

My green mate at Gamone

Tineke took these lovely photos of my mate a few days ago.

Click to enlarge

Although he has been around for quite some time,

I'm ashamed to admit that I  haven't really given him a name yet...
but I'm keen on Bill the Lizard from Alice in Wonderland.

Australian river on fire

The muddy bed of the Condamine River in Queensland is a source of methane gas, and it's easy to light up. Many observers believe that the exceptional presence of this gas is due to fracking operations that are being carried out nearby.

Click here to see a video made by an on-the-spot witness.
The NSW Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham who made this video is particularly excited,  partly because he almost set himself on fire.

Data supplied kindly by my Australian friend Jan Brown.

Australian newspaper refuses to believe facts about problems of the Great Barrier Reef

Click here to access a shocking piece of bad journalism. Queensland's Courier Mail simply refuses to face scientific facts concerning the disastrous coral bleaching that has hit the Great Barrier Reef. This is an appalling example of idiotic "thinking" in Australia. Unfortunately, there is so much intellectual mindlessness and stupidity of this kind in Australia that I'm not convinced that the nation will survive for long.

Did Australia take notice of my advice of 2008 about the superior qualities of French submarines?

In my blog post of January 21, 2008 entitled Expensive, aesthetic and nasty [click here], I made an out-of-the-way suggestion: If Australia's armed forces wish to purchase a new fleet of excellent submarines, why don't they examine what France has to offer? At the same time that I made those remarks publicly in my blog, I got into direct contact with Ross Babbage, chairman of the Kokoda Foundation in Canberra. He's the man who actually signed the Kokoda paper #4 of April 2007, which was the main source of the media articles that had presented this submarine affair to the public, as explained in my article of 26 December 2007 entitled Australia's submarines [click here]. Ross Babbage reacted kindly by sending me (airmail to France) a complimentary copy of his report, along with helpful explanations that clarified the situation considerably.

French Barracuda submarine

For the moment, I don't know whether Australia has reached a decision on this question. But I heard yesterday that France is highly placed.

Hypnotic space image

Bubble nebula viewed by Hubble

Click here

Prince has left for another planet

Petit Prince de Saint-Exupéry

Ce dessin au style enfantin est l'œuvre

de la dessinatrice Fauna93 sur le site DeviantArt.

cover of New Yorker magazine, Purple Rain

Looking forward to the elimination of Daesh

Jean-Yves Le Drian, French minister of defence, has just made a reassuring radio statement on the possible elimination of Daesh in the not-too-distant future.

« Je constate que Daesh recule significativement. Je pense que depuis l’occupation par Daesh de la Syrie et de l’Irak, depuis la tentative d’attaque sur Bagdad en juin 2014, Daesh a perdu entre 30 et 40 % de son territoire. »

The international coalition opposed to Daesh, including the US and France, aims to liberate Mosoul (Irak) and Rakka (Syria) before the end of the year.

Sad Australian ballad

Click the YouTube icon

Sent to me by my childhood friend Bruce Hudson

Bulldozer street fight in China

Click here to see how some Chinese firms settle a conflict.

Coral bleaching in Australia's Great Barrier Reef

I've already mentioned this question in an earlier blog post. But it has just been revealed that the situation is far worse than what most people imagined. Scientists surveying bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef say that some 93 per cent of the coral has been attacked.

Would this coral-bleaching be caused by large-scale coal-mining activities in Queensland? Nobody knows with certainty. Likewise, specialists do not know how much of the bleached coral might recover its colors, and what proportion will sadly die.

Click here for an article sent to me by my Grafton friend Jan Brown.

NOTE This sad news indicates that Alex de Waal would indeed appear to be as dull as a fragment of bleached coral.

Cultural sites in France must be protected

Depp's dogs

Readers will be happy to know that Johnny Depp's Yorkshire terriers Pistol and Boo have indeed succeeded in escaping safely from Australia in their master's jet plane, after being faced with a mortal countdown announced by the Aussie politician Barnaby Joyce. Here's an extract of John Oliver's TV presentation of the drama:

Click the YouTube icon to enlarge the show

Lianne Kent with Pistol (left) and Elly Kent with Boo.

photo: Happy Dogz Grooming Gold Coast

I've decided to follow regularly the exemplary socks decision of Richard Dawkins

This photo of Richard Dawkins was almost certainly taken recently, in the course of convalescence since his stroke:

Click to enlarge slightly

Click here to read the explanations that accompanied Richard's photo. From the moment I started to read his words, I was transformed instantaneously into an enthusiast of unmatched socks. In the space of ten seconds, bewitched by this splendid Sermon, I became a solemn Believer. And I'll possibly stay that way forever...

The Laughing Cow

This brand of processed cheese has always been very popular in France, particularly among children.

Everybody loves the crazy trademark of a bright red cow—with a white muzzle and horns, and large packet-shaped earrings (like the circular boxes in which the cheese is supplied)—that is clearly laughing... for reasons that nobody really knows. The product is 95 years old. Every day, in 120 countries throughout the world, ten million wedge-shaped portions of this cheese are eaten. The first box, created when this cheese was being delivered to French troops in World War I, was associated with the term whose pronunciation sounded, to the ears of French soldiers, like the enemy's term Valkyrie.

Click to enlarge slightly

Early versions of the circular cheese boxes were in fact metallic.

Everything about this product is associated with laughter and joy. So, it's a fabulous French marketing success, appreciated throughout the entire world.

Australian study debunks homeopathy

Here in France, most pharmacies sell homeopathic products, and countless French citizens seem to consider that it's possibly an authentic branch of medical science. This nasty subject reminds me of tales of the Loch Ness monster.

Click here for references to an article about Australia's latest negative reactions to this fashionable quackery.