Britain... A bad review...

 

Good Monday,

Not long ago, I told you that Britain had got a bad review – but it was from a slightly bug eyed yank who runs a fast food chain, so we didn’t really take it to heart. He said that our women were unattractive and our food was bad. Pssssh.

This week, another bad review… and this time from a slightly more credible source. David Else, author of the new Lonely Planet guide (whose job it is to visit countries and write about them objectively) accuses us of much the same as Mr Burger King did.

Perhaps it’s time we looked tentatively into the mirror. Perhaps we are all fat ugly after all?

According to Else, more junk food and ready-made meals are consumed in Britain than all of the other countries in Europe put together. Jesus.

In fact, nutrition rates are lower now than they were during the 50’s – when food was being rationed.

We are also described as being celebrity-obsessed, with a ‘dicey’ ecomony and with ‘choppy waters ahead.’ Choppy indeed. It makes me want to chop my head off.

The guide will be published this month and is expected to reach over 100,000 readers worldwide. The upshot I suppose is that we will be lighter on the tourists this summer.

Back to the Middle East now and Yemen’s President, Ali Saleh, has once again backtracked on his agreement to resign. Cue more riots.

Violence in Syria has escalated further as soldiers open fire on protesters again. It was under this current regime that 20,000 Syrians were massacred for an attempted uprising back in the 80’s. So the bravery of these protesters is really quite extraordinary.

In Libya, rebels are now advancing on Gaddafi’s hometown of Sitre, having re-gained a number of key towns and cities over the last week already. Gaddafi’s loyalists are said to be digging their heels in over Sitre however, where more bloodshed is expected once the rebels reach it.

Nato is now in the process of taking over the no-fly zone enforcement, while Russia is shaking its head and saying we have crossed the line and shouldn’t be this involved.

America is being pretty gung-ho on the other hand, or at least one American in particular. John Bolter, former US ambassador and big chum of George Bush has called for Gaddafi to be assassinated. So there.

That’s all for today. Tomorrow I’ll be explaining the current state of Europe: the who’s, the why’s and the where’s – all very broadly speaking as usual.

Good evening.