to move up and down
Camel gifted to French president is mistaken for food, made into tagine and eaten for dinner
As if President Francois Hollande of France did not have enough trouble with a stagnant economy and a scandal over his former budget minister’s secret overseas bank accounts, now his camel has been eaten.
Grateful Malian authorities gave the baby camel to Hollande during a triumphant visit to Mali in early February, after French troops intervened to drive back Islamist rebels who had seized the north of the country.
The French president left his baby camel in the care of a family in Timbuktu. The family, evidently misunderstanding the purpose of the custody arrangement, proceeded to slaughter the camel and feast on it. According to local reports, it was fashioned into a tasty tagine. (AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABITIZIANA)
Andrew Coyne: France’s vote against austerity is like a vote to outlaw bad weather
The people of France, Greece and several other European locales, it is reliably reported, have just voted against “austerity.” This is cheering news. In future, I hope they will vote against rain, cold sores and bad sex.
If only it were so easy. Alas, the inability of so many European governments to pay for what they wish to buy out of the taxes their citizens wish to pay remains a reality, whatever anyone might have voted. That shortfall cannot be abolished. It must either be closed, through some combination of spending cuts and tax increases, or governments must borrow the difference.
