In a bold departure for both Hugh Hefner’s empire and America’s longest-running television sitcom, Ms Simpson has nonetheless agreed to become the first cartoon character to disrobe for the glossy gentleman’s magazine.

Pictures of her cover shoot, draped over a strategically placed “bunny girl” chair, in a manner that perhaps recalls Christine Keeler, were released yesterday. It will appear in next month's magazine, under the headline: “The devil in Marge Simpson.”

A Playboy spokesman said Ms Simpson had granted them an interview, which would appear next to three pages of portraits that are “sexy” and feature “implied nudity”.

The decision for the matriarch of America’s most famous – and lucrative – family to dip her bright yellow toe into the world of soft-core pornography was not taken lightly.

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I think the world is booby-trapped with moralised schadenfreude...

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and MATTHEW SALTMARSH

PARIS — Two years ago, Europe was growing more rapidly than the United States, and the Old Continent finally seemed prepared to tackle longstanding economic challenges like rigid labor markets, runaway government spending and a rapidly aging population.

But as Asia and the United States emerge from the global economic crisis, Europe appears likely to be the world’s laggard, threatening a return to the dark days of “Eurosclerosis.” Leaders who once spoke optimistically of fundamental changes aimed at enhancing productivity have turned to the more prosaic tasks of protecting jobs and avoiding painful political choices.

“It’s worse than being back to Square 1,” said Gilles Moëc, a senior economist in London for Deutsche Bank.

And just when it is needed most, the political will to address Europe’s bigger economic problems seems absent, according to many experts across the region and around the world.

When he was elected president of France in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy spoke of the need for a “rupture,” including the loosening of a highly regulated labor market to better compete in the global economy.

But now, “President Sarkozy has gone, if not 180 degrees, then at least 90 degrees in the opposite direction,” said Charles Wyplosz, director of the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies in Geneva. “The things he talked about then still need to be done if we want to have growth, but the crisis has slowed some of the impetus for change.”

In Germany, Angela Merkel, who was elected last month to a second term as chancellor, has also avoided taking on the country’s powerful unions and its regional banks. She has embraced the “social market economy” and has insisted there is no alternative to relying on exports rather than consumers to drive growth.

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This report is a bit glib... It's lot's more complicated than that. Europe was left holding the baby, while the US went on frolicking around, depite having caught the clap and having passed it on to the rest of the world... Europe also play by much more stricter rules than the US where screwing your staff is okay as long as you do it discreetly. There are also some social structure that despite revolutions and "democratic" institutions are still vertical — I mean that the system is still very feudal, even in England where the Lords are Lords... Sure there are some horizontal integration happening but not much between "classes", and it's slow and nepotic. Europe has been doing carbon trading schemes for nearly ten years while the rest of the world, including America, has been farting and belching CO2 as if there was no limits. Europe is a bit like a woman that has to do three times more work to achieve equal status... Etc...

from the BBC

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his 23-year-old son has been "thrown to the wolves" over a bid to secure a top-level business job.

A national row has erupted over 23-year-old Jean Sarkozy seeking to become head of Epad, which manages La Defence, France's top business district.

Amid calls of nepotism, more than 40,000 people signed an online petition calling for Mr Sarkozy Jnr to pull-out.

Despite the furore, allies of Jean Sarkozy say he is the "natural" choice.

Jean Sarkozy, who is currently a councillor for the wealthy Parisian district of Neuilly, says he has faced "violent personal attacks" in his bid to head the development agency for La Defense, west of Paris.

"Whatever I say, whatever I do, I will be criticised. When you enter this profession, you expect it and prepare for it," he said.

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Nepotism? who cares... Too young? for sure... At 23, a young person, male or female, has not gone beyond the barrier of silliness which in the human species hovers around 25 years of age... (see many items on this site regarding insurance companies policies for insuring drivers under 25 and university studies on the under 25's brain idiosyncrasies)... But nepotism and underage? by 23, the young man would not have had time to grasp a solid grounding in humanity. Even a Hornblower could not cut it these days with the necessary complexities... Even if this young man is very bright, he still is in the could-be-silly season...

By ADAM NOSSITER

DAKAR, Senegal — A waiter, reacting to the mosquitoes plaguing a customer on a recent hot night here, said sharply, “Those aren’t mosquitoes; those are French people!”

Two thousand miles away, in another coastal African capital, Libreville, in Gabon, a crowd yelled: “We’re sick of the French! Let’s kick them out! Let’s kill them!” after learning this fall that their nation’s reigning autocracy was staying in power.

It is not a good time to be French in Francophone Africa, except if you are a high official from Paris privately visiting a strongman’s palace. As democracy slips in country after country in the region, France often quietly sides, once again, with the once-and-future autocrats.

All summer long, while African opposition figures were protesting, demonstrating and fleeing, men in power were coolly visiting Paris, or receiving visits in return.

Nicolas Sarkozy, now France’s president, promised a departure in relations with Africa three years ago. Instead, the nation appears to be reverting to historic type, looking past unsavory rulers for the sake of a uranium mine in Niger, oil interests in Gabon and a deep-water port in Cameroon.

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Africa can feed and raise itself above the quagmire of colonialist imprint, should external powers not interfere... Sure there are places where people starve and require food aid but more often than not this is due to the disruption of war fought between groups of various religious and overseas supported political ideals, drenched in corrupt resource procurement — and also due to increasing drought fostered by "global warming"... My heart bleeds for the people I worked with and their families, I knew when I was living there...

G’day Gus, just digressing but,

IMHO the often used methods of “average” and “generally” is another way of deceiving if placed in an unsuitable situation.

A perfect example was the misuse by the Howard “New Order” – in particular (“Captain Smirk”) Costello – in matters of employment.  With two states – W.A. and Queensland – having booming economies due to external factors (China et al) the simple method of excusing a failure of national policy in other states was to “average out” and claim that that was a true National Employment figure.

In addition, Howard gave the most obviously fascist portfolios to his “people charming” minister Joe Hockey who, may I say, was completely inept.  I remember well his statement that “technology is the best friend of privacy” – Struth.

It would probably look much better in “average” if America used that method to explain that their entire losses in Vietnam (some 28,000 I believe with some millions of Vietnamese) was counted with those in Iraq; Afghanistan and their other imperialist ventures in Africa.  Each small disaster would make the deception more acceptable.

Also, “generally speaking” the people of many African states, who are following their ancient custom of “tribal wars”, will eventually achieve the principles of the extreme right of politics – “survival of the fittest”. And the imperialists will wait and see who they will support so that they can plunder the natural resources of those countries. If anything is left.

Why do the Americans throw their allies to the “mob” when they fail to deliver?  The US flag must always appear to be invincible - “on average”?

And when Howard became unacceptable to his constituents (finally) I predicted that he would go to America for solace – and he certainly did.

As arrogant as always, the US puppet attended a dinner in his “honor” and brazenly sang “God Bless America”!

To quote a great Australian “Well might he say God Bless the Queen (America) but nothing will save the G.G. (nor the little rat). 

Cheers mate.  God Bless Australia.  NE OUBLIE.

The Elysee Palace refused to comment today on rumours swirling in Paris that the marriage of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni is on the rocks, with both of them having affairs.

The French media, usually reticent about prying into the private lives of public figures, have been reporting that Bruni is having an affair with the musician Benjamin Biolay (above right) and that her husband has turned for comfort to his ecology minister, Chantal Jouanno (above left).

The rumour first appeared on Twitter and then on the website of the French Sunday paper, Le Journal du Dimanche, which claimed dramatically that the presidential marriage was "breathing its last breaths".

The Journal's online report said: "It's the gossip of the moment that could become the story of the year. A romance is said to have started a few weeks ago between the First Lady of France and music award winner Benjamin Biolay [he won album of the year for La Superbe at the recent Victoires de la Musique awards]."

The rumour has been picked up by at least one TV station and several online news services, one of which claims she has already moved into Biolay's Paris apartment

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see toon at top...

Even the Mona Lisa may find it hard to keep her smile. France's other Italian-born icon of enigmatic female beauty has denied La Joconde a free rock concert. Plans for the first open-air gig in the courtyard of the Louvre have been squashed by the pop-singing French first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, according to a French investigative newspaper.

The Ministry of Culture, after first seeming to approve of the idea, has banned the event, which was due to take place on 18-19 June. The concerts have been declared "unsuitable" and potentially unsafe for such a "sensitive" and historic site. But according to the newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy objected because she feared the Louvre gigs would overshadow a series of pop concerts to raise money for Aids sufferers starting in Paris six days later. The first lady is an official Aids ambassador for the UN.

The Louvre rock festival, organised by a French youth culture magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, had been enthusiastically welcomed by the world's largest art gallery.

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Gus: democracy of one (Carla) in action... Le Canard is the newspaper with the best informants in the world... One should believe "The Duck", one of the rare news-outlet that refuses to go on the net because its business is "to sell ink on paper"...