Miscellany found on one day

French Vodoo
A French appeals court says Voodoo dolls of president Nicolas Sarkozy may remain on sale, but must carry a notice saying that pricking them harms the president’s dignity.
The appeals court backed an earlier ruling allowing the dolls to stay on the market in the name of freedom of expression.

But it ordered the doll’s marketer, publishing house K&B Editions, to add a warning that using the needles which come with the kits ‘constitutes an attack on the personal dignity of Mr. Sarkozy.’

‘Nicolas Sarkozy: The Voodoo Manual’ costs € 12.95 ($23.35) and includes a handbook and 12 pins.

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Irresponsible republicans
We all believe that it will be totally irresponsible for the Government to raise the issue of a republic, particularly in the midst of economic woes, but when have republicans ever proven themselves to be rational both in their arguments and in their strategy?

Philip Benwell, National Chairman of The Australian Monarchist League

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Rupert Murdoch: Homophobic jokes and anti-Monarchy strategy
Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of News Corporation and one of the globe's most powerful media moguls, enjoys homophobic jokes and for years resisted allowing women to become board members because they "talk too much".

Michael Wolff writes that Murdoch was devoutly anti-monarchy but that "the internal cash flow of News Corporation became highly dependent on The Sun's obsession with Diana".

The day Princess Diana died, in 1997, Mr Murdoch met a News Corp executive at a bar and got blind drunk. He was "mourning" the passing of a woman whose life had been a circulation bonanza.

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No further comments from my side.