The Raving Reporter | Site-Wide Activity https://theravingreporter.com/activity/ Activity feed for the entire site. Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:15:00 +0000 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-US 30 hourly 2 8a2c0b906388939e07a77e36f4ff71ad Tony Cross wrote a new post https://theravingreporter.com/?p=1405 Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:56:36 +0000 You can eat all of the pig … but you might want to find out how it was farmed Here’s looking at you – a Duroc pig grazing in the Jura Photo: Les Meilleurs cochons du monde Don’t turn up your nose at fromage de tête, more wi […]

]]> 85f500a533a7e3eed5515bd9962e9f60 Tony Cross wrote a new post https://theravingreporter.com/?p=1386 Thu, 30 Oct 2025 11:06:03 +0000 Why you should eat escargots + other snail fun facts A snail stall at Sellières’ Fête de la pomme Photo: Tony Cross “That would be good to eat,” my neighbour and principal source of local lore, […]

]]> 43372c53a7c7e3ce1c6bcc92cc51200d Tony Cross wrote a new post https://theravingreporter.com/?p=1373 Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:08:43 +0000 Frogs' legs, hazelnuts and globalisation A grenouille rousse Photo: Holger Krisp (Wikipedia) The French tend to translate the disparaging anglophone term for French people “Frogs” as […]

]]> 9dfbac26b9685be3431f960027810ab0 Tony Cross wrote a new post https://theravingreporter.com/?p=1351 Mon, 13 Oct 2025 15:59:52 +0000 Back to blogging – Funny French food and other rural delights The Eventail (fan), one of the succession of waterfalls known as the Cascades du hérisson Photo: Tony Cross I haven’t blogged for a while but, ha […]

]]> 022f9f9b05ae1c128c1fed8c6e1217ea Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1309 Thu, 10 Feb 2022 13:12:39 +0000 The stunningly beautiful Hazrat Ali Mazar (Shrine of Ali) in central Mazar-e-Sharif

As the Afghan people face further suffering and the big powers and international agencies debate how to deal with the new […]

]]> b9fc1bfde4f7ee2470a8793563d355a3 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1255 Wed, 15 Dec 2021 15:15:08 +0000 Traditional dance at Hamid Karzai’s rally during the 2004 presidential election

A new period in Afghanistan’s history has opened up with the return of the Taliban to power and the hasty departure of US […]

]]> 9d6eb16a2f16223d324911c05c8a21c4 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1246 Thu, 07 Jan 2021 17:06:09 +0000 Thousands of far-right fanatics, many of them armed, gather in front of the seat of government, whipped-up by fake news and racist propaganda, convinced that the political elite is mired in corruption. They […]

]]> 7f6005941e768af103c9ce1bd2d11a0f Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1231 Mon, 30 Nov 2020 15:02:37 +0000 The French police are the subject of much controversy these days. They have always faced a certain amount of opposition, sometimes of an extremely radical nature. Here’s an example from 110 years a […]

]]> be961ff10dee5e99f25b248c153ce833 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1221 Thu, 11 Jun 2020 15:47:17 +0000 Worldwide protests over the murder of George Floyd have given a new boost to campaigns against police brutality and racism in France. Ministers have promised action, while insisting that “France is not the U […]

]]> bccd47af8fd81130ab04432a6b2978de Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1205 Wed, 03 Jun 2020 11:15:47 +0000 Who’d have thought anything could push a global pandemic out of the lead story spot? Well, a nine-minute video of a US cop murdering a black man has and it’s sparked protests around the world. In Paris yes […]

]]> 52e20ba7f6970aed2ee66b78d5d76690 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1198 Fri, 29 May 2020 12:53:21 +0000 It will be back to nearly normal for most of France next Tuesday but Parisians will have to drink their coffees en terrasse and wait a while before they can go to the gym, the theatre or Disneyland. Meanwhile, […]

]]> 8af05ecc8202ed4c459c80445fec5313 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1191 Wed, 27 May 2020 11:12:53 +0000 The River Marne from the Pont du Petit Parc between Joinville-le-Pont and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Photo: Tony Cross

Afternoons on the river Marne are pretty busy these days – teenagers canoeing or sitting on th […]

]]> 3076a620cec780c629ef7dd90c30ffae Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1187 Mon, 25 May 2020 10:36:37 +0000 The government is to start a consultation on salvaging the health service this afternoon. It will be by videoconference, Coronavirus oblige. The choice of chair does not bode well for anyone hoping for […]

]]> d4940417a84964f20830829e3d57ea6c Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1185 Sun, 24 May 2020 10:42:26 +0000 France’s rules on using hydroxychloroquine are to change following the Lancet’s publication of two studies indicating that it can be dangerous when used to fight Covid-19.

Health Minister Olivier Véran has […]

]]> 37138190721e2036f00764d6a7340dd9 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1182 Sat, 23 May 2020 11:37:39 +0000 Don’t put your faith in miracles – Rembrandt’s The Raising of Lazarus

Today is a long weekend in France, thanks to Thursday being the Feast of the Ascension, a public holiday in a secular country that still […]

]]> e1a2ae8a806cfa3a0bfb66674983670b Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1173 Fri, 22 May 2020 13:14:01 +0000 Some stalls missing but the charcuterie is there Photo: Tony Cross

Champigny market has reopened, with a restricted number of stalls, still tightly packed in some places. As a new Covid-19 cluster is noted in […]

]]> dc14a434f021c32528a6b026f5de29ba Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1165 Thu, 21 May 2020 11:05:41 +0000 Che Guevara. You’ve bought the T-shirt, hung the poster on your wall (when you were a student, of course), collected the stamp, maybe even slept under the Che duvet cover, now you can see that saintly face d […]

]]> f2eb350d5dd87218e5bfd2f2561cc81b Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1159 Wed, 20 May 2020 11:09:10 +0000 The French government is to order one billion masks from local manufacturers. To which the only possible reaction is, what took you so long?

Having told the general public that we didn’t need masks when the e […]

]]> fefd71954fcc46d8e04d4056f25be603 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1150 Tue, 19 May 2020 11:14:31 +0000 I went walking in the woods. For the first time since lockdown started.

Frogs croaked in the ponds, the sun dappled the ground and I couldn’t believe how loud the birdsong was.

The Japanese have a p […]

]]> b8a7bad812b7137d62e4a5a05472376a Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1142 Mon, 18 May 2020 09:42:41 +0000 As more French pupils go back to school this Monday, 70 new cases of Covid-19 have been identified in infant schools, which partially reopened last week. Several schools, in various parts of the country, have had […]

]]> 08889233e15dea13c040bf288455f97d Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1140 Sun, 17 May 2020 10:50:36 +0000 The Gilets Jaunes are back. A few of them, anyway. And 25 clusters of Covid-19 cases have been identified in France since lockdown was lifted, although the situation does still seem to be improving.

A few […]

]]> d1ce1feef44f5e3098bf997ceb0105b8 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1135 Sat, 16 May 2020 11:21:27 +0000 Lockdown seems to have worked. The number of deaths per day has declined since a high point of 600 a day of the beginning of April.

Graph by Insee

In fact, numbers crunched by the official statistics […]

]]> feb5d88b7496cf88b121b71c3d8d0e85 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1132 Fri, 15 May 2020 10:48:59 +0000 Hydroxychloroquine isn’t a miracle cure, then. It appears that Professor Didier Raoult is a bit of a bullshitter and President Donald Trump is a bit of a mug. Who’d have thought it?

The Raoult cult – a Mar […]

]]> c86b361f7379dc2e4ed0c2115f900e3b Tony Cross commented on the post, Coronavirus diary day 55 – Storms over Paris and sex in a time of Covid-19 http://theravingreporter.com/coronavirus-diary-day-54-storms-over-paris-and-sex-in-a-time-of-covid-19/#comment-7022 Thu, 14 May 2020 11:06:23 +0000 Sorry, took some time replying.
I’m not a big Zappa fan but I do respect his creativity.
Do you know the story about him and Edgar Varèse?
Apparently, when Zappa was a teenager he wanted to compose music in […]

]]> b9e0984c3271bec29bcaa82e62348bc6 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1127 Thu, 14 May 2020 10:54:33 +0000 It ain’t over yet! Keep washing your hands! (And social distancing, which they’re not doing in this old ad for laundry soap)

First it was our masks, now it’s our medicines! The US will be served first if S […]

]]> 5edb3efe832f067b6ba745615c87cd67 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1122 Wed, 13 May 2020 10:52:50 +0000 RATP staff outside Champigny station yesterday Photo: Tony Cross

Health Minister Olivier Véran has given us all a good talking to. There could be a new lockdown if the virus starts to spread again, he […]

]]> 6ab7da238afe9ce647e1eefe4ec0b667 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1118 Tue, 12 May 2020 09:28:35 +0000 The banks of the River Marne yesterday Photo: Tony Cross

Officials say that the end of lockdown went smoothly. But some Parisians threw caution to the winds. And a young man appeared in court in western France […]

]]> 4e6a2d097e075f022d946355f40f5f9c Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1109 Mon, 11 May 2020 11:38:21 +0000 Lockdown is over, sort of. It appears that many office workers have stayed at home. Manual workers don’t have that option, as reports from the Paris métro make clear.

“Avoid rush hour,” says this poster at Ch […]

]]> d4eed2e619b4c601670a9ff3c298969f Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1106 Sun, 10 May 2020 11:46:56 +0000 La région parisienne est frappée de plein fouet par des violents orages ce soir, qui sont remontés dans une masse d’air tropicale très instable. Plus d’une centaine d’impacts de foudre ont été recensés sur l’oues […]

]]> e46756799ffa95a383922fe2d20999a8 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1100 Sat, 09 May 2020 11:02:17 +0000 “Save lives, stay at home,” the government pleads. But will we?

Why is France ending lockdown on Monday? Even if hospital admissions and cases in intensive care are going down, the virus is still very much out […]

]]> 40463d3975fe08ded6d989634673f2bc Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1098 Fri, 08 May 2020 10:44:16 +0000 What’s striking about the plan to end France’s lockdown is how little constraint there is – especially on employers. This does not bode well for the brave new world we’ve been promised when the epidemic is over […]

]]> 7766fda6239a5f23ea3a95c77bba214c Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1095 Thu, 07 May 2020 10:48:49 +0000 The man in charge of guiding us out of lockdown has a relockdown plan up his sleeve, which is not reassuring. Nor are the findings of two studies that a second wave seems quite likely.

Jean Castex, the civil […]

]]> 8cc92855593e75f8c8a9c1032f9ed9e1 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1092 Wed, 06 May 2020 11:13:38 +0000 France is swimming in beer. The brewers say they will have to pour 10 million litres down the drain because bars, cafés and restaurants have been closed during lockdown. One reason for the glut is that […]

]]> 67e65395649121384ba2fcdb40093f22 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1087 Tue, 05 May 2020 11:30:12 +0000 “One mask per household from the council” it says. Photo: Tony Cross

We’ve received our municipal masks. Champigny town council has distributed masks to every household ahead of the end of lockdown. And the C […]

]]> 571896b8c37b008ba03b0a1da7c66807 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1084 Mon, 04 May 2020 10:26:56 +0000 After announcing at the weekend that anyone entering France will be placed in 14 days’ quarantine, the government has said this will not apply to people from the EU, the Schengen area and the UK, the latter e […]

]]> 86726d59ce93158f3c2c9ac7f5133183 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1076 Sun, 03 May 2020 11:14:37 +0000 A poster welcomes “responsible” mask-wearers to Champigny Photo: Tony Cross

After a cabinet meeting yesterday the papers are claiming that the rules for post-lockdown France are becoming clear. I’m glad they t […]

]]> f80fca2968dbfafe9a7c3905414bdc8d Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1069 Sat, 02 May 2020 11:04:23 +0000 At home, prepare the revolution, Poster by Atélier Youpi

The French government has opened an anti-fake news page on its website. Meanwhile, the health minister has assured us that more tests would not have […]

]]> 45d8a1c1613ee8cba6ad23501777a620 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1062 Fri, 01 May 2020 11:10:54 +0000 Facebook sent me one of those reminders of what I was doing this time last year this morning – photos of teargas, black blockers, Yellow Vests and trade unionists on last year’s May Day demonstration. (You can […]

]]> 72166f781ecf7482e01d5ad2416f38a5 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1058 Thu, 30 Apr 2020 10:58:53 +0000 It’s Mum’s 96th birthday. She agreed that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment, once I had reminded her that it was her birthday and how old she was. We’ve made it through the epidemic so far, so that’s another a […]

]]> 5f638ff56380a2402cfe7c69bcd6ba33 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1056 Wed, 29 Apr 2020 10:59:54 +0000 So how lockdown ends will vary across the country after all. First Macron said it would be “decentralised”, then media reports said it would be the same everywhere, as befits France’s Jacobin tradition. But when […]

]]> dbfb7683f6533a2c9c5bbf749d88fbff Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1053 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 10:40:38 +0000 As the nation awaits this afternoon’s announcement on the end of lockdown, the main news stories are back to the old abnormal – police brutality and a possible terror attack.

Deux motards de la #police dan […]

]]> 60e92f7c6af1d619175b64a1a8daa41d Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1051 Mon, 27 Apr 2020 10:35:38 +0000 The French parliament is to vote on the government’s post-lockdown plan as a single package. That means there will be no separate vote on the controversial tracking app that critics say will mean more digital s […]

]]> 77ea46842d325461b3c8f3809a9db599 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1049 Sun, 26 Apr 2020 11:01:21 +0000 Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will tell us on Tuesday how we are to be deconfined. We already have a fair idea, since the proposals of the government’s scientific advisers have been made public and, of c […]

]]> 6b667ceb4c8130a715adcbbf89b0d2be Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1044 Sat, 25 Apr 2020 12:54:25 +0000 The bleach-based “miracle cure” mentioned by Donald “Sarcastic” Trump during a Coronavirus briefing on Thursday has been knocking about since 2006, despite numerous warnings about its potentially harmful effects […]

]]> 55eeb254cb9ca6c136da056b15c1fac3 Tony Cross commented on the post, Coronavirus diary day 39 – Don't cheer healthworkers if you don't want to pay tax http://theravingreporter.com/coronavirus-diary-day-39-dont-cheer-healthworkers-if-you-dont-want-to-pay-tax/#comment-7020 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 15:18:49 +0000 They are now deaths in both hospitals and care homes. At first they were just hospitals but that changed about a fortnight ago. The care home figures may be slightly unreliable, I believe, especially at weekends

]]> 7dc3c12ace7f6d02e8f6a382770b6b1a Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1042 Fri, 24 Apr 2020 10:25:18 +0000 If the Covid-19 epidemic has proved one thing, it’s that there is such a thing as society. A French opinion poll shows people valuing health and the environment far more than individualistic concerns such as s […]

]]> 35316b3346d61a277c2a1b29c01c9799 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1039 Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:03:25 +0000 How do we get out of lockdown? The president has set a date, 11 May, but the plan is a bit short on details at the moment.

There are signs of tension, reports of vandalism and some clashes with police in parts […]

]]> ad8b3ede7c64ed1992262429022c0b84 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1037 Wed, 22 Apr 2020 10:33:40 +0000 Lockdown has slashed the rate of Covid-19 infection in France. That’s the good news. The bad news is that herd immunity is therefore a distant dream and a second wave of infections is pretty likely.

The n […]

]]> d97ae3fdd91a2a68a1682050aae4a3f0 Tony Cross wrote a new post http://theravingreporter.com/?p=1031 Tue, 21 Apr 2020 10:41:39 +0000 An opinion poll shows growing dissatisfaction with the French government’s handling of the Coronavirus epidemic and divisions have opened up in Macron’s party. Will the crisis shatter preconceived ideas or rei […]

]]> c80ac6ea8afe11a83bd303415f223446 Tony Cross's profile was updated https://theravingreporter.com/activity/p/103/ Mon, 20 Apr 2020 09:58:20 +0000 0