Did President George W. Bush wink at Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Britain, and did she, in return, frown at him?
“That’s what happened yesterday after George Bush mangled his greeting to the Queen on her state visit to the U.S.,” reports The Daily Mail.
“Stumbling over his words, he came perilously close to suggesting that the monarch had toured the States in 1776.
“And although the President’s following wink was initially rewarded with a regal glare, the Queen did at least seem to see the funny side of the blunder.
“After the blunder the President paused and turned to the Queen to acknowledge his gaffe, joking that she ‘gave me a look that only a mother could give a child.’
For more details please click here…
While on this subject, let us have a look at an old but interesting article on “What the British think of America”. To read this BBC story please click here…
Excerpts:
“Once upon a time the Americans were the British, lost on the narrow lip of a distant continent, clutching their faith, songs, customs and memories; they were 17th Century space travellers, cut off from Planet Europe with its corruptions and tyrannies.
“Today, the British sometimes seem more like strayed Americans, islanders who speak American, watch American, eat American and increasingly think American too.
“Looking at us, a visiting anthropologist from Mars might conclude that we must be a tribe of migrants from Pennsylvania who ended up, for obscure reasons, squatting off France…”
The Times carries a story “Oops, he did it again . . . President rewrites American history.”
And to look at a discussion at a mundane level please click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.