From emptying of the diplomatic bag to breaking wind before Virgin Queen

[emad]

From emptying of the diplomatic bag to breaking wind before Virgin Queen


By Michael Binyon



THE need to relieve oneself diplomatically has on occasion determined the fate of nations.
The most notorious practitioner of “bladder diplomacy” was the late President Assad, the hardline Syrian President for more than 25 years.

Western statesmen visiting his palace were offered juice, water and bountiful cups of coffee while the President lectured them for hours on end. Eventually the visitors cut a deal simply to escape to the lavatory.

Enoch Powell, the late Conservative politician and noted orator, said that politicians should speak with their bladders half full, as it gave a sense of urgency to their speeches.

On the other hand, Morarji Desai, Prime Minister of India from 1977 to 1979, drank a pint of his own urine every day. He lived to the age of 99.

Politicians have not always been able to reach the lavatory in time. During a state dinner in Tokyo in 1992, the first President Bush said that he fell ill so suddenly that he vomited on the lap of Kiichi Miyazawa, the Japanese Prime Minister.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1782828,00.html

[Taxloss]

1. That's great.

Funny piece. Thanks emad.

[Nihil]

2. Excellent!

Good collection but I think the best one is the the last one:

> A well-known story covers the state visit to Britain in the 1960s of
> General Gowon, the military ruler of Nigeria. On the first day, as he
> settled down in the open landau at Victoria station for the procession
> down the Mall, one of the horses thunderously broke wind. The Queen
> turned to him and apologised. “Ma’am, don’t worry at all,” he said.
> “To tell the truth, I thought it was one of the horses.”

:spray: