I suppose that by today’s standards, Valerie Trierweiler has come out a winner. By writing a tell-all book about her relationship with French President François Hollande she has hit ever so many birds with one stone. First there’s the way Trierweiler got her revenge for being dumped so unceremoniously and so publicly. For Hollande’s former lover, revenge is not a dish served cold. Rather it is one served hot and bloody.

Whether it was intentional or not, the timing of the book’s publication inflicted the maximum damage on Hollande. Never a greatly-admired President, his approval rate plummeted to 19 per cent following the publication of the book. So one up for Team Valerie. Then there’s the rewarding financial aspect of it. Trierweiler received a huge advance, and book sales are soaring. So she’s laughing all the way to the bank.

Despite this, I can’t help feeling that Trierweiler has cut a particularly pathetic figure. Her description of Hollande is one of a cold, insensitive man far more besotted with his popularity ratings rather than who he was denting the duvet with. He doesn’t seem to have been especially fond of Trierweiler or anyone else for that matter.

He ditched his wife for Trierweiler and subsequently he dumped her for the younger Julie Gayet. One wonders what they saw in this tubby, owlish, insensitive man. Trierweiler has published the ultimate book in revenge porn, but in so doing she has come across as a bunny-boiler without a shred of dignity left.

• To counteract the grimness about the brutal slayings and violence taking place in Syria and Iraq, the newspapers are giving us a surfeit of news about George Clooney’s upcoming wedding. Note – it is purely Clooney’s wedding. The bride-to-be Amal Alamuddin hardly gets a look-in. Even though she’s going to be right there tying the knot with Clooney, he’s the one getting the most mentions. If this is a production, Clooney is the undisputed star and she’s got a cameo role. It’s all about how unbelievably lucky she is to have nabbed this suave screen idol and much musing as to how she managed to pin him down.

Trierweiler received a huge advance, and book sales are soaring. So she’s laughing all the way to the bank

The articles are all on the lines of how incredibly fortunate Alamuddin is to be favoured by this grey fox of Hollywood. It’s quite irritating to see that practically nobody has commented on the fact that Clooney – a serial dater of leggy brunettes – is quite lucky to have landed Alamuddin – an intelligent, stylish and lovely younger woman and a human rights lawyer to boot.

Her achievements to date don’t seem to count for much. Landing Clooney – the ultimate Bride-Prey – is considered to be the only accomplishment worthy of mention. So despite many years of trying to break the glass ceiling and doing away with sexism, women still get classified according to the mate they manage to land.

• Sigmar Gabriel, the German Vice Chancellor and super minister, sparked off a furious debate when he said something which should be perfectly obvious and innocuous.

In an interview with the German magazine Wert am Sonntag, Gabriel said he considered it vital to be able to have some free time with his family. He suggested a stop to all work-related e-mails and phone calls during the weekend or set hours. Certain times should be off-limits to employers, Gabriel insisted. He lauded those institutions and employers who res­pected family time.

The Vice Chancellor insisted that never being able to disconnect is bad for a person’s health and will inevitably lead to losing touch with reality. If one’s only interactions are with other people online and re­garding work-related issues, one stood a very good chance of losing touch with one’s family and friends. There are no shared experiences, no shared memories upon which to build long-lasting relationships.

I would say that Gabriel’s declaration stands to reason. It’s quite clear that if someone is surgically attached to his phone or tablet even when spending time with his family, there’s not going to be bonding taking place. And yet we keep negating this self-evident truth and fuelling our digital dependency.

Comedian Chris Rock’s quip seems apt in this context. He said: “You only live once. So make sure you spend 15 hours on the internet every day, desperately seeking the validation of strangers.” It seems that many do.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt

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