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A Place In The Sun
The European Commission's Institute for Energy is studying proposals to build "solar farms" covering an area the size of Wales in the Sahara and Middle Eastern deserts, claiming that 0.3 percent of light falling on these regions could provide the EU with all its energy needs.
The scheme has the backing of Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy, it is reported. Combined with "EU windfarms" in the North and Baltic Seas, the continents energy needs could be met with natural energy alone: Some nations, like Britain and Denmark, could export power to needy countries further south.
It is costed at just under £36 billion (€45.5bn) and would involve laying cables under the sea between Morocco and Spain and Sicily and Tunisia. The "daunting" costs reported in the Guardian also include restructuring the entire infrastructures of "transfer" nations such as Greece and Turkey.
Also in this issue:
Funny Honey Trap
Hilarious stuff from Guido today. Over the weekend, papers carried the story of a "top government adviser" and "senior Downing Street aide" who was picked up by a sultry Chinese girl in a nightclub while part of the official visit to China in January.
The hapless aid fell for the oriental temptress and she accompanied him back to his hotel. The following morning, he discovered that the lady had vanished - and made off with his BlackBerry. "Sensitive official information" and access to Downing Street email servers could mean that British security was compromised. "A senior official said... that the incident had all the hallmarks of a suspected honeytrap by Chinese intelligence", the Times reported.
Archbishop, is that you?
Archbishop or arch-villain?
Dead Ringers
Here's the first photo of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, arrested yesterday and currently en route for a Human Rights showdown at the Hague.
Karadzic was reported to have lived on the run for nearly a decade, moving among a series of safe houses in the mountains to elude his UN pursuers. It now appears that these guerilla tales - mostly reported by foreign hacks who arrived in Serbia hoping to track down Europe's most wanted man - were bollocks.
Barbarians Inside The Gates
It has become scary in England at night and even in daylight hours.
Europe Round-Up
Venice going under: Rising water levels are bad enough, but if current trends continue La Serenissima will soon face a shortage of Venetians. High prices and lack of basic shopping have driven locals off the islands, leaving many properties to rich foreigners.
Mafia splash the cash: Things are changing at the other end of Italy, too. The three biggest mafia clans control interests worth over ten percent of Italy's GDP - add the drugs trade, and you could double this sum.
Carla Everywhere
No fewer than three French weeklies with La Bruni on their covers. Point de Vue, with its coverage of obscure Euro-Royals, is one of EURSOC's favourite publications, but connoisseurs of cringe will adore this week's Paris Match, which features the Amazonian Carla perched on her diminutive husband's knee in what must be one of the most unusual official photo shoots in the history of the French Presidency.
Britain Ratifies Lisbon Treaty
Britain has put the final touches to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
The Sun reports on the the arcane ritual which saw Britain sign up to the treaty.
"Under the UK’s ratification process, both houses of Parliament must pass the treaty.
"The Queen then gives Royal Assent, and signs goatskin “instruments of ratification” along with the Foreign Secretary.
"These are then sealed, bound in blue leather, and deposited with the Italian ministry of foreign affairs in Rome.
"A spokesman for the Foreign Office said all these stages had now been completed."
Damn Lies And Statistics
Ultraviolent Britain
Do I believe the government, or my own lying eyes? That's the question millions of Britons are asking themselves this week as the government issues figures claiming that crime has tumbled dramatically since Labour came to power.
In Vino Veritas
As any intelligent person knows, red wine is good for your health. It makes no difference if it is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir or Sangiovese.
The new good news is that drinking red wine helps those - who are partial to eating red meat - is a serious aid to digestion. Basically the tummy likes the combination.
Oops He Did It Again
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams caused yet more controversy last night when he said in a letter that Christian doctrine was "offensive to Muslims."
It follows his comments earlier this year in which he suggested that elements of Sharia Law be implemented in Britain.
This time, in an interfaith missive, he identified the Christian belief in the Trinity as being "difficult, sometimes offensive" to Muslims, who believe in a single indivisible God.
Africa, Elvis, Jesus And Coca-Cola
What is the most popular music in Kenya and many other parts of Africa ? Reggae ? No. Elvis. What is the most popular god in Kenya and most other parts of Africa? Krishna? No. Jesus.
The Freedom Agenda
Conservative frontbencher-turned-liberty campaigner David Davis won reelection last week with a thumping majority. The press gave the election scant coverage, preferring to concentrate on a Glasgow East election which could seal the fate of PM Gordon Brown.
Only the left-leaning Independent gave Davis serious leader column treatment, while the BBC ignored his acceptance speech. Curiously, a truncated version of this speech appears on Davis own website. Cranmer publishes the whole thing, which we reproduce here.
"First, may I thank the returning officer, his officials and the police. I would also like to take the opportunity to commend the other parties that contested this election. One of the freedoms I defend is the right of anybody to stand in a democratic election. By and large this has been a courteous and entertaining campaign. I thank everyone for taking part. Four weeks ago, I resigned my position as Shadow Home Secretary, and Member of Parliament. Not for personal gain. Not for political advantage. But to defend a principle. The doubters said it couldn’t be done.
"You can’t win a by-election campaigning for freedom. You can’t shift public support for 42 days.
"You can’t spark a national debate, they said… people just don’t care about British liberty. And yet, 3 weeks on, we’ve sent a shot across the bows of Gordon Brown’s arrogant, arbitrary and authoritarian government. We’ve galvanised a new consensus … across the political spectrum … beyond the world of politics. A new resolve. A new spirit of freedom. A fresh sense of purpose.
Sir Bob On Liberty
Bob Geldof wrote a stunning column for today's Daily Telegraph on the betrayal of British liberties taking place under the current government. Geldof, best known as the man behind Live Aid, has turned his attention to the campaign of David Davis to put a stop to the government's anti-liberty agenda, specifically the 42 day detention act, but, as Geldof writes in his article, the principle can be applied to the entire range of surveillance measures introduced and planned, from ID cards to email and website intercepts.
It's a very welcome intervention, not least because the supposedly Tory press has reserved particular venom for Davis' rebellion, painting him as a dangerous eccentric liable to destroy the opposition's big lead in the opinion polls by "splitting" the party and distracting attention from leader David Cameron. Davis has built up a true cross-party support for his stance, from libertarians like Geldof to old-style Left-wingers like Tony Benn. Yet the best the British press can do is snipe at the man's ambition - for daring to put country before his party!
We're reproducing the entire article below, but do check out the Telegraph, in particular its comments section following Geldof's piece.
Don't let 'Brave New Britain' remove our fundamental rights
Today's by-election in Haltemprice and Howden is not normal. It is extraordinary.
The people there are not being asked to consider the competing policies of government and opposition. They are being asked to think about who we are, what we stand for and whether we will continue to be the country built by previous generations. This is a fight about how much of our liberty the state can remove, before it changes who - and what - we are.
UK Sharia "Vital And Inevitable"
Another top British barrister has called for elements of Islamic Sharia law to be introduced into the UK.
Former chairman of Britain's Bar Council Stephen Hockman QC said last week that "It is vital and inevitable that sharia will become part of British law in some shape or form.
"Given the world situation and our own substantial Muslim population it is vital that we now look at ways to integrate Muslim culture into our own traditions... Otherwise we will find that there is a significant section of our society which is increasingly alienated, with very dangerous results."
Birth Of An Empire, Part 2
"People only accept change when they are faced with necessity, and only recognise necessity when a crisis is upon them." - Jean Monnet (1888-1979), a "founding father" of the European Union.
The European Union's "federal phase" is complete; the EU elite now has its focus on Europe's geopolitical role. What challenges does Europe face as it strives for superpower status?
The next phase of the European project is twofold. To place “Europe” on the world stage as a superpower in its own right, and the creation of a European identity.
The two aren’t as different as they appear.
This much was evident to Henry Kissinger, who recently told a German interviewer,
“Nation-states have not just given up part of their sovereignty to the European Union but also part of their vision for their own future. Their future is now tied to the European Union, and the EU has not yet achieved a vision and loyalty comparable to the nation-state. So, there is a vacuum between Europe's past and Europe's future.”
Europe moves forward thanks to a vanguard effect. Brussels, with the connivance of some governments, comes up with policy; it is later legislated upon if necessary by parliaments national and European. The people, generally resistant to closer integration, catch up later. Former French President (and President of the committee which drafted the first European Constitution) Valéry Giscard d’Estaing captured the process nicely:
"Public opinion will be led to adopt, without knowing it, the proposals we dare not present to them directly."
