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Quote Of The Day
"When men and women with sweeping ambitions for Europe decide to make use of this treaty, they will be able to rekindle from the ashes of today the flame of a United Europe."
Former French President and president of the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the rejected 2005 Constitution Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on the new "reform treaty."
In an open letter to newspapers published in the Independent, Giscard is critical of Britain's stance, but argues that "the proposals in the original constitutional treaty are practically unchanged".
Bringing The Left Bank To The Banlieue
Aubervilliers - it's not the boulevard St Germain...
France's leading intellectuals regularly preach the merits of integrating the impoverished suburbs into the fabric of Parisian life. When Nicolas Sarkozy, then Interior Minister, took a hard line on violent crime in the Paris banlieue, the denizens of France's top colleges were among the first to criticise Sarko for his lack of "solidarity" with the youth of the housing estates surrounding Paris.
Moreover, France's various intellectuals regularly grumble that the historic centre of Paris has become a living museum. The "gauche caviar's" favourite stomping ground, the left-bank neighbourhood of St-Germain, comes in for particular criticism: Philosophers' cafés and artists' garrets have given way to designer boutiques and apartments for rich foreigners. You'd get the impression that they'd be eager to get away from the place.
But when some Paris academics were invited to walk the walk by relocating from their cosy rive gauche offices to a new campus in the grim northern banlieue of Aubervilliers, the radical thinkers didn't ponder long before declaring that the proposals were a move too far.
Open Race For Republicans
EURSOC's US correspondent Chris Timmers studies the form of Republican candidates.
Well, it looks like Hillary Clinton is still the front runner for the Democratic party nomination for President, but the Republicans haven't really settled down yet. It appears as though their final selection is anything but decided.
Marxist Town Planning
How to ensure that Europe's beautiful old cities remain vibrant cultural and economic centres for the third millennium? It's a puzzle that has intrigued politicians for years.
One far-left Spanish novelist who lived in Paris has come up with a novel approach to the challenge: "De-Europeanise" the French capital, throwing its portes open to a new generation of immigrants (mostly from Africa) who will "destroy" Paris in order to recreate it for the 21st century.
Simply The Best
As if some football fans didn't suffer enough, here's a group of losers from Holland's Pop Idol putting on the half-time show from hell...
Sarkozy Storms Out
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy walks out of an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes show. The President apparently took issue with a question about his estranged wife, Cécilia: He is also seen describing his press secretary as an idiot...
Sarkozy And The Constitution
"Inasmuch as the French people have rejected the whole treaty in a legally binding act, how can the President of the Republic alone decide to have the majority of its provisions ratified by the Parliament?" - some harsh criticism of Nicolas Sarkozy's support for the EU Treaty from French constitutional law expert Anne-Marie Le Pourhiet, translated by John Rosenthal in World Politics Review.
"Inasmuch as the text limits itself in fact to reproducing three-quarters of the provisions of the proposed Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe, it would undoubtedly have been simpler just to take the original text and erase just those symbolic aspects that have been abandoned. It is not hard to understand, however, why this option was rejected, since it would have made the contempt shown for the will of the French and Dutch peoples -- who rejected the latter treaty in referendums in the summer of 2005 -- too flagrantly obvious."
The compromise, she writes, means "A more contorted legal procedure has never been seen."
Blue Card Blues
More on the European Commission's plans to introduce a "Blue Card" system for skilled immigrants, to rival the US's famed Green Cards.
EURSOC discussed this story in depth September 13, when the proposals were first touted by EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini. We noted that the Commission was planning to replace talk of "immigration" with the more positive phrase, "mobility."
Smothering The Blogs?
From Italian blogger Beppe Grillo, via Iain Dale:
"Ricardo Franco Levi, Prodi’s right hand man , undersecretary to the President of the Council, has written the text to put a stopper in the mouth of the Internet. The draft law was approved by the Council of Ministers on 12 October. No Minister dissociated themselves from it. On gagging information, very quietly, these are all in agreement.
"The Levi-Prodi law lays out that anyone with a blog or a website has to register it with the ROC, a register of the Communications Authority, produce certificates, pay a tax, even if they provide information without any intention to make money. Blogs are being born every second, anyone can start one without a problem and they can write their thoughts, publish photos and videos. In fact, the route proposed by Levi limits access to the Internet."
Poland Gets The Horn
Poland voted to ditch one-half of its "Terrible Twins" partnership this weekend, replacing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with centre-right free market conservative Donald Tusk.
Tusk's Civic Platform party, which is described as both Atlanticist and pro-EU, scored a victory over Kaczynski's party, who were, the Guardian insists, a "two-year experiment in isolationism, nationalism, and intolerance."
Kaczynski's twin brother, Lech, remains President and has veto powers.
EURSOC hasn't followed the antics of the Kaczynskis very closely, but they must have been bloody awful if the left-wing Guardian is jubilant about the election of a fiercely anti-Communist right-winger who has pledge to slice taxes and privatise much of Poland's economy .
Getting The Pints In
A new study shows that Britain leads Europe in levels of obesity, alcohol abuse, diabetes and smoking related deaths.
The report, compiled as a "snapshot of the nation's health" by the Dept of Health, paints Britain as "the sick man of Europe." Nearly a million children under 11 are classified as obese - a rise of 50 percent in ten years. In some regions, obesity levels are higher than the US national average. The average British level is 24.2 percet. The amount of alcohol consumed per person, per year is, at 11.37 litres, half a litre higher than the EU average.
Low Level War With Iran
SAS forces storm the Iranian embassy in London in 1980
Britain and the US are fighting a low-level "bush war" with Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Will it heat up?
According to "defence sources" quoted in The Times, men from Britain's elite SAS unit have made several sorties into Iran, ostensibly to take out arms smuggling operations.
The Culture Wars
"If you think Bush is a fascist and Castro is a progressive, you are not a democrat. If you think cultural traditions can trump women’s rights, you are not a feminist. And if you think antisemitic rants are simply an expression of frustration with American and Israeli policy, you have learnt nothing from history."
- Sarah Baxter on spotting progressives in a world of useful idiots, The Sunday Times
The Word On The Treaty
Here's a round-up of quotes on the EU "reform treaty" agreed by government leaders in Lisbon late last week
"It was apt that Gordon Brown's agreement to the EU treaty should have coincided with the announcement that MPs are to get an additional two weeks' holiday a year because there is so little for them to do.
"The Lisbon Treaty, after all, is another giant step towards a new form of government, empowered to decide most of the laws that govern our lives, making our Westminster MPs even more redundant than they are now."
- Christopher Booker, The Daily Telegraph
Quote Of The Day
Gordon Brown" has set much store by the extent to which his style of government represents a break from the Blair era of dodgy dossiers and sofa government. He has promised that more prerogative powers will be transferred to Parliament, and to set up citizens’ juries. Yet--in spite of all the spin to the contrary--he will return from Lisbon with a document designed to hoodwink the British public. As most Continental commentators and politicians declare with relish, the new Treaty has all the substance of a constitution without the c-word. ‘All the earlier proposals will be in the new text,’ said Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, author of the original constitution. ‘But they will be hidden and disguised in some way.’"
- Fraser Nelson on "Gordon Brown's European Nightmare" in the Spectator
Europe Round-Up
French strikes, Spanish-US clash on seas, Italians bemoan US justice system, Conservative Muslims tell Tories "Iran needs nukes." And more...
As EURSOC predicted yesterday, the Sarkozy divorce beat yesterday's massive transport strike to the front pages of all the papers... with the exception of the left-wing Libération, which couldn't resist referring to both events with its cover "Divorce Social." Note how Libé reports that the trade unions responsible for yesterday's misery are demanding the "opening of negotiations on the reform of the special regimes." In France, bringing the country grinding to a halt is something the unions do as a statement of intent, rather than as an act of last resort.
Even the Guardian, Britain's closest equivalent of Libération, acknowledges that France is f*cked if Sarkozy can't introduce reform: "He cannot cave in the first time the unions flex their muscles. He was elected to reform labour laws, after a decade of failed attempts to do so."
While warning that Thatcherite strong-arm tactics won't keep public opinion on his side, the Guardian concludes, "France's action man has got to stop talking about reform and start delivering it."
French Pension Funds Scandal
Negotiating tool
The FT (tedious registration that refuses to keep readers logged in required) has the best analysis we've seen of a backhander scam which has shamed both France's trade unions and MEDEF, the employers foundation.
Rugby & Football
You know you're getting old when you read an article by Richard Littlejohn and agree with every word of it. Two EURSOC correspondents had an extended conversation yesterday about the relative merits of the England football and rugby teams. Their conclusions weren't far off what Littlejohn writes in today's Daily Mail.
What Independent Media?
Newspaper caught reprinting govt propaganda
Yesterday's Independent ran a front page dismantling the "ten Euro-myths" peddled by unscrupulous sceptics about the European Constitution.
Poodle Or Pit Bull?
Transport strikes first big test for President Sarkozy
At this moment, members of France's Communist-linked CGT trade union are marching on one of Paris' main boulevards in one of the biggest protests in five years. Public transport in the capital and throughout the country is at a standstill as the first major strike of Nicolas Sarkozy's Presidency takes grip.
The strikers are protesting against proposed reforms to their retirement benefits, which allow some transport workers to retire at fifty. Sarkozy's government wants to raise the retirement age in line with the private sector and public sector in other European nations. With a hefty parliamentary majority and a stunning personal success in the Presidential elections, he believes he has the mandate to reform France. The unions - increasingly anachronistic, with dwindling membership, but eager to stamp their authority on the new era - claim Sarkozy has misread France's mood.
Sarkozy Announces Split
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Cécilia are to separate after eleven years of marriage, the Elysée Palace announced at noon today.
The 15-word declaration ends a week of fevered speculation in the French press that the Sarkozy's turbulent marriage had ended. Yesterday, we reported on a story in a French newspaper which confirmed that the Sarkozys had visited a divorce judge on Monday: An "official" announcement was expected at any day.
Gordon "Two Jobs" Brown
The "Governor General" hears the Empire's call
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown is off to Lisbon to batter out a final text for the EU Reform Treaty. Before leaving, he answered calls from the opposition and members of his own Labour Party for a referendum on the treaty, which everyone except the PM, the Foreign Secretary and the leader writers of the Independent admit is identical to the Constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
It's beginning to sink in that the "red lines" Brown has pledged to defend are being revealed as "red herrings" by sharper Eurosceptics. In what seems like a desperate attempt to stem criticism in Britain, Brown has launched the European Council meeting in the time-honoured fashion by bashing the French.
Dressed To Kill
Seeing Che Guevara's mug plastered over t-shirts is depressing enough. But some chancers are selling t-shirts featuring leftist icons who make Guevara look like Polly Toynbee.
Kicking Against The Pricks
Damien Thompson and friends' new myth-and-quackbusting site, Counterknowledge, is essential reading. Today: How Muslims definitely didn't discover America over 600 years before Columbus.
Check it out, and please add it to your blogrolls.
Alleged Paedophile On MySpace
Christopher Neil, who is being hunted by Interpol as a suspect in a series of paedophile outrages, has had his MySpace page discovered by internet sleuths.
Canadian Neil is currently on the run in South-East Asia after police unscrambled 200 images which apparently reveal him abusing young boys.
UK Foreign Secretary Upset At "Chamberlain" Slur
David Miliband has demanded an apology after a fellow Labour MP compared his attitude to the EU with that of Neville Chamberlain, who came back after meeting Adolf Hitler in 10938 promising "peace in our time."
Michael Connarty, who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee, made the remarks while the Foreign Secretary faced questions over Britain's "red lines" on the revised EU Constitutional treaty.
Miliband said, "You are saying what we are doing today is equivalent of Neville Chamberlain coming back in the late 1930s from Munich claiming to have an agreement with Adolf Hitler - that is not worthy of you."
French Paper "Announces" Sarkozy Split
The web edition of a French newspaper claims that Nicolas and Cécilia Sarkozy appeared before a judge on Monday afternoon to put into motion their separation and eventual divorce.
A Sporting Chance
Ensure your team reflects the official version of your country's image
What could be more depressing than a Guardian investigation into why the teams in Saturday's Rugby World Cup Final are "so white"?
For a change, though, the article is good. The half dedicated to the England side in particular overturns a number of stereotypes about the Hooray Henry rugger bugger nature of the England side and its support.
A Blair For Italy?
PM and PM-to-be? Prodi (left) and Veltroni
Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni is voted to head a new centrist "Democratic Party", which supporters hope will offer an alternative to both the unreformed left and Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia.
Brown Talks Oval-Shaped Balls
A teenage Gordon Brown, when rugby was an uncomplicated thing.
Prime Minister celebrates England victory.
Gordon Brown sparked much mirth in summer 2006 when he declared his support for the England football team's campaign in the World Cup. Few Englishmen believed the Scot could bring himself to cheer on the Auld Enemy, not least because every other Scot the media spoke to claimed he would be backing anyone but England.
Brown's supposed support for England was linked to something of a mini constitutional crisis. The English wondered why they should fork out to support a country which affects to loathe everything England stands for; opportunistic commentators linked the ill-will to discrepancies in tax contributions and voting rights between Scotland and England.
Now Prime Minister, Brown has to continue his dedication to all things English.
Quote Of The Day
"He is not ashamed to espouse values that are routinely derided or are not politically correct, including a sincere and deep love of his country and for the countryside. When driving back to London from a family Christmas in Gloucester last year, his heart rose when, despite the hunting ban, he saw the size of the crowds gathering for the traditional Boxing Day meet. He loathes prejudice. He has a deep respect for tradition and the Royal Family, and is honoured to be an Englishman. To challenge that makes him angry. Why is it all right to be a passionate Welshman, Irishman or Scot, yet to profess delight at being English brings charges of arrogance and racism?"
Mark Souster in the Times on the "backbone of England", Rugby captain Phil Vickery. Full story Here.
Sarko & Cécilia: Le Split?
President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife expected to announce separation this week.
It has been a roller-coaster week for the French. On Saturday, their rugby team crashed to defeat against the ancient enemy, the English. Head of the Communist-linked CGT union Bernard Thibault, who has seen off more reforms in his 48 years than Rev Ian Paisley, has threatened to throw the country back to the dark ages with a transport strike. And on Friday through the weekend, the country's press buzzed with the gossip that France's First Couple, Nicolas and Cécilia Sarkozy, were set to declare an end to their turbulent 11-year marriage.
It isn't exactly the "rupture" Super Sarko planned when he swept to power in May.
Brown's Red Lines...
Here's Gordon Brown on next week's meeting on the EU Reform Treaty, as quoted in The Times: “I am a cautious man and I will wait to see the discussion that takes place in the [European] Council next week before I make a final judgment.”
“But if we achieve our red lines and achieve them in the detail then we would not need to veto the treaty, we would not need to come back and say it was unacceptable.”
Is it just us, or did Brown not fly in to another EU meeting in June to protect Britain's red lines then? And didn't Tony Blair retire claiming to have secured them? And, speaking of Blair, didn't he secure a handful of British red lines on tax, foreign policy and security way back when the first Constitution was negotiated in 2003-2004?
There's something of Groundhog Day about the whole business. Every couple of months, a British leader buggers off to Brussels to defend the Red Lines against EU encroachment.
Polly Gives PM Both Barrels
Veteran social commentator Polly Toynbee may be a pacificist, but you wouldn't know it following her savage demolition of Gordon Brown's "killing off" of social democratic values in last week's pre-budget statement.
Minaret Debate Spreads Through Europe
A minaret in Zurich, one of only three in Switzerland
Islam is Europe's fastest-growing religion. As the numbers of the faithful increase, the demand for space for worship increases, a fact not lost on some citizens of southern Germany and Switzerland, where opposition to the building of Minarets is growing.
In September, outgoing Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber - one of Germany's most powerful statesmen - said, "Church towers, not minarets, should be what you see when you look out across the state." His complaint echoed criticism of plans to build one of Europe's largest mosques close to Cologne Cathedral, complete with 50 metre (170ft) minarets.
Nine Inconvenient Truths
A British judge has ruled that Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth can be shown in schools, but that it includes nine significant errors and must be accompanied by notes to balance the film's "one-sided" views.
Iranian President's Hitman Past?
Vienna, 1989. Three leaders of an Iranian Kurdish group lie dead in an apartment. Outside, two Iranian agents drag their wounded colleague into the street. A man pulls up on a motorbike, exchanges words with the agents, and one mounts the bike. They speed off.
Sixteen years later, a "Witness D" claims to have identified the man on the motorcycle as none other than Iran's controversial President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Tiny Spies In The Sky?
Ever get the feeling you're being watched?
Anti-war protestors claim that the US government has developed flying robot insect spy cameras to keep an eye on their antics.
The Telegraph reports on complaints by protestors attending rallies in New York and Washington who claim to have been buzzed by dragonfly-like creatures.
Italian Prefect In Burqa Row
From the Guardian, a report that a prefect in the North-Eastern city of Treviso has caused a storm by permitting immigrant women to wear the burka, provided they remove material covering their face if authorities request that they identify themselves.
France To Rejoin NATO Military Command?
Some thoughts on the latest hints from Nicolas Sarkozy that France may be prepared to rejoin the NATO command in the Independent, which cautions that it is unlikely Sarko is considering this for the good of George Bush or even the Atlantic Alliance.
The Indie argues that the move is better viewed as a way of boosting the case for a "European Defence Force."
Paris, My Arse
Last September, the producer of Monopoly asked the French to vote on which towns should replace Paris streets on the new edition of the boardgame. The French, in their wisdom, voted Paris a distant 31st place, well behind the leader, the small south-western town of Montcuq. Francophones will note "Montcuq" is pronounced "mon cul", which translates as "my arse."
How Dare They?
French newspaper Courrier International picks up a quote from Estonian columnist Martin Kala on how "populism poses a threat to the EU reform treaty."
"Populist politicians convey the impression that Europe is an elite club. Nationalist slogans, protectionist measures and widespread distrust are gaining ground. In some member states, the message is increasingly that the focus should be more on the nation's own interests and the 'true concerns of the people'. What kind of message have the Polish leaders sent to Brussels in recent times? Only that its people are primarily concerned about the future of Poland rather than that of Europe."
Revolutions Per Minute
It's the 40th anniversary of the death of revolutionary brand Che Guevara. To commemorate his demise, newspapers have been examining his legacy, and in particular Che's ubiquity on t-shirts.
Best quote of the week was found by Tim Worstall: "Where can I get a T-shirt of the bloke who shot him?"
Blatter Says Balls To EU
Foreign legion: In 2000, Chelsea were the first British team to field a "foreign XI"
Sepp Blatter, the president of football's ruling body FIFA, has called on clubs to overturn an EU ruling which allows clubs to field an unlimited number of foreign players.
Edwards Shrugs Off Clinton Lead
Courtesy of ABC News we learned that John Edwards, formerly a US Senator from North Carolina and Democratic presidential primary candidate, has dismissed his rival Hillary Clinton's lead in the Iowa Caucuses (to be held in January 2008).
"I've lived through the inevitability of Howard Dean," said the so far third place candidate, referring to the then believed "insurmountable" lead of Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic primary. He might have something there. A loss for Hillary would certainly throw the Dems into a tizzy. At present a Des Moines (Iowa) Register poll has Clinton at 29% with Edwards trailing at 22%, and Barak Obama at 21%. These differences are still close enough that it is a tough call to say who will win. But one thing is certain: the winner of this initial polling will carry a great deal of momentum, not to mention fund raising ability, into the continued fight for the Democratic selection process, which, after a number of key state primaries, should designate the putative nominee by March or April 2008.
The Victor?
The New York Review of Books surveys the grim prospect that Iran could be the main beneficiary of the US invasion of Iraq.
Students clash at Tehran university
Iran's president faces unprecedented criticism during a visit to a Tehran university
Make Their Pips Squeak, Darling
"gottle o geer"
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer expected to take on the "super rich"
As Britain's finance minister, Alastair Darling has a tough act to follow. The previous occupant of his office was one Gordon Brown, who spent ten years as the nation's longest-serving and most powerful Chancellor. Despite the fact that Brown is now ensconced in the Prime Minister's office, Britain's finance ministry is inextricably associated with the former Chancellor, whose bulky shadow casts a long pall over the efforts of his successor.
Brown spent ten years dodging left-wing calls to tax Private Equity firms and the non-domiciled "super rich" who have made London their base. But as Darling's first pre-Budget report is released today, it is widely rumoured that Brown's government will target the very wealthy.
Taking Out The Blogs
The EU Referendum Blog reports on a new strategy designed to bring the EU's bloggers on-message.
The Brown Bottle
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has declared that there will be no General Election this autumn, prompting cries from the opposition that he has lost his nerve.
Previously, the Prime Minister's office was feeding speculation that a November election was a certainty, as polls suggested Labour held an 11-point lead over the Conservatives. However, a better-than-expected Conservative Party conference, coupled with a later poll which showed that the Labour lead in marginal constituencies was shakier than Downing Street had been led to believe, caused Brown to pull the plug on the election.
Following Opposition leader David Cameron's defiance of last week's negative polls - he called Brown's bluff by demanding the PM call the election - Brown's apparent climbdown is surely damaging for the government and the PM in particular.
Muslim Medical Students Shun Classes
A group of Muslim medical students in Britain is refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on illnesses related to alcohol or sexually-transmitted diseases.
They claim that learning to treat these diseases conflicts with their faith: Some in the group have also refused to treat members of the opposite sex, according to report by the British Medical Association. One trainee doctor said he would rather fail his exams than examine a female patient.
It Is Broken: Let's Fix It
Here's something we missed first time round, but it's still current. In early September, Peter Hitchens wrote a piece for his Mail on Sunday Blog which amounted to a manifesto of sorts.
He gives a long and familiar litany of the problems facing Britain today. Tension from overcrowded cities; a breakdown in the social and family order, bringing crime to the streets; indiscipline in schools, compounded by flawed teaching methods; dependency, high taxes; the fact that the majority of British laws emanate from the European Union; an intolerance of any form of debate - even the Conservative opposition seem to favour the status quo.
Apple And Orange Fallout Continues
French fans of the "marque de la pomme" are beginning to worry that the much-hyped Apple iPhone won't make it into the shops before Christmas.
Despite reports early last week that the rift between the US company and its French distribution partner Orange (France Telecom) had been healed, the weekend saw fresh conflict. Orange is still opposed to the massive cut of subscription fees Apple is demanding, while a French law could deter the iPhone's producer from releasing the handset in France at all.
The Word On The Street
Some French charm from the Paris metro. You can see the full poster on EURSOC's Flickr site.
Warning to the sensitive: Some swear words.
Tories: A Tactical Victory
Conservative Party leader rallied his troops for a General Election at yesterday's party conference in Blackpool.
In what most centre-right commentators are praising as an effective and wide-ranging speech, Cameron attacked the government's policies as out of date and argued that "only the modern approach of the Conservatives could inspire the British people."
What impressed EURSOC the most, however, was how the Tory leader appeared to succeed in seizing the election initiative from PM Gordon Brown.
The Word On The Street
Rising concerns about the Turkish government's Islamist agenda
Only a few weeks ago, worried Turkish secularists and liberal Europeans were being told (by and large by European newspapers, as it happens) that the August parliamentary election to President of moderate Islamist Abdullah Gul was nothing to worry about.
Now, barely a month after Gul became President, new concerns are emerging about the Islamist agenda of Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their AK Party.
Don't Be Vague, Hague
A welcome statement from Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary, William Hague. In his speech to party conference yesterday, Hague promised to change the law so any new EU treaty would need to be put to a referendum of the British people.
He targeted the 1972 European Communities Act for change: "the next Conservative Government will amend the 1972 European Communities Act, so that if any future government agrees any treaty that transfers further competences from Britain to the EU a national referendum before it could be ratified would be required by law." Hague added that under the Conservatives, judges would be charged with deciding whether or not new treaties would require a referendum. Currently, this job is jealously guarded by ministers.
Top Of The Blogs
My favourite blog top ten...
"Number 1: me (surprise!)
Number 2: my nearest rival (fortunately now seriously discredited)
Number 3: the blog of the political party I belong to
Number 4: that bloke everyone says they respect (who’s dull as dishwater)
Number 5: that popular swear blog"
Head to Mediocracy for the rest. (Hat tip to Timmy, who has a new URL. We'll update our Blogroll shortly...)
A Bonfire Of Blairism
EURSOC has a cunning plan that might be the last chance to save the Tories - and the country
The Tories, Britain’s main opposition party, is on the brink of collapse. After ten years out of power, having been beaten in three successive national elections and in spite of two years preparation they now find themselves a massive ten points behind Gordon Brown’s ‘New New-Labour’ in the polls. In view of the fact that the electoral system is also scandalously stacked against them, it means they hardly stand a chance.
The Tories' demise would be a national tragedy. New Labour’s ideologically motivated agenda has seeped into every aspect of the British state and that state has expanded its role to Kafkaesque proportions. The collapse of effective opposition would leave Britons at the mercy of a one party state, a party hell bent on frog-marching the whole nation to ‘politically correct’ serfdom.
Gordon Brown has been highly successful in making the change and coming across as serious and competent, but strangely the rapid, almost weird, disappearance of Blair has taken the shine off the last ten years. It is as if someone just turned on the lights in a seedy nightclub and you can suddenly see the filth of the place you’ve spent the evening.
No Newt For 2008
Well, well. What was in my email box this evening (October 1st) as I sat down for a final review of my mail? Direct from Newt Gingrich's American Solutions website (www.americansolutions.com) was the announcement: Why I Decided Not To Run for President of the United States.
The Happy Hookah
Islamic exceptions for smoking and alcohol
EURSOC suggested back in June that if you wanted to beat Britain's smoking ban, you should open a hookah bar. Owners of London's many hookah bars were reported to be looking into special pleading for their unique cultural heritage to escape the ban on smoking in public spaces, including bars.
They are likely to be cheered by news from Vancouver, where it has emerged that "city council members bowed to arguments that hookah lounges provide an important cultural space for the city's Muslims and granted them a temporary exemption."
Quote Of The Day
"When the mosques in our cities are bigger than cathedrals and churches, then we must tell our Muslim fellow citizens: 'No, that is going too far. Church towers, not minarets, should be what you see when you look out across the state."
Outgoing leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union, Edmund Stoiber, delivers his final speech to the party faithful. He is succeeded by Erwin Huber, who is expected to continue to rule Germany's most prosperous region in the same manner as his predecessor. The CSU is an important part of Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, but its broadly conservative, Catholic membership often sits uneasily with the dominant Christian Democrat and Social Democrat parties. Should Merkel face an election, however, she would probably depend on the CSU to build a centre-right ruling coalition.
Quote from Deutsche Welle.
Tehran Meltdown
Ahmadinejad give democracy the finger
There's an excellent long article in the Observer on the struggle for human rights in Iran.
Here's veteran dissident Ebrahim Yazdi's conclusion:
"This is the [present system's] last bus. What its precise destination is, I don't know. But my prediction is that it will end similarly to the old Soviet system. That didn't end through a revolution - red, orange or velvet - or through an outside military attack. More than anything, it ended because the collective Russian leadership came to the historical conclusion that the continuation of that system was impossible. It will not be a revolution. It will be gradual. But ultimately, it will be democratic."
The People's Charter
Following news that a copy of the historic Magna Carta is going under the hammer at Sotheby's in December, the Daily Mail's Peter Oborne suggests it's time Britain had a new charter of rights.
