France and UK to sign historic defence pact from EUobserver.com – Headline News The Moroccan girl, the president, the dental hygienist, and the ‘bunga-bunga parties’ from FP Passport by Joshua Keating Here’s Italian President Silvio Berlusconi’s underaged girl scandal #4,080: At the heart of it all is a Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby, who turned 18 … Read more
Know your rights as an EU citizen by Grahnlaw Are you moving within the European Union? Are you looking for work in another EU country, or are you setting up shop? Is your employer turning you into an expat? Do you want to spend retirement in another EU member state? Are there family reasons for … Read more
here is the website for the project… “In order to open this debate up to a wider interested public (including non-German speakers) we begin today by introducing some of the main thinkers and voices: intellectuals such as Necla Kelek, Thilo Sarrazin, Bassam Tibi, Henryk M. Broder, Stefan Luft, Ralph Giordano, Claus Leggewie, Werner Schiffauer, Seyran … Read more
What currency wars mean for the eurozone by Centre for European Reform By Simon Tilford The dollar has now fallen to $1.40 against the euro. This is still below the low of almost $1.60 that it reached in the middle in July 2008, but it represents a steep decline from under $1.20 in early June. … Read more
Hungarian sludge disaster darkens mood from Wash Post Europe by George Jahn KOLONTAR, Hungary – The disaster that buried three Hungarian villages in caustic red sludge last week is deepening the gloom of a country gripped by recession, polarization and the near-ubiquitous feeling that its people are doomed to be victims of calamity. Hungary: Chemical … Read more
Why is Europe falling behind? Look at EU patent by Grahnlaw The governments of the EU member states meet in the Council of the European Union, Monday to Tuesday (11 to 12 October 2010) in Luxembourg. Yes, even when the Council presidency is in Belgian hands (Brussels), the October Council meetings are held in the … Read more
Bundesbank calls for dismissal of Sarrazin from FT.com – World, Europe Germany’s Bundesbank says it will ask Christian Wulff, the country’s president, to dismiss Thilo Sarrazin, a board member who caused outrage by saying Jews shared ‘a certain gene’ and Muslims were unwilling to fit into German society Wilders pulls out as Dutch talks fail … Read more
Citzalia ? the virtual ghost European Parliament (really, why spend money on this?) from Jon Worth by Jon Yesterday???thanks to this tweet ??I had the dubious honour to be one of the first people to have a look at a draft website for Citzalia, a project that promises some sort of virtual European Parliament role … Read more
Wilders backs Dutch minority government from European Voice – RSS – News & analysis Talks begin to form a minority liberal-conservative administration with the informal backing of the anti-immigrant party of Geert Wilders. MAIN FOCUS: The Netherlands pulls out of Afghanistan | 02/08/2010 from euro|topics On Sunday, the Netherlands became the first Nato member state … Read more
Belgium takes over the EU Council Presidency for six months today, Thursday. But the country is deeply divided politically and has only a provisional government led by former Premier Yves Leterne, who was voted out of office in June. The press, however, is confident of the strength of the EU and believes the current Belgian regionalism is a model for Europe.
Back in the days ? let?s say 1932 just to pick a moment ? when European politics were really polarized, the spectrum ran from Moscow-faithful communists at one extreme all the way to monarchists and fascists. During the same time, the US political spectrum spanned all the way from Republicans to Democrats, which is to say from what Europeans would call center right liberals to center left liberals. Neither extreme questioned the premises of democracy, neither sought the embrace of the state in a socialist fashion, or even ? on the far left of American politics ? in more than a very moderate quasi-social democratic manner. The answer to Sombart?s classic query, why is there no socialism in America, also served largely as the answer to its necessary pendant: why is there no fascism in America? American politics in the twentieth century was a model of consensus compared to the ideological extremes found across the Atlantic.
found in TIAGO HOISEL
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An inter-faith organization just released a list of the top 100 women-friendly mosques in England. The criteria included things like separate prayer room, daycare services, women in decision-making positions, and women-specific activities. From Faith Matters’ web site:
Fitna (pl. fitan) (????) is an Arabic word with connotations of secession, upheaval and chaos. It is often used to refer to civil war, disagreement and division within Islam and specifically alludes to a time involving trials of faith, similar to the Tribulation in Christian eschatology. (Wikipedia) The Fitna of Geert Wilders from the blog! … Read more
Turkey and the EU: hurtful uncertainty | Şevket Pamuk | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Istanbul Metro Station, Taksim: Turkish Conquest of Constantinople. Photo by Jenny White
(click here for the full NY Times article). FOUND IN: Ottomania: The Empire Strikes Back
Dutch MPs cancel trip to Turkey | Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Turkish MPs are disappointed the Dutch parliament has cancelled a fact-finding mission about the country’s wishes to join the European Union, the NRC reports on Thursday.
Foresight analysis measures the potential impacts of foreign and domestic policy actions. For the purpose of writing this column I have chosen a number of Dutch and Turkish actors as part of a simulation exercise, and without meaning it to be derogatory in any way, have put them into a grid system of four adjacent boxes.
ASSETS
* Thanks to economic growth and tight fiscal policy, since the 2001 financial crisis, public sector debt has come down to manageable levels..
* Reforms and restructuring have strengthened the banking sector.
* Economic growth rests on more solid foundations, driven by a dynamic private sector, productivity gains, and higher value-added production.
* The prospect of economic convergence with the European Union, demographic dynamism, and the country’s pivotal regional position tend to enhance the Turkish market’s attractiveness.
WEAKNESSES
* With its extensive external financing needs, the highest of all emerging countries, Turkey remains very dependent on capital markets.
* The sharp rise of foreign currency debt in the private sector has increased its exposure to exchange rate risk.
* The antagonism between the government and militant Kemalists remains a recurring source of instability.