The EU should be stronger and more united. Great Britain should belong to the Union.
Die EU sollte stärker und geeinter sein. Großbritannien sollte der Union angehören.
L'UE devrait être plus forte et plus unie. La Grande-Bretagne devrait appartenir à l'Union.
Monday, February 01, 2010
Why Don’t They Jail the SOBs and Wipe the Smile Off Their Faces?
Lloyd C. Blankfein was paid $67.9 million in 2007. His bank’s profits in 2009 were higher than that year. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Goldman Sachs, the world’s richest investment bank, could be about to pay its chief executive a bumper bonus of up to $100 million in defiance of moves by President Obama to take action against such payouts.
Bankers in Davos for the World Economic Forum (WEF) told The Times yesterday they understood that Lloyd Blankfein and other top Goldman bankers outside Britain were set to receive some of the bank’s biggest-ever payouts. “This is Lloyd thumbing his nose at Obama,” said a banker at one of Goldman’s rivals.
Goldman Sachs is becoming the focus of an increasingly acrimonious political and financial showdown over the payment of multimillion-pound bonuses.Last week the US President described bonuses paid out by some banks as “the height of irresponsibility” and “shameful”.
“The American people understand that we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of, but they do not like the idea that people are digging a bigger hole, even as they are being asked to fill it up,” he said last week. Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs 'Expecting $100 Million Bonus' >>> Helen Power in Davos | Monday, February 01, 2010
Ed West: Geert Wilders Is Not 'Far Right'
THE TELEGRAPH: Like my colleague Douglas Murray, who has already written an excellent post on the show trial of the century, I’ve been surprised by the lack of British media interest in Geert Wilders’s martyrdom in Amsterdam. An American minor celebrity only has to fart to receive blanket coverage in the British press, but when a major politician next door faces jail on trumped-up charges – in a case that will have implications for our freedom of speech – there seems to be little interest.
For those who haven’t visited these parts, Wilders is a Dutch politician on trial for “insulting” Islam by comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf, and for saying that Moroccans commit many street robberies in the Netherlands. Yes, put on trial – not fisked or twitter-lynched or condemned by the Equality Gestapo, but actually brought to court. Wilders calls it “surreal”, and it certainly seems strange that in a city where a gentleman can smoke Morocco’s most famous export and view half-naked women in shop windows, he can go to jail for criticising a religion. >>> Ed West | Saturday, January 30, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Tut, Tut, Gordo! Temper, Temper!
MAIL ONLINE: Sensational claims that Gordon Brown has physically attacked his staff in a series of outbursts in Downing Street - and once in America - have rocked the Government.
Well-placed sources say the Prime Minister has been accused of hitting a senior adviser, pulling a secretary out of her chair and hurling foul-mouthed abuse at aides while distraught over an alleged snub by President Barack Obama.
The claims, which are fiercely denied by Mr Brown's allies, are linked to a new book about Mr Brown by respected political journalist Andrew Rawnsley.
In researching the book, The End Of The Party, due to be published on March 1, Mr Rawnsley has investigated allegations that Mr Brown flew into a number of wild rages since he succeeded Tony Blair as Prime Minister. The publishers say his accounts are so detailed that readers will think he has 'bugs in the vases at No10'. Angry Gordon Brown 'hit out at aide and yanked secretary from her chair' >>> Simon Walters, Mail Online Political Editor | Sunday, January 31, 2010
Bill Gates’ Attack Berlusconi’s Vanity
MAIL ONLINE: Microsoft founder Bill Gates has launched a scathing attack on Silvio Berlusconi, accusing the Italian Prime Minister of spending more on his thinning hair than he does on foreign aid.
Billionaire Mr Gates hit out at Mr Berlusconi's 'stinginess' and said the controversial politican was the main figure on his 'list of shame'.
And, in a clear reference to Mr Berlusconi's hair transplant, he told German daily Sueddeut[s]che Zeitung that 'rich people spend a lot more on personal problems like baldness than they do to combat malaria'.
Obama Doing What Obama Does Best (Apart from Talking and Posing): Spending Taxpayers’ Money. This Time on Nuclear Warheads
MAIL ONLINE: President Obama is planning to increase spending on America's nuclear weapons stockpile just days after pledging to try to rid the world of them.
In his budget to be announced on Monday, Mr Obama has allocated £4.3billion to maintain the U.S. arsenal - £370million more than George Bush spent on nuclear weapons in his final year.
The Obama administration also plans to spend a further £3.1billion over the next five years on nuclear security.
The announcement comes despite the American President declaring nuclear weapons were the ‘greatest danger’ to U.S. people during in his State of the Union address on Wednesday.
Tobacco Firms Could Be Forced to Sell Cigarettes in Plain Packets
THE TELEGRAPH: Tobacco firms are set to be forced to sell cigarettes in plain, unbranded packets as the next step in the war on smoking.
Andy Burnham, the Health Secretary, will signal his support for the move as he launches the government's "tobacco control strategy" tomorrow which aims to halve the number of smokers in Britain by 2020.
In a major speech Mr Burnham will also pave the way for new "interventionist" policies aimed at stopping people smoking in their own homes or cars if they live with children.
However, he will stop short of planning an outright ban on domestic or in-car smoking – claiming this would be a move too far against freedom of choice.
Instead, ministers will consider banning the sale of cigarettes from vending machines, which they say currently provide far too easy access for children as they can be positioned near the entrances of pubs and clubs.
And the current ban on smoking in workplaces and "enclosed public places" such as pubs and workplaces could be extended to cover areas such as walkways and entrances to buildings, currently a favourite haunt of smokers exiled from inside.
Ministers will also announce a new crackdown on the import of cheap illicit cigarettes from abroad. >>> Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor | Saturday, January 30, 2010
Smokers to Face Doorway Ban in New Public Health Policy
THE GUARDIAN: Health secretary Andy Burnham keen to extend 2007 law / Plan to protect non-smokers and reduce UK smokers to 10%
Smokers could be forced to light up away from the entrances to public buildings under government moves aimed at ensuring that no more than one in 10 Britons smoke cigarettes.
The health secretary, Andy Burnham, now favours extending the 2007 landmark law which banned smoking in pubs, workplaces and other enclosed places, to prevent non-smokers having to walk through clouds of secondhand smoke.
The move comes as part of a wider attempt by Burnham to set out the case for state intervention to improve public health, insisting it does not amount to a nanny state. He will set out four principles where he says intervention is justified: where it protects the health of children, where a person's choice affects the choices of others, where barriers need to be removed to allow people to behave healthily, and where the environment can be shaped to offer healthier lifestyles.
Tomorrow's announcements will encourage cars and homes to remain smoke-free, but Burnham will stress that the state does not have a right to intervene in a private space, even to protect children. His department plans to "work with the public sector, business and the public to communicate the dangers of smoking in the home and the car".
Leading medical bodies such as the UK Faculty of Public Health back a legal ban on smoking in cars containing children, as does doctors' leader Professor Steve Field, who called it "a form of child abuse". But concern over what could be portrayed as an unwarranted interference in human rights is likely to limit any government action in advertising campaigns.
Burnham will also "carefully consider" the case for forcing all cigarettes to be stripped of their distinctive wrapping and sold instead in plain brown packets, in order to reduce their appeal. There will also be renewed action against black market tobacco, a ban on tobacco vending machines and extra NHS support for those who want to quit. >>> Denis Campbell and Patrick Wintour | Monday, February 01, 2010
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / Schwanensee
Ballet Company of Mariinsky Theater, St Petersburg – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker: Arabian Dance / Danse arabe / Arabischer Tanz
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Social Exclusion in Southern Yemen
Global Warming? You Can Blame America for That, Says Bin Laden
MAIL ONLINE: Osama bin Laden blamed the United States and other industrialised countries for causing global warming in an extraordinary message issued yesterday.
In a departure from his usual religious rants, the Al Qaeda leader lectured on the dangers of climate change, claiming the only solution was to 'bring the wheels of the American economy' to a halt.
Rather than vows to inflict death and destruction on the U.S. and its allies, the man behind the September 11 atrocity in New York discussed the environmental future of the planet and monetary policy.
'This is a message to the whole world about those who are causing climate change, whether deliberately or not, and what we should do about that,' he declared.
He blamed Western industrialised nations for hunger, causing flooding and the destruction of fertile ground across the globe.
And he warned solutions must be 'drastic' rather than 'partial'.
Although bin Laden has briefly referred to climate change and global warming in past messages, this fresh audiotape was his first dedicated to the topic.
The speech, which included almost no religious rhetoric, has been interpreted as an attempt by the terror leader to broaden the appeal of his message beyond Islamic militants.
'Talk about climate change is not an ideological luxury but a reality,' he said in the tape released to the Al Jazeera television network, adding: 'All of the industrialised countries, especially the big ones, bear responsibility.'
Bin Laden referred to the fact that while wealthy nations had agreed to the Kyoto Protocol that binds them to emissions targets, former U.S. President George Bush later rejected such limitations in deference to big business.
He called for a boycott of American products and the end of the U.S. dollar as a world currency. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Friday, January 29, 2010
Osama bin Laden Is a Global Warming Fighter?
Bin Laden Deplores Climate Change
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has condemned the US and other industrial economies, holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change.
In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president, for rejecting the Kyoto pact and condemned global corporations.
"This is a message to the whole world about those responsible for climate change and its repercussions - whether intentionally or unintentionally - and about the action we must take," bin Laden said.
"Speaking about climate change is not a matter of intellectual luxury - the phenomenon is an actual fact." >>> | Friday, January 29, 2010
Zwischen Gottesstaat und Demokratie
When Women Dressed as Ladies
La Malaisie se déchire au nom d'Allah
La semaine dernière, des extremists ont vandalisé l'église Sainte-Elizabeth dans la ville touristique de Kota Tinggi, dans l'État de Johor. Crédits photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Les actes de vandalisme contre les lieux de culte se multiplient et les relations entre musulmans et chrétiens s'enveniment.
Ils tendent leurs paumes vers un Christ auréolé de rose fluo et ils pleurent. De leurs prières, des mots s'échappent : «cocktail Molotov», «stupeur», «liberté religieuse menacée». La brume ne s'est pas encore dissipée sur les faubourgs de Kuala Lumpur, mais, dans l'église de l'Assomption, vandalisée il y a peu, les paroissiens sont venus nombreux pour évoquer la «querelle d'Allah».
La Malaisie est secouée par une vague de violences inédites contre ses églises. En quelques jours, onze lieux de culte ont été la cible d'attaques et de dégradations. Au départ de la polémique qui divise le pays : The Herald. Cet hebdomadaire catholique local revendique le droit d'user, pour désigner Dieu, du terme d'«Allah» dans son édition de langue malaise, destinée aux fidèles de l'île de Bornéo. À l'issue d'une longue bataille juridique, la Haute Cour de Kuala Lumpur a autorisé, le 30 décembre dernier, les non-musulmans à utiliser le nom «Allah» dans leurs écrits. Mais, face à la colère de groupes islamiques et aux pressions du gouvernement, qui a agité la menace de tensions interconfessionnelles, cette même cour a suspendu son autorisation le 6 janvier dans l'attente d'un jugement en appel. >>> Florence Compain, Envoyée spéciale du Figaro à Kuala Lumpur | Vendredi 29 Janvier 2010
Con Coughlin: Has the West Got the Will to Carry On Shedding Blood for Afghanistan?
THE TELEGRAPH: The strategy is finally right, but our resolve could be starting to waver, writes Con Coughlin.
It has taken the best part of a decade, and we have sacrificed an inordinate amount of blood and treasure in our ill-conceived and badly executed attempts to bring some stability to Afghanistan. However, it can now be said with confidence that we have the basis of a strategy for resolving the conflict.
But have we found the formula for resolving the country's ills too late? With no let-up in the death toll, do Britain, America and the other Nato states committed to rebuilding Afghanistan really have the willpower to see the job through? >>> Con Coughlin | Friday, January 29, 2010
If you were unable to listen to today's show live, you can listen to it here instead: >>> | Friday, January 29, 2010
Go to Work on an Egg!
TIMES ONLINE: Margaret Thatcher, who famously railed against Britain being fed a European “diet of Brussels”, made her ascent to power sustained by eggs — more than two dozen of them a week — and not much else.
Documents released fom the former Prime Minister’s archive today include an Economist diary for 1979, into which is tucked a single typewritten sheet reading: “Mayo Clinic Diet.” This told her to eat eggs for breakfast every day, for lunch Monday to Friday, and often for dinner too.
“Weight loss should be around 20lb in two weeks (!),” it added, warning her in capital letters not to stay on this regimen for any longer. She was, however, allowed to drink whisky “on days when no meat is eaten”. Other forms of alcohol are not mentioned, suggesting that this programme was customised for Mrs Thatcher, who had long since indulged in whisky mixed with water.
In places there are annotations in her own hand, showing how she varied a monotonous diet — which also included no fewer than ten grapefruit a week — with beef, salad or cucumber soup.
Modern-day nutritionists have reacted in horror to a regimen that they warned could cause “gastrointestinal side-effects”, namely wind, bad breath and constipation.
The Mayo Clinic, a renowned health group based in the US, swiftly condemned the diet as one of a number of quack cures that have circulated in recent years fraudulently using its name.
Dr Donald Hensrud, the clinic’s chief nutritionist, told The Times: “I would have told her to get off this diet immediately. It is a low-carb diet but very restrictive, no wholegrains, hardly any dairy. The more restrictive a diet, the more health problems there are. This is a potentially dangerous fad diet.” Thatcher went to work on an egg — and little else, archive reveals >>> Tom Baldwin | Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Denmark to Curb, But Not Ban, Face-covering Veils
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: COPENHAGEN: The Government says face-covering Muslim veils do not belong in Danish society but no ban is needed because their use can be limited under existing rules.
The centre-right government said the burqa - an all-covering dress - and the niqab face veil were ''diametrically opposed'' to the country's values.
It called for the full use of rules that allow schools, as well as public and private employers, to demand that students, teachers and workers show their faces.
''The use of the burqa or niqab … deprives women of the right to interact in Danish society on an equal footing with men and women who do not wear [them],'' the Government said. >>> Associated Press | Saturday, January 30, 2010
Swedish Prime Minister (Frederik Reinfeldt): No Burqa Ban in Sweden
THE LOCAL (SWEDEN): Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said definitively on Thursday that he is against introducing legislation which would ban women from wearing burqas.
“No, that’s not something I want,” he told the TT news agency.
The clarification comes following a Wednesday night debate with Social Democratic leader Mona Sahlin on Sveriges Radio in which both offered their views on prohibiting burqas in Sweden.
A parliamentary commission in France recently used a public buildings and transport bill to proposed a law which would ban the wearing of head-to-toe veils in public.
During the debate, Sahlin clearly rejected the idea of a similar proposal in Sweden, while Reinfeldt expressed himself somewhat more cautiously, which led to questions as to where exactly he stands on the issue.
But on Thursday he attempted to clarify that he would not support a law banning burqas, which he said would be “counterproductive”.
“Legislation shouldn’t lead to certain women being isolated even more from Swedish society,” he said. >>> | Thursday, January 28, 2010
Egyptian Copts: The Fear and the Faith
French Authorities to Appeal Against Dominique De Villepin Acquittal
THE GUARDIAN: Justice officials seek retrial of former prime minister over Clearstream smear campaign against President Nicolas Sarkozy
French justice authorities will appeal against the judgment clearing the former prime minister Dominique de Villepin of involvement in a plot to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Paris state prosecutor said today.
"I have decided to file an appeal against this decision," Jean-Claude Marin told Europe 1 radio. "Whatever happens, there will be a second trial."
A retrial would offer Sarkozy one last chance to see his loathed rival convicted of allegedly orchestrating the campaign against him.
De Villepin denounced what he called "a political decision" which showed "that Nicolas Sarkozy prefers to persevere in his fury, in his hatred".
De Villepin was cleared yesterday of all charges levied during the "Clearstream affair", leaving Sarkozy disappointed and humiliated. >>> Lizzy Davies in Paris and agencies | Friday, January 29, 2010
