Update from ‘Z’ in Turkey: Strength Through Standing in Silence

Erdem Gunduz, the ‘Standing Man’, centre, shows the power in silence in Taksim Square Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Stephen: Turkish reader ‘Z’ again bravely steps out from behind the fear to show how silence is indeed empowering.

By ‘Z’ – June 19, 2013

Dear Friends,

You might remember my latest update was posted late on Sunday night (Turkish Time) saying that Facebook arrests have begun and that I was advised not to post anything opposing the government and delete all my past updates. And a large group of us have done just that (not posted).

I woke up on Monday morning feeling furious! I was so mad at myself because I gave into FEAR the night before; one thing I preach people not to do and convince them that it is just an illusion.

So at 6 AM in the morning I wanted to write this note on my wall. But I chose to wait.

Brazil – “We Have Woken Up”

  There are three articles here; each telling the story from a differing viewpoint. Essentially, what started out in Brazil as a protest against an increase in bus fares – a 20 centavos increase (approx 9 cents CDN), which was seen as a huge increase to a poverty stricken people – became the straw that broke the camel’s back.

With the country spending billions to host the upcoming 2014 World Cup (and despite football being the national sport and Pele being a national hero), and even more preparing to host the 2016 Olympics, the protestors were further fueled by endemic government corruption, police brutality and graft, social-services cuts and wasteful spending. And it is these underlying issues that gave them the strength to carry on despite water cannons, rubber bullets and horses’ hooves flying. 

But what tickles me pink is the following statement from a citizen:  “And this year we rise. We have woken up. We are on the streets like in Turkey and Greece. They have made us wake up about this. …”  May we all “wake up” and use our mighty voice to make a difference.

Story 1 – Brazil Protesters Win U-turn on Fare Rises

By Jonathan Watts, The Guardian – June 19, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/20/brazil-protesters-u-turn-fare-rises

Authorities in Brazil’s two biggest cities have made a U-turn on public transport fare increases in the face of mass protests that have overshadowed the country’s build up to next year’s World Cup.

In advance of major demonstrations on Thursday, the leaders of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro announced that bus and subway price rises will be rescinded, but it is far from certain that this will be enough to mollify public unrest.

BusinessInsider – Joe Weisenthal – The Australian Dollar Gets Taken To The Blender – 20 June 2013

Brutal day for the Australian dollar.First it dived after the Fed’s hawkish press conference.Then just now it’s falling after that bad Chinese Flash PMI.

 

FinViz

This is the perfect storm: Weakening demand for commodities from China, and a strengthening US dollar thanks to an improving US economy and monetary tightening.

BrianKelly’sBlog – Police Join Protesters During Massive Demonstration in Brazil – 20 June 2013

Police Join Protestors During Massive Demonstration in Brazil

June 19, 2013

I just want to thank everyone for their patience as I process and recoup from my trip to the desert. I’m working on a post with a bunch of photos and some back story to illustrate some of what we experienced out in the Sahara, so it’s taking a bit more time than I had anticipated. I’m finding it very difficult to put into words what you feel in your heart. One thing I will say is that this trip changed me in more ways than I could possibly describe. If even a small dose of what we experienced out there starts bleeding into the rest of humanity…boy oh boy are we all in for a wild ride! To be continued…

John Ward – Global Looting : The Co-Op Crisis Deepens As Investor Haircut Goes Crewcut – 19 June 2013

Mutually Assured Destruction: an ethical bank knackered by two successive governments

Following Anna Raccoon’sCoOp/Labour exposé of last Sunday – and The Slog’s Monday suggestion that across-the-board UK political banking incompetence is rising up like a rake to smack Westminster deservedly in the face – both sites find themselves being vindicated as we hit Wednesday.

Blogosphere predictions are go for landing this morning as the full horror of MAD applied to the Co-op comes dribbling out from Westminster, Treasury and banking sources. I said on Monday that the official haircut estimate of a 30% haircut for the CoOp Innocents to the Slaughter was way on the low side, and yesterday afternoon the Telegraph confirmed this with a piece reporting how Moody’s expects ‘investors in these bonds to only be able to recover between 35pc and 65pc of their original investment, with the negative outlook indicating the risk that the final loss faced by investors may be greater.’

The BBC TV License Extortion Racket Exposed – 19 June 2013

Uploaded on 22 January 2013 by PronStarKiIIuminati (thanks tohttp://www.lightworkersxm.wordpress.com)

Brazil Burns – Protestors set Fire To Legislative Assembly in Rio de Janeiro BraziL. Police Firing At Protestors With Assault Rifles – 19 June 2013

As many as 200,000 demonstrators marched through the streets of Brazil’s biggest cities on Monday in a swelling wave of protest tapping into widespread anger at poor public services, police violence and government corruption.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-brazil-protests-idUSBRE95G15S20130618

Brazil is under Siege: Protest in all Major Cities. Rio 100 thousands, Sao Paulo, 65 thousands. Brasilia, Capital: Congress was invaded.

http://blogs.estadao.com.br/estadao-urgente/manifestantes-fazem-quinto-ato-contra-o-aumento-da-tarifa-de-onibus-em-sao-paulo/

Brazil riots: Tens of thousands of demonstrators march through city streets in widespread anger over gov’t corruption

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/tens-thousands-riot-brazil-article-1.1375313#ixzz2WXlEx8m6

“At this time, we are unsure on what is going on in Brazil, but the mainstream media isn’t reporting this. Something is up. All we have on this breaking news story is this photograph and the video of the protestors in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.

Gearóid Ó Colmáin – Former French Foreign Minister: The War Against Syria Was Planned Two Years Before “The Arab Spring”

June 17, 2013 “Information Clearing House – In an interview with the French TV station LCP, former French minister for Foreign Affairs Roland Dumas said:

‘’ I’m going to tell you something. I was in England two years before the violence in Syria on other business. I met with top British officials, who confessed to me that they were preparing something in Syria.

This was in Britain not in America. Britain was organizing an invasion of rebels into Syria. They even asked me, although I was no longer minister for foreign affairs, if I would like to participate.

Naturally, I refused, I said I’m French, that doesn’t interest me.’’

Dumas went on give the audience a quick lesson on the real reason for the war that has now claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

‘’This operation goes way back. It was prepared, preconceived and planned… in the region it is important to know that this Syrian regime has a very anti-Israeli stance.

Consequently, everything that moves in the region- and I have this from the former Israeli prime minister who told me ‘we’ll try to get on with our neighbours but those who don’t agree with us will be destroyed.

Major Protests Across Brazil and in Bulgaria

Category: Peaceful Resistance   Tags: 

A protester waves the Brazilian flag in a protest in the capital, Brasilia, against the Confederation Cup. Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino /Reuters

Stephen: There’s a lot stirring beneath our everyday existences around the world. In many countries, this undercurrent of change is evident in the sheer numbers of people – of all ages; no matter the country – who are prepared to peacefully walk the streets of their countries to show their distaste for the way things have been – and what they won’t out up with any more. This is a true indication of the mass awakening in action.

The featured video from Brazil (below) most capably demonstrates (pun intended) how important effecting change is to so very, very many of us.

Protests Erupt Across Brazil Over High Costs and Poor Services

Some of country’s biggest ever rallies sweep major cities as bus fare rise is last straw in spiral of high costs and poor services

By Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro, The Guardian – June 18, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/18/brazil-protests-erupt-huge-scale

Brazil experienced one of its biggest nights of protest in decades on Monday as more than 100,000 people took to the streets nationwide to express their frustration at heavyhanded policing, poor public services and high costs for the World Cup.

BRAZIL PROTESTS: Understand Why The People Of Brazil Are Going To The Streets (Video In English)

 This is important info as it shows also in Brazil the people are not taking the inequality and greed anymore and are protrait as vandals and terrorists for wanting to protest freely and police is hasted in to end any protests.)

We need your support to spread this message!

And this is how the police is responding to the protests..

Mayor of Montreal, Canada, Arrested for Fraud and Corruption

 This is ironic since Mr Applebaum is the interim mayor, being sworn in after previous mayor Mr Tremblay resigned amid corruption charges. His charges come only a month after the neighbouring city of Laval arrested their mayor Mr Vaillancourt for….yes, fraud and corruption. 

AP – June 17, 2013

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/mayor-of-montreal-canadas-second-largest-city-arrested-at-his-home

MONTREAL — Montreal’s interim mayor, who vowed to clean up the corruption scandals rocking the city, now faces fraud charges himself.

Michael Applebaum faces 14 charges, including defrauding the government and corruption in municipal affairs. He was arrested at his home early Monday.

Applebaum took over as interim mayor of Canada’s second-largest city last November, after former mayor Gerald Tremblay resigned amid corruption allegations.

“The corruption and collusion will no longer be tolerated,” Robert Lafreniere, the head of Quebec’s anti-corruption unit, told a news conference Monday.

“No one is above the law and you cannot hide from the law.”

TimesOfIndia – Turkey Vows To Increase Police Powers – 18 June 2013

ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he will increase police powers following a wave of anti-government protests.

The announcement came on Tuesday as police carried out raids and detained dozens of people suspected of involvement in violence against officers.

The government has been criticized for the disproportionate use of force by the police in anti-government protests that swept Turkey for over two weeks. It was a brutal operation against peaceful environmental protesters in Istanbul park on May 31 that sparked nationwide demonstrations and dented Erdogan’s international image.

Erdogan defended the police saying they had acted with restraint and within their “rights”.

Erdogan said, “We shall strengthen police … so that it has increased powers of intervention.”

Czech PM Resigns Over Spy Scandal

Category: World Politics   Tags: Czech Republic, Petr Necas

By Karel Janicek, AP – June 17, 2013

http://www.3news.co.nz/Czech-PM-resigns-over-spy-scandal/tabid/417/articleID/301759/Default.aspx

Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas announced Sunday that he will resign over a spy and bribery scandal involving his government.

Necas said he also will quit on Monday as chairman of his conservative Civic Democratic Party.

He has been under pressure to quit since police conducted raids all across the country this week and arrested eight people, including Necas’ closest aide and the head of his office, Jana Nagyova. She was charged with ordering a military intelligence agency to spy on three people, including Necas’ estranged wife.

Seven other people, including the current and former heads of the Military Intelligence agency and three former lawmakers of his party, were charged with bribery or misuse of power.

RT – Caravan Of Lies : Moscow Slams US Claims Of Assad Chemical Weapon Use

Uploaded on 15 June 2013 by RussiaTodayThe Syrian government has vehemently denied US claims its army has resorted to chemical weapons, describing American accusations as a ‘caravan of lies’. While the US and its allies claim they have chemical clues against President Assad, news and reports on the ground suggest quite the opposite. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also stated that he felt there would be no point whatsoever for the Syrian army to resort to such tactics.

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Turkish Police Storm Protest Camp – 16 June 2013

Uploaded on 15 June 2013 by AlJazeeraEnglish Turkish riot police have stormed Gezi Park firing tear gas and water cannon to evict hundreds of anti-government protesters, hours after an ultimatum from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reports from Istanbul.

Video: Bilderberg Meeting Debated in UK Parliament

Ah, the joys of watching our politicians in action – be they in the UK, US, Australia or elsewhere… I call it ‘democrazy’. This video below shows what happened this week when an inquisitive UK MP, Michael Meacher, raised the ‘sensitive’ issue of why the recent Bilderberg meeting was held in secrecy with some other UK politicians who attended the gathering, held in Watford, England June 6-8. Watching this, I think we all can only ponder: where is the direct answer from the person who is asked the original question?

Unprecedented Insight Opens Up Conflict of Interest Charges

By Paul Joseph Watson, PakAlertPress – June 11, 2013

http://www.pakalertpress.com/2013/06/11/bilderberg-secrecy-exposed-during-parliamentary-debate/

The secrecy of the Bilderberg Group was blown wide open during a Parliamentary debate in the House of Commons today when Ken Clarke was forced to defend himself against potentially damaging evidence of a conflict of interest surrounding his role as a steering committee member of the clandestine organization. MP Michael Meacher asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, an attendee to the confab, to make a statement regarding Bilderberg.

Greece On Strilke Again

Workers at the windows of ERT headquarters in Athens, which they have occupied in protest at its sudden closure. Photograph: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

Reuters – June 13, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/l4sy2dr

Buses and subway trains have stopped running in Athens as Greek workers begin a nationwide strike in protest against the “sudden death” of state broadcaster ERT, switched off in the middle of the night by the government.

Greece’s two biggest labour unions plan to bring much of the near-bankrupt country to a standstill during the 24-hour strike against Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s decision to close down ERT, which they describe as a “coup-like move … to gag unbiased information”.

The government described its decision to shut the 75-year-old broadcaster as a temporary measure before its relaunch in a slimmed-down form.

But the move infuriated the coalition partners keeping Samaras in power, recreating an atmosphere of crisis in a country that had seemed to be emerging from the political drama accompanying one of the worst peacetime economic collapses in history.

UK Call to Cap Media Ownership at 15%, in the Public Interest

UK politician Harriet Harman: ‘Plurality ensures that no media owner can exert such a damaging influence on public opinion and on policy makers.’ Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA

Stephen: This is a big call. But should it come into effect in the UK, where this speech is being made today, it is likely to cross borders and boundaries in an effort to ensure that media monopolies and controlled media conglomerates cease to exist. This would thus allow diversity of voices, opinions and hence, freedom of speech.

Wikipedia states that currently, globally, the large media conglomerates include Viacom, CBS Corporation, Time Warner, News Corp, Bertelsmann AG, Sony, Comcast, Vivendi, Televisa, The Walt Disney Company, Hearst Corporation, Organizações Globo and Lagardère Group. These companies and their subsidiaries would see their power (and the power of their owners and those above them) disappear if such limits are enforced.

Harriet Harman: Time to Consider Media Ownership Cap as Low as 15%

Harriet Harman, UK Shadow culture secretary to say that plurality ensures no private interest can set itself above public interest

Press Association, The Guardian – June 13, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/13/harriet-harman-media-ownership

A media ownership cap as low as 15% across newspapers, broadcasting companies and online sites must be considered to stop companies feeling they are “above the rule of law”, according to Harriet Harman.

NSA Revelations Now Test East-West Balance

Copies of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images

 

NSA Revelations Will Test Sino-US Ties, Say Chinese Media

By Jonathan Kaiman in Hong Kong, The Guardian – June 13, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/13/nsa-revelations-chinese-media

Hong Kong is bracing itself for what could become a protracted legal battle after the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to a local newspaper that he had no plans to leave the territory.

“I am not here to hide from justice, I am here to reveal criminality,” Snowden told the South China Morning Post, adding that he had evidence of US-led cyberespionage in both Hong Kong and mainland China and that Washington had been “trying to bully” the territory into extraditing him.

Regina Ip, a member of Hong Kong’s legislative council who was once the city’s top security official, said: “It’s not a question of bullying or not bullying. I can’t speak for the Hong Kong government now, but if the US gives a request, the government will deal with it in accordance with due process.”

Hong Kong, a city of seven million people, is technically a part of China but maintains an independent judiciary, media and education system. The territory has an extradition agreement with the US but can offer protection for fugitives who face political persecution or torture at home.

Chinese web portals and newspapers were awash with news of the scandal on Thursday morning, the first business day after a three-day national holiday. Snowden’s revelations were “certain to stain Washington’s overseas image and test developing Sino-US ties,” said the China Daily newspaper in a front-page article, the first in China’s state-run media to address Beijing’s stance on the NSA leaks.

As Erdogan Threatens Bigger Crackdown, Turkey’s Protesters Take To The Streets – 13 June 2013

Organizers dismiss prime minister’s talks with protesters as an empty gesture

– Sarah Lazare, staff writer

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan today vowed to escalate violence after yesterday’s crackdown on Istanbul protesters left hundreds injured. Heinsists Turkey’s massive protests, now entering their third week, will be “over in 24 hours.”

Taksim Square June 11, AP/Thanassis Stavrakis Yet, thousands defied his warning and flocked to Gezi Park Wednesday night, accompanied by a heavy presence of riot police.

Erdogan’s latest threat flies in the face of his earlier tones of reconciliation.

In a bid to quell massive uprisings now entering their third week, Erdogan met earlier today with a small group of people he alleges represent protesters.

Shock in Greece as Public TV and Radio Shut Down by Government

A ‘no signal ‘ sign appears on the public ERT, NET and ERT3 broadcasters channels. Source: AFP

Stephen: This is a major decision by any government: to close down an entire state-run public television, radio and online broadcasting corporation. Greeks awoke Wednesday to find the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation or Elliniki Radiofonia-Teleorasi (ERT), which began broadcasting in 1938 and was the official broadcaster for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, is no longer broadcasting due to austerity implications. Expect to see a new chapter in Greek protests.

Greek TV Fades to Black as Austerity Bites

From AP – June 12, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/luj6tov

GREEK state TV and radio has been gradually pulled off the air, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts and lay off about 2500 workers as part of a cost-cutting drive demanded by the bailed-out country’s international creditors.

HuffingtonPost – Turkey Protests: Police Crush Barricades In Taksim Square – 11 June 2013

By ELENA BECATOROS and SUZAN FRASER

ISTANBUL — Hundreds of riot police overran improvised barricades at Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Tuesday, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons in running battles with protesters who have been occupying the area for more than a week.

The police raid, which came on the 12th day of nationwide anti-government protests, sparked clashes with groups of demonstrators well into the afternoon. Many other protesters fled into the adjacent Gezi Park, where hundreds have been camping out to stop developers from cutting down trees in the park.

As police moved in, bulldozers began demolishing the barricades and the makeshift shelters.

A peaceful demonstration against the park’s redevelopment has morphed into a test of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authority and a rejection of what some see as his autocratic ways.

Erdogan, however, made it clear Tuesday that he had come to the end of his patience with the protesters, whom he accused of sullying Turkey’s image abroad.

“To those who … are at Taksim and elsewhere taking part in the demonstrations with sincere feelings, I call on you to leave those places and to end these incidents, and I send you my love. But for those who want to continue with the incidents I say: `It’s over.’ As of now we have no tolerance for them,” Erdogan said, speaking in the capital, Ankara, as the raid was taking place.

The REAL Reasons Behind Israel Attacking Syria

 

Uploaded on 6 May 2013 by Patriot News Organization The real details behind everything that’s going on with Syria & Israel, explained IN DEPTH.

Head of Church of England: London’s Bankers are Infected by “Culture of Entitlement”

The Archbishop, a former oil industry executive and now a member of the cross-party Banking Standards Commission, said “serious consideration” should be given to forming a professional banking body, along the lines of the General Medical Council, the enforce standards. Photo: AFP/GETTY

Stephen: With Pope Francis shaking the establishment in his own way, the relatively new head of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby – a former oil company executive – is also now doing his bit for the common man. He’s launched a very public campaign against the UK’s banks and the bankers, usually referred to as ‘the City’. And he is certainly stepping into the fray, even suggesting it will take something ‘very major’ (hmmm, wonder if he already knows what that may be? New financial system, perhaps?) to fix the banking system and restore the public’s faith and confidence.

Archbishop of Canterbury Attacks City’s ‘Culture of Entitlement’

By Patrick Sawer, The Telegraph, UK –  April 27, 2013

http://tinyurl.com/d3px4gz

The Archbishop of Canterbury has launched a stinging attack on the City, describing it as infected by “a culture of entitlement” that has left it disconnected from the rest of the country.

The Rt Rev Justin Welby said it was time for bankers to be required to pass exams in order to raise their professional standards and help restore public trust in their work.

John Ward – Euroblown : As The ClubMed Rebellion Spreads, Keep Your Eye On Alavanos In Greece

Why Alekos Alavanos could play a pivotal role in destroying the euro

Alavanos….rich Communist with a keen sense of timing

The new Party formed three weeks ago by Alekos Alavanos represents a fascinating encapsulation of the Europe-wide movement against the idea of both a single currency, and German rigidity in applying fiscal discipline.

On April 4th this year, Alekos Alavanos launched his new ‘Plan B’ Party. Advocating that Greece should quit the euro and return to the drachma, in Greek political terms Mr Alavanos was ahead of the curve in doing this…but then over time, he has been exceptional in his ability to use foresight to advantage. Alth0ugh he led SYRIZA – the Leftist Party now headed by Alexis Tsipras – between 2004 and 2008, the self-confessed millionaire Communist had been almost dormant until recently. However, this year he has criticised the Party he used to lead, arguing that its goal of rejecting the terms of the EU-IMF bailout but remaining in the single currency was not credible. (See my post of April 18th).

Most of the West European MSM have given this mercurial politician a low profile, but he isn’t just another schismatic nutter. Although a man of the Left, Alavanos also has a commercial perspective: this has allegedly driven him to seek a patriotic alliance with other forces not just within Greek politics, but also within influential Athenians who know perfectly well that Brussels-am-Berlin’s rigid austerity is killing the Greek patient.

Activist Post – US Unveils Iraq WMD “Curveball-Style” Lies Vs. Syria

As NATO terror front collapses in Syria, US attempts to justify intervention by drumming up familiar WMD lies.

Tony Cartalucci

Image: From Independent’s “Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all: Defector tells how US officials ‘sexed up’ his fictions to make the case for 2003 invasion.” In retrospect, the corporate-media has no problem admitting the insidious lies that were told to justify the invasion and occupation of Iraq – the lead up to the war was another story. A verbatim repeat of these admitted lies are being directed at Syria amidst the West’s failure to overthrow the government with terrorist proxies. 

The last two weeks have seen a series of victories for the Syrian Army across Syria. It appears that 2 full companies of so-called “Free Syrian Army” fighters have been annihilated near Damascus, while government forces have restored order in parts of Homs and along the previously porous Lebanese-Syrian border.

Time has run out for the West, and it appears that they are desperately seeking any excuse to rescue their failing proxy war. When urgent, but otherwise unjustified military intervention is needed, a “humanitarian” pretext is usually invented – as it was in Libya. Failing that, as the West has already clearly done in Syria, an even more tenuous narrative has been resurrected from its well-earned grave.

John Ward – Exclusive : Brussels Mulling Pre-Emptive Annexation Of Cyprus

Business community discontent pushes EC into plans for total control

Draconian new property tax a condition of receiving bailout loan

Sources in Brussels allege that the European Commission has been exploring ‘stages of media information development’ in order to establish much tighter control over the immediate future of Cyprus. The bottom line will be on-the-ground  fiscal and financial policy management by technocrats. The move is being prepared in the light of a strong desire among influential public figures in Cyprus to get out of the euro as soon as possible. Sources on the island last night confirmed that the business and political communities there remain irreversibly unhappy about the deal reached with the Troika recently.

A three-stage media-spin operation is being hatched in Brussels to rationalise and disguise an effective annexation by the EC of Cyprus.

Crisis for Europe as Trust Hits Record Low

The poll found a vertiginous decline in trust in the EU in countries that were traditionally pro-European. Photograph: Ian Waldie/Getty Images

By Ian Traynor, Europe editor,  The Guardian- April 24. 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/24/trust-eu-falls-record-low

Public confidence in the European Union has fallen to historically low levels in the six biggest EU countries, raising fundamental questions about its democratic legitimacy more than three years into the union’s worst ever crisis, new data shows.

After financial, currency and debt crises, wrenching budget and spending cuts, rich nations’ bailouts of the poor, and surrenders of sovereign powers over policymaking to international technocrats, Euroscepticism is soaring to a degree that is likely to feed populist anti-EU politics and frustrate European leaders’ efforts to arrest the collapse in support for their project.

John Ward – Jo-Jo-Oh-No-José, You Dodo Nero, My Tolerance Has Reached Zero

EU President José Manuel Barroso’s awfulness has exceeded its limits

José listening to the call of the Duckbilled Platitude

Some of the world’s greatest footballers have had surnames ending in ‘o’: Di Stefano, Gento, Ronhaldo, and the Portuguese genius Eusebio. I understand that Eusebio’s compatriot, EU President Jose Manuel Barroso, played football quite seriously as a youngster, and who knows – with a little luck and some talent he might have joined this élite sporting group.

Alas, instead he became a Communist – and then by some quirk of inexplicably freakish process the joint President of an entire continent. Ask around the halls of Europe about this man (and believe me, I have) and nobody really has the remotest clue as to how he rose without the assistance of any ability whatsoever – a truly remarkable achievement. The nearest any official I met came to an answer was a German lady, who opined “He never made a mistake of any importance”. What a depressing thing that would be to have on one’s gravestone.

France Approves Same-Sex Marriage

Passing of law allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children comes after heated debate in parliament and weeks of protest

By Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, The Guardian – April 23, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/23/france-approves-same-sex-marriage

France has become the 14th country to legalise same-sex marriage , pushing through François Hollande’s flagship social change after months of street protests, political slanging matches and a rise in homophobic attacks.

After 331 votes for and 225 votes against, there were chants of “Equality. Equality.” in the French assembly, where the Socialists have an absolute majority. But thousands of riot police and water cannons were in place near the parliament building in Paris in advance of planned demonstrations against the law.