europeus

Another month, another deadline, and in the end nobody will remember when the first deadline was. Every month the same story, gradually they will have to add a new meaning for the word 'déjà vu' in the dictionaries; the UN nuclear watchdog warning Teheran and the puppet president of the mullahs screams innocence. It is déjà vu that I'm here writing about it as well, since I have done it continually over the last ten months, at least, and I will continue doing it as long as it lasts. I'm just reminding that nuclear power is dangerous and it's against any idea of protecting our earth, but this power in the hands of an aggressive dictatorship with plans to destroy, or using the puppet president's words, demolish, is more than dangerous; it is as though hell has landed here and has a name and religious identity.

The results of Sweden’s general election, though revolutionary wasn’t much of surprise. In the days leading to election, it was increasingly getting clear that incumbent Social Democrats party will be ousted from government. The party, led by Prime Minister Goran Persson has been in power continuously for past 12 years. It was overthrown yesterday, by the centre-right alliance under the leadership of Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is set to become the new prime minister.

(By TONY BLANKET / Source: Townhall.com) Last week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that those who don't take the radical Islamist terrorist threat as seriously as the Bush administration does suffer from a "moral and intellectual confusion." He compared them to the British appeasers of Hitler before WWII. I did a left-wing radio call-in show after the speech in which the callers accused Rumsfeld of calling them pro-Nazi for opposing President Bush on the war. Of course Rumsfeld was suggesting no such thing. But it is worth reviewing the history and meaning of appeasement -- both for those who hurl the charge and for those who are charged.

The Palais de l’Europe and the Human Rights Building (Strasbourg) will be open to the public on Sunday 17 September from 9 am to 6 pm as part of the European Heritage Days celebrations. Various exhibitions and film shows will be held on this occasion and games and other activities will be organised throughout the day in both buildings. Visitors will have access to the following exhibitions and events centring on the theme “The Council of Europe: a passion for humanity, a passion for law, a passion for democracy” (read more)

(By GEORGE IRVIN / Source: EU Observer) President Bush's ‘Yo Tony'off-the-record humiliation of Blair elicited much mirth in the UK press where the incident was widely interpreted as emblematic of the British prime minister's subservience to Washington's neo-conservative agenda. How far that agenda encompasses the distribution of income is illustrated in a recent book by Jared Bernstein, a Washington based economist, who documents the growing inequalities of wealth and income in the US. Bernstein has coined the phrase ‘Yo-Yo economy' to describe conservative America's attitude towards its growing army of poor people: Today, ‘Yo-Yo' means ‘you're on your own'.

(By JIM LOBE / Source: Asian Time) The aggressive new campaign by the administration of President George W Bush to depict US foes in the Middle East as "fascists" and its domestic critics as "appeasers" owes a great deal to steadily intensifying efforts by the right-wing press over the past several months to draw the same comparison. The Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox News Network and the Weekly Standard, as well as the Washington Times, which is controlled by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, and the neo-conservative New York Sun, have consistently and with increasing frequency framed the challenges faced by Washington in the region in the context of the rise of fascism and Nazism in the 1930s, according to a search of the Nexis database.

(By HELLE DALE / Source: Heritage Foundation – US) In recent years, Europe has been looking for ways to take a leading role in world affairs. Lebanon may be furnishing the long-awaited opportunity for Europeans. But then again, if you look at Europe's record in the post-Cold War era, it may not. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for the immediate deployment of a 15,000-strong peace-keeping force in the southern Lebanese stronghold of Hezbollah. However, the European Union, which endorses the idea, has been slow to respond, with the notable exception of Italy, which immediately pledged up to 3,000 troops. French President Jacques Chirac managed to come up with an initial offering of all of 200 troops. Now, that's leadership for you from the man who once talked about "balancing" the United States on the world scene.