Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the United States and Russia share "no trust" in relations but suggested the two countries can begin to heal ties and reach an agreement over a missile defense system. Speaking Saturday, Nov. 15, after the gathering of 20 world economic powers in Washington to address the financial crisis, Medvedev said there is "no trust in Russian-US relations -- the trust we need" to tackle international challenges and strengthen ties. However, he also signaled a readiness to enter into talks with the US over its plan to build a missile shield in eastern Europe. "We will not do anything until America does the first step," Medvedev said. "I think we have a chance to solve the problem through either agreeing on a global (anti-missile) system or to find a solution on the existing programs which would suit the Russian Federation."
Speaking Saturday, Nov. 15, after the gathering of 20 world economic powers in Washington to address the financial crisis, Medvedev said there is "no trust in Russian-US relations -- the trust we need" to tackle international challenges and strengthen ties.
However, he also signaled a readiness to enter into talks with the US over its plan to build a missile shield in eastern Europe.
"We will not do anything until America does the first step," Medvedev said. "I think we have a chance to solve the problem through either agreeing on a global (anti-missile) system or to find a solution on the existing programs which would suit the Russian Federation."
WASHINGTON: President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia expressed hope over the weekend that President-elect Barack Obama's election would improve relations that have soured under President George W. Bush, but he remained unwavering on the issues that have most starkly divided the countries in recent years. Medvedev, in Washington for the first time since his election last spring, reiterated Russia's opposition to the expansion of NATO and vowed that Russia would not reverse its recognition of two separatist regions in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, after the war there in August. He also repeated his threat, first made the day after Obama was elected, to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad if the United States moved ahead with plans to build missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. As he did in France on Friday, however, he said he was prepared to hold talks on the issue. "There is no trust in the Russia-U.S. relations, the trust we need," Medvedev said, speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington after participating in the summit meeting on the financial crisis Saturday that brought together the leaders of 20 countries. "Therefore we have great aspirations for the new administration."
WASHINGTON: President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia expressed hope over the weekend that President-elect Barack Obama's election would improve relations that have soured under President George W. Bush, but he remained unwavering on the issues that have most starkly divided the countries in recent years.
Medvedev, in Washington for the first time since his election last spring, reiterated Russia's opposition to the expansion of NATO and vowed that Russia would not reverse its recognition of two separatist regions in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, after the war there in August.
He also repeated his threat, first made the day after Obama was elected, to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad if the United States moved ahead with plans to build missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. As he did in France on Friday, however, he said he was prepared to hold talks on the issue.
"There is no trust in the Russia-U.S. relations, the trust we need," Medvedev said, speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington after participating in the summit meeting on the financial crisis Saturday that brought together the leaders of 20 countries. "Therefore we have great aspirations for the new administration."
"There is no trust in the Russia-U.S. relations, the trust we need,"
how many times did we promise not to expand NATO beyond a certain point, then break our promise?
i know they broke them too... but he's right. ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
On the 70th anniversary of anti-Jewish decrees in Italy, an Italian Auschwitz survivor has said the Roma population faces discrimination similar to Jews in Nazi Germany. "History is repeating itself" in Italy, Piero Terracina said Friday, Nov. 14, at a conference marking the 70th anniversary of the notorious racial laws targeting Jews, which were approved by the Italian cabinet on Nov. 15, 1938. "Everything started with the census of the Jews and the terrible consequences to which this led us," said Terracina, reported AFP news agency. The 80-year-old Holocaust survivor was freed from the Auschwitz concentration camp in January 1945, shortly before the end of World War II. The discriminatory decrees introduced in both Nazi Germany and Italy under then leader Benito Mussolini included the prohibition of mixed marriages between Jews and so-called "Aryans" and economic restrictions on Jews, among other measures.
"History is repeating itself" in Italy, Piero Terracina said Friday, Nov. 14, at a conference marking the 70th anniversary of the notorious racial laws targeting Jews, which were approved by the Italian cabinet on Nov. 15, 1938.
"Everything started with the census of the Jews and the terrible consequences to which this led us," said Terracina, reported AFP news agency.
The 80-year-old Holocaust survivor was freed from the Auschwitz concentration camp in January 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.
The discriminatory decrees introduced in both Nazi Germany and Italy under then leader Benito Mussolini included the prohibition of mixed marriages between Jews and so-called "Aryans" and economic restrictions on Jews, among other measures.
Mosca is well known for his refusal to take fingerprints of the Rom as well as his refusal to evacuate the "nomad" camps unless there is a better alternative.
Mosca's refusal coupled with criticism by the EU led the government to back track on its racist anti-Rom decree. The modified decree was then deemed acceptable by the EU (Fran posted on the EU's acceptance of the decree in the Salon sometime back.) So the civil servant and Rome police head, Carlo Mosca, can be thanked for honouring his role and not caving into political pressure.
On the other hand the prefect of Lampedusa has cancelled the contract with Medecines sans Frontieres for the island. He asserts that the boat people should go elsewhere to get cured. MSF represents no cost for the Italian state as it is entirely self-funded. It is the only mobile hospital on the island that can respond to the grave health problems, often life threatening, of the boat people. However, MSF needs government approval to operate in what has been declared an emergency militarized area.
Prefect Morcone of Lampedusa knows in what direction the wind is blowing. With the vacancy in Rome maybe he's looking for a promotion. It would be entirely in keeping with the crass racist policies of Mr. Berlusconi's pornocrazia.
in it one can see where b. got many of his moves from.
very prophetic... ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsany failed to thaw icy relations between their countries in a meeting called to stem nationalist tensions. While the leaders on Saturday, Nov. 15, called for cooperation after their meeting in the border town of Komarno, they mostly engaged in a stinging exchange that did more to highlight their disagreements than signal a quick way out of the crisis. "The biggest problem is the export of fascism and extremism from Hungarian territory to Slovakia," Fico said at a press conference televised on the TA3 news channel. He urged his counterpart to crack down on Hungary's neo-Nazis, who have contributed to escalating tensions in recent weeks. "It is unacceptable for us ... that 28 people dressed in Hungarian fascist uniforms cross the border and march through a Slovak town," Fico said referring to a recent incident.
While the leaders on Saturday, Nov. 15, called for cooperation after their meeting in the border town of Komarno, they mostly engaged in a stinging exchange that did more to highlight their disagreements than signal a quick way out of the crisis.
"The biggest problem is the export of fascism and extremism from Hungarian territory to Slovakia," Fico said at a press conference televised on the TA3 news channel.
He urged his counterpart to crack down on Hungary's neo-Nazis, who have contributed to escalating tensions in recent weeks.
"It is unacceptable for us ... that 28 people dressed in Hungarian fascist uniforms cross the border and march through a Slovak town," Fico said referring to a recent incident.
An "Anyone But Ségolène" movement gathered steam at France's Socialist party congress yesterday as rivals strove to prevent Ségolène Royal, the party's former presidential candidate, from taking control. Royal, 55, who lost to Nicolas Sarkozy in last year's election, is standing for the post of party secretary-general, which is being vacated after 11 years by François Hollande, her former lover. Yet even Hollande, who has four children with Royal, has sided with one of her rivals in the increasingly acrimonious leadership contest. The debates are taking place this weekend in Reims, the Champagne capital, but there is nothing to celebrate. The socialists have been so busy arguing among themselves that they have lost all credibility against Sarkozy. He has added insult to injury by appointing some of their most charismatic figures to cabinet posts.
An "Anyone But Ségolène" movement gathered steam at France's Socialist party congress yesterday as rivals strove to prevent Ségolène Royal, the party's former presidential candidate, from taking control.
Royal, 55, who lost to Nicolas Sarkozy in last year's election, is standing for the post of party secretary-general, which is being vacated after 11 years by François Hollande, her former lover.
Yet even Hollande, who has four children with Royal, has sided with one of her rivals in the increasingly acrimonious leadership contest.
The debates are taking place this weekend in Reims, the Champagne capital, but there is nothing to celebrate. The socialists have been so busy arguing among themselves that they have lost all credibility against Sarkozy. He has added insult to injury by appointing some of their most charismatic figures to cabinet posts.
The French Socialist Party was plunged into chaos after their annual congress failed to produce either a leader or policy platform. The French Socialist Party was plunged into chaos after their annual congress failed to produce either a leader or policy platform. Segolene Royal, runner-up to Nicolas Sarkozy in last year's presidential election, had hoped to emerge as secretary general following the three day event in Reims, the champagne capital. It was seen as a last chance for the Socialists to restore their credibility under a new leader before the 2012 presidential vote. But the main opposition party failed to unite at a time when Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings have improved with his high-profile presidency of the European Union. Instead there were dire warnings of the end of French socialism, with party members now having to vote on a compromise candidate - and set of policies - on Thursday. Ms Royal will be up against Martine Aubry, the architect of the woefully discredited 35 hour working week, and the ultra left wing Euro MP Benoît Hamon.
The French Socialist Party was plunged into chaos after their annual congress failed to produce either a leader or policy platform.
Segolene Royal, runner-up to Nicolas Sarkozy in last year's presidential election, had hoped to emerge as secretary general following the three day event in Reims, the champagne capital.
It was seen as a last chance for the Socialists to restore their credibility under a new leader before the 2012 presidential vote.
But the main opposition party failed to unite at a time when Mr Sarkozy's approval ratings have improved with his high-profile presidency of the European Union.
Instead there were dire warnings of the end of French socialism, with party members now having to vote on a compromise candidate - and set of policies - on Thursday.
Ms Royal will be up against Martine Aubry, the architect of the woefully discredited 35 hour working week, and the ultra left wing Euro MP Benoît Hamon.
'the end of French socialist' - they wish
'the woefully discredited 35-hour week' - only in their incessant propaganda about it, not in reality (they contributed to the biggest ever surge in job creation in France, and are strongly supported by most of those who benefit from the regime)
'ultra left wing Hamon' - like Blair is ultra right wing.
blah. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Which is a lot of people, many of whom should be voting left, butno longer do, because they got sold out by the PS. Nil aon leigheas ar an ngra ach posadh
how would employees typically react if companies tried to repeal it? Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
It is a great sign that Delanoe has stepped aside, he didn't seem that passionate and he was being pushed by the old elephants who are the most discredited of all PS.
I think many are against Royal because they know that she has more to prove than to offer.
To me it seems that the Holland/Royal affair has been disastrous for the party and while it is not all Sego's fault it is her duty to step aside at this time and allow the party to build a future for itself.
Political parties have been vying to offer the biggest tax cuts as the credit crunch tightens its grip on Britain. In their view, low taxes are now the best way to get the economy going and to help out families.Cutting or keeping taxes low has always proved popular with the electorate: in 1992 the Conservatives' election campaign slogan 'Labour's tax bombshell' made the most of the then shadow Chancellor John Smith's intention to increase the higher rate of tax from 40 to 50 per cent. Labour lost.But is this the best way to proceed in the long term, and would UK taxpayers get better value for money if they paid more, rather than less?One way to examine the issue is to compare state help provided by the British government to one which traditionally charges much higher taxes: Sweden. Swedes support the second-highest tax burden in the world - after Denmark's - with an average of 48.2 per cent of GDP going to taxes. Yet Sweden, along with equally high-taxing Denmark and Norway, tops almost every international barometer of successful societies. Swedes' personal income tax can be as little as 29 per cent of their pay, but most people (anyone earning over £32,000) will pay between 49 and 60 per cent through a combination of local government and state income tax.
Political parties have been vying to offer the biggest tax cuts as the credit crunch tightens its grip on Britain. In their view, low taxes are now the best way to get the economy going and to help out families.
Cutting or keeping taxes low has always proved popular with the electorate: in 1992 the Conservatives' election campaign slogan 'Labour's tax bombshell' made the most of the then shadow Chancellor John Smith's intention to increase the higher rate of tax from 40 to 50 per cent. Labour lost.
But is this the best way to proceed in the long term, and would UK taxpayers get better value for money if they paid more, rather than less?
One way to examine the issue is to compare state help provided by the British government to one which traditionally charges much higher taxes: Sweden. Swedes support the second-highest tax burden in the world - after Denmark's - with an average of 48.2 per cent of GDP going to taxes. Yet Sweden, along with equally high-taxing Denmark and Norway, tops almost every international barometer of successful societies.
Swedes' personal income tax can be as little as 29 per cent of their pay, but most people (anyone earning over £32,000) will pay between 49 and 60 per cent through a combination of local government and state income tax.
Most people?
Preliminary income statistics for 2007 - Statistics Sweden
The median income in 2007, according to the preliminary measurements, amounted to SEK 217 600.
Google informs me that this is roughly £18500.
I think we all agree it's much better that way. "Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"
Three Kremlin-friendly opposition parties, which failed to win seats in the Russian parliament in 2007 elections, have formed a new liberal party called Just Cause. They have have their eye on the next poll in 2011. At the party's inaugural congress on Sunday, Nov. 16, the initiators said the move had been discussed with the Kremlin, according to Moscow radio broadcaster Echo Moskvy. The party had been formed with the help of the Kremlin, but not by the Russian government, said Leonid Gosman, deputy chairman of the Union of Just Forces (SPS). The SPS and its two allies, the Democratic Party and the Citizens' Force, disbanded to to form the new union.
At the party's inaugural congress on Sunday, Nov. 16, the initiators said the move had been discussed with the Kremlin, according to Moscow radio broadcaster Echo Moskvy.
The party had been formed with the help of the Kremlin, but not by the Russian government, said Leonid Gosman, deputy chairman of the Union of Just Forces (SPS).
The SPS and its two allies, the Democratic Party and the Citizens' Force, disbanded to to form the new union.
... Leonid Gosman, deputy chairman of the Union of Just Forces (SPS).
"Right Cause" is more adequate translation for "Правое Дело" and "Union of Right Forces" for "Союз Правых Сил".
In Russian context "liberal" means basically "right-wing", i.e. Pinochet is a liberal. At the moment 7% election barrier is too high for any liberal party to get into federal Parliament; at 2%, SPS or "Right Cause" will have a chance.
Representatives of other Russian opposition parties criticized the move, saying the new party would be too close to the Kremlin.
A "party" has specific legal meaning in Russia, including requirements on number of members and regional representation standards and formal and transparent financing. A loose group of few dozen unelectable into any office "liberals" financed by the foreign powers is not a "party".
The SPS was co-financed by former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky until his imprisonment in 2003.
And before and after 2003 SPS was financed by the state electric utility company, i.e. by the feared "Kremlin".
BERLIN: The Green party, one of Germany's main political parties, has elected the son of Turkish immigrants to its top political post, the first time any party here has chosen a leader with an immigrant background. The election Saturday of Cem Ozdemir, 42, born in southern Germany of parents who had come from Turkey to work as "Gastarbeiter," or guest workers, during the 1960s, marks a major turning point not only for the opposition Greens, but also for the country as a whole. Even though more than 2.6 million Turks live in Germany, accounting for 3 percent of the population, few have managed to make it to the higher ranks of the professions, including politics and the civil service. But with a conservative party that had chosen Angela Merkel to run as chancellor in 2005 - a successful gambit - and now an ethnic Turk at the helm of an influential party, it appears that German society is slowly breaking with the past, when women were inconspicuous in public and immigrants' voices were seldom heard. Ozdemir, a social scientist who studied at the Lutheran College for Social Sciences in Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg, was elected as a Greens legislator to the lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, in 1994, the first time anyone with a Turkish background had won such a mandate. He moved to the European Parliament in 2004 after he was forced to give up his parliamentary seat for using his publicly paid airline miles for private use.
BERLIN: The Green party, one of Germany's main political parties, has elected the son of Turkish immigrants to its top political post, the first time any party here has chosen a leader with an immigrant background.
The election Saturday of Cem Ozdemir, 42, born in southern Germany of parents who had come from Turkey to work as "Gastarbeiter," or guest workers, during the 1960s, marks a major turning point not only for the opposition Greens, but also for the country as a whole.
Even though more than 2.6 million Turks live in Germany, accounting for 3 percent of the population, few have managed to make it to the higher ranks of the professions, including politics and the civil service.
But with a conservative party that had chosen Angela Merkel to run as chancellor in 2005 - a successful gambit - and now an ethnic Turk at the helm of an influential party, it appears that German society is slowly breaking with the past, when women were inconspicuous in public and immigrants' voices were seldom heard.
Ozdemir, a social scientist who studied at the Lutheran College for Social Sciences in Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg, was elected as a Greens legislator to the lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, in 1994, the first time anyone with a Turkish background had won such a mandate. He moved to the European Parliament in 2004 after he was forced to give up his parliamentary seat for using his publicly paid airline miles for private use.
Oh, btw, Pierre Bérégovoy, the former PM, was the son of poor Ukrainian immigrants; I'm pretty sure that the slavs were treated as badly as the Arabs are today in 1920s France (in fact, Le Canard Enchainé loves to show the odd headline from back then about how these people were coming with their religion, were ticking togzther and not integrating, etc...) In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
the first time any party here has chosen a leader with an immigrant background.
Congratulations to Herr Ozdemir and to the Grünen.
I am guessing that the Greens are still not a "mainstream party" in Germany?
But the following passage really surprised me:
Ralf Fücks, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is affiliated with the Green party, said, "In some ways we have more in common with the conservatives when it comes to human rights and values, which Merkel has paid particular attention to." The Greens and the conservatives also support economic reform, and Merkel has made environmental issues a central theme of her party. But the sticking point for any cooperation, as Fücks acknowledged, is nuclear power. Greens in Germany pick son of Turks as leader - International Herald Tribune
Ralf Fücks, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is affiliated with the Green party, said, "In some ways we have more in common with the conservatives when it comes to human rights and values, which Merkel has paid particular attention to."
The Greens and the conservatives also support economic reform, and Merkel has made environmental issues a central theme of her party. But the sticking point for any cooperation, as Fücks acknowledged, is nuclear power.
Greens in Germany pick son of Turks as leader - International Herald Tribune
Aside from nuclear power and deploying German soldiers abroad (which, though, even the Realo wing of the Greens apparently support, according to this article), aren't there other issues that make a Green-Conservative alliance... strange? Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
On the other hand, this 'more in common with the conservatives' is mainly in scolding China and Russia, which is not a really deep basis.
The Greens are an established party in Germany by now, in the Bundestag since 1983, although they tend to get only around eight percent of the vote.
Earlier Özdemir coverage on ET:
Coup among the German Social Democrats | DoDo on Mon Sep 8th, 2008:
Meanwhile, leadership choice in another German party. The German Greens (the most influential Green party world-wide) don't have a single boss, and there is still significant party democracy. Of the top, there are two - to keep peace in the party, one from the "Fundi" wing, and one from the former "Realo" wing. The latter has been ominously renamed the "Reformer" wing. Renewal of the post is coming. The fundis want to re-nominate the incumbent, Claudia Roth. Among the 'Reformers', there were two candidates, but 48-year-old Volker Ratzmann withdrew: his partner in life (another Green MP) is expecting their first child, and he chose father duties over a stronger political role. So the choice of MEP Cem Özdemir is now almost certain:
The German Greens (the most influential Green party world-wide) don't have a single boss, and there is still significant party democracy. Of the top, there are two - to keep peace in the party, one from the "Fundi" wing, and one from the former "Realo" wing. The latter has been ominously renamed the "Reformer" wing.
Renewal of the post is coming. The fundis want to re-nominate the incumbent, Claudia Roth. Among the 'Reformers', there were two candidates, but 48-year-old Volker Ratzmann withdrew: his partner in life (another Green MP) is expecting their first child, and he chose father duties over a stronger political role. So the choice of MEP Cem Özdemir is now almost certain:
nanne: There is a conservative / green coalition in Hamburg, where the conservative party is, well, somewhat more cosmopolitan.
Yes, the article mentions that:
With new leaders in place, the Greens are now turning their attention to federal elections next September. Some observers are asking whether the Greens, along with the pro-business Free Democrats, might win enough votes to become junior partners for Merkel's conservative bloc. Such an idea was treated with ridicule until recently. But in February, the Christian Democrats chose to share power with the Greens in the port city of Hamburg. So far, the coalition, the first of its kind on the state level, has been working effectively, serving as a litmus test for other states. Greens in Germany pick son of Turks as leader - International Herald Tribune
Such an idea was treated with ridicule until recently. But in February, the Christian Democrats chose to share power with the Greens in the port city of Hamburg. So far, the coalition, the first of its kind on the state level, has been working effectively, serving as a litmus test for other states.
The Greens ... also support economic reform
That's a stretch. It is true that the Greens carried Schröder's Agenda 2010 with less trouble than the left of the SPD, and that they are not at all unfriendly to market-pased solutions (sadly, the support for rail liberalisation, also the IMO mistaken focus on separation of electricity grid and production in their fight against the anti-renewables, anti-distributed power electricity giants), there is a lot of 'reform' criticism, too -- a heavy part of their opposition work now.
Nanne says that differences are mainly cultural; I'd agree but I think cultural issues matter, they may matter especially on education. (How the Hamburg coalition works or doesn't work out on that -- may or may not destroy the Greens there.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Aside from nuclear power and deploying German soldiers abroad (which, though, even the Realo wing of the Greens apparently support, according to this article)
But on the latter, they were clearly voted down by the party conference, while Özdemir effectively made the CDU's change on the former the condition of a future coalition in a new interview. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Congratulations to Cem Oezdemir who has been elected co-chairman of the German Green Party. It's the party's top political post. His victory makes him the highest-ranking German politician of Turkish descent. Turkish immigrants and their descendants number more than 2.5 million and make up 3% of Germany's total population. I woke up Sunday morning in my hotel in Istanbul to find this article on the front page of the Turkish Daily News, the most popular English language daily here. The article explains how Oezdemir employed many of President-elect Obama's campaign tactics.
Congratulations to Cem Oezdemir who has been elected co-chairman of the German Green Party. It's the party's top political post. His victory makes him the highest-ranking German politician of Turkish descent. Turkish immigrants and their descendants number more than 2.5 million and make up 3% of Germany's total population.
I woke up Sunday morning in my hotel in Istanbul to find this article on the front page of the Turkish Daily News, the most popular English language daily here.
The article explains how Oezdemir employed many of President-elect Obama's campaign tactics.
Ethnic Diversity Compared England - 84.7% Indigenous, 15.3% Ethnic Minority Germany - 91.5% Indigenous, 8.5% Ethnic Minority Italy - 94.8% Indigenous, 5.2% Ethnic Minority
Ethnic Diversity Compared
I made the post mostly WRT the Obamamania, and a couple of % is not a big deal in the European figures... "Ethnic Minority" in the US is up around the 25-30% region (again there are lots of definitional problems) so it's a reminder that the societies exist in different situations...
As officially stated by the French government and 2001 French Census reports on the ethnological origins of the French people. Note the French government does not officially classify people by race or ethnicity, in order to encourage integration, assimilation and patriotic unity of all French people regardless of ethnic and national origins as policy since the French Revolution.
An estimate of 10 million French citizens or about one-fifth of the population is of ethnic or national non-French origins. Of European ethnicity, the most prolific are the Italians who make up approximately 10 percent of the population in France. [14] This was due to the most part of Italian immigration stemming from the 16th to the early 20th century. As a result some 10% of French people have some distant or recent Italian origins. Other large European groups are Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Polish, and Greek. Also, due to more recent immigration, a total of 3 - 4 million Arab-Berber people inhabit France. The 2008 estimates are: 84% French, 7% North African, 7% Other Europeans.
An estimate of 10 million French citizens or about one-fifth of the population is of ethnic or national non-French origins. Of European ethnicity, the most prolific are the Italians who make up approximately 10 percent of the population in France. [14] This was due to the most part of Italian immigration stemming from the 16th to the early 20th century. As a result some 10% of French people have some distant or recent Italian origins. Other large European groups are Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Polish, and Greek. Also, due to more recent immigration, a total of 3 - 4 million Arab-Berber people inhabit France.
The 2008 estimates are: 84% French, 7% North African, 7% Other Europeans.
Talking about Europe as a single group here is rather nonsensical. There are very different traditions. Simply put, Germany remembers its past with race relations largely in the context of national sin, whereas France takes pride in principles that it sees as foundational. Both responses can cause a trend towards greater equality.
Talking about Europe as a single group here is rather nonsensical.
Definitely true... but it the IHT who goes around saying "Obama could never happen in Europe" and implying "the US is superior on race integration, as the Obama election shows."
I just attempt to highlight (in the rush of that kind of thing from the IHT) that the new "non-white" President comes out of a much different "ethnic minority" context, purely in terms of numbers, or "pool of population to draw candidates from", than exists in most European countries.
So comparing the percentage of with-a-non-French-grandparent to the percentage of blacks, asians or latinos in USA is disingenuous. There are indeed not enough representatives of recent minorities in France, but there is one major reason that reinforces the fact: they are recent. It's exceptional that the first generation goes into politics, especially when the immigrants were workers.
There are very few second generation Algerians of Obama's age in France, for example. Yet Obama needed all of Republican incompetence to get there, despite blacks having been there in great numbers for a couple of centuries. "Few can believe that suffering, especially by others, is in vain. - Galbraith"
With the power of the publicity he has gained in challenging German politics, Özdemir has a high chance to share the Green Party leadership with female candidate Claudia Roth as a result of this weekend's party congress, say analysts.
LOL. What astute analysts. For a sole candidate, with high support within the party from well before even running for the position, one really needs anonymous analysts to say so... *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Following massive protests at the blocking of the wikipedia.de web site, the German MP Lutz Heilmann announced on Sunday he was withdrawing his injunction against Wikipedia. But the legal dispute isn't all over yet. Heilmann took out a temporary restraining order against the Wikimedia Germany association on the grounds that an article about him contained false accusations. Now that the "false and vilifying content", constituting "an invasion of his personal privacy", has largely been removed from the relevant article, he says, he has told Wikimedia e.V. he will be taking no further legal steps and that links to Wikipedia content via de.wikipedia.org can be reestablished. He had found the legal route problematic, he explained, because the structure of Wikipedia meant that other users were being affected, and that had not been his intention. He would however be taking further action against certain individuals. After the blocking of wikipedia.de, Wikipedia authors made some revisions to the article about Heilmann. They came to the conclusion that many sections objected to by Heilmann, a qualified lawyer, including speculation about his involvement in an online sex mail-order firm, and about internal party disputes about him, actually did not belong in the article. Heilmann did not protest against mention of his having worked for the former East German Ministry for State Security.
Following massive protests at the blocking of the wikipedia.de web site, the German MP Lutz Heilmann announced on Sunday he was withdrawing his injunction against Wikipedia. But the legal dispute isn't all over yet.
Heilmann took out a temporary restraining order against the Wikimedia Germany association on the grounds that an article about him contained false accusations. Now that the "false and vilifying content", constituting "an invasion of his personal privacy", has largely been removed from the relevant article, he says, he has told Wikimedia e.V. he will be taking no further legal steps and that links to Wikipedia content via de.wikipedia.org can be reestablished. He had found the legal route problematic, he explained, because the structure of Wikipedia meant that other users were being affected, and that had not been his intention. He would however be taking further action against certain individuals.
After the blocking of wikipedia.de, Wikipedia authors made some revisions to the article about Heilmann. They came to the conclusion that many sections objected to by Heilmann, a qualified lawyer, including speculation about his involvement in an online sex mail-order firm, and about internal party disputes about him, actually did not belong in the article. Heilmann did not protest against mention of his having worked for the former East German Ministry for State Security.
