Serbs vote on Sunday in a snap general election widely seen as the most important since the overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. The vote could decide whether the Balkan country heads towards integration with the European Union or returns to isolation. A pro-Western alliance led by President Boris Tadic is running neck and neck with ultra-nationalists. Kosovo's declaration of independence has boosted the hardliners. Disagreements over how to react when most EU countries recognised Kosovo led to the collapse of a fragile coalition between Mr Tadic's Democratic Party and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia.
The vote could decide whether the Balkan country heads towards integration with the European Union or returns to isolation.
A pro-Western alliance led by President Boris Tadic is running neck and neck with ultra-nationalists.
Kosovo's declaration of independence has boosted the hardliners.
Disagreements over how to react when most EU countries recognised Kosovo led to the collapse of a fragile coalition between Mr Tadic's Democratic Party and Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's nationalist Democratic Party of Serbia.
There are, of course, different ways to describe it, but I cannot help but feel that "modernists" who wish to embrace the EU are being practical, whilst the nationalists are harking back to a romatic past that has little function in the 21st century.
But there is little we can do except watch it happen and hope it doesn't become too emotional. keep to the Fen Causeway
See the life of Goya for a good example of this. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Such a fracture is long in existance. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Italy's new Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi joked that his Spanish counterpart's cabinet line-up looked "too pink" for his liking. The Italian cabinet includes four women but they will have a tough task on their hands, says David Willey in Rome. It could not be more different in Spain. Danny Wood reports that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is at the very forefront of the struggle to achieve gender equality in politics. Italy: An Uphill Battle There has been a lot of talk about gender equality in the run-up to Italy's recent general election, but as is all to clear from the line-up of TV magnate Silvio Berlusconi's new cabinet, men still rule here. Out of 21 ministers in the new right-wing administration there are only four women, all given lightweight roles. Most of them have so far won distinction more for their looks rather than for their political prowess. (...) Spain: At the Vanguard Spain - the land that coined the word "macho" - is now at the vanguard of the fight for gender equality. After winning a second term in March, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has more female ministers in his new cabinet than male, including a 31-year-old woman, the youngest minister in Spanish history.
It could not be more different in Spain. Danny Wood reports that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is at the very forefront of the struggle to achieve gender equality in politics.
Italy: An Uphill Battle
There has been a lot of talk about gender equality in the run-up to Italy's recent general election, but as is all to clear from the line-up of TV magnate Silvio Berlusconi's new cabinet, men still rule here.
Out of 21 ministers in the new right-wing administration there are only four women, all given lightweight roles.
Most of them have so far won distinction more for their looks rather than for their political prowess.
(...)
Spain: At the Vanguard
Spain - the land that coined the word "macho" - is now at the vanguard of the fight for gender equality.
After winning a second term in March, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has more female ministers in his new cabinet than male, including a 31-year-old woman, the youngest minister in Spanish history.
So we have women in cabinet such as Harman and Kelly who, whilst undeniably hard-working and intelligent, are too politically lightweight to be effective leaders of their departments. keep to the Fen Causeway
Dati is universally seen as incompetent and yet she is more protected by Sarkozy than any other given the symbol she represents (female and Arab).
Lagarde embarrasses Sarkozy with her unashamed neoliberalism, so she is kept hidden as much as possible, but at least her competence and legitimacy are contested by no one, even if her policies are fought tooth and nail.
Alliot-Marie is hated by Sarkozy, and is seen as an unavoidalbe leftover from the Chirac/Villepin years, so she is also kept in isolation as much as possible. Again, neither her legitimacy nor her qability to do the job are contested.
So these two are treated as male politicians in the same position would be, which is in a way a lot more important than the Dati show. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Yesterday, the Spanish Bishops Conference issued a document that accuses the government of the decline of believers and it stated that they should act with urgency to recover the believers.
Several bishops read a pastoral those criticizing the media, government and individuals who write X "For social purposes" rather than "Aid to the Church" at the annual statement of income.
The bishop of Valencia, García Gascó, criticized the government saying that they "may end up with the family" with its legislation, and advised to "faithfuls" to "convince not stop by materialism" and reject "that destroy marriages the family ".
The bishop of Toledo, Cañizares, charged with "handling public" to the media, the government, and citizens who write X in "For social purposes" rather than "Aid to the Church." It says that they "do not want freedom of man", because citizens can write X in both concepts ("social purpose" and "Church").
Members of the PP criticized the government saying that "Spaniards are not concerned about secularism. The government is doing demagoguery to raise these issues." When Procrustes looks after you, you're sure to fit in.
In the UK it generated this response which I think summed up my feelings
Guardian CiF - I don't believe it
Murphy-O'Connor also speaks with forked tongue when he tries to portray the Catholic Church as some persecuted institution that means harm to no one. He says the Catholic Church is caricatured as "some heartless, insular institution that wants to deny people their freedom". Cardinal - this is not a caricature. It is the truth. Your own actions and pronouncements confirm it. You have tried to deny human rights to homosexuals, you have tried to rob women of the right to choose contraception and abortion and thereby take control of their lives, you have tried (and continue to try) to interfere with scientific research that may lead to the alleviation of enormous suffering. You have attempted to manipulate the political process by pressurising Catholic MPs. On a personal level you - and your church - try to control every aspect of your followers' lives, from telling them what to think, what to eat and when to eat it, to telling them who they can sleep with and even what they can and cannot do when they get between the sheets. You have argued that Christian leaders should have privileged input to government policymaking. You have said that you should have unchallenged access to the BBC. You are a politician as much as a priest, but no one has elected you. It is you and your church - not secularists or atheists- which are out of step with the people of this country ................. You ask why the government continually thwarts your will - the answer is that they are elected to represent the people, while you take your orders from an unaccountable central source in another country. You may bleat that people no longer believe - but that is their choice and choice is the one thing that the Catholic church fears.
Cardinal - this is not a caricature. It is the truth. Your own actions and pronouncements confirm it. You have tried to deny human rights to homosexuals, you have tried to rob women of the right to choose contraception and abortion and thereby take control of their lives, you have tried (and continue to try) to interfere with scientific research that may lead to the alleviation of enormous suffering. You have attempted to manipulate the political process by pressurising Catholic MPs. On a personal level you - and your church - try to control every aspect of your followers' lives, from telling them what to think, what to eat and when to eat it, to telling them who they can sleep with and even what they can and cannot do when they get between the sheets.
You have argued that Christian leaders should have privileged input to government policymaking. You have said that you should have unchallenged access to the BBC. You are a politician as much as a priest, but no one has elected you. It is you and your church - not secularists or atheists- which are out of step with the people of this country ................. You ask why the government continually thwarts your will - the answer is that they are elected to represent the people, while you take your orders from an unaccountable central source in another country.
You may bleat that people no longer believe - but that is their choice and choice is the one thing that the Catholic church fears.
The point being that I honestly have little idea what the religious views of his predecessors were, but Blair made his religiosity, his presumed piety, into an aspect of his premiership. Campbell was fooling himself when he said "we don't do god"; he might not have, but Blair did, each and every day. keep to the Fen Causeway
I know you are also very well read on Muslim faith. Could you do an LQD with the rest of the article to start a religions´ series? Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
Just in case, that was probably intended to mean spell the end of the family or finish off the family. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
people are getting fed up here in italy of being told how to run their families by people to choose not to create them.
but the social milestones of baptism, catechism, first communion, marriage and the last rites still rule supreme, and the church is not above using that lever shamelessly.
the catholic church, clad in their bejewelled pomp, have earned no right to speak for jesus. take away that self-vested authority, and the only christian things they do are feeding the poor, and nursing the sick, (worthy as that is), it's the proportion to their wealth and their proclivity for meddling in politics that are disturbing.
spain has a lot younger a population than italy, so it sounds like the spaniards took the vatican't's advice in bed more seriously than those residing closer to the See.
or maybe italy was just closer to chernobyl. ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
The box for 'social purposes' goes to fund NGO's and the church has created loads of them, branching out with different names, so they get the church-aid money, the NGO money, the government programs money and their followers' contributions. Then, every time I read the NGO employment site, some church NGO is asking for volunteers to do clean-up work in some residence because they do not even pay minimum wage!
They will be better off if they STFU because that loophole may be closed sooner, rather than later.
It is enraging, but at least there are enclaves like the 'red parish' that the archbishop tried to close months ago and failed. Right now, the '80 sacred meters' are housing 24 Bolivians that had been living in slum huts and an illegal hostel the city demolished.... Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
BRUSSELS, May 9 (IPS) - The often cosy relationship between corporate lobbyists and the Brussels bureaucracy was illustrated in the past few weeks as several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) prepared to visit Peru.Vidal Quadras Roca, the assembly's vice-president, contacted a fellow MEP organising the trip to inform him that participants could see first-hand projects in Lima run by British Petroleum, the French private water firm Suez, and the Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica. All these companies, it transpired, are represented by the International Association of Business and Parliament, a shadowy body which has an office within the Parliament's own building and can avail of facilities financed by the European taxpayer. Revelations that 'stealth lobbyists' have penetrated their way deep into the corridors of power came at a delicate moment for the Parliament. Those MEPs who were not jetting off to Latin America were involved in a debate about how to tighten up the rules covering what lobbyists may and may not do. A significant breakthrough was made May 8 when the Parliament officially urged that a mandatory register should be set up for the estimated 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels, most of whom work for business interests. Among the details that would have to be included in the register would be a lobbyist's sources of funding and names of his or her clients.
I would also like to see a weighting intruduced that allows non-industrial groups opportunities to influence policy on an equal footing with the deep pockets of industries.
And whilst I'm at it, could I have a pony ? keep to the Fen Causeway
One of the Assembly's 14 vice-presidents, that is. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
BRUSSELS, Apr 30 (IPS) - Tax havens in Europe are depriving poor countries of more money than they receive in development aid, it has been alleged.Some 11.5 trillion (million million) dollars is held in offshore accounts across the world, according to Tax Justice Network, a grouping of economists, accountants and academics. Because tax authorities are unable to touch this money, they effectively lose 250 billion dollars per year: the equivalent of five times what the United Nations estimated in 2002 as needed to finance its Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty. John Christensen, the network's spokesman, argues that the European Union has a "slightly schizophrenic" attitude towards the problems posed by massive tax evasion and avoidance. While EU institutions have been "leading the world" in taking some initiatives against tax competition, many of the world's most notorious tax havens are located within the EU or on the overseas territories of its member states, he noted. These include the City of London (the financial district of London), Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Guernsey. Christensen, who has previously worked in Jersey's banking sector, cited data from the University of Massachusetts suggesting that Africa has lost 607 billion dollars because of capital flight -- or five times the amount it has received in development aid -- since 1970. Capital flight involves the movement of money from one country to another where a firm believes he or she will get greater returns.
Christensen, who has previously worked in Jersey's banking sector
Christensen used to be the Economic Adviser to the
States of Jersey
and he told me he resigned over the way that Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young got the Jersey LLP legislation through this largely unelected Corporacy.
Globalisation and its discontents: accounting firms buy Limited Liability Partnership legislation in Jersey
You couldn't make it up.... "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
EUROPE: Tax Havens Cheating the Poor
According to Christensen, Britain is one of the main culprits in attracting capital flight by leaving financial services companies in the City of London to a significant extent unregulated. "The City of London is the biggest tax haven in the world," he said. "Britain is very happy to attract capital out of Africa, Asia and Latin America. And the City of London is not asking was this capital the proceeds of crime, embezzlement or fraud."
After all, if you deal with these crooks, you're obviously up to no good. So it encourages good behaviour. But this would require a transparency that glob-corps pay politicians handsomely to prevent. keep to the Fen Causeway
good image! feed in life, out comes glob ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
take away all the money made from selling tyrants guns and fiddling money, how big a cheese is england then?
pinpoint that, and the anglo disease as model gets its legs shot out from under it.
that's why i think it's pointless trying to make europe a military superpower, it would suck so much out of the often failing social services, it's be a slow trainwreck. ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
GROZNY, Chechnya -- Amina Edieva's abductor stalked her like a seasoned predator. He approached the slender, raven-haired 18-year-old student on a Grozny side street, hoisted her off the ground in a tight bear hug and dragged her into a waiting car. The speeding car drove past a military checkpoint manned by Chechens and Russians. The Chechen soldiers would not blink an eye, but she screamed out to the Russian soldiers. No one helped. Nine days later, Ms. Edieva, her makeup smudged by tears, was married in a traditional Chechen ceremony where she stood alone in a corner for hours at the groom's house, forbidden to speak or sit until the elders left.
The speeding car drove past a military checkpoint manned by Chechens and Russians. The Chechen soldiers would not blink an eye, but she screamed out to the Russian soldiers. No one helped.
Nine days later, Ms. Edieva, her makeup smudged by tears, was married in a traditional Chechen ceremony where she stood alone in a corner for hours at the groom's house, forbidden to speak or sit until the elders left.
Unwritten ET issue lurking like a reef just under the water!
Don't restart the "where does Europe begin and end argument"... Please! ;-) ;-)
(FWIW, IMO, since I'm a card carrying member of the "Turkey belongs in the EU camp, then geographically it's hard to say that you can't put Chechnya in the "greater Europe" category.)
You only have to look at the economic situation of women in the UK prior to 1972 to see that the financial control of women's lives was pretty overt. An awful lot of public attitudes to women still rely on historical cultural ideas from a more barbaric era. Jane Austen based an entire novel on such practice.
Look at what has been happening in the Irish republic to see the control of women, the forced incarceration practically for life if they were considered immoral, ie caught having sex before marriage.
These weren't practices that were marginal but accepted, they were legally enforceable.
Honour killings have happened in this historical period in Italy and Spain. Let alone what happens in countries like the Balkan states where family relationships follow much older "traditions".
And look at what happens in the USA. A lot of that is an unreconstructed olde-tyme import from here
So, whilst it's comforting to think that we are in a civilised country and cna look at such things and shudder, it is merely our luck to live in an era where there has been a rapid change of attitudes in the last 60 years. But these behaviours aren't so far from our own culture in time or distance that we can think "not us". Attwood's Gilead is still a shadow we should fear if a future society should collapse into superstition following a post peak oil disintegration of the industrial society. "God's wrath, y'know" keep to the Fen Causeway
After the boomers, meet the children dubbed 'baby losers' Across Spain, France and Italy, young middle-class professionals with good degrees and diplomas are facing a lifetime on low salaries with unrewarding jobs, forever poorer than their parents.
Across Spain, France and Italy, young middle-class professionals with good degrees and diplomas are facing a lifetime on low salaries with unrewarding jobs, forever poorer than their parents.
Lots of silly conventional wisdom, paragraphs that obliviously contradict one another, and the snappy conclusion:
'There is a trend towards a certain classlessness and some win and some lose. Jobs that were previously passports to stable middle-class incomes and wealth no longer are. And those who lose out most tend to shout loudest.'
Whiny losers. All in whiny European (read - not British) countries. And in the Guardian. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
