This is a long way from a million, but its a pretty good start.

'Stop Blair' campaign

And there are formidable problems. Some will oppose him because of his enthusiasm for the Iraq war. Indeed there is already a website aimed at stopping him on these grounds.

Some will consider that he represents a country that has opted out of the euro, a common police and justice policy, a common immigration policy and will never be serious about Europe.

The smaller countries think the big countries already have too many people at the top.

Britain has twice wielded the veto over big jobs and some would like to return the compliment. And so on. But perhaps the biggest hurdle is that old Brussels saw "front-runners never win".

We're all over the Belgian press, it seems. And getting a lot of Portuguese signatures, somehow.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008 Would Tony Blair make a good EU president? Posted at: 17:18

Internet campaigners have launched a "Stop Blair" campaign to block any hopes the former prime minister may harbour of becoming president of the European president of the European Union later this year.

The website, http://www.stopblair.eu, went live today and its creators aim to collect one million signatures opposing Tony Blair's candidature for the job.

Jérôme Guillet, a Paris-based investment banker, explained that the idea for the campaign emerged from the pro-EU online bloggers community "European Tribune". "Tony Blair embodies many things we do not like," he said. "He is universally reviled."

Will you be signing the "Stop Blair" petition? Or would he be the right figurehead for the 27 member states? Is he the sort of president the EU deserves?

If Mr Blair isn't the man for the job, who is?

Peticija prieš Tony Blair'o iškėlimą "Europos Sąjungos Prezidentu"

Mes, visų kilmių ir politinių pažiūrų Europos piliečiai, norime išreikšti savo visišką priešiškumą Tony Blair'o iškėlimui į Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininkavimą.

Lisabonos Sutartis numato naują Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininko postą, kuris yra Vadovų Tarybos renkamas dviejų su puse metų kadencijai, ir gali būti perrenkamas tik vieną kartą. Pagal Sutartį, "Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininkas pirmininkauja Europos Vadovų Tarybai ir vadovauja jos darbui" bei "užtikrina pasirengimą Europos Vadovų Tarybos darbui ir jo tęstinumą". Taip pat "Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininkas savo lygiu ir pagal savo pareigas užtikrina atstovavimą Sąjungai užsienyje bendros užsienio ir saugumo politikos klausimais".[1]

Būsimas Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininkas tad turės lemiamą įtaką sprendžiant Europos Sąjungos veiklos kryptis ir santykius su likusiu pasauliu. Pirmasis Vadovų Tarybos pirmininkavimas taps svariu simboliu tiek Europos Sąjungos piliečiams, tiek Sąjungos įvaizdžiui likusiam pasauliui. Šiuo atžvilgiu mes manome, kad pirmasis pirmininkas turi esmingai išreikšti Europos sumanymo dvasią ir vertybes.

Jau kurį laiką vis labiau primygtini žiniasklaidos pranešimai akivaizdžiai perteikia kai kurių sluoksnių norą, kad Tony Blair'as būtų paskirtas pirmuoju Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininku. Toks paskyrimas, jei įvyktų, visiškai prieštarautų Europos sumanymo pripažintoms vertybėms.

Pažeisdamas tarptautinius įstatymus, Tony Blair'as įtraukė savo šalį į Irako karą, kuriam prieštaravo Europos piliečių didžioji dauguma. Šis karas pareikalavo šimtus tūkstančius aukų ir privertė persikelti milijonus pabėgėlių. Jis tapo pagrindiniu veiksniu šiandienos kraštutiniam nestabilumui Artimuosiuose Rytuose, ir susilpnino pasaulio saugumą. Kad įtaukti savo šalį į karą, ponas Blair'as sistematiškai naudojo suklastotus parodymus ir iškreiptą informaciją. Jo vaidmuo Irako kare svariai paveiktų Sąjungos įvaizdį pasaulyje, jei jis taptų Pirmininku.

Tony Blair'o vyriausybės žingsniai ir prisidėjimas prie Bush'o administracijos neteisėtos "ypatingų perdavimų" programos privedė prie nematyto pilietinių teisių smukimo. Tai prieštarauja Europos Žmogaus Teisių Konvencijai, kuri yra neatskiriama sutarties dalis.

Europos Sąjungos Pagrindinių Teisių Chartija įformina pagrindines Europos projekto vertybes, ir yra viena iš naujosios sutarties atramų. Tony Blair'as priešinosi jos įtraukimui į Lisabonos sutartį, ir galų gale jam pavyko užtikrinti išimtį Jungtinei Karalystei.

Vietoj to, kad prisidėti prie Europos integracijos pažangos, buvęs Britų ministras pirmininkas nustatė taip vadinamas raudonas linijas Lisabonos derybose[2], su ketinimu blokuoti bet kokią pažangą visuomeniniais klausimais ar mokesčių harmonizavimui, taip pat bendro saugumo ir užsienio politikos srityse.

Be to, sunkiai įsivaizduojama, kad pirmuoju Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininku turėtų būti vyriausybės, kuri sulaikė savo šalį prisijungti prie dviejų lemiamų Europos statymo grandžių - Šengeno laisvo žmonių judėjimo erdvės ir Euro zonos, buvęs vadovas.

Šiuo metu, kai vienas iš Europos institucijų prioritetų yra susisieti su jos piliečiais, mes manome, kad Europos Vadovų Tarybos Pirmininku turėtų asmuo, su kuriuo daugelis piliečių galėtų susitapatinti, o ne atstumiama daugumai asmenybė[3]. Todėl mes pareiškiame savo visišką priešiškumą šiai kandidatūrai.

  1.  Lisabonos Sutartis, 1 straipsnis, 16 punktas, įrašomas 9b straipsnis į Europos Sąjungos sutartį, 5 ir 6 punktai (2007/C 306/17, 18) ↑
   2. "Blair sets out EU treaty demands", BBC, 2007 Birželis↑
   3. Lentelė 6 FT/Harris apklausoje, 2007 Birželis ↑

Sure, one should not be ashamed of one's beliefs. But the goal here is more limited, namely, to stop Blair becoming the first EU president. This requires the maximum amount of signatures, and citing his anti-integration policies does NOT contribute to that goal. Those who care about integration will sign anyway. Many of those who hate Blair for Iraq, his sleaziness or any other of the many reason may actually not sign it because of

"We, European citizens of all origins and of all political persuasions,..."

...by effectively forcing everyone who signs the petition to sign up to a pro-integrationist approach to Europe.

I personally agree with a pro-integrationist approach per se. I only want to raise questions about its use in this campaign because I believe the (potential) primal force behind a successful anti-Blair campaign are his lies and war-mongering. This is, I believe, the most common reason for Europeans' dislike and rejection of Blair. The integrationist criticism distracts from that and may work against the goal of getting the maximum number of signatures.

We take it as backhanded compliment that The Economist creates publicity for our campaign. Tnanks!
Regarding your competition, we "leftish bloggers" (whatever that means nowadays -- wouldn't "leftish" describe the former Labour leader?) submit that Habeas Corpus has been little heeded in the past when colonial powers tried to imprint terror in restive natives, or when War on Terror was fought in North Ireland, but to go on and abolish it after 325 years seems rather more spectacular.

Over the top? Just fine?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

• Email signature: Make "Join the effort to block Tony Blair's nomination to the EU presidency -- http://stopblair.eu/ ", or something like that, your email signature.

• If you are on FaceBook, join the group "I do not want to see Tony Blair APPOINTED as the President of the EU": when you join a group, that is announced to all of your friends, who in turn may decide to join the group.  The FT article "The Blair project gains momentum" and the petition itself are already visible there as "Posted Items", and a request to sign the petition is one of the "Discussion Board" topics (albeit with no activity).  Only 151 members so far, though.

• Set your chat application status to " http://stopblair.eu/ ".  If you use Google Talk, you can set your chat application status to a custom message, visible to all other users.  I don't think custom statuses are possible with Skype; have no idea for other applications.  But if you use Google Talk, just put in that URL: it acts as a link, and it does not have any effect on what your actual status is (e.g. "Available", "Busy", etc.)

Signatory #34, Simon Pride from the USA, commented:

The EU was formed to prevent war. Blair launched an unprovoked and unjustifiable war against another country and is therefore unworthy of European Union recognition.

I thought long and hard about this, and I think the first sentence is so important and fitting into the logic of our text that it warrants after-the-fact addition to the Petition, in all languages. I'd put that sentence into the third paragraph:

The European Union was formed to prevent war. However, in violation of international law, Tony Blair committed his country to a war in Iraq...

2. Translator alert

If the site is to be developed further (above all, if we move the petition signing to a dedicated site), the other language versions need quick update, too. So would it be fair to ask all the translators to mail linca, so that he has an email list when push comes to shove?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

I disagree with Mr. Mardell that the President of the European Council shall be "Mr or Mrs Europe". That would give too much importance to the already too powerful Council against the other two EU institutions. The Council is like an upper house (though more like the German Federal Council [Bundesrat] rather than the aristocratic Lords), and the EU just wanted to move into a more democratic direction by increasing the Parliament's powers and the Commission's accountability.

I also think that for the Council Presidency, only the former leader of a smaller EU member can be in question. That bars Merkel or Prodi even if they have the negotiating skills. But I may welcome former heads of major EU countries (if qualified, unlike Blair, or Aznar or Berlusconi) as European Commission Presidents.

I am also wondering about your description of Juncker. He may be little-known in a Britain where discourse on Europe is dominated by Eurosceptic private media, but he is certainly well recognised elsewhere as skillful negotiator, a main mover behind the formation of the European Union and the adoption of the Euro, he reassures us in the smaller EU members, and he is a good pro-European speaker (and I say all this as someone not too close to him on the left-right spectrum).

...but I am constantly timed out.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

Le Monde.fr : "Stopblair.eu": une pétition contre Tony Blair comme président de l'UE

Tony Blair président de l'UE? Le débat a à peine commencé qu'une pétition pour tuer dans l'oeuf cette possibilité est déjà sur internet, sur le site "www.stopblair.eu".

Le nouveau traité de Lisbonne instaure un président du Conseil européen (qui rassemble les dirigeants européens) désigné pour deux ans et demi et qui devra représenter l'UE sur la scène mondiale.

Ce futur président devrait être choisi fin 2008 par les chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement des 27. Les spéculations sur le nom du futur président ont déjà commencé, alimentées par les déclarations du président français Nicolas Sarkozy favorables à Tony Blair.

"Depuis quelques semaines, on voit émerger des soutiens à une candidature de Tony Blair (...) Ca semble devenir sérieux alors nous avons décidé de nous exprimer contre", a expliqué à l'AFP Jérôme Guillet, un des initiateurs de la pétition qui se disent politiquement "plutôt de gauche" et animent un blog citoyen sur les questions européennes, European Tribune.

Great, Jerome !

Hoping this will get picked up by some French newspapers...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

From the revision history
7 February 2008 JLogan (Talk | contribs) m (18,372 bytes) (is this really notable? there are petitions on the internet about everything. Would only be notable if it got into the media for its size or if it was supported by leading figures)

I think got into the media is arguable, but supported by leading figures is silly or disingenuous. But hey, it's a wiki. We can try and improve it. (Not surprisingly, this reminds me of work on peer-reviewed articles to address the reviewers' concerns.)

You're clearly a dangerous pinko commie pragmatist.

/the more the merrier

"If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Sun Tzu

Basque is an official regional language, maybe they'd be interested in translating!

Mais c'est un scandâââle!!

Hi,

I just signed an important global letter to the US Presidential candidates. The outcome of the next US election will greatly affect the world and I thought you might want to sign this letter too. Heres the link:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/us_change_course/98.php?cl_tf_sign=1

[outtake from/summary of text of petition]

I think this is a great idea on an important issue, and I hope you'll join me by signing up!

Thanks!

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Since we like our references: wikipedia.

AVAAZ.org is an international civic organization that promotes political action on issues such as climate change, human rights, and religious conflicts.[1] Its stated mission is to "ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making." The organization operates in thirteen languages, and claims more than one million members from every country in the world.[2]

Avaaz, which means "voice" or "song" in Hindi, Dari, Persian, and other languages, is managed by a team of campaigners working from Switzerland, Brazil, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. They communicate with members via email, and employ campaigning tactics including online public petitions, videos, and email-your-leader tools.

At the 2007 G8 conference, Avaaz.org protested against the "U.S. administration (for its) 'wrecking tactics' and failure to agree to specific, binding global goals" when it came to the mitigation of global warming. At the event, Avaaz.org presented a petition signed by 355,000 people from 193 countries that supported its position. [3] Avaaz is also a co-organizer of the Global Day of Action for Burma along with Burma Campaign UK and Amnesty International. It has registered more than 750,000 signatures to a petition to the Chinese President Hu Jintao and the UN Security Council, urging them to "oppose a violent crackdown on the demonstrators" and "support genuine reconciliation and democracy".[4] Avaaz delivered this petition to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on October 15, 2007.[5] The Avaaz video Stop the Clash of Civilizations, created with Agit-Pop Productions, is the all-time second most discussed video in the YouTube "News and Politics" section.[6][7]

AVAAZ.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group and non-profit organization, and MoveOn, an online community that has pioneered internet advocacy in the United States. The organization is also supported by Service Employees International Union, a founding partner, and GetUp.org.au.

Oh and you should of course sign the petition.

"149 Mr Gordon Brown UK N/G Feb 05, 2008"

Press release - we need one to fill that slot at the bottom. I can put something together quickly tomorrow and then send it around for comment.

Press/PR email - it would be very helpful to have a press@eurotrib.com email set up, even if it's just an alias and goes to the usual address.

Geometric growth - we don't have a pitch saying 'And tell your family and friends.' It could be helpful to have a shortened version of the main text to download to send around as a viral email, leading back to the petition. Even with the PR, I'd be surprised if the petition site on its own gathered enough interest to break 1M. (It might, but some alternatives wouldn't hurt.)

any comment here before it is oficially posted...

ATUREM BLAIR

Petició contra la nominació de Tony Blair com a "President de la Unió Europea".

Nosaltres, ciutadans europeus de diferents orígens i tendències polítiques, volem expressar la nostra total oposició a la nominació de Tony Blair a la presidència del Consell Europeu.

El Tractat de Lisboa crea la nova figura de President del Consell Europeu, càrrec escollit pel Consell per un mandat de dos anys i mig, renovable només una vegada. Sota els termes del Tractat: "El President de Consell Europeu encapçalarà les seves discussions i dirigirà els seus treballs" i "assumira les preparacions i lacontinuïtat del treball del Consell Europeu". A més a més, "El President del Consell Europeu assumirà, en el seu càrrec i condició, la representació exterior de la Unió en temes relacionats amb la política exterior i la seguretat comuna".

El futur President del Consell Europeu, tindrà, per tant, un paper clau en la determinació de les polítiques de la Unió Europea i les seves relacions amb la resta del món. Aquesta primera presidència del Consell també tindrà un gran caire simbòlic tan pels ciutadans de la Unió europea com per la imatge de la Unió en la resta del món.

Davant aquestes consideracions, creiem que és essencial que el primer president representi l'esperit i els valors del projecte Europeu.

D'un temps ençà, s'han incrementat les informacions que fan evident un desig per part d'alguns sectors d'escollir Tony Blair com el primer President del Consell Europeu. Si aquest fos el cas, la seva selecció aniria en contra de tots els valors que professa el projecte Europeu.

Violant la llei internacional, Tony Blair va involucrar el seu país en una guerra a l'Iraq que la gran majoria de ciutadans europeus va rebutjar. Aquesta guerra ha generat centenars de milers de víctimes i desplaçat milions de refugiats. Ha estat un factor principal en l'ara profunda inestabilitat de l'Orient Mitjà, a més de debilitar la seguretat mundial. Per tal de guiar el seu país a la guerra, el Sr. Blair va fer un ús sistemàtic de proves falses i de manipulació informativa. Si arriba a ser President, el seu paper en la guerra d'Iraq marcarà negativament la imatge de la Unió en el món.

Els passos presos pel govern de Tony Blair, i la seva complicitat amb l'administració Bush, en el programa il·legal de "rendicions extraordinàries" han portat a una forta reducció de les llibertats civils. Això està en forta contradicció amb l'establert a la Convenció Europea de Drets Humans, que és una part integral del tractat.

La Carta Europea de Drets Fonamentals formalitza els valors fundacionals del projecte Europeu i és un dels pilars del nou tractat. Tony Blair va lluitar en contra de la seva inclusió en el Tractat de Lisboa, i finalment va aconseguir una exempció pel Regne Unit.

Enlloc d'impulsar la integració europea, l'antic Primer Ministre Britànic va fixar una sèrie d'anomenades "línies vermelles" durant les negociacions del tractat de Lisboa amb l'intent de bloquejar qualsevol progrés en temes socials, d'harmonització fiscal o de política exterior i de seguretat comuna.

A més a més, sembla poc imaginable que el primer President del Consell Europeu sigui l'antic cap d'un govern que va mantenir el seu país fora de dos dels elements claus en la construcció Europea: l'àrea Shengen de lliure moviment de persones i la zona Euro.

En un moment en què una de les prioritats de les institucions europees és connectar amb els ciutadans, creiem fonamental que el President del Consell Europeu sigui una persona amb la qual la gran majoria de ciutadans es puguin identificar, i no pas una persona rebutjada per la majoria de la població. Per tant, declarem la nostra oposició frontal a la seva nominació.

Tractat de Lisboa, Article 1, secció 16, que afegeix l'article 9 B en el Tractat sobre la Unió Europea, seccions 5 y 6 (2007/C 306/17,
18)

Blair exposa les seves demandes sobre el tractat de la UE. BBC, Juny de 2007

Taula 6 del sondeig FT/Harris, Juny de 2007

Signa la petició!

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

Now waiting for the other celtic languages : Britton, Irish, Welsh, Galician ?

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

Lisboako Hitzarmenak erabaki du kargu berri bat sortzea, Europar Kontseilaren Lehendakariarena, Kontseiluak berak hautatuko duena agindaldi osorako, bi urte t'erdirako, behin bakarrik berritu ahal izango dena. Hitzarmenaren hitzetan: "Europar Kontseiluaren Lehendakaria Kontseiluburu izango da eta haren lana bultzatuko du" eta "Europar Kontseiluaren prestaketa eta jarraipena segurtatuko du". Areago, "Europar Kontseiluko Lehendakariak, bere mailan eta ahalmen horrekin, Europar Batasunaren kanpo ordezkaritza segurtatuko du haren kanpo eta segurtasun politika komunei dagozkion arazoetan"¹.

Etorkizuneko Europar Kontseiluko Lehendakariak, beraz, giltza nagusia izango du Europar Batasunaren politikak erabakitzeko lanean eta munduko beste guztiekiko harremanetan ere bai. Lehen Kontseiluburu honek, halaber, pisu sinboliko nagusia izango du Europar Batasuneko hiritarrentzat zein Europar Batasunak munduaren gainerakoan duen irudiari dagokionean. Ikuspegi horretatik, guk uste dugu funtsezkoa dela lehen lehendarariak Europar proiektuaren espiritua eta balioak gorpuz ditzan bere baitan.

Azkenaldi honetan, gero eta albiste gehiagok agerian jarri dute desio bat zenbait bazterretan, Europar Kontseiluko Lehendakari izendaturik ikustea Tony Blair. Izendapen hau, gauzatuko balitz, erabateko kontraesanean izango litzateke Europar proiektuak agerian aitortzen dituen balioekin.

Nazioarteko legeak bortxatuz, Tony Blair-ek bere herria arriskarazi zuen Irakeko gerran, nahiz eta Europako hiritarren gehiengo zabala haren aurka agertu. Gerra honek ehunka mila biktima izan ditu eta milioika erbesteratu eragin ditu. Hori izan da Ekialde Ertainak gaur bizi duen desegonkortasun sakonaren eragile nagusia, eta horrek ahuldu du mundu osoko segurtasuna. Bere herria gerrara eramateko, Blair jaunak sistematikoki erabili zituen hutsetik sortutako froga faltsuak eta informazioaren manipulazioa. Irakeko gerran izan duen jokabideak pisu astuna izango du Europar Batasunak munduan duen irudian, inoiz haren lehendakari izendatua izango balitz.

Tony Blair-en gobernuak eman dituen pausoek, eta Bush-en administrazioarekin batera legez kanpoko "errenditze ohiz kanpokoen" programan izan duen jokabideak, aurrekaririk gabeko gainbehera eragin ditu askatasun zibiletan. Hori kontraesanean dago Hitzarmenaren muin den Giza Eskubideen Europar Konbentzioarekin.

Funtsezko Eskubideen Europar Kartak europar proiektuaren sortzezko balioak gauzatzen ditu eta Hitzarmen berriaren zutabeetako bat da. Tony Blair-ek borroka egin zuen hura ez zedin sartua izan Lisboako Hitzarmenean, eta azkenean lortu zuen Erresuma Batua salbuetsirik uztea.

Europaren integrazioa aurrera eraman ordez, Britaniar Lehen Ministro-ohiak "lerro gorriak" (nola-hala) deituriko arau-sail bat ezarri zuen Lisboako Hitzarmenaren negoziazioetan², gizarte gaietan eta zerga harmonizazioan edozein aurrerabide oztopatzeko asmoz, baita defentsa eta kanpo politika komunean ere.

Are gehiago, pentsaezina dirudi Europar Kontsiluaren lehen Lehendakaria izan dadin gobernuburu-ohi bat bere herria Europaren eraikuntzan giltzarri izan diren bi elementutatik kanpo mantendu duena: mugimendu libreko Schengen eremua eta Eurogunea.

Europar instituzioen lehentasun nagusietako bat bere hiritarrekiko lotura sendotzea den garaian, uste dugu funtsezkoa dela Europar Kontseiluaren Lehendakaria izan dadin norbait hiritarren gehiengoak harekin bat egiten duena, eta ez gehiengoak arbuiatzen duena³. Beraz, gure erabateko aurkakotasuna adierazten diogu izendapen honi.

Lisboako Hitzarmena, 1. artikulua, 16. puntua, bere baitan 9 B artikulua biltzen duena Europar Batasunaren Hitzarmenean, 5. and 6. puntuetan (2007/C 306/17, 18) ↑
Blair-ek bere eskariak agertzen ditu EUko hitzarmenari buruz, BBC, 2007ko ekaina ↑
6. taula FT/Harris inkestan, 2007ko ekaina ↑]

Dear eurotrib people and especially Migeru:

Lately I've been quite busy to reed eurotrib and too busy to translate the petition, but reading in Berria basque newspaper that eurotrib has some basque user but they aren't very active, didn't make me very happy.

The main reason is that in the petition page there are two sections while selecting the country you belong to. First, the UE official countries (States, speaking properly) + some mayor G8 + BRIC countries, etc. And in the second "regions" list (all nation-states of the world, but with some small exceptions like Scotland and Wales.

It's funny that UK people have choices that some european people don't have. I signed the petition before getting to 700 people, but it was a bit hard to me to have to select Spain, and not have the choice to select Basque Country (Euskal Herria - EH).

I'm not independentist and I hate and condemn the violence of ETA, but I hope that European Union will give us some way of democracy out of spanish integrism and french chauvinism: a bit respect for a little old country fighting to survive with its old language and habits.

So, I ask to eurotrib editors to offer choices to every country or people with its own language in Europe to choose its own country in the petition  like Basque Country, Catalonia, Galiza (in Spain) and many others in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), though is noticeable that France doesn't appear protecting any language under the charter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Charter_for_Regional_or_Minority_Languages).

To finish, I'd like to say that if you fill my petition in this post, I'll send tons of messages to a lot of basque associations and news media, to get more signatures. But we are a bit bored of being forget. I'm sure my petition will be welcome in Catalonia and Galiza.

On the other hand, I'm probably very slow and clumsy, for I get impressed with all the activity shown by Jerome and many others, but I try to make little contributions, when I dare. This was the last, on friday, abit late:

 Amnesty International censored in Spain
Yesterday Amnesty International of Spain called a press conference to say that after being waiting for eight moths for a TV advertisement about human rights to be broadcasted, it was censored. Besides, any TV channel could be penalised with a 300.000 € fine if they broadcasted it.
That's the freedom of speech we are given in MSM in Spain.
This morning the advertisement was in the front page of the digital edition of Publico.es, but it has been removed; not only the advertisement, but also the news about the press conference.
I suggest you to watch to it, it's very good. Here:

www.elpoderdetuvoz.org
(the power of your voice)

A very literal translation to english below:
(Gaddafi)   All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,
(Ahmadinejad)   without any distinction of race, colour, sex,
(Shimon Peres)   language, religion and politic opinion.
(Putin)   They have the right to the security of their person.
(Bush)   Nobody will be tortured, nobody will be arbitrarily arrested.
(F. Castro)   All of them will have the right to leave their country and come back,
(Hu Jintao)    to freedom of opinion, 
(Kim Jong-II)   to education and to a suitable level of life.

(Amnesty International guy) And no person nor state will never be able to violate any of these rights.

Best wishes to everybody
Thanks!