"Parochial whining" - that's how a leading party colleague dismissed the controversial remarks by Christian Social Union General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt about Greece and the euro crisis. Dobrindt had told the Sunday edition of Germany's Bild newspaper that there was no way around Greece's exit from the eurozone.

...Asked about Dobrindt's remarks during a television interview broadcast on Sunday night, Merkel said that this was a decisive phase of saving the euro. "Therefore I think we should all weigh our words," she said.

Other Christian Democrats were even clearer. On Monday (27.08.2012), Merkel's deputy in the CDU, Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier said, "The business is difficult enough, it will not get any easier if every day someone drops another clanger."

Bundestag President Norbert Lammert (CDU) said in a similar vein: "The situation is too serious to be dealt with by rhetorical one-upmanship." The CDU European Commissioner Günther Oettinger said, "The style is not appropriate, nor is the content, and the calculation behind it certainly isn't."

The "calculation" that Oettinger referred to is what he considers the CSU's attempts to position itself better ahead of the upcoming Bavarian state election with tougher rhetoric against crisis-stricken eurozone countries. But many party colleagues believe Dobrindt is going too far. CSU Bundestag chairwoman Gerda Hasselfeldt warned, "Whether Greece stays in the eurozone or not, is not a question that can be decided at this time or by a gut feeling." Hasselfeldt's deputy Max Straubinger was clearer still. The phrase "parochial whining" comes from him, accompanied with the words, "It's absurd to think Greece will get to its feet faster with the drachma."

Too little too late...

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Romania's parliament ended a dramatic session yesterday (27 August) by accepting a Constitutional Court ruling to return the country's embattled president to office. With the publication of the decision in the country's official journal, Traian Bãsescu can now return to office after a 52-day suspension.

France ignored criticism from human rights groups on Tuesday as authorities continued their forced dismantling of Roma camps across the country.

A day after police forced 70 Roma (also known as gypsies) including 19 children out of a camp in the Paris suburb of Evry, officers targeted the biggest makeshift encampment in the Lyon area.

Authorities said 121 Roma, 47 of them children, were forced off land that belonged to a property developer and just as in Monday's evicton, no alternative accomodation has been found for the evicted families.

Martine David, the local mayor, admitted the expelled Roma were likely to set up a new camp in the area. "We are going round in circles," she told AFP news agency. "We can't offer them a permanent housing solution and I know there's a risk they will just set up another camp."

Macedonia may face early elections after an ethnic Albanian party that is part of the governing coalition threatened to quit in protest of a draft law on the rights of Macedonian soldiers and their families that was put before parliament.

The draft law, tabled on Friday (24 August), has provoked a crisis in the Macedonian government between the main ruling VMRO-DPMNE and its ethnic Albanian coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the Balkan Insight news site reports.

DUI leaders said they would quit the coalition if the same rights and privileges are not extended to members of Albanian guerrilla forces that fought in a brief ethnic conflict in 2001.

Autonomous region will apply for €5bn in help without conditionality attached; Catalan government says the money was paid for by Catalan taxes; Mariano Rajoy has writen a letter to the Catalan regional president Artur Mas, in which Rajoy promised to consider a fiscal pact to give Catalonia greater autonomy; with Catalonia, three regions will apply to the Spanish domestic rescue fund, tapping a joint total of €8.8bn out €18bn; there is still a possibility of early elections in Catalonia, to coincide with elections in Galicia and the Basque region; Herman van Rompuy said on a visit to Spain that the eurozone's deficient architecture is partly responsible for the Spanish crisis; Rajoy remains equivocal on the rescue umbrella as one report says he was encouraged by the latest reports from the rating agencies; the Spanish economy contracted by 0.4% during Q2, as recession accelerates; Spanish savings deposits fell by almost 5% during July, the highest value ever recorded; the French government has reached a deal with fuel suppliers to cut the price of petrol by 6 cents, resulting in a revenue loss of €300m; Belgium calls on France to take over the public lending arm of Dexia as soon as possible without which there is no hope for a recapitalisation; Antonis Samaras is starting discussions with reluctant coalition partners over the €11.5bn austerity package; July saw a small increase in Greek bank deposits after large outflows in May and June; Greece is negotiations with the Commission over special economic zones to attract investors; fixing voting weights in the ECB is not going to increase Germany's influence, FAZ writes; German savings banks, public sector banks, and mutual banks have joined forces to protest against a common European bank regulator; they fear that German savers would have to cross-subsidized other deposit insurance schemes; Reuters Breakingviews, meanwhile, says that the split in German position between Jens Weidmann and Jorg Asmussen is greatly helping Mario Draghi to push through this bond purchasing programme.

Spain is hit by a financial and economic crisis that finds its sources largely in private sector over-indebtedness caused by an unsustainable housing boom. These imbalances, which have important consequences for the overall competitiveness of the Spanish economy, were created domestically but were also made possible by deficiencies in the euro area's architecture.

From a European Council press release (pdf) on Van Rompuy's visit to Madrid yesterday.

(via Eurointelligence h/t Migeru)

Napolitano can appoint new senators for life. Another four to be precise. Today there are five. The maximum number of five life senators present in the Senate or five appointed by each President of the Republic is controversial. Since the time of the war, each one has done a bit as he has seen fit. After the appointment of Rigor Montis for unknown merits and acquired parliamentary immunity, according to rumours, the ones in "pole position" are: Eugenio Scalfari (the one that did the negotiations), Boss(ol)i (the one that was keen to use the Italian flag "to wipe his bum"), Gianni Letta (The twenty year carer of the P2 man carrying card number 1816, Berlusconi), Emanuele Macaluso (a member of Napolitano's "meliorist wing") and Margherita Hack (the only one worthy of mention). The five current life senators, apart from Rigor Montis, are the statute-barred Andreotti (93 years), Emilio Colombo (92 years), Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (as a former President of the Republic) (92 years), and Rita Levi Montalcini (103 years). In the next legislature, they'll be joined by Napolitano who compared to them is just a youngster (87 years old). Among the set of candidates for the position of life senator, the two most credible ones are Macaluso and Scalfari, both aged 88. Life senators never die, or at least they die much later.
In the Senate, a few votes can determine the outcome of a confidence vote or the approval of a non-constitutional law. It's already happened. The life senators can make the difference. It's already happened. In theory, the composition of Parliament, should only be decided by the sovereign people. It's not like that. The practice of appointing life senators is not controlled by any democratic system. It's a promotion with feudal and baronial, characteristics just like in the time of the vavasour's vassals and the vavasours. By divine right. The current president can influence the legislatures that are to come after his term of office as President, without being accountable to anyone, by appointing whoever he wants. The life senator has that position "for outstanding patriotic merits in the social, scientific, artistic or literary field"", the very image of Andreotti! If we want to honour those who have "done great things for the nation" it's possible to give them decorations, even really high ones, but the democratic life of the nation must be decided only by the electorate each with a vote that has an equal value to that of Napolitano or of any other President of the Republic that has preceded him.

Note: Cossiga offered to appoint Montanelli as a life senator but he refused so as to safeguard his independence. He said: "It wasn't a gesture of exhibitionism, but a concrete way of saying what I think: a journalist must keep power at a safe distance."

We should add that in the course of our internet ethnography about Golden Dawn we have  seen that their official webpage is very active with many posts and announcements being
uploaded on a daily basis. In addition, their youth's webpage is also very rich with texts, photos and videos, but what is quite surprising is their women's blog, which is very strenuous and seem to show that many young women are taking part in the organization's activities

wtf

It's a fine line between homage, parody, and consumer opportunism. Jess Walter

Spain's Treasury has sold nearly €4 billion in short-term debt auctions that saw investors accepting much lower interest rates, reflecting easing concern that the country will need a full-blown bailout.

The Treasury says it sold €1.67 billion in three-month bills at an average interest rate of 0.95 per cent, down from 2.43 per cent in the last such auction July 24.

It sold €1.93 billion in six-month bills on a yield of 2.03 per cent, down from 3.69 per cent.

Gazprom Export Director Alexander Medvedev and Bulgarian Energy Minister Delyan Dobrev said yesterday (27 August) the separate agreements on the gas pipeline and on delivery price would be signed on 15 November, Bulgarian news media reported.

The first agreement concerns Bulgaria's participation in the Gazprom-favoured South Stream (see background). The country is key to the project, as the offshore section of the pipeline under the Black Sea reaches the Bulgarian coast north of Varna (see map) and then runs across the country before splitting in two branches - one to the to the Baumgarten gas hub near Vienna, the other one through Greece and the Ionian Sea to Italy.

...The second agreement concerns a gas import agreement for a period of seven years. Bulgaria's current import accord with Gazprom ends at the beginning of 2013.

No details emerged of the deal, but Medvedev confirmed that Gazprom would follow through with an 11% discount - promised to Bulgaria for the period of 1 April until 31 December - as a condition for the country's commitment to South Stream.

Security firm G4S has admitted that it is fighting to repair its battered reputation, as it wrote off £50 million in losses on its bungled London 2012 contract.

It fulfilled 83% of contracted shifts at the Games, failing to provide all of the 10,400 contracted guards and forcing the Government to step in with military personnel, the group confirmed.

G4S, which has already ruled itself out of bidding for the Rio 2016 Olympics security contracts, said it is confident that the Paralympic Games, starting tomorrow, will be fully staffed with a security workforce.

Prosecutors say investors lost about 163 million zlotys (£38 million) a number that has been mounting as more and more victims come forward. Any law suits could take care years to go through the courts, with no guarantee of their outcome.

The affair has raised questions about the effectiveness of Poland's justice system and government because authorities failed to act against the scheme despite red flags from regulators and the criminal record of its young owner. Scrutiny has also focused on the prime minister due to business dealings his son had with those running the scheme.

...Financial institution, Amber Gold, promised guaranteed returns of 10 to 14% a year for what it claimed were investments in gold. Many of its clients were older Poles who grew up under communism and lacked the knowledge to question how a financial firm could guarantee such a high return on a commodity whose value fluctuates on the international market. The promised returns compared well to the 3 to 5% interest offered by banks on savings accounts - earnings essentially wiped out by the country's 4% inflation rate.

We are already seeing an about-turn these days, according to surveys that have been conducted, whereby many young people are beginning to go back to working the land. Some of these guys are even university graduates, so these are not young people with a mediocre education and in order to go back to working the land they have to forget about dealing with the major retail chains because these can only work with the large multinational companies in the foodstuff sector, so here too we have a case of small to medium-size craft-based enterprises that use different product marketing methods than those utilised by the major retail chains and that, therefore, have to link up with the ethical purchasing groups in order to sell their products, which are seasonal products, short supply-chain products and organic products, directly to the consumers within these ethical purchasing groups.
Now we see this as being a possible solution to the economic crisis, the employment crisis, the debt crisis and the environmental crisis.
But if our proposal in theory were to become a reality, I get the feeling that if the Movimento 5 Stelle's presence in the local institution increases, the local leaders of the Movimento a 5 Stelle could introduce a very strong policy, both as regards waste reduction in public and private buildings and as regards the encouragement of local, organic agriculture, in other words, if farming were to become more local and organic in nature and reduce the amount of chemicals being used, reduce the length of the supply chain, and so on, all this would result in a reduction in our GDP, however, not a reduction simply for the sake of reduction. We don't want to see this Country's GDP drop simply because someone has put a minus sign in place of a plus sign before the GDP figure, but because a qualitative assessment has been made of human endeavour and what has been reduced? Well, those goods that are of no use, goods that constitute waste, goods that consume resources and that result in environmental damage.
So actually, what we're hoping for is a cultural turnaround because what is needed is a paradigm shift to one that goes beyond the culture of the 19th and 20th Centuries, one that is able to spot the qualitative production elements in human endeavour and that understands that oftentimes less is more. The reduction in the greenhouse effect that could be obtained by reducing waste in our homes, in other words the improvement to our world that could be obtained from households that consume less, is part of that "less is better" concept. Spread the word." Maurizio Pallante

A court in Haifa ruled Tuesday that the state of Israel was not at fault over the death of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in March 2003 as she tried to prevent a bulldozer from flattening a Palestinian home in Gaza.

REUTERS - Hundreds of protesters smashed cars and torched churches in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Monday after unknown gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in Somalia.

One protester was killed in the riots which erupted after Aboud Rogo Mohammed was shot on Monday, as youths from the port city's large Muslim population took to the streets saying he had been deliberately targeted by police.

The opposition parties demand that Prime Minister Singh resign over this scam - also known as the "Coalgate."

India's state auditor, the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), said earlier this month that the lack of transparency in the distribution of coal blocks to private companies had cost billions of dollars to the exchequer since March last year. However, the CAG report did not directly blame Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but said that the allocations had been made between 2005 to 2009, when Manmohan Singh was in charge of the additional energy ministry.

The news that came yesterday should be, environmental campaigners said, a global wake-up call. The ice cap covering the top of the world is now smaller than it has been at any point since scientists started to measure it precisely from space.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

Factors other than the growing demand for biofuels in Europe and the United States are at play in the higher costs of food, says Rob Vierhout, secretary-general of the European Renewable Ethanol Association, or ePure. He sees commodities speculation, food waste and growing appetites in emerging markets as bigger factors.

"You cannot present a convincing case that biofuels are structurally causing higher food prices," Vierhout told EurActiv. "We have had problems with [volatility] for decades and even in the time when biofuels were absolutely not around."

Announcing the move following a meeting with oil industry leaders, finance minister Pierre Moscovici said oil companies have agreed to cut prices by one to three cents a litre, and the government will take another three cents off through a cut in fuel taxes.

Easing the pressure of rising prices on French households was one of Mr Hollande's key campaign pledges. Fuel prices have neared record highs in recent months on the back of rising oil prices.

(Reuters) - Britain's transport minister said on Tuesday she would probably resign if the government gave in to pressure to expand London's Heathrow airport

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron's government has ruled out building a third runway at Heathrow before the next election, in part to appease the junior coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats, but the issue has returned to the agenda with the economy still stuck in recession.

Government insiders say Cameron and finance minister George Osborne have an open mind on expanding Heathrow but that they were unlikely to reverse their policy before the election, due in 2015.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening was asked by BBC radio to respond to comments by a fellow Conservative, goading Cameron to approve the new runway and show if he was a "man or a mouse".

Australia will scrap its planned floor price for carbon emissions and will link directly with the European Union's emissions trading system by 2018, Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said today (28 August).

Australia, one of the world's highest per capita emitters of pollutants blamed for causing climate change, imposed a fixed €19.08 per tonne carbon tax on around 300 of its biggest polluting companies in July, covering around 60% of emissions.

The €12.45 floor price was due to underpin the scheme when it moved to a floating emissions trading scheme in July 2015.

AP - All fires have been extinguished at Venezuela's biggest oil refinery after raging for more than three days following a deadly explosion, officials said Tuesday.

...The explosion early Saturday morning at the refinery killed at least 41 people and injured more than 150, Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega said.

...Criticisms of the government's response to the gas leak came from the refinery's neighbors as well as oil experts. Residents said they had no official warning before the explosion hit at about 1 a.m. on Saturday. The blast knocked down walls, shattered windows and left streets littered with rubble.

Europe's largest illegal settlement lies just outside the Spanish capital, Madrid. A sprawling tangle of tents and cement houses, Cañada Real is now home to over 40,000 people. But maybe not for long...

In Cañada Real, roads and alleyways are unpaved. Houses are made of corrugated metal or cement. Some lots are just piles of garbage.

Forty years ago, Cañada Real was built by peasants who moved to Madrid for jobs. With the economic crisis, the settlement has swelled to some 40,000 residents - a mix of North Africans, Roma people and other immigrants and Spaniards down on their luck.

... "[Cañada Real] has been here for generations," she told DW as she opened a chain link gate outside her house. "But now the suburbs are encroaching on us, and suddenly, we are a bother. The city has arrived, and they want to get rid of us. They want the money this land could bring them, and they want us to disappear."

Teenagers who smoke cannabis regularly could be permanently damaging the development of their brain and are likely to end up with significantly lower IQ scores than teenagers who do not use the illicit drug, a major study has found.

...The study suggests that weekly cannabis use before the age of 18 results in an average decline in IQ score of eight points, which is enough to move someone of average intelligence into a category that is well below average.

The researchers believe this is evidence that cannabis can interfere with the development of the adolescent brain, which continues to undergo neural growth and "rewiring" during early teenage years.

"Quitting or reducing cannabis use did not appear to fully restore intellectual functioning," said Madeline Meier, of Duke University in North Carolina. She was the lead author of the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. " IQ decline could not be explained by alcohol or other drug use or by reduced years of education among persistent cannabis users... marijuana is not harmless, particularly for adolescents," Dr Meier said...

Nasa yesterday showed off the first high-resolution, colour portrait images taken by the Mars rover Curiosity, detailing a mound of layered rock where scientists plan to focus their search for the chemical ingredients of life on the Red Planet.

The stunning images reveal distinct tiers near the base of the 3-mile-tall mountain that rises from the floor of the vast, ancient impact basin known as Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed on 6 August to begin its two-year mission.

Scientists estimate it will be a year before the six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover, about the size of a small car, physically reaches the layers of interest at the foot of the mountain, 6.2 miles away from the landing site.

The paper, titled "NASA faked the moon landing - Therefore (Climate) Science is a Hoax: An Anatomy of the Motivated Rejection of Science", was based on a survey of more than 1000 visitors to blogs dedicated to discussion of climate change.

"We find that endorsement of a laissez-faire conception of free-market economics predicts rejection of climate science," the paper says. "We additionally show that endorsement of a cluster of conspiracy theories (e.g., that the CIA killed Martin Luther King or that NASA faked the moon landing) predicts rejection of climate science as well as the rejection of other scientific findings."

The paper says that a staunch belief in free markets was an overwhelmingly strong factor in the rejection of climate science and was a stronger factor than conspiratorial thinking.

A man aiming to start hoax rumours of a Bigfoot sighting in the US was run over and killed as he stood in the road trying to startle drivers.

He was wearing a camouflage suit and would have been hard to see, said police in Montana.

..."He was trying to make people think he was Sasquatch so people would call in a Sasquatch sighting," trooper Jim Schneider said. "You can't make it up. I haven't seen or heard of anything like this before. Obviously, his suit made it difficult for people to see him.