Latest posts
Napoleonic (Traffic) Code vs. Common Law, Common Sense
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Today I longed for the America of Mayberry NC, that imaginary Sixties town where even as brainless a citizen as the butt of the town’s ridicule “Gomer Pyle” could shout “Citizen’s Arrest!” at law breakers and hope...
Mordant Glimpses of Ceausescu’s Romania
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And the Conducator* said his was a “Golden Age…” Monty Python’s weaponized “killer joke” may have been used for offensive purposes, but under the Ceausescu regime humour was mainly in self-defense: Humour is what k...
US, EU, and Mideast Cannot Afford a Time-out
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When Israel-Palestine merits not a word from a president, you know the United States is turning inward. Roger Cohen, New York Times, 28 January 2010, “Exit America” The same Cohen op-ed indicates that only nine minutes were devoted to int...
European Defence: Democratic Deficit?
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Europeans interested in civilian control of the military and in democratic oversight of the EU’s foreign affairs (to include defence) would do well to consider the opinion of Jan Dirk Blaauw, former Netherlands MP and former President of the WE...
It’s 2010, and “Blasphemy” returns to Europe
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When I was a kid going to Catholic school in Pennsylvania, we used to tell puerile religion jokes: Knock, knock. Who’s there? John. John who? John the Baptist. At which point you’d get a squirt from a real or imaginary water pistol. Get i...
Downwind of Copenhagen, Downstream from Brussels
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Whatever just happened in Copenhagen – and I reserve judgment ’til I’ve read a comprehensive debrief – the underlying problem of carbon overproduction hasn’t gone away. One thing is for sure: this post and millions like...
The Burgs Who Can Show Copenhagen The Way
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We recently spent an extended weekend in beautiful bourgs within easy driving distance of Brussels: Freiburg, Germany; Strasbourg, France; and Luxembourg (capital and country of same name). For climate change negotiators in Copenhagen, a visit to the...
Swiss Steeples, But No Minarets. Is Muslim Money Welcome?
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Muslim communities say the decision will spread deep concern and worry. The Swiss government and businesses are worried too – about whether this controversial but democratic ballot will provoke an international backlash. Alan Fisher, Al Jazeera...
Copenhagen: Can Obama Deliver His Countrymen?
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I certainly hope so, since I played a small part in helping the man get elected last year. But a recent trip to the US makes me pause. This appeared first in my other blog, Avuncular American. ————— Les culottes à lR...
A Pledging Czar For Dead Beat Donors
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Large sums promised to developing countries to help them tackle climate change cannot be accounted for, a BBC investigation has found. Rich countries pledged $410m (£247m) a year in a 2001 declaration – but it is now unclear whether the money...
A Brit for EU President or EU FM? Perhaps, but not both
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Note: Other than the fact that (1) George Bush is no longer US President and (2) Jean-Claude Juncker is available, if asked… other than those two facts, my post in Avuncular American of 14 March 2008 still stands: “Europe’s First P...
Tales of Kafka: Life On the Black List
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Brussels was the venue of a very important human rights conference this past week, but it took place in an academic setting, out of the spotlight but hopefully not entirely unnoticed. ULB’s conference on 20 October, “Terrorism Lists, Exec...
European Parliament Gets Eastern Exposure
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Europe is in Eurasia… It wouldn’t be autumn in Brussels without its slew of conferences to welcome the city’s “policy wonks” back from a long summer of frivolity. This week’s all-day conclave devoted to “The...
Nobel Preemptive Peace Prize
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24 hours after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Middle East peace is “impossible” and, especially helpfully in case that message appeared overly pessimistic, that many countries “have learned to live with”...
True Luxury On A European Coastline
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Note: This article appears in the current issue of “Together Magazine,” a Brussels bi-monthly distributed among the European institutions. For a change, it’s not really political, since the general theme of the issue was luxury. E...
Is Europe Klaus Country? I Think Not.
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When you fly into Prague on Czech Airlines, they start playing The Moldau, Bedrich Smetana’s bucolic ode to his country, from Má vlast (My Country), his set of 19th century symphonic poems. You can almost hear the river Vltava flowing. Now, I...
14 Km But Worlds Apart - Trans Med Migration
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Spanish writer/director Gerardo Olivares’ film 14 Kilómetros tells us how far the Moroccan coastline is separated from Spain. Tantalizingly close, visible from your window whether you’re in Tangier on the African side or Tarifa on the E...
Europe’s Industrial Heritage - Not Just a Museum
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Throughout August and September, Europe’s cities, regions, and nations have been marking various “heritage,” “open house,” or “patrimoine” days. This weekend it is Brussels’ turn, but we also intend to...
Transatlantic Trends: Surfing Obama’s Wave In Europe
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The 8th annual Transatlantic Trends survey of European and American attitudes is out. I must first qualify “European,” which includes non-EU Turkey (which is not even in Europe, according to many), but does not include a number of EU cou...
Eight Is Not Enough: From L’Aquila to Huntsville
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Michael Jackson’s televised funeral farewell turned out to be rather dignified, surprising those who expected the worst from a crowd of fanatical fans. But that doesn’t mean I approve of the time the world spent on this distraction. So f...
