Friday, January 21, 2011
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Democracy: The European Parliament Elections
Jun 4th 2009
From The Economist print edition
The European Parliament has failed to win legitimacy with voters. Look to Denmark for a solution
The rich world’s biggest election, with 375m potential voters, ought to be both exciting and uplifting. Yet campaigning ahead of this weekend’s election (June 07, 2009) to the European Parliament has been neither. Almost everywhere it has focused exclusively on national issues, not European ones. In several countries a ragbag of extremists, nutcases and xenophobes look set to win seats. And the turnout, which has fallen in every European election since 1979, may yet sink to a new low.
The fact is that Europe’s electors do not care about their parliament. Most do not bother to vote. Those who do take the excuse to cock a snook at their national governments and boost fringe parties. In so far as they have any view about the European Parliament, they see it as a talking-shop with no influence—a place that lavishes its unknown members with pay, pensions and expenses and wastes oodles of euros every month on a ludicrous commute from Brussels to Strasbourg.
Some (but not all) of this is either unfair or plain wrong. The European Parliament has real power—and will become still more powerful if the European Union’s Lisbon treaty is ratified (see article). In many ways MEPs have more say over legislation than do most of their national counterparts. "
Complete article at the Ecomomist.com
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
While Europeans Holiday, Americans Toil
"In Austria, workers who labor at “heavy night work” get two or three extra days off. Also in Austria—as well as in Sweden and New Zealand—workers are actually paid at a higher rate when they’re on vacation than when they’re at work.
In France, workers get extra paid time off if they take some of their vacation days outside of the summer season. In Norway, those 60 and older get extra time off. And of course, your vacation could be ruined if you get sick while you’re away. So Sweden guarantees that if a worker becomes sick while on leave, the days of the illness don’t count against vacation time.
Stingy leave policies in the United States go hand and hand with weekly work hours that exceed those in many industrialized countries. And they parallel skimpy sick leave and family leave policies that give millions of Americans no effective safety net when illness or emergencies strike. Nearly half of private-sector workers—57 million people—have no paid sick days, according to Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a chief sponsor of a measure to require at least some sick days for employees who work more than 30 hours per week. The problem is particularly acute for low-wage workers, more than three-fourths of whom get no paid leave when they are ill.
In theory, all this hard work is supposed to spark a more robust economy that is, in turn, an engine of greater upward mobility than what is found in the supposedly coddled precincts of, say, the European Union. But lately, it hasn’t. An ongoing, bipartisan study of intergenerational economic mobility conducted jointly by conservative and liberal-leaning researchers for the Pew Charitable Trusts has found the myth of superior American mobility to be—a myth.
Researchers for the Economic Mobility Project studied the relationship of adult children’s incomes to those of their parents and found that the United States now lags behind France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark in this measure of upward mobility. “There is little available evidence that the United States has more relative mobility than other advanced nations,” the group reported in May. “If anything, the data seem to suggest the opposite.”
Comparing the incomes of American men who were in their 30s in 2004 with males who were in their 30s in 1974, the researchers found that today’s men actually earn about 12 percent less, after inflation, than their fathers’ generation did. “There has been no progress at all for the youngest generation,” the group reported. The American family stays afloat because its total income has been swelled by women’s paychecks.
The sober statistics should lead toward saner economic policies. Europe, Canada and the rest of the industrialized world are doing just fine with guaranteed health insurance, pensions, maternity leave and sick time—not to mention a month at the beach. Here at home, nothing threatens the American dream so much as political disinclination to cast off old thinking and demand change for new and harsher economic times."
Full Article Source: Marie Cocco for www.truthdig.comFriday, July 06, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
BBC's Alan Johnston released!
He said it was "fantastic" to be free after an "appalling experience". TV footage showed Mr Johnston, 45, leaving a building accompanied by armed men.He later appeared beside Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and thanked everyone who had worked for his release.
Rallies worldwide had called for Mr Johnston's release. An online petition was signed by some 200,000 people.
The BBC reporter was handed over to officials of the Hamas administration in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
More at the BBC Article
This banner is no longer necessary and so I'm taking it off the blog:
Monday, July 02, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Music Industry Exec Threatens Prince
"The music industry has reacted angrily at a decision to give away the new album by US musician Prince with a tabloid newspaper.Planet Earth will be given free with a future edition of the Mail on Sunday.
The 10-track CD from Prince - whose hits include Purple Rain, Sign O' The Times and Cream - is not due to be released until 24 July.
Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said the decision "beggars belief".
"The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," said Mr Quirk ..."
Read Full Article on the BBC Site
From now on Manufacturers will be Responsibel for their Garbage ... even in Britain
"The much-delayed Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive that makes producers and importers of electronic goods responsible for recycling their products finally come into full force in the UK on 1 July.""Manufacturers, importers and retailers of electronic and electrical goods are obliged to put systems in place that allow customers to recycle their obsolete devices free of charge.
Manufacturers and importers in the UK have to join one of 37 authorised "producer compliance schemes".
These schemes, funded by manufacturers, are responsible for ensuring the correct collection, recovery and disposal of the e-waste. The schemes have to report to the Environment Agency, which will make sure the directive's measures are enforced.
Retailers must either offer a free in-store "take-back" service on a like-for-like basis, eg. take a customer's old TV when they buy a new one, or help fund improvements to local councils' recycling facilities.
Households are under no obligation to recycle their e-waste as far as the WEEE Directive is concerned. However, they will "discouraged" from throwing away items that contain potentially harmful substances.
Instead, they will be encouraged to use the recycling facilities being offered to them through the various schemes.
To help people identify electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), products that have been on the market since August 2005 will be marked with a crossed-out wheelie bin."
Read Full article on the BBC Site
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
FBI to restrict student freedoms
"US university students will not be able to work late at the campus, travel abroad, show interest in their colleagues' work, have friends outside the United States, engage in independent research, or make extra money without the prior consent of the authorities, according to a set of guidelines given to administrators by the FBI.
Federal agents are visiting some of the New England's top universities, including MIT, Boston College, and the University of Massachusetts, to warn university heads about the dangers of foreign spies and terrorists stealing sensitive academic research.
FBI is offering to brief faculty, students and staff on what it calls "espionage indicators" aimed at identifying foreign agents.
Unexplained affluence, failing to report overseas travel, showing unusual interest in information outside the job scope, keeping unusual work hours, unreported contacts with foreign nationals, unreported contact with foreign government, military, or intelligence officials, attempting to gain new accesses without the need to know, and unexplained absences are all considered potential espionage indicators.
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to monitor their colleagues for signs of suspicious behaviour and report any concerns to the FBI or the military..."
Source: pressesc.com article