Speak roughly to your little boy,
And beat him when he sneezes;
He only does it to annoy,
Because he knows it teases.
A Surrey police spokeswoman confirmed that Cox from East Grinstead, West Sussex, was charged on December 17 with three counts of administering poison with intent to annoy.
‘You’ve done the unthinkable in education: you’ve sided with the Right. No one is going to touch you. No local authority, no set of governors, no head.The educational employment consultant then goes on to tell her that she could do like bad teachers do, hide for a while and pop up later,
Failed heads who have been pushed out manage to get other headships once they’ve reinvented themselves, and so you might be able to do the same thingThe interview continued,
Hunter smiles, pushing my CV to one side. He leans towards me. ‘Have you ever thought of becoming a Conservative MP?’Stories like this make me want to be like Lizzie Borden and take an axe to the while educational establishment
I draw my eyebrows together, baffled. ‘Sorry? But I don’t want to be a politician. I’m here to talk to you about teaching. I’m a teacher! And I want a job back in the inner city!’
Hunter pulls the CV back in front of him. ‘OK then, so like I was saying, the first step is to stay quiet and to try to reinvent yourself. Play the game. Maybe then you’ll be in with a chance…’
I shake my head vigorously. ‘No I tell you! I mean, wherever I went to work I would never say anything about that particular school. I would never let anyone know what was really happening within. But I cannot stay quiet about the system. I just can’t do it!’
Hunter sighs, moving my CV to the side again. ‘Yes, well, like I was saying… Have you ever thought about becoming a Conservative MP?’
The Prime Minister of Portugal, Jose Socrates, has become the first head of state in the world to adopt an all-electric vehicle for official matters. On Wednesday, Portugal received delivery of the first 10 Nissan Leaf EVs to be offered in Europe, as recognition of the country's pioneering work in the electric mobility field with the MOBI.E Programme. One of those cars landing in the hands of Mr. Socrates, who will now travel exclusively by Electric Car (it was not disclosed if the Leaf would be the only EV in the fleet) for his official travels around the capital city of Portugal, Lisbon.
(1) EVs are fully exempt from both the Vehicle Tax due upon purchase (Imposto Sobre Veículos) and the annual Circulation Tax (Imposto Único de Circulação); (2) Personal Income Tax provides an allowance of EUR 803 upon the purchase of EVs; (3) EVs are fully exempt from the 5%-10% company car tax rates which are part of the Corporation Income Tax; (4) The Budget Law provides for an increase of the depreciation costs related to the purchase of EVs for the purpose of Corporation Income Tax; (5) the first 5,000 EVs to be sold in Portugal will receive a 5,000€ incentive fund, and the Cash-for-Clunkers program grants an additional 1,500€ fund if a internal combustion engine vehicle built before 2000 is delivered when acquiring the new EV; (6) The Portuguese State did also commit to play a pedagogic role and defined that EVs will have a 20% share of the annual renewal of public car fleet, starting in 2011.
Ivan Lewis MP, Labour’s Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, commenting on speculation that former Conservative MP, Chris Patten, is set to chair the BBC Trust, said:As I have pointed out before it is not his Tory Party affiliation that is the problem, that is after all above board and widely proclaimed and known, and will thus be easy to spot, but it is the fact that he has a pension from the EU, a pension which he could loose if he does anything that the Comission decide is harmfuil to the interests of the EU that is the problem.
“We note the rumours which are circulating about favoured candidates for the chairmanship of the BBC Trust.
“At a time when the independence of the BBC is threatened by the ill concealed hostility of David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt, it is essential that the new chairman is above accusations of political bias.
“If the Conservative led government is serious about new politics, no appointment should be confirmed until the favoured candidate is scrutinised by the DCMS Select Committee.”
Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UKIP)
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that no one in receipt of a forfeitable pension from the European Union is appointed as chairman or a trustee of the BBC.
Baroness Rawlings (Whip, House of Lords; Conservative)
Ministerial appointments to the BBC Trust are made on merit under a fair, open and transparent process which is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Applications are assessed against the specific selection criteria advertised in relation to a position as and when it falls vacant.
A dramatic video of how quickly a Christmas tree fire can be spread has been released to warn people to not allow tragedy to strike in their home this Christmas.Scary it is too.
Statistics from last year show that of the 429 domestic fires in Norfolk, December was one of the busiest months for firefighters with a total of 46.Well that would mean that the aveage per month in Norfolk was 35. So December with 46 is bad, but not that bad, and given that we are all turning up the heating, having fires at home and so on, hardly surprising.
Statistics show that of the 595 domestic fires in Hertfordshire during 2009, 64 took place in December. Across the border in Essex, 82 of the 803 blazes in the county occurred during the last month of the year.See what I mean about localised press releases...
The Government’s Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser Sir Ken Knight said: “Everyone enjoys the festive cheer that a Christmas tree and decorations can bring to a home. But the sad fact is that all this can act as extra fuel for a potential house fire. Unsafe electrical decorations, overloaded plugs and unattended candles are all potential causes of fire.I don't know, call me a cynic but I just wanted to check on those statistics. After all burning Christmas trees are scary things, just look at that video.
“Just two to three breaths of toxic smoke from a fire can render a person unconscious and you have less time to escape than you think. It only takes a minute for festive celebrations to go up in smoke, so I urge everyone to be fire safe this year and have a great Christmas.”
Dry Christmas trees, decorations and wrapped presents can all provide means for a fire to spread in the home so Fire Kills have issued a list of precautions to take, as well as reminded people to test their fire alarms as soon as possible.
Notes to editorsHmm... Thinks I, no mention of Christmas trees in the Statistics. So I do what any journalist should do and check. I phoned the Deprtament of Communities;and Local Government and asked if they had any statistics relating to Christmas Tree Fires? After all they were trying to scare us about the dangers of Christmas trees.
Provisional statistics show that nearly 2000 fires were caused by electric heaters, electric blankets and candles in 2009/10. Figures will be verified upon publication of Fire Statistics UK during Summer 2011.
Don't let your Christmas go up in smoke. Dry Christmas trees, decorations and wrapped presents can all provide means for a fire to spread in the home.
"No", the friendly lass said, "We have no statistics on Christmas tree fires".Christmas trees could present a danger, so can books for Pete's sake - Do you put out warnings during the Hay Festival? Excess books could result in congflagration!
"Decorations, statistics on the effect of decorations?"
"No"
"So why are you sending out scary press releases and making scary films about the dangers of Christmas trees when you have no data to back it up?"
"Well Christmas trees could present a danger" She said, slightly hesitantly.
"We do the same at Diwali".
"OK, so it is alright to scare people of all faiths, without any evidence to back it up?"She started to go on like some sort of bit part in a CSI film about dry trees being an accelerant (which makes me wonder if the very fast burning tree in the film is bone dry, the sort that got chucked out a couple of weeks ago).
"The Government has an important role in public information".Well maybe, but not without any evidence to back it up you don't.
7 Police cars
3 Cars of security detail
1 Car full of close personal staff,
The Deputy Prime Ministerial Limo.
"It's a public meeting, but only those invited can go. There again there are only 15 people in there who accepted the invitations".
WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED THIS CHRISTMAS:
GLASS PICKLE JARS AND BOTTLES OF FIZZ!
expand the state’s power to monitor and penalize private media, allowing a media regulator appointed by the ruling party to fine journalists if coverage is deemed unbalanced.The law covers broadcasters, newspapers, weeklies and news websites.
The council handpicked by the ruling party will have the power to fine television and radio stations as much as 200 million forints (about €700,000) for coverage deemed politically out of balance. Maximum fines for national newspapers and websites were set at 25 million forints and for weeklies at 10 million forints.But according to reports it is so badly, and broadly drafted that it may even have similar powers over blogs. How they plan to police this is a different matter. But it might explain why their presidency blog doesn't allow comments. If it did and they were critical their own blog may fall foul of their law.
The Media Council will also have the right to access documents before publication. Journalists will have to disclose their sources on matters of national security, the parliament decided Tuesday.
The International Federation of Actors (FIA) has produced a handbook ’Good Practices to Combat Gender Stereotypes and Promote Equal Opportunities in Film, Television and Theatre in Europe’.
Ryanair has again done the dirty in a desperate bid for profits and pimped out its “sexiest” airline stewards in a “bare all” calendar.
The first question is whether Bulgaria and Romania were fit to become Member States in 2007. The European Commission believed so, and so did France and Germany at the time. However, this leads to the logical conclusion that both countries in fact experienced a deterioration of the rule of law since accession.I feel that the political elite would have allowed nothing to get in the way of enlargement, to ensure that the EU continued to ensure its borders spread, in the words of the famous sonmg 'wider still and wider'. To me their belief that the Copenhagen Criteria had been met was a fiction, facts could not be allowed to get in the way of the EU's desires. This is analogous to the way inwhich the Greeks were allowed into the Eiurozone when everybody knew they were cooking their books.
The second question is whether Bulgaria and Romania can actually, at any point in the future, join the Schengen area. This is not an absurd question, since if separate Member States reaffirm their right of individual assessment of the quality of the judicial systems of candidates, it may turn out that both Bulgaria and Romania are assessed against unachievable standards that surpass the present level of rule of law in the Schengen area. Again, this is a logically derived possibility.Merkle and Sarkozy have in this instance decided to play to the Gallery at home, rather than to pay obiescience to the faith of 'Europe'. By rejecting the communitaire method over this, they are driving a wedge into one of the European Union's cracks. What the ongoing rammifications of this will be remains to be seen, but I think that a canary in the mineshaft just keeled over and died.
France and Germany should understand that answering both questions will have its consequences for the level of solidarity and cohesion in the European Union.
Traian Basescu, Romania’s president, acknowledged problems with Romania’s judiciary and the need to speed up administrative reforms.And as the FT points out elsewhere, the issue is big on the Hungarian agenda, so things could get a little sticky.
But he told reporters at the presidential palace that Romania had met all technical conditions for entry and argued that the introduction of new conditions would breach European law and create “an unacceptable precedent”.
“We will not accept discrimination from anybody, even from the EU’s most powerful states, Mr Basescu said.
Because the issue could get even hotter, especially since the incoming Hungarian presidency had made Bulgarian and Romanian Schengen membership such a priority
No press on the trip, lest the soldiers' day of pampering devolve into a media circus.It is a warming tale.
No politicians either, because, says Bennett, "I didn't want some idiot making this trip into a campaign photo op"
And no Pentagon suits onboard, otherwise the soldiers would be too busy saluting superiors to relax.
Child protection laws and red tape have ended more than 50 years of trips to the seaside for Manchester's children.
The city's taxi drivers are ending their annual day trip to Blackpool for the city's disadvantaged youngsters.
The balloon festooned cavalcade began in 1949 when a cabbie was asked to show blind passengers around Manchester.
But a lack of support, child protection checks and health and safety rules have forced organisers of the annual ride to wind up their charity.
At its height the convoy of taxis attracted more than 100 cabs carrying 200 plus children and attracted a great deal of attention as it headed to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
County road chiefs have already used nearly two thirds of the salt stockpiled before the big freeze, KentOnline can reveal.So what does the LGA organise and advertise today?
Kent County Council had stored 23,000 tonnes of salt before the winter season began in October.
Now it says there's just 8,000 tonnes left at its seven depots across the county.
Can we afford not to adapt to climate change?In breathless prose they pose the question...
Action by local authorities will be essential in ensuring that the UK is well prepared for a changing climate. If we are not prepared this could leave our services and our communities vulnerable and have a severe impact on future budgets.What like snow and ice?
How can local authorities ensure their communities, services and buildings are resilient to future climate impacts?
If temperatures rise and flash floods occur more frequently, or if new pests or diseases appear, this could create sudden, traumatic and expensive strains on many of the services that councils deliver. It could also be a disaster for local economies.When the reality on the ground is somewhat different. Is it any wonder that they don't have the true grit required by the country, when they won't buy grit but prefer to spend money on those expected to turn up to the conference,
- Members/Portfolio Holders and Officers with responsibilities for: Environment and Emergency Planning as well as Health, Social Care, Education, Transport, Economic Development and Finance
- Consultants
- Representatives from the private and third sector involved in the climate change agenda
"I am confident this merger will not weaken competition in the UK."Vince Cable was reported as publically commenting,
"Whilst it has found there are no issues on competition grounds, the EC's decisions on this are independent from the outcome of the separate UK investigation into the merger's potential impact on the sufficiency of media plurality within the UK.Which is interesting as he appears to have told the Telegraph journalists, where the idea that his review will be fair minded is at very best trashed,
"Ofcom are due to report into this separate matter by the end of this month. I will review their findings once Parliament returns and I will then take the decision on whether this case needs to be referred to the Competition Commission for a full investigation."
"I have declared war on Mr Murdoch, I think I'll win. I didn't politicise it because it is a legal situation.The EU has obviously decided that notwithstanding the LibDems support of the EU and all its doings, it would prefer to get the Murdoch press on their side. Sensible of them I would say.
"He is trying to take over BSkyB. He has a minority shareholding and he wants a majority - and majority control would give them a massive stake. I have blocked it using the powers that I have,
"For people who know what is happening, this is a big, big thing."
According to the BBC, Mr Cable goes on to say: "His (Mr Murdoch's) whole empire is now under attack... So there are things like that we do in government, that we can't do... all we can do in opposition is protest."
Would it be impolite of me to point out that the European officials, European Commission and Siim Kallas are all highly likely to be trying to use that closed Brussels airport to get home for the holidays?But of course there are reasons for the chaos.
Economic tradeoffs about extreme and rare weather be damned when it’s only the taxpayers’ money being wasted to reunite a politician with his Saturnalia Feast, eh?
European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, today commended Brussels Airport for its commitment to reducing future carbon emissions. At a ceremony held in the departure hall of the airport, Vice-President Kallas presented Mr Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport, with a certificate marking its progress under an industry-led carbon accreditation scheme.He larded Mr Arnaud with plaudits,
"Airports must get serious about planning for this kind of severe weather conditions. We have seen in recent years that snow in Western Europe is not such an exceptional circumstance. Better preparedness, in line with what is done in Northern Europe, is not an optional extra.The thing is Siim, that if you spend all that time and money promoting the idea that we are all going to fry, if you start to hand out awards to airports for concentrating on global warming, then don't be surprised if that is what they do, and fail to concentrate on reality, which is that we still get winters.
The European Commission is monitoring the situation very closely and is in constant touch with airlines, airports, rail operators and national authorities responsible for passenger rights.
"Sustainability is not an 'optional extra' in transport policy. It has to come as standard." He congratulated ACI Europe on the success of its Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme, and welcomed the progress made by Brussels Airport in reducing on a voluntary basis to reduce its carbon emissions over time.
But without comments & broken RSS feed? Not so good!They really do need to set their dial top recieve as well as transmit if they are to be taken seriously.
Still, on the occasion of the Hungarian EU Presidency an attempt may be worthwile. Maybe we Hungarians will be able to demonstrate, even with such a tool, that the EU is much more than just the waffling of diplomatic eggheads dressed in gray suits. That the EU is more than just an overly bureauctratized cash dispenser.I think he means, what if we use blogs? But hold on, he is right, the EU is indeed more than an "overly bureauctratized cash dispenser". After all in a bank, people puts the money in, in order that they can take their own money out. In the EU people put the money in, under the threat of prison after all , in ordere that other people, with whom they have little sympathy can can take money out.
Decisions based on the Union’s policies are also important in our everyday lives, no matter whether we talk about the compensations to flood victims, marital divorce cases, pensions, or the drug called mefedrine. These are all topics in which the Union had delivered meaningful decisions, while rather few people are familiar with them. Boring news reports may be blamed partially. But let’s try it in a different way! What if the blog of the Hungarian Presidency can contribute – with tools rather modest – in making important subjects better known?
Village HallYou see the problem don't you. The problem that Mr Ainsworth has here is people. You know the solid beating heart of the English countryside. Here they are again, the bastards, fighting for their own slice of the country which they call home,
Fri 19th Nov 2010
AGM 7pm All Welcome, Cheese and Wine
Fri 10th Dec 2010
Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch
Sat 4th Feb 2011
Murder Mystery
Sat 16th April 2011
Live theatre comes to the Village Hall
Sat 2nd July 2011
BBQ
Sunday 11th September 2011
Annual Flower and Produce Show
They have to summon the political courage to make the case for greater economic integration. A fiscal union can also be fashioned in such a way that limits moral hazard. But all of this requires leadership, not least from Germany. The fact that the alternative – a series of ever larger and ineffective bail-outs, culminating in far bigger defaults and a systemic banking sector crash – is much worse, ought to focus minds. After all, under that scenario the political glue holding the union together could dissolve altogether.He goes through the normal arguments, which from his perspective make a great deal of sense,
restructuring the debts of Greece, Ireland and Portugalis one such.
an aggressive programme of government bond purchases. Monies from the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) could also be used to tide the countries over until they regain access to the financial markets on affordable termsIs another, which given the rapid slowing of Bond purchases by the ECB recently is suggests that there is neither the will nor the money to do.
Governments need to support the Commission's drive to foster closer economic integration and to co-ordinate their policies to ensure that they are compatible with balanced economic growth across the eurozone. Huge current account balances are not consistent with a stable currency union, because one way or another they require massive (and hence politically and economically destabilising) transfers between the participating economies. However, even if trade imbalances are reduced, there will have to be greater fiscal supra-nationalism. This could take the form of a common E-bond, some minimal fiscal union, or ideally a combination of the two. Without some element of fiscal supra-nationalism, the adjustment costs facing countries that cede trade competitiveness within the eurozone will simply be too high.Tough call but coherent. But iff you accept his starting premise. Viz,
Time is running out to prevent the eurozone crisis from imperilling Europe's banking system and with it the integrity of the currency union. It is beholden on policy-makers to minimise the economic (and hence political costs) to the EU.Which has got to be deeply contentious. He is claiming that policy makers (those we would call politicians) should be duty bound to show their loyalty to an abstraction, a dream of the European Union.
the Airport of Zaventem will be closed from this evening (Monday 20.12) until Wednesday morning (exact hours not yet known).This is because,
The stock of de-icing fluid at Brussels Airport is almost fully used up and no new supply can be delivered due to the weather conditionsNow do you feel better? What with MEPs and officials threatened with being stuck in Brussels for the Christmas period. You see if they vcannot get the de-icing fluid now, how are they going to get it by Wednesday?
Tuesday
Chance of Snow. Partly Cloudy. High: 2 °C . Wind Calm. 20% chance of precipitation (trace amounts).
Tuesday Night
Chance of Snow. Partly Cloudy. Low: 0 °C . Wind Calm. 30% chance of precipitation (water equivalent of 1.82 mm). Windchill: -4 °C .
Wednesday
Chance of Rain. Partly Cloudy. High: 2 °C . Wind SSE 25 km/h . 30% chance of precipitation (water equivalent of 1.15 mm). Windchill: -3 °C .
Wednesday Night
Chance of Snow. Partly Cloudy. Low: -1 °C . Wind SW 18 km/h . 20% chance of precipitation (trace amounts). Windchill: -3 °C .
Thursday
Chance of Snow. Overcast. High: 2 °C . Wind Calm. 20% chance of precipitation (trace amounts).
Thursday Night
Chance of Snow. Overcast. Low: -1 °C . Wind Calm. 20% chance of precipitation (trace amounts). Windchill: -3 °C .
A lot of sensible Tory backbenchers think that the coalition could have responded far more robustly to the Strasbourg court’s decision.The thing is that it will be a proxy for more than that.
If the whips are not careful, the whole issue could become a proxy for Tory concerns about the failure to move on a British Bill of Rights which its proponents claim would offer some protection from the rulings of the increasingly activist Strasbourg Court.
• Prisoners sentenced to less than four years in jail will get the right to vote. Those sentenced to more than four years won't. The ECHR judgment doesn't mean all prisoners have to be allowed to vote, and a four-year cut off has been chosen because that is regarded as the distinction between a short- and long-term jail sentence. Judges will also have the right to remove the right to vote from prisoners sentenced to less than four years if they consider that appropriate.Prisoner votes is yet another area where UKIP are in tune with the vast majority of the British public, and the formal political establishment are off in cuckoo land.
• Prisoners will only be able to vote in Westminster or European elections. They will not vote in local elections or referendums. This means they will not get to vote for elected police commissioners.
• They will not be registered to vote at the prison. They will be registered at their former address, and they will vote by post or by proxy. This means candidates do not have to worry about a block of 1,000-odd prisoners from one jail affecting the result of a constituency election.
• MPs will vote on these measures next year. The government has to change the law by August 2011 to meet a deadline set by the ECHR.
Now that EU leaders have agreed to change the treaty, the text will be sent to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. The three institutions have to give their opinion on proposals to change the treaty but their views do not bind the European Council.Of course we get no referendum, despite the treaty change, and despite this, found on the Tory website by James Pryor
The treaty change will be approved at the European Council in March, if the three institutions have given their views by then. The text will then be sent to the 27 member states for ratification. The aim is to complete ratification by 1 January 2013 so that the mechanism can be set up in June that year.
The treaty change was requested by Germany, which argues that without it the new mechanism could be challenged in Germany's constitutional court.
Join our campaign for an EU referendumIf I was still a Tory I would be ashamed of myself. But I am not, because I couldn't look myself in the eye. Joining UKIP was a one way I could stand up and be honest with myself.
Monday, April 27 2009
Ahead of the European elections on 4th June, David Cameron has launched a campaign to get Gordon Brown to honour his pledge to give the British people a referendum on the EU Treaty.
In their 2005 election manifesto, Labour promised to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution.
David stressed the Lisbon Treaty was a “re-branded” version of that Constitution and attacked Gordon Brown for having “flip-flopped”:
“First he was against the Constitution, then he was for it; one day he promised a referendum, the next he backtracked. While he has chopped and changed, our position has remained exactly the same. We are the only major party to have consistently said that it is up to the British people to decide on our future in Europe.”
David promised that if the Constitution was not in force at the time of the General Election, a Conservative Government would hold a referendum on it, urge a no vote, and reverse Britain’s ratification if successful.
He explained, “I believe that if you make a promise in your manifesto, and the country votes on that manifesto, then you are honour-bound to keep that promise.”
is aimed at bringing EU institutions closer to the people and addressing what critics describe as the EU's "democratic deficit".Of course whilst the idea that one just has to get 1,000,000 signatures together to get them to change their laws sounds great that isn't actually what is on offer of course. These are the hoops you must jump through.
The heart sinks with that dread phrase "citizen's committee". For the love of God, it sounds like something created by Robespierre or Brother No 1. But the real problem are whether the initiative is "frivolous or vexatious" or whether it is "manifestly contrary to the values of the European Union".
- the citizens' committee has been formed and the contact persons designated,
- the initiative does not manifestly fall outside the sphere of the Commission's powers to submit a proposal for a legal act of the Union for the purpose of implementing the Treaties,
- the initiative is not manifestly abusive, frivolous or vexatious, and
- the initiative is not manifestly contrary to the values of the European Union as set out in the Treaty.
On the basis of a report from the President, the European Council will discuss a limited treatyBritain's position is made explicit in this piece in the FT this evening,
amendment for a permanent mechanism to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area.
The mechanism will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European
Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), which will remain in force until June 2013. Activation of the permanent mechanism, in the event of a risk to the stability of the euro area, will require mutual agreement of the euro area member states.
The treaty change would involve revising Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union by adding a paragraph under which member states whose currency is the euro may establish amongst themselves a stability mechanism to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole and stating that the granting of financial assistance under the mechanism will be made subject to strict conditionality.
The UK was also causing some pre-summit concern because of their backroom efforts to clarify that non-euro countries would not be involved in any future eurozone bailouts. But diplomats said Britain has dropped a push to get such clarity into the treaty language.The problem with this, as anybody who has watched Brussels and the Council over the last few years (something that seems to have escaped the current crop of Tories), he has swapped something solid, something legally defensible "clarity in the treaty" for something indefinable and essentially worthless, "a clear statement from leaders". He is a politician who knows what it is to dissemble to his own people, see his "cast iron guarantee" so why would he trust other country's politicians?
Instead, Prime Minister David Cameron appears ready to settle for a clear statement from the leaders that an EU-wide fund, like the €60bn portion of the current bail-out system which is supported by the EU’s own budget, will never be created again once the temporary fund winds down in 2013.
An EU-commissioned report has named Bulgaria, Romania and Poland as the three countries with the highest levels of organized crime and corruption in the European Union.Rather worrying wouldn't you think,
The report, conducted by a Bulgarian-based NGO, the Centre for Study of Democracy, presented its findings on Tuesday in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia.
The police, judiciary and local authorities remain highly vulnerable to corruption and organized crime in Bulgaria, the report noted.So would seem the ideal place to send over 50 million Eros of our taxes to fight climate change?
"Just in the traffic police alone there are around 100,000 cases of bribes a month," said Tihomir Bezlov, from the NGO, said.
Philip Gunev, from the same NGO, told Balkan Insight that many criminals in Bulgaria were former policemen, customs officers or investigators, men with the right connections to corrupt and influence the system.
Organized criminals are spreading their influence into political parties, concludes the report.
Gunev warned that the culture of impunity among the judiciary in Bulgaria was worrying. "Despite widespread allegations about corruption in the system, not a single judge has been convicted for corruption,” he said.
Grants for energy efficiency projects in 58 Bulgarian municipalities under EU programs have been approved on Monday, Sofia News Agency wrote. Thus, a total of BGN 105 M will be apportioned to improve the energy efficiency of 215 schools and kindergartens with a total of 85 000 students. On Monday, Lilyana Pavlova, Deputy Regional Development Minister signed the contracts for the funds with the municipal mayors.I would give pretty good odds that much of this money won't quite make it to the kiddies.
The funding is provided under two mechanisms of EU's Regional Development Operational Program. The first is for larger cities and includes projects of the Sofia Municipality, Pleven, and Ruse, while the second one is for energy efficiency in smaller towns. As a result of the investments, the 58 municipalities should be saving 2 million MW/h of electricity annually.
“In the EU, every year 1.7 million businesses fail and over 50% of these cite the regulatory burden as a significant factor.Horrifying but oh so predictable. We have a regulation factory churning out rules which only succeed in throttling the life out of the businesses that create the wealth that allows organisations like the EU to survive.
Mrs Jones said the EU’s economy is teeming with ‘micro’ businesses that want to grow bigger.
“Excessive red-tape and a growing skills shortage stop this from happening,” she added.
“If 50% of small businesses in the EU employed one extra person there would be an additional 10 million jobs.”
THE European Central Bank is considering requesting an increase in its capital to help cope with the rising costs of fighting the eurozone debt crisis, Reuters sources have said.The report continues,
ECB policymakers have repeatedly signalled that the central bank cannot bear the brunt of fire-fighting against bond market attacks on highly indebted euro zone states.
“The issue is that the ECB is worried about potential losses from its bond buying,” one source said.
“At the moment we are buying very modest amounts, but what if that is increased, and what if the bonds you buy are suddenly worth 30 per cent less?” the source said, referring to the risk of a writedown on a eurozone government’s debt.
The ECB declined to comment.Cannot say that I am surprised.
Environment minister Richard Benyon said last night that the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) was “not fit for purpose” and that he would be calling for reform.Every single minister who has been responsible for fisheries policies has said that since the days of Heath's Government, and all the while they have presided over the absolute destruction of a once great industry. They have presided over an environmental catastrophe, and now.
In what some observers are already calling "Cod Wars II", EU nations are expected to take retaliatory action to put pressure on Iceland and the Faroes to reduce the quantity of mackerel they catch. The EU has already threatened trade sanctions which could result in a ban on Faroese and Icelandic imports of cod, herring, whiting, haddock and mackerel. Iceland set a 130,000-ton quota this year while the Faroes gave themselves an 85,000-ton quota. The figures are many times bigger than five years ago.Interestingly it appears that both sides have been acting in bad faith,
The EU and Norway last night (Friday) set a multi-lateral quota of 646,000 tonnes, which is in line with the ICES recommendations for the whole stock.Which would leave the Faroese, the Icelandics and the Russians with er -5%
The agreement will lead to the UK's mackerel share to grow by 14,000 tonnes to 190,000 tonnes
Scientific journalism allows you to read a news story, then to click online to see the original document it is based on. That way you can judge for yourself: Is the story true? Did the journalist report it accurately?Don't you feel blessed by Wikileaks?
a group of the new Tory intake have been selected as right-wing ‘buffers’.Ok, that sort of makes sense, people like Dan Hannan and Dougie Carswell give the party a sheen of Eurosceptic, localist sheen. This keeps enough of the old fashioned, small state, patriotic Tories on board as they can see elected conservatives doing and saying what they believe in. The problem is of course that the party will not listen to them and they will achieve nothing.
They’ve been sanctioned by the Tory leadership to discuss certain issues in the media which have been deemed too politically sensitive for the leadership to talk openly about.
Their purpose is to make sure right-wing party members and associations see that their issues are not being ignored in Westminster.
But obviously it also offers the opportunity for the leadership to co-opt a potentially troublesome element of the parliamentary party.
MPs angry about being ignored on Europe and other issues of concern to traditionalists were apparently gearing up to take their revenge.Which is all well and good, but then Ms Kite goes on to say,
Many were furious that the Coalition leadership was bending over backwards to accommodate Lib Dem MPs, giving them the right to abstain, while Tory backbenchers have been repeatedly ordered to vote for legislation they do not like, or indeed detest.
The ceding of a series of major powers to Europe, the increasing of international aid, the decision to have a referendum on voting reform, the redrawing of constituency boundaries – all had been eating away at Tory backbenchers for months. Worse than that, their concerns had been repeatedly brushed aside by Mr Cameron.
Forced into the division lobbies to back a European foreign ministry and increased EU budget, they felt enough was enough.
Tensions boiled over at a tumultuous session of the 1922 committee of backbenchers on Wednesday during which MPs exploded in anger at Sir George Young, Leader of the House.
The most vociferous critics of the Coalition were new intake MPs, young, ambitious men and women in their 30s and 40s.Which if it is true could mean the end of the coalition, as it will be constantly having to deal with splits and rebellions which will sap it of power, energy and direction, culminating in some god awful mess. It will fall over something small.
Mr Cameron had perhaps assumed that these high flyers would be prepared to toe the line for the sake of future advancement, but far from being keen as mustard, they were in a state of severe disillusionment.
"We came to this place to try to achieve something, to have a voice, and we find that we have no say," was how one new backbencher put it. "We are sick of being taken for granted."Then the reasons given for not rebelling seem frankly pathetic,
The mood of rebellion was made worse by changes to the expenses system which have seen the new intake pilloried in their local newspapers in recent weeks for items in their first claim forms, just published.C'mon guys, don't use the expenses system for stuff that you cannot justify to your mother, and for pities sake, with the spread of open primaries, and the fact that you will; be publicly doing something to save your countries do you not have the confidence that you will get selected? And for that matter, if you are so craven you are cowed by those threats, then why should the country care about you anyway, you are still part of the problem.
"They just went beserk," said one MP present. "They couldn't take any more. They want Cameron to listen to them and they are getting desperate enough to do anything to make him listen.
"In the end, the infantry does not mutiny over the reasons for the war, or the tactics, but over their conditions."
This newspaper understands that more than a dozen Tory MPs told the whips before the tuition fees vote on Thursday that they might vote against the legislation purely in protest at how they had been treated.
Even some MPs on record as supporting fees threatened to join the "no" lobby in order to teach Cameron a lesson.
At one stage, Tory whips were so desperate they called in potential rebels and told them that if they voted against the government, they would not get any help to find a new constituency when the proposed boundary changes went through.
"In other words, "vote against us, and we will turf you out of your seat".
Article 3 0 4 — Miscellaneous expenditure on meetings
Item 3 0 4 0 — Miscellaneous expenditure on internal meetings
intended to cover the costs of the beverages, refreshments and occasional light meals served at meetings held by the institution, together with the management costs for these services.
The organisers are therefore inviting exhibitors and organisers of events to make a contribution to a carbon-offset scheme of their choice (see links on the right), in the following amounts:
- € 500 (excluding VAT) for a standard stand
- € 1000 (excluding VAT) for an ad-hoc stand
- € 1000 (excluding VAT) for a seminar
- € 3000 (excluding VAT) for a high level panel
Proof of this contribution should be provided at the time of online registration.Feeling better about yourselves, well stop it because I present you with what has to be a satire. Back to Piebags again,
Please note that emissions generated in Belgium can be offset anywhere in the world. Since energy-saving projects can have a positive social impact, the EDD organisers recommend buying carbon offsets from organisations funding projects in partner countries.
During the same ceremony I also handed over an Award to the winners of the Music against Poverty contest! Antonia (17) and Mareike (18) from Germany are the winners of the Prize of the Jury and their song “A story of ignorance” was selected among the 200 submissions we’ve received.Here it is
A story of ignoranceThey had 200 entries and they selected this. Quite how bad, how trite how frankly self hating and stupid were the others?
Since this song started,
every 2 seconds, it's a fact,
10 children have left us,
but it's a fact: it's not really your fault.
The views on the news are
"we love to entertain you".
The policy-makers need to do something.
But you will not rest longer,
choose right now and radically,
anything else would be so ordinary.
At Christmas you give your money into black hands,
the poverty remains in the poor country.
Chorus
How much longer will we continue with ignorance?
Apart from compassionate looks, there's nothing more.
How often do we shut our ears,
so that the cries will rest more quickly.
Our consumption is killing the others,
but who passes sleepless nights about this?
We could all do more.
And your child is learning at school,
but must not hear about poverty, the hungry and gays.
The shape of the curve is what you discuss,
too much questioning is quickly resolved.
Chorus
Sometimes I get the question,
what if I was born in another country,
but I quickly push it aside
I cannot help it,
that I walk into pure happiness.
The European Commission has been condemned for spending three million euros hosting a lavish anti-poverty development conference for 6,000 people in Brussels.
The European Union may make a decision to launch negotiations with Azerbaijan on visa regime facilitation and readmission next months.Why is this important? Well simply because the coalition government have accepted that there is nothing they can do about immigration from within the EU, but keep on banging on about how they can deal with Non-EU immigration.
"Perhaps, the EU may decide to launch negotiations with Azerbaijan on visa facilitation and readmission for the next 2-3 months," Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev told media.
Azerbaijan continues negotiating with the EU within the "Eastern Partnership" program. The next round of talks is planned to be held in Baku next January, he said.
"Which is a better country to be poor in?"
"who knows, maybe we will see a European team at the Olympics"This was at a hearing in the European Parliament which was discussing,
"A future European sports policy: the right level of EU involvement in sport and potential areas of EU action"None I would have thought.
I only ask because I have always shared the opinion of that great American, James McNeil Whistler, he of the nocturnes and a mother who made it clear in his magnificent book, the Gentle Art of Making Enemies,Art should be independent of all claptrap—should stand alone, and appeal to the artistic sense of eye and ear, without confounding this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism, and the like. All these have no kind of concern with it.Quite so. As soon as you want art or culture generally to mean something, to have a proscribed role you start to walk down very worrying paths like socialist realism, or the sort of art so beloved of Mr Hitler and his chums. Not only that, after you have Culture (always with a capital C) working for you, then of course those things that do not fall in line with your own way of thinking, your own approved message become some form of anti-culture, or indeed something more akin to degenerate art.
For the artist does not create for the artist, but just like every one else he creates for the people.Elsewhere we have Socialist realism which can be simply defined thus,
And we will see to it that from now on the people will once again be called upon to be the judges of their own art....
I do not want anybody to have false illusions: National-Socialism has made it its primary task to rid the German Reich, and thus, the German people and its life of all those influences which are fatal and ruinous to its existence. And although this purge cannot be accomplished in one day, I do not want to leave the shadow of a doubt as to the fact that sooner or later the hour of liquidation will strike for those phenomena which have participated in this corruption.
But with the opening of this exhibition the end of German art foolishness and the end of the destruction of its culture will have begun.
From now on we will wage an unrelenting war of purification against the last elements of putrefaction in our culture.
A Marxist aesthetic doctrine that seeks to promote the development of socialism through didactic use of literature, art, and music.Alright so where is all this leading. It is leading here. For our masters have decided what culture is for. It is,
no longer only to create art or literature. "Cultural Diplomacy" is increasingly being used as a vehicle to promote liberal democratic values and to foster "democracy and participation",Marietje Schaake a Dutch Liberal MEP has come up with this new/old idea for Culture.
1. Underlines the transversal character of culture and believes that culture needs to be considered in the widest sense, as both fostering and embodying European values, that evolved historically;The problem with all this is that those who fail to concur, those who, in as Whislter puts it "stand alone" run the risk of being ostracised. Culture has no purpose whilst it is happening, it is only in hindsight that we me be able to perceive purposes within it. The European Union's attempts through al sorts of prizes and funding streams to hijack talents and imagination of the continent's arists is wrong.
2. Stresses that democratic and fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression, press freedom, access to information and communication, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear, and freedom to connect, online and offline, are preconditions for cultural expression, cultural exchanges and cultural diversity;
3. Reiterates that cultural cooperation plays a role in bilateral agreements on development and trade, and through instruments such as the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the Eastern Partnership, the Union for the Mediterranean and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), which all have resources allocated to cultural programmes;
We have a room to rent, in a shared apartment with 2 girls. It is a big room, and the apartment is also big, it is central and very nice.So go on chaps, or chappeses, does your long arm stretch out to Brussels? May as well do it now as Barbara Brown is away in Cancun.
Rent is 415 a month all included.
It is available immediately,
A pasty faced Shinner named Brun,
Preached to all about climate doom,
At the top of her voice,
Swore, "I just have no choice"
On her carbon fueled flight to Cancun,
"I sense that in the first few months of 2011, we have got a major crisis in the euro area."Well blow me down I wouldn't have guessed. I would have thought that even pregnant teenagers on a Bolton estate would have worked that out by now.
Failure to solve the euro's problems in "one fell swoop" would condemn the continent to "a decade of high unemployment and low growth", he warned.Eh? Run that past me again you Scottish greymalkin. You are claiming that 60% of our trade is with the Eurozone! Given that the figures in the pink book, compiled while you were in office tell is that only 44.1% is with the Eurozone.
The crisis would affect the UK, even though it is not in the single currency, because 60% of its trade is with eurozone countries.
Written answers and statements, 2 December 2010Only 15.9% out. Easy mistake really. I mean given that the figures for trade are about 400 billion per annum, losing 16% down the back of the manse's sofa is pretty worrying stuff.
Lord Pearson of Rannoch (UKIP)
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Sassoon on 8 November (Official Report, col. 1-4), what is their definition of trade in the statement that "40 per cent of the United Kingdom's trade goes to Europe".
Lord Sassoon (Commercial Secretary, HM Treasury; Conservative)
The definition of trade used on 8 November was total UK trade (exports and imports) with the 16 members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) that have adopted the Euro currency. According to the latest Office for National Statistics 2010 Pink Book publication, in 2009, 44.1 per cent of total UK trade was with EMU countries.
"We have also got this impediment to growth: the euro area is inflexible because you cannot adjust your currency. It is a one-size-fits-all interest rate that doesn't necessarily suit all countries, and the structural reforms that are therefore necessary to make a single currency area work haven't been completed - and in some cases haven't been agreed."
Imagine there's no countries,Well I have a dream as well Mr Buzek.
It isn't hard to do
