|
Slavoj Zizek Speaks at
Town Hall
The first time anyone goes into Seattle’s Town Hall,
their reaction is invariably the same: “This place
looks like a church.” Everyone sits in pews
encircling a stage, anxious to receive
some sort of knowledge or enlightenment.
read more
|
Ikea: Match Made in
Heaven
When I
first stepped into the maze that is IKEA almost 6 years
ago, I had no idea what to expect. I had never even
heard of IKEA and now almost 80 percent of my home is
comprised of IKEA labeled products.
read more
|
Bosnia: Is it Time to
Go Separate Ways?
Lord Ashdown’s article on the
clear and present danger for the integrity of Bosnia and
Herzegovina has stirred up more than a few spirits in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
read more |
Why
does the
UK have no
National
Holiday?
I
was flipping through one of my favorite news magazines
the other day, when I came across a story that struck
me.
read more |
A
European View of the US Election Campaign
Ulf Gartzke, a visiting scholar at
the BMW Center for German and European
Studies at Georgetown University in
Washington, writes that many Europeans are
captivated by and invested in the outcome of
the US presidential election campaign:
read more |
Studying Abroad as a Life-changing Experience
Tens of thousands of young students each year pack
up their lives for a few months to a full school
year in hopes of creating a lifetime memory.
read more |
Why is the
International Community Failing in Bosnia and
Herzegovina?
01 October 2007 will have marked one year
since the 2006 general elections in Bosnia and
Herzegovina were held.
read more |
A New Foreign Policy for France?
French president Nicolas Sarkozy campaigned for a
clear pledge to break with the policies of the
past.
read more |
Will the EU kowtow
to China again?
For an alliance that
claims to value democracy and human rights, the
European Union has a funny way of showing it.
read more |
The Color/Colour
Scheme
Never mind the Da Vinci Code or any One World shadow
government conspiracies because the real threat to
mankind is much more sinister and a whole lot closer
to home.
read more |
50 years ago
The Hungarian Revolution broke out in
Budapest on October 23rd, 1956. According to the
Austrian Peace Treaty, finally signed in 1955, the
Soviets should have left Hungary within 90 days. A
year later they were still there.
read more
|
It's all Greek to me
Crime was down recently in the
nation’s capital but then I found out that Congress
was in recess and although that just may be a
coincidence it’s still too early to tell if the two
are in somehow related.
read more |
In search of European
democracy
Is the European Union a democracy? The Europeans and
most others will argue yes, but there are many
different degrees of democracy. Many Europeans
increasingly feel powerless when it comes to their
national government and particularly that of the EU,
and for good reason.
read more |
Another solution for
Cyprus
I gave
it some consideration since some time ago and see
that it is like trying to mix water with oil. In
Northern Greece, in the area of Thrace there is a
Greek Community of Turkish
descendants and a couple of months ago it took place
an episode related to offering a governmental
position to a lady Gul Karahassan-- of Turkish
decent in a proposition of George Papandreou, the
leader of the other major in power political party
in Greece.
read more |
Europe,
Thy Name Is Cowardice
A few days ago
Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe
– your family name is appeasement." It’s a
phrase you can’t get out of your head because it’s
so terribly true.
Appeasement cost
millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England
and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated
too long before they...
read more |
Iraq: Truly fighting for freedom?
"You
can fool all the people some of the time and some
of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool
all of the people all of the time." This
famous quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, implies
that in a functioning democracy leaders cannot be
continually deceptive. Eventually they will be found
out and given their just desserts.
read more |
Maternity leave is not
a private issue
To be honest, the
discussion around
statutory paid
maternity leave caught
me off-guard and as a
surprise. I thought
that in the 21.
Century paid maternity
leave was not a
privilege but a
fundamental right that
doesn’t need further
attention.
read more |
Europress: A look
at Europe's media
It was
another typical month
in the European
presses. The election
in Italy brought in a
new leader, Romano
Prodi, but the old
leader refuses to
leave as of this
writing. Berlusconi
has never been good at
exits. And this is
the most important
exit of his life.
read more |
Won't you be my
cinnamon friend?
One aspect I have
treasured about my
association with my
European friends is
that they really do
see life here in the
United State from a
completely different
set of eyes (or
tastebuds).
read more
|
America’s cinnamon hype
The other day I had to clean out my
refrigerator. Not because I’m a clean freak but
rather because some of the groceries inside were
about to develop a life of their own!
read more |
Gun-happy America
Sometimes I wonder
whether I live in one
of the most civilized
nations in the world,
the United States, or
in the old Wild West,
waiting for John Wayne
to turn the corner and
shoot everything into
order.
read more |
Suburbs: Snap out
of it
In regards to
suburbia, I wish I
could tell the
American public to
just “snap out of
it.” Many, many
voices are saying it
is time for a new
American dream, and
Americans are
worn out trying to
keep up with that
lifestyle’s demands.
read more |
Suburbs: Dream come
true?
It hit
me one day while
talking to an American
friend of mine. He
told me that there had
been a terrible
incident at his son’s
school. “What
happened?” I asked.
read more |
Not so crazy about
tax time
Straight up, I hate
taxes. Sure, I
appreciate all the
good things government
can provide while
spending our hard
earned tax revenue,
when they provide an
infrastructure, social
safety net, schools
and fire-trucks, for
instance.
read more |
Quality: America must
do better
Americans pride
themselves on being a
“can-do” nation. We
are willing to tackle
any job, and gosh darn
if a little elbow
grease and bailing
wire can’t pull it
together.
read more |
... and this to
human dignity
Many in Europe still
vividly remember the
highly publicized Marc
Dutroux trial in the
city of Arlon,
Belgium, back in 2004.
In the end, pedophile
Dutroux, convicted of
abducting, abusing and
killing young girls,
was sentenced to life
in prison.
read more
|
There just ain't no
quick fix
In the
face of the Madrid and
London bombings; in
the face of the many
lost lives of European
civilians that tried
to help rebuild a
battled region;
in the face of all
this, it almost seems
disrespectful if not
outrages to claim that
Europe is content to
sit out the war,
hoping that violence
never finds a way
within its borders.
read more |
Bottled water is
drinking water
It is
true that consumers
world-wide are
becoming ever more
cautious about the
threat of
“contamination,”
choosing mass-marketed
products guaranteed to
make our homes and
persons temples of
hyper-cleanliness.
read more |
The different
shades of death
Starting with the
execution of Captain
George Kendall by
firing squad, December
1607 (some sources say
1608) in Jamestown ,
the death penalty has
almost always been a
feature of the
American criminal
justice system, first
in the colonies, and
after independence, in
the entire United
States.
read more |
How to talk
politics to an
American
Naturally, there are
Americans who crave a
good discussion of
politics, but one
can’t approach this
quarry willy-nilly.
Don’t just saddle up
to a complete stranger
and say, “Hey, so what
do you think about
abortion?” (or the
death penalty, George
Bush, Iraq, nuclear
waste, whales, or gay
marriage).
read more |
Power-less
The overhead power
lines in my street
resemble a huge spider
net and also remind me
of the 70s. Am I stuck
in a time warp? No,
I’m just in suburban
Seattle. They haven’t
seemed to bother
updating their power
supply like Germany
where all power lines
are underground,
safely hidden from
falling branches and
severe weather
conditions.
read more |
