Wikio Blogs - international

[International] Another return (EU Referendum)

EU Referendum — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:51:00 GMT

Some readers may have noticed that I have been blogging lightly recently. The reason was preoccupation with other work. That is now finished and I can return to duties though the boss, as ever, managed to fill those gaps. I shall not write about Obama's trip to Europe as I think I should follow neo-neocon's example and start weaning myself off the subject. Instead, here is one of my favourite subjects, the behaviour of that defender of the nation state, Russia, under its new President, who just happens to say exactly what the old President, now Prime Minister, said. After the Czech Government signed an agreement on the placing of a radar tracking system in the country Russia voiced her displeasure (one wonders if it is fear of that displeasure that is making the Poles so hesitant - an interesting historic reversal, if true) by cutting down the amount of oil , agreed and contracted for, that would be allowed to flow. Oil supplies dropped about 40 percent on July 9, the day after the Czech government signed the antimissile deal with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Prague, and have remained at that level since. Never mind. Putin has stormed to the Czechs' rescue. Well, sort of. According to the article he has instructed Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is in charge of energy policy, to make sure that all partners remain satisfied. Apparently, there was a certain amount of discussion between the two as to why this rather regrettable situation might have arisen. Nothing to do with the anti-missile deal, which was not even mentioned. The Czechs appear to have crossed their neighbour in another way as well: The two then ruminated on the possible causes for the shortfall, according to the report. Putin said he agreed with Sechin's conclusion that "the immediate blame is not on Russian oil suppliers" but rather on unspecified offshore oil trading companies that deal in Russian oil. Sechin noted that the Czech Republic had declined to sign a energy agreement proposed by the Russians last year. Putin added that, as a result, the Czechs were purchasing oil "not directly from Russian producers, but through offshore companies." Russian oil supplies should be back to the agreed levels by August but, it seems, that unlike Germany, the Czech Republic is looking round for alternative suppliers. Incidentally, as far as I understand it, the much-heralded and much-trumpeted Obama visit will not take in any East European capital. I wonder why that is. Have his 300 foreign policy advisers not managed to tell him that Berlin is no longer the frontline? Ooops, I have failed at the first hurdle.

neo-neocon : A twelve step program is needed… ...
If Sam Tarran Was In Charge : Warm Welcome ...

blogs : If Sam Tarran Was In Charge,neo-neocon,EU Referendum...
(3 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 01:51)

[International] Wordle (Crooked Timber)

Crooked Timber — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:32:00 GMT

I’ve seen various textcloud applications before, but Wordle (via Steve Poole) is the first one that I’ve seen that makes it easy to produce aesthetically attractive pictures of the information. Below is the textcloud of my book, “The Political Economy of Trust: Institutions, Interests and Inter-Firm Cooperation” which I’m preparing for publication in Cambridge’s Comparative [...]

Crooked Timber : Last Best Wordle ...
Cosmic Variance : Words in the Clouds ...

blogs : Signifying Nothing,Cosmic Variance,La Profesora Abstraída,Kieran Healy's Weblog,Slugger O'Toole...
(9 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 20:32)

[International] Could this happen in the UK? (Jo Christie-Smith)

Jo Christie-Smith — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:59:47 GMT

The picture that shames Italy was the heading and I clicked on thinking I would find some more evidence of Berlusconi’s vile sexism or something. But what I found was seriously, much, much worse. Frankly, I feel quite ill. It comes to something when people are able to dehumanise a minority group so much that people can continue to sunbathe and picnic around the dead bodies of two young girls. I’d like to think that it couldn’t happen in the UK , I’d like to think as a country that we haven’t dehumanised anybody. What is it is that makes one human being treat another so terribly? One of the commenters suggests that there are parallels to how gypsies are treated in the UK , but I don’t quite see it. What I understand that In times or war for example, terrible things happen. There can be moments, even now in London , when someone fearful of their own safety doesn’t step in and get involved. But what happened on that Italian beach was of a different order. There was no war, no danger: just a complete lack of humanity. Shame on the Italians who sat on that beach and ate a picnic, shame on the police who didn’t post someone to stay with the bodies until the ambulance to come to collect them, but I can’t help but feel shame on all of us for being part of a world where things like this can happen. I am, reminded of the poem by Niemuller, which I have pinned up on my notice board for times just like this: First they came for the Jews And I did not speak out- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the communists And I did not speak out- For I was not a communist. Next they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out- Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.

The Independent : The picture that shames Italy ...
The F-Word Blog : Race is a feminist issue ...

blogs : Jo Christie-Smith,Standing FIRM,The F-Word Blog,The Independent,Mia Culpa...
(5 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 10:59)

[International] Karadzic Arrested, Was Disguised As Doctor (Little Green Footballs)

Little Green Footballs — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:33:31 GMT

Serbian nationalist Radovan Karadzic has been arrested in Belgrade, working as a doctor . “Karadzic used false documents with the name Dragan Dabic,” said Rasim Ljajic, the minister in charge of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He had been posing as a doctor of alternative medicine, sporting long hair, a beard and glasses to hide his face. A picture shown to reporters showed an unrecognisable Karadzic, markedly thin, with a long white beard and flowing hair. Serbian officials said he was walking freely around town and earned money from practising medicine. They said they could not divulge more details because it might jeopardise efforts to arrest two other war crime suspects on the run. Karadzic was arrested late on Monday night in Belgrade by the Serbian security services, the office of Serb president Boris Tadic said. The 63-year-old former war leader is accused of orchestrating the worst acts of brutality Europe has seen since the Nazi campaigns of the Second World War.

BuffaloPundit : Karadzic ...
voluntaryXchange : Another Problem with Alternative Medicine ...

blogs : Global Voices Online,Little Green Footballs,voluntaryXchange,BuffaloPundit,Oh My News...
(9 posts, last update: 23/07/2008 08:33)

[International] News from Iraq: July 22, ‘08 (appletree)

appletree — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:30:36 GMT

Boost for Obama over Iraq withdrawal Barack Obama has paid his first visit to Iraq, just as the Iraqi government explicitly matched the Democratic presidential candidate’s 16-month timetable for the removal of American combat troops. Senator Obama met Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad yesterday during his visit, which had become overshadowed by a row over [...]

The Independent : Boost for Obama over Iraq withdrawal ...
The Liberal Avenger : US seeks ‘time horizon’ on Iraq ...

blogs : The Liberal Avenger,The Independent,Unqualified Offerings,Alternet,appletree...
(5 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 17:30)

[International] I've Got Your War On Terror Right Here (Between the Hammer and the Anvil)

Between the Hammer and the Anvil — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:04:36 GMT

Hilarious - they finally track down The Butcher of Bosnia, and the first thing they have to do is drag him off to The Barber of Belgrade so they can check it's really him under all that fluff. In light of the example of Saddam Hussein, perhaps this explosive hair-growth is some kind of defence mechanism for war criminals, like squid-ink... The follicles must begin to sprout the second enemy tanks rumble into the capital. It would certainly explain why the newly-captured Radovan Karadzic looks less like The Face of Evil than he does a stoned, bespectacled chinchilla. Hell, I'm going to phone the CIA and tell them to forget hunting for Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountain bases - they should just rock up to Islamabad and arrest the guy who most closely resembles Cousin It. That's a great get-rich-quick scheme, by the way, since there's about fifty million on offer for Bin Laden's head on a stick. Me, I've been throwing open the Karachi phone book and sending random addresses to Langley for six years, although so far all I've got to show for it is a red phone bill. I just hope that I fluke the right location before some Al Qaeda type rumbles the gig and tips the spooks off himself. If I was Ayman Al-Zawahiri I'd be all like fuck this hiding in a cave shit, and grass up OBL for the cash. I mean, you never know, all that cavorting in paradise with dozens of virgins stuff might just be a load of old cobblers. Why risk it all on a probably-fictitious afterlife? For that kind of cash, Al-Zawahiri could get all the women he wanted and I'm sure they'd all be delighted to tell him they were virgins if he's so bloody picky. I'd guarantee they'd do other stuff, too, whatever a man who's spent the last ten years in the company of hirsute, heavily armed fanatics and their goats desired. Sure, it might be a bit awkward when the photos of President Bush handing the world's number two terrorist an over-sized cheque for that kind of cash hit the papers, but what would Bush care? Most people have the memory spans of pissed goldfish and anyway, they'd be too busy tuning in to America's Best Prison Assaults - Infinite Beatings (Bin Laden Edition) to care. Meanwhile, Bush goes down in history as the President who brought America's greatest foe to justice* and Al-Zawahiri gets to live like a rock star, snorting drugs off models' cleavages and suchlike. Sorted! See, I've got your war on terror sewn up right there. They should make me a five-star general. *Or smoked him out, whatever bullshit his handlers think will make him look most folksy.

Maurizio - Omnologos : Karadzic Shows Hitler Was Right… ...
Slugger O'Toole : “and practising alternative medicine..” ...

blogs : PharmaGossip,Sofia News Agency,Stephen Pollard,Slugger O'Toole,The Herald ...
(8 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 22:04)

[International] More people will die because of this. (Bag's Rants)

Bag's Rants — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:35:44 GMT

It seems Mugabe is feeling the pressure. Someone, not Gordo, has told him to make some concessions and he is signing a deal on a framework. Read here . A deal on a framework. Wow! What a concession. It must have taken hundreds of man hours of tough negotiations for that. So that will delay to all the sanctions and talks for a while and in the meantime life in Zimbabwe will continue as normal. A very short run into a hell hole. Eventually nothing will have changed and it'll be back on the agenda but at the moment everyone will be smiles and pats on the back.

The Devil's Kitchen : How incredibly impressive ...
Anorak News : Mugabe’s No Big Deal ...

blogs : Bag's Rants,Anorak News,Greater Manchester Fabian Society,The Devil's Kitchen...
(4 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 13:35)

[International] Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times Endorses Barack Obama (Grasping Reality with Both Hands)

Grasping Reality with Both Hands — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:44:37 GMT

Gideon Rachman: > FT.com / Columnists / Gideon Rachman - Back Obama for commander-in-chief: [W]hile the armchair generals in Washington will denounce Mr Obama for weakness on Iran, the real generals support his position. The great constraint on the radicals in the Bush administration is that the US’s top brass has made it clear that it has no appetite for launching yet another war... the last thing the American military needs is a third front. > The generals know that the idea of a surgical strike to “take out” Iran’s nuclear facilities is a fantasy.... Mr McCain would risk all this because...

Financial Time : Back Obama for commander-in-chief ...
The Politicker : Elsewhere: Photo Ops, Geography ...

blogs : The Politicker,Grasping Reality with Both Hands,Financial Time...
(3 posts, last update: 22/07/2008 06:44)

[International] An economic suicide pact (EU Referendum)

EU Referendum — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:02:00 GMT

The grumbling has been around for some time , but now Spiegel tells us that German industrialists are, to coin a phrase, getting a bit Bloshie. In a piece headed, "Killing Jobs to Save the Climate", it warns that the price of European emission permits is rising so rapidly that German companies are threatening to leave the country. Thousands of jobs could be lost. And the environment may, in the end, be no better off. Bringing this to life, author Karsten Stumm describes a seminar given by the German environment authorities, attended by sundry industrialists: They sat silently through two lectures, but then they couldn't control their anger any longer. The civil servants from the Environment Ministry, the Environment Agency and the German Emissions Trading Authority made it sound easy for industry to take up carbon trading. It was just too much for the managers to tolerate. "If that's the shape the trading will take, we will simply move our cement operation to Ukraine," a cement factory manager shouted into the lecture hall. "Then there won't be any trading here, nothing will be produced here anymore - the lights will simply go out here." Bizarrely, the businessmen's anger surprised the emissions-allowance trading experts – although that in itself is indicative. Industry has been flagging up its disquiet for some time. Anyhow, the experts had invited industry representatives to a relaxed forum at the Environment Ministry's office in Bonn. They wanted to present international developments in the carbon trading market. However, Karsten Stumm writes, the mood in the German business world has soured - managers no longer have the stomach for academic lectures: The reason is that emissions allowances are already burdening some companies that require a lot of energy for production purposes. In the last 12 months alone, the price for the right to pump a ton of carbon into the atmosphere has shot up from €23 ($36.5) to nearly €30 ($47.6), according to the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig. This hike of around 30 percent has a direct effect on the electricity production of power companies. We are told that, according to calculations by Point Carbon - a Norwegian company that specialises in analysing global power, gas and carbon markets - this price hike would drive up the marginal cost of energy from an old brown coal power plant by the entire price of carbon. For modern natural gas power plants, it would increase prices by a third. Energy company RWE, which is based in the German city of Essen, reckons it alone will have to pay €9 billion ($14.2 billion) for its own electricity production, which it, of course, will pass on in higher electricity prices. This latter-day "snake oil" emissions trading system will, therefore, have a direct impact on which countries in which firms chose to locate. Warns Andreas Kern, President of the German Cement Industry Federation: "If the cement industry is gradually pulled into the trading of carbon emission allowances, companies will move production to countries that don't take part in the scheme." Worse still, this is only the start. When the third trading period starts up in 2013, prices will escalate as emission permits are auctioned. The cement industry will face cost increases of around €900 million - around half its current annual revenues. The German finance ministry is looking into whether some sectors should continue to receive the emission permits for free, worried by the prospect of an exodus of industry. The Federal Statistical Office and the Institute for Applied Ecology expects a whole raft of enterprises to be affected, ranging from chemical manufacturers, the iron and steel sector, lime producers and aluminium smelters and refineries might be affected. Yet, the movement will, of course, not result in lower overall emissions – the emissions will simply be relocated. The net effect of the "CO2 price signal" therefore is to shift production and investment. On the other hand, thousands of German jobs will be jeopardised – unless other countries can be inveigled into joining this economic suicide pact. But, as it stands, not even the German exchequer will benefit. Although it has gained a windfall of €525 million from the emission trading scheme in the first half of this year possibly rising to €900 million for the next six months, this sum would not even cover a fraction of the fall in tax revenues from thousands of job losses which may result from the scheme. Gradually, therefore, the costs of this obsession with "tackling climate change" are beginning to sink in. Soon enough, it will dawn on the politicians that this gigantic scam is indeed nothing more than an economic suicide pact. And what will the EU commission do then? COMMENT THREAD

Celestial Junk : The Germans are About to Invade Ukraine ... Again ...
Common Sense and Wonder : What happens when reality clashes with fantasy. ...

blogs : GayandRight,PoliGazette,Global Warming Skeptics,Green Bloggers Digest,Common Sense and Wonder...
(9 posts, last update: 19/07/2008 22:02)

[International] Idea for a play (Lenin's Tomb)

Lenin's Tomb — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:05:00 GMT

Genoa, 2001 : a haphazardly dressed 'maniac' penetrates police headquarters in the Bolzaneto district, shortly after a mysterious incident in which hundreds of international anticapitalist protesters are ferociously beaten to injury and near-death. With no clues, no leads, and no suspects except the victims themselves, the police are anxiously attempting to secure the arrest of old ladies with cracked skulls. The 'maniac', adopting a variety of disguises, induces the police to leap through the hoops of their own illogical explanations for what took place: they weren't really injured, or if they were, the injuries were old; they attacked the police first; they were fighting among themselves; they were Black Bloc... Gradually, one by one, he provokes the officers to admit the sinister truth - that under the guidance of the neo-fascist deputy Prime Minister, and with assurances of impunity, the police systematically attacked, beat, tortured, humiliated and threatened with rape hundreds of people they knew to be innocent of any crime, for the purpose of terrorising them and the movement they represented. The police officers pour out their hatred for the dirty queers and communists and environmentalists and gypsies who pollute the otherwise pristine body of beautiful Italy. They reminisce about fascists - Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet, all great men. They sing the old fascist songs, and laugh about how easy it is to con the bourgeois press into swallowing any lies, any contortions, any manifest absurdities. But just as the play reaches its finale, the 'maniac' is exposed as a fraud and a penetrator - one of those filthy communists, no less. They prepare to defenestrate him. But, just as they have him by the ankles, his bag of disguises begins to tick noisily. Inside it, they find a bomb, but it's too late. The play ends with a bang. What? What do you mean you've heard this before? Copyleft of Lenin's Tomb

Ten Percent : Genoa and the Culture of Fascism ...
Liberal Blogosphere : What is it about globalization? ...

blogs : Ten Percent,Lenin's Tomb,Liberal Blogosphere...
(3 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 21:05)

[International] France "Inviting" Operators To Cut SMS Prices (Moco News)

Moco News — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:46:54 GMT

Record high inflation is apparently taking its toll on the purchasing power of French citizens, so what better way for the government to tackle the problem than to target the high price of SMS messages? Days after the EU announced it would move ahead with "measures" to slash the price of roaming SMS, France is "inviting" its operators to cut the price of text messages. Reuters reports that along with the invite the country's junior minister for consumer goods Luc Chatel is penning a letter to the networks to "make them aware of the difficulties of consumers with low budgets." That should warm the hearts of the operators. According to a study published by French telecoms regulator Arcep , French consumers on pay-as-you-go phones, pay an average cost of 12 euro cents ($0.19) per text. While the volume of SMS sent in the country is nearly twice the amount sent in 2004, prices have remained stable. Moreover, the price of an SMS from France's various MVNO's, which buy network access from the carriers, actually cost 25-30 percent less than the main operators--Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom. Roaming text, the target of EU scrutiny, is nearly double the cost of domestically sent SMS. Related European Commission Vows To End SMS Roaming Rip-Offs With Price Cuts T-Mobile Hikes Text Price To 20 Cents Each Our mobile application for Blackberry and other Smartphones brings you the latest headlines when you're on the go. Go here to download .

Reuters UK : France calls for mobile operators to cut SMS prices ...
paidContent:UK : France "Inviting" Operators To Cut SMS Prices ...

blogs : 3wan.net,Reuters UK,paidContent:UK,Reuters,Moco News...
(5 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 21:46)

[International] Progress, of sorts (Pickled Politics)

Pickled Politics — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:41:29 GMT

“A US judge has ruled that the first war crimes trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, involving Osama Bin Laden’s former driver, can go ahead. Judge James Robertson dismissed a claim from lawyers for Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, that it should be stopped while he challenged the process’s legality. The ruling came after a [...]

BBC News : US judge backs Guantanamo trial ...
ACLU Bog of Rights : Issues Too “Novel and Complex” to Consider? ...

blogs : Infidels Are Cool,News Scotsman,New York Post,Hindu,Pickled Politics...
(35 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 22:41)

[International] Taliban drives NATO, American forces from Afghan post (Crooks and Liars)

Crooks and Liars — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:38:52 GMT

Meanwhile over there: US forces have abandoned a small base in eastern Afghanistan that was the scene of an intense assault by Taleban fighters in which 9 US soldiers died. The base was quickly occupied by Taleban fighters after the departure of the US forces, according to local government officials. Nato spokesmen confirmed [...]

Times Online : US forces abandon Wanat outpost in Afghanistan after fierce Taleban attack ...
Where's the Outrage? : Huge Taliban Attack on American Base (updated) ...

blogs : Where's the Outrage?,Times Online,Crooks and Liars...
(4 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 18:38)

[International] Necrotrends: The GOP Was The Party of Civil Rights (Crooked Timber)

Crooked Timber — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:05:00 GMT

Bruce Bartlett has a piece in the WSJ. His thesis statement: “Historically speaking, the Republican Party has a far better record on race than the Democrats.” Here’s the antidote. You can guess how this sort of thing is going to go: In 1900 (under President McKinley) and again in 1922 (under Harding), Republicans tried to enact [...]

Lawyers, Guns and Money : "Party of Civil Rights" ...
Lawyers, Guns and Money : Nixon's Piano ...

blogs : Lawyers, Guns and Money,Crooked Timber...
(3 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 19:05)

[International] US health care trounced in yet another global study (AMERICAblog)

AMERICAblog — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:14:00 GMT

If there were signs of serious progress, that would be one thing, but there's not. It has been in trouble for years and the GOP thought it was hysterical when they shot down the Clinton health care plan in the '90s. After that victory - and what a victory as we now see in the millionth study panning the state of health care in the US - they continued propping up their special interest friends in industry. What continues to jump out in these studies is that the US spends the most money in the world yet receives so little. Gosh, folks, who sees a problem here? Just like the GOP friends in other industries, they're doing just fine while the population gets so little in return. In a real free market system - which we don't have despite what the GOP says - shouldn't buyers be getting more for their money? And again, McCain thinks a silly tax credit will help? Seriously. Worse still, he wants a similar program for our retirement plans though all with the guidance of Wall Street. Oh to live in the Ivory Tower of nine or ten houses. Meanwhile, WE'RE #42! WE'RE #42! The United States of America is becoming less united by the day. A 30-year gap now exists in the average life expectancy between Mississippi, in the Deep South, and Connecticut, in prosperous New England. Huge disparities have also opened up in income, health and education depending on where people live in the US, according to a report published yesterday. The American Human Development Index has applied to the US an aid agency approach to measuring well-being – more familiar to observers of the Third World – with shocking results. The US finds itself ranked 42nd in global life expectancy and 34th in survival of infants to age. Suicide and murder are among the top 15 causes of death and although the US is home to just 5 per cent of the global population it accounts for 24 per cent of the world's prisoners. Despite an almost cult-like devotion to the belief that unfettered free enterprise is the best way to lift Americans out of poverty, the report points to a rigged system that does little to lessen inequalities. "The report shows that although America is one of the richest nations in the world, it is woefully behind when it comes to providing opportunity and choices to all Americans to build a better life," the authors said. Some of its more shocking findings reveal that, in parts of Texas, the percentage of adults who pass through high school has not improved since the 1970s.

The Independent : American inequality highlighted by 30-year gap in life expectancy ...
Antony Loewenstein : The super-power of losers ...

blogs : AMERICAblog,The Creativity Exchange,The Independent,Antony Loewenstein...
(5 posts, last update: 17/07/2008 12:14)