Update, EU Xenophobes

Well, they lasted a year, and at last the far-right racist and xenophobic block of the European Parliament fell apart last week.  Known by their ironic title “Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty Group”, the block dissolved after the Romanian far-right members were offended by derogatory comments by Mussolini’s granddaughter. In practice it means they will get less speaking time in parliament, and perhaps more importantly, no more EU funds for their professional hatred activities.   They say when the announcement was made the parliament broke into applause and cheering.  I’ll save my applause and cheering for when the mainstream parties stop pushing xenophobic and corporatist policies on European citizens. 

Puppet Government

Recently I was watching some footage of the IRaqi parliament. An institution that I have to wonder about from the beginning as, to me, it wasn’t a truly elected (odd list system) and is basically a symbolic body to go along with a puppet government.
As I watched, the speaker of the parliament as well as all these guys sitting around him were laughing as a female member was passionately speaking about an issue that concerned her. The more she spoke the more they laughed…. at her. And others joined in.. and she kept trying to be heard over the growing laughter. Many people stood up and walked out in protest. It was an extremely sad sight.

I do remember when not so long ago a fist-fight broke out in that same parliament, one member apparently slapped another and it went on from there.

The only reason I bring it up is that I find it to be a testament to how ridiculous the entire adventure in Iraq has been, especially the thinking that you can force democracy on people and it will flourish.

Also interesting, as Juan Cole recently pointed out, the parliament passed a resolution that the seperation wall the US military is building in Baghdad must be dismantled. Of course, they won’t do it. Just a friendly reminder of who really makes the rules in Iraq.

Note: Podcasts and vlogs are delayed as Im struggling to complete a little freelance job and yet exhausted after a big ultimate competition in the south of the netherlands today.

bm189 2 EU Parliaments Too Many

The European Union has a parliament which has two homes, Brussels and Strasbourg. When weighing all the resources required and practical costs for maintaining this tradition, many have called into question why there isn’t one European Parliament. My guest today is Anders Ekberg, a key player in the OneSeat.eu campaign and part of the Liberal Party of Sweden, he explains the history of the campaign and we discuss the details.

We Discuss:
– How the Parliament juggles the two places
– The history of the situation
– Luxembourg, the third seat.
– Who pays for what
– The process
– France
– What to do with Strasbourg
– The campaign and its future