From the French right’s selection of Fillon to the Italian referendum and Austrian election, Europe’s centre is oblivious to its own existential crisis. They might want to dust off their copies of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice Source: The European elite have developed a death wish | Paul Mason |
Continue readingTag: France
Things Are Good: France Phasing out Coal by 2023
Not to be outdone by other nations, France has announced that the country will eliminate use of coal for electricity by 2023. Yesterday we looked at Canada’s plan to phase out coal plants by 2030, which in Canada caused concern. In France, there’s little debate that we need to stop
Continue readingcentre of the universe: Bikini, Burkini – Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off
– initially entered as a series of ranty comments on an effbook post – I don’t care WHAT your religion is, or isn’t – no government has the right to tell anybody how to dress. So the government of France doesn’t have any more right to tell people what they
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Greece eyes alliance of southern EU states – POLITICO
September conference planned with France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Malta.
Source: Greece eyes alliance of southern EU states – POLITICOFiled under: Eurozone crisis Tagged: France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Southern Europe, Spain
Alberta Politics: News Satire: U.S. will not tolerate foreigners acting like Americans, officials say
ILLUSTRATIONS: A map showing some of the countries in which the United States has interfered in the political process (grabbed from Geology.com). Below: U.S. CIA Director John O. Brennan, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican candid…
Continue readingLeft Over: There’s Somethin’ Happening Here…
I’ve been holding back on commenting….reality has been so overwhelming and I feel as if, for the first time since possibly the War of 1812, that the West is slowly, inexorably being pulled into another war, this time on home … Continue reading →
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Growing Labor Protests Paralyzing France
Filed under: Europe, Eurozone crisis, Uncategorized Tagged: Austerity, France, General Strike, labour market reforms
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It’s time for a national postal bank in both Canada and the United States
PHOTOS: The little Post Office in downtown St. Albert, where your blogger lives, which Canada Post is anxious to close as soon as possible. Below: The U.S. Post Office in Fallon, Montana, the Canadian Post Office in Dewberry, Alberta (villageofdewberry…
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Questions without answers: Why are our U.S. allies so ambivalent about ISIS, and what does it mean for Canada?
PHOTOS: U.S. State Department spokesperson Mark Toner. (Screen grab from C-SPAN.) Below: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Conservative interim Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. For all we know, Syrian President Bashar a…
Continue readingThings Are Good: France Installing 100km of Solar Roads
France has announced that they are going to try a mass installation of solar-panelled roads to provide electricity. It’s an attempt to see if they technology can be scalable and durable enough to survive under so much wear and tear. These solar roads aren’t made by the company that turned to crowdfunding a few years […]
The post France Installing 100km of Solar Roads appeared first on Things Are Good.
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: French labour code reform: towards more precarious employment? – Equal Times
On 4 November 2015, France’s labour minister, Myriam El Khomri, launched a reform of the labour law. The two main objectives are to revise the entire labour code and to give company-level agreements a central role, against a background marked by unemployment reaching 10.6 per cent of the active population in November 2015. In absolute… More French labour code reform: towards more precarious employment? – Equal Times
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Trade unions take on the extreme right in northern France
It is Saturday afternoon and the Christmas market in Hénin-Beaumont is deserted. A light rain is falling on the town, adding a layer of sadness to the place. In front of the town hall, on Place Jean-Jaurès, the PCF (French Communist Party) office has closed its shutters. A small notice pasted to the door urges… More Trade unions take on the extreme right in northern France
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Reassessing NATO: Canada shouldn’t let itself be ‘Article Fived’ into a war by Turkey’s Islamist president
PHOTOS: A bunch of NATO political bureaucrats try to look busy in this file photo. Recognize anyone? Below: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Does it benefit Canada in …
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brad Wall’s call to block refugees from Syria is just more of the same old conservative wedge politics
PHOTOS: Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall (CBC Photo). Below: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott and B.C. Premier Christy Clark. Bottom: Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is either demonized or ignored by Western mainstream media. In light of the inevitably angry and emotional response to the Paris terror attacks
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: John Oliver Rants Against Paris Attackers: “Fuck These Assholes”
Comedian John Oliver has the perfect response to the Islamic State-linked terrorists who carried out last Friday’s barbaric attack in Paris, France, killing 129 people. The post John Oliver Rants Against Paris Attackers: “Fuck These Assholes” appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingParis—the blowback of imperialism
U.S. President Barack Obama has referred to the atrocities in Paris as attacks “on all of humanity.” He is wrong, of course. The attacks were specifically directed at France, an ex-imperialist European nation that has a long history of colonizing, oppressing and exploiting the Muslim peoples of North Africa and
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Could Syria Become the 21st Century Sarajevo?
There were plenty of proxy wars during the Cold War only back then the principals had enough sense to avoid direct clashes. That was then, this is Syria where today we find the rival superpowers circling each other inside the same phone booth. You could search the world over and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: What’s next? F-35 boondoggle to land on the deck of a Canadian Mistral carrier?
PHOTOS: The F-35, possibly the worst military aircraft ever made, dollar for dollar or pound for pound, photographed to make it look less like a brick. A hovering version of the same plane. A not-quite-finished Mistral-class helicopter carrier. SANTA FE, N.M. I suppose a hotel in the desert, just down
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Merkel’s Toxic Tonic
Has German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s subjugation of Greece inadvertently poisoned European unity? That’s how a pro-EU lobby group sees it. “The last few weeks have laid totally bare the European Union’s brand of authoritarian dogma,” UKIP leader Nigel Farage wrote in the London Telegraph. “More and more people are waking
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Will Canadian troops in Ukraine have to train radical Islamist volunteers said to be tied to ISIS?
PHOTOS: Defence Minister Jason Kenney explains who Canadian troops will train in Ukraine last fall. Below: Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ukraine in 2010. Photos are from the CBC and the Prime Minister’s Office’s Flickr account. It’s been evident for several months now Ukraine has a problem with neo-Nazis, in
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