E.U Crisis:The New European, Populism humbles Federalism, A Renewed Awareness about Citizen Inclusion in European Politics.

Populism is not a dirty word; Defined as the People verses the Elites, its attraction is in urging social and political changes to represent ordinary people's needs and wishes.  It commands popular appeal. Originally a seventieth century movement against industrial change, it recently represents  unqualified modifications (Burqa Bans etc) to unpopular social issues. A camaraderie of the ordinary guy in the street against a small group of professional politicians who profess to know  better than the people. It stands against those who say the people are stupid and brutish and that Elites should be the ones to make decisions on their behalf.

This sounds very much a scenario were revolutionaries are asked by the people to address the imbalance of excess authoritarian rule. But it's not. Populism is just another 'ism on the long road towards a totally inclusive society. Boy have you guys in Brussels got your work cut out.

How is it possible the Elites messed up such a popular project as the Post War European Union to the point where they see citizens as populist revolutionaries challenging their political mistakes, financial excesses and now rudderless leadership.

What is the point of mass education to understand social and political systems. And, for the teacher to then accuse these student  of being dangerous, simply  because they have become aware. 

The well-being of the political process and the understanding of democracy has to be newly acquired by each generation. Democracy requires political education. This in turn requires political inclusion and activity. Each generation is not born with memory or experience.

Elites need to accept they no longer can act alone in deciding what is best for the people. They are ready and able to do that for themselves.  Rotterdam 2011  

But  it also  true strong intuitions promoting  dissemination  of memory and experience makes learning much easier . We now have memory on tap. It  beams into our homes via the Internet . History is forever in the reality of our present and future. Now is the moment to secure a place for our memory and experience on the front line of efforts to advance civilisation. Who will follow us into democracy unless we  present an example for others  to follow.  

The shrieking Brussels cry of “Dammed Populists” towards those seeking reform and change is evolving in tone. It is fast becoming the battle cry of rattled Elitists alarmed at the swell of  popular movement which in fact embraces intellectuals, professionals as well as the stupid and brutish. Citizens rightly question the Brussels lack of collective spirit, their dis-jointed actions and especially their Prima Donna leadership.

This is not the time for dammed revolutionaries. Not the time to create change without safe direction. It is the time for the newly educated masses to be listened to and engaged with. Citizens  should be given the electoral responsibility to take necessary decisions about the crisis problems affecting us all. Authoritarian Elitist plutocracy (rule by wealth and power) as a political fashion is finished for the present. Educated populism may harbour the few who preach reactionary mistakes but it also harbours the many who can resolve the problems we all share.

Street Art News,London Looting: Stealing is Not Ok Unless it’s Street Art

David Cameron follows the tradition of Street Artists Bansky, Fairey
and Mr Brainwash in discussing the ethics of stealing.

Street Art’s heisting of photography for its use regardless of authorship or copyright can only bring good news to the medium. Which medium…photography stupid….I mean where would we be today if photography was not available to illustrate the political statements of Street Artists such as Bansky, Fairey and the great master El Brainwash himself. Stealing photographic images for the sake of making a Street Art point is now mainstream boredom. The Communication Society is mutating and forming a revolution were  real time knowledge is a growing power. It is notable British P.M. David Cameron wanted to stifle social media on an emotional whim just to make a point. It is also notable he changed his mind on reflection about stealing free speech and how instant communication can save lives.

Downing street has been accused many times of looting wealth from other nations.  So when it comes to stealing we have to accept no one has a monopoly on it. The best of it is done through the use of noble causes.

It is always time to address the causes which lead to these actions and not just repeatedly  and excessively punish the symptoms. Courts shudder at the prospect...sic..

E.U. Crisis: The Great European Buddha Moment: Going Europe is Going Confederate.

Politicians need to think sometime. Usually this happens around their election moment. In the past the future was led by them, but today’s information society means we can all participate in social leadership. A raging debate is taking place on the Internet between tens of thousands who wish to shape Europe's future. It has come down to one serious option.

Going More Europe means going Confederate. Alarm bells are ringing as word gets out how power and money is concentrating in the hands of an unelected few. Worst still these unelected few have seemingly little or no respect for democracy. In a short time reaction to what citizens really wish for will be a political election issue.

Well wishing Federalists are carrying a broken dream. They should join the Confederates and  pursue building a noble and safe structure. The new Confederate Nations of Europe. (C.N.E). What is today a concept will be in a very short time a movement.

Summer of 2011. Across Europe, citizens are having a Buddha Moment. Thinking about the future is thinking Confederate.

C.N.E. has no desire to bear witness to the Federalist group ripping apart over a principal which failed to grasp people's full support. It is in everyone’s interest to create the model for a successful Confederacy where strong nations are able to push forward able and willing bring the rest with them. C.N.E.  becomes more than an idea. More than a dream. More than a debate. More than a concept, it's a choice, an opportunity, to create a united force for Europe.

Brussels Federalism is dividing the people.  If  E.U. Federalists truly believe in Europe then they should  acknowledge it is their duty not to turn a broken dream into a nightmare. Europe's past has endured enough ideologies dragging citizens to catastrophe.    

 If rebellions can happen in the street then they can also happen in the senate and the parliaments. It is  the wish of the people. MEPs have little time to react. The great European Buddha Moment is happening.  Brussels and the faceless intuitions it harbours are becoming a focus for repeal. Brussels is now facing cold resistance to accusations it is dismantling European democracy. 

Better for the Federalists to join in growing the Confederate Nations of Europe.......

EU Crisis: Federalist Dream is over, Confederate Nations of Europe Begins

Federal Europe is dead and gone it’s with Monet and Schuman in the grave. Citizens have lost faith in any lure for a federal Europe. The Brussels mandarins have failed to hold the thin line of confidence while bureaucrats in France and Germany acknowledge it is useless to try and rescue the Euro as it stands. No more good money after bad. Across Europe today, citizens are pointing their thumbs downward to the idea of any vote for more Europe. 

We are looking at the strengthening of the Confederate Nations of Europe at the expense of  ideologist Federalism. In reality this is the creation of a two or three speed Europe. A mix of platforms from which there can be national debate, ambition and motivation to join or not to join other groups. Where decisions are made from tangible examples rather than from the fear and necessity being currently proposed by rattled Federalists. 

2011 ends the Federalists Dream; Enter a new Confederate Nations of Europe

History will debate who lost the Federalists dream. The Brussels Bubble will no doubt be accused with an exaggerated truth about incompetence. Debate is often unclear and unkind. There will be some who will see this historic year 2011 as the product of a combination of growing citizen power to challenge the top down elitists and others the decision by China, Russian and Iran to stop US and EU capitalism from stepping further beyond its borders. The financial crisis will in some fashion bear major guilt. 

But for me, Federal Europe failed to materialise for the reason citizens just didn’t trust it. It was the terminal Federalist weakness that citizens recognised, that some ideology does not always deliver what it says it will and sometimes,  it is best to let it fade away.   

Confederate Europe embraces sovereign national spirit which forged the diversity of European nations. Maybe in this new alliance will strength return and allow Europe to play its full part in the emerging global game and where the stronger vanguard core can help the weak to become stronger.

Leader Cameron Delivers Repression to British Citizens who Need British Help.

Designer Riot-shopping  sends new shock waves through UK  as  recession begins to rip Consumer Society .

One has to ask why  mass arrests are justified  for the socially excluded poor who took to the bizarre designer riot-shopping while the people who created the mess are permitted to carry on business as usual.  

House Evictions and excessive punishments show  leader Cameron as  a person who has failed to understand his responsibilities to the whole British nation and not just that part which supports his party.

  The Culture of Speed, mass media, advertising in Modern and Post Modern times.

The coming of immediacy. The dressed society, urban cultures and

 the aestheticization of peoples lifestyles. The presentation of consumerism

into all realms of human life and of course who is normal and who is not.

From the series War & the Plastik heaven 2009

The six months Jailing of a student for stealing a bottle of water and the social gloating over these punishments which do not fit the crimes signal the beginning of the end for the British  coalition.

 As pressure mounts over the coming weeks people will come to see the London riots for what they were. An opportunist outburst of anger and envy by a small mindset of the British community against the mainstream. The mainstream needs to connect and fix its patients,  not reject and punish them un-necessarily.

In the light of recent church, political and financial scandals, the  calls for morality, ethics, honesty and loyalty sound hollow coming from those establishment figures who have literally raped and pillaged this society for so long with glaring impunity.  

E.U. Crisis: Berlin Wall: 50 years later Berlin again is at the Crossroads

The symbolic Berlin Wall in November 1989.
 I remember the city's energy purring like a baby lioness. 

After this weeks launch of one of the biggest recession in modern times, Europe is again at the crossroads. It faces an unimaginable mountain to climb. Not just the big pile of money which frankly, is of lesser importance next to the social disorder waiting in the wings. Should the money problem be put first before the welfare of citizens then Europe is in bigger trouble than it cares to admit.


Look out for the only two options open to Europe and the creation of Art of Superstate part 3.

1, Closer union and the spreading of wealth and debt. (with lots of problems and work to be done)

2, Two speed Europe with Germania Magna leading the Core Vanguard over the catch -up Med Club.
   ( the easy option and one to end the dreams of Jean Monet and Robert Suchman).

The big question is will Superstate's citizens have a say and will their wishes be respected. Berlin is at the heart of Europe. Mistakes have been made there in the past. Now Germany has position and  power to lead Europe with approval. Has Berlin the will...............................

E.U. Crisis: Friday Afternoon: The End of an August Week with a Show to Entertain the Most Bored of Society.

The Mother of all Recessions  got off to a flying start last Monday The City Boys Gangs  rolled the dice while the Mob Gang rolled into town. After a week of playful  activity the week ended as it mostly does with the crowd looking forward to a Sunday morning media reflection cos there’s not much to do. 

I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday I'm in love................................the Cure.

What’s  come out of the week is a rash of statements from high to low from Foolish and  Panic, to Rumour, Dictatorial and Spiteful which pretty much sums up the situation we are all in.  As the BBC business reporter Robert Preston put it....  “Are they completely bonkers”……

Curfews, social media and Internet shutdowns, a ban on wearing face coverings and throwing those on the street as homeless if convicted of rioting were among some of the spiteful responses emanating from levels of British society against the protesters. Nothing new in this of course.  The City Boys Gang got off with a temporary shutdown of one of their Casino tables. 

One thing’s for sure if the causes are not addressed then the symptoms reoccur  for both the Gangs of the City and the Street.

And what’s also sure is the shocking realisation that politicians don’t expect to get burnt when playing with fire. As one gang member put it;

 "These are the people who got us into these situations and now we're realizing they don't know what they are doing. The market's finally catching up,"

"Sitting on the fence, Katwijk beach Netherlands. Wish you were here."

Politicians blame Internet social media and hand phones for the effectiveness of the rioters and their ability to organise.  A commenter  on the BBC website wrote;    

 “The most important tool we have ever had. It enables the people to be heard as much as big business and our government…….. There is now pressure to control and suppress this united voice under the "we are trying to protect you" guise…….. 

You see this is the world we are and human nature is the same as before.                                       

I don't care if Mondays black
Tuesday Wednesday heart attack
Thursday never looking back
It's Friday I'm in love…………………………………………. 

What we also saw this introductory week to the Mother of all Recessions was the spiteful reproach of politicians towards the people they are meant to serve for being recalled  from their annual holidays. Reminds me of when I worked in the Belfast picture agency Pacemaker Press during the Irish troubles.

We recalled the director to work from his holiday in the West of Ireland after the IRA murdered a senior British Royal (Lord Mountbatten) while holidaying in the same area.  The director moaned and groaned about his sacrifice for the agency for the best part of the following thirteen years.

E.U. Crisis: London Riots: City Boys Gang V Mob Gang call Thurday morning Ceasefire, leader Cameron says Life's all about Morality.

Thursday; Here's Why I Did Not Go To Work Today. Sung bt Harry Nilsson...

When I'm feeling Thursday
I go and have a drink
If Thursday was a boat I bet it'd sink……..

Crisis news:

Thursday morning sees a ceasefire in the weeks E.U Crisis “Tunnel of Uncertainty.”  (see  below post). The City boys Gang V the Mob Gang take a welcome break to count their money and their dead respectively.

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, hit out at the rioters (mob gang) for “a complete lack of responsibility, a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals”.  “That is what we need to change.”

Life in Core Netherlands looks out across the North Sea from the Hague towards London,

  Yeah, Thursday's such a crazy, lazy day,    Let's go have a picnic, Hope it doesn't rain….

Thursday's such a crazy, lazy day……. 
When the week becomes a rat race
You can bet, win, show or place…..

But never bet on Thursday
'Cause God's not on its case………

In response to Cameron’s  critique of the situation a Guardian reader quoted the following: 

While bankers have publicly looted the country's wealth and got away with it, it's not hard to see why those who are locked out of the gravy train might think they were entitled to help themselves to a mobile phone. Some of the rioters make the connection explicitly. "The politicians say that we loot and rob, they are the original gangsters," one told a reporter.

Another explained to the BBC: "We're showing the rich people we can do what we want also."

Prime Minister Cameron’s Patronizing Scolding of Disobedient British Children Disguises Serious Establishment Failures. Yes it’s Humpy Wednesday Already.

Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins… Leaving the note that she hoped would say more … Stepping outside she is free……..

Over in the rich part of town the City Boys gang fights to re-group…….but as one investor gang member said  “this rally could be short-lived. It's possible the bottom has been met but it is too early to say so, you never know what more bad news may be coming around the corner."

Postcards from the U.K's Silly Season are a big hit with today's youth. riot pic-epa  

And the analysis goes on & on

"I'm not sure how it will all end. This area will be a target because it is wealthy. The problem is that in this country we live in extremes of rich and poor. We need to live in the middle, like they do in Scandinavia."

"That Cameron doesn't know what he's talking about. He's lucky he can get a holiday. These kids don't get a holiday. I was one of these kids…. it's bloody hard for them. There's nothing to do at all. University fees have gone up, education costs money. And there's no jobs. This is them sending out a message."

She (What did we do that was wrong)
is having (We didn't know it was wrong)
fun (Fun is the one thing that money can't buy)
Something inside that was always denied, For so many years.

She’s leaving home Bye, bye.

E.U. Crisis: “Good bye Ruby Tuesday.” London’s burning and the markets are crashing. Are you not being entertained.

It is a long long week when its days become one big event. The Mob Gang is on the streets and the  City Boys Gang are on edge.  Shares take a hammering after a severe loss of confidence is fueled by the US downgrade, amidst further strife in the beleaguered  Superstate part 1 & 2............. Are you not being entertained.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Ruby Tuesday released in 1967 is a song about Mick Jagger’s  girlfriend Linda Keith who left him for Jimi Hendrix. .. Still I’m gonna miss you...... ............life on a Rotterdam wall                                                                                  

“There's no time to lose, I heard her say, Catch your dreams before they slip away”  

A chief investment officer, told the BBC that investors could see no way out of the current troubles. "You can't control it. You have the onset of fear in the market. There are a lot of things that don't make sense."

Lose your dreams......... and you will lose your mind.

"If they are able to keep a lid on yields in Italy and Spain then they will succeed in stopping the markets creating their own reality.”

Are you not being entertained…………………………………

E.U. Crisis Enters the Tunnel of Uncertainty

Monday Monday, can’t trust that day. This week the Euro crisis enters the Tunnel of uncertainty  A week never to be forgotten. Nerves are on edge. Fortunes will be lost on the markets. The awakening of the multitudes to a prolonged storm of hardship will hit home through the evening news channels.

In reality it is just decision time. In politics nothing happens by chance.  Over stated threats have for some time become part of the new culture of fear being spread among the population to replace  expensive wars. We seemingly have more to fear from statements emanating from the offices of a credit rating agency.  Virtual money on the stock market is transforming itself into virtual losses which the taxpayer is being asked to bail-out. It’s getting scary out there and the thing is people, global leaders are seemingly unable to control the monster they created. More fear.

It isn't the tunnel of love for this weeks Euro crisis reality show as the Eurozone faces collapse
 Pictures from Rotterdam and Dusseldorf 2011


It was politicians who created the Big Bang in October 1986 when deregulation became self regulation – which seemed sometimes as though the City Boys Gang who took over the block made it up as they went along.

The Big Bang City Boys Gang now has governments by the throat and is asking not only for money it creates out of thin air but also for the political clout necessary to save it from any vengeance by Mob Gang.

This week will show if politicians have it in them to stand up to the market monster. They know if they don’t their positions will be first to fall to the Mob Gang who are licking up to elements hell bent on securing a fist fight with the City Boys Gang.   Fear is not a one way ticket.  Some people this week may feel terrorised by the markets and while one answer is to terrorise the terrorists, the other is for strong leadership.

E.U. Crisis, Markets Crashing: Berlusconi Takes a Direct Accusation he is Incompetent as the Reaper Knock, Knock, Knocks on Italy’s Door.

The Grim reaper returned on Friday 5^th August 2011 almost four years to the day it first appeared to strike its boney knuckle on the door of Superstate part 1 & 2.

Should the “Core Vanguard” dump the southern flank to the mercy of the mighty Bond markets which have issued themselves with a license to kill, then this crisis becomes a burning topic about the health of the European family.

The issue is not only about European pensioners who expect to be well cared for in old age, but the realization that money just isn’t there to shoulder this burden of carrying weaker debt ridden states the size of Italy. Transferring cash from wealthy Northern pension funds to large southern pension systems which are just not working properly will test just how much Europe people really believe in.

A painting depicting the Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi hangs in a Rotterdam office August 2011

Speaking on the BBC today programme, Former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi said "The weakness of EU institutions is not by chance… the populist mood is becoming more and more strong in Europe." Regarding the crisis in Italy Prodi commented “There is no hope for change while this government is in charge” but then added “and you can’t change the garment in the middle of a storm.” He stressed there was "A problem of power in Europe." "We don't know who is in charge," he told Evan Davis.

Big question is if Greece, Italy and Spain were finally forced out of the Euro family home by Bonders, will it mean northerners seize back their first class citizens status over their poorer southern cousins. Cheaper sunnier places to retire might sound appealing but will they be welcome in the lands they have made newly impoverished. In the end it comes to the old saying “Blood is thicker than Water.” Superstate Europe needs to decide who its blood brothers are.

Secret Ai Weiwei Message found in Rotterdam

Ai Weiwei pictured during an interview commissioned by the Rotterdam architecture museum.
click on picture 

Secret Ai Weiwei message found in Rotterdam.

Confronting the past to bring it into the modern world  is open code for reconciliation in Europe’s tribal and social conflict zones.

The Ai Weiwei code was discovered in a clever interview with the master during a recent visit to the renowned Rotterdam Museum for Architecture. It clearly demonstrates that architecture (living together)  is closer than you think.

Germania Magna is Back; All Roads Now Lead to Berlin.

Against the odds Angela Merkel has cleverly taken Germany to the top as Europe’s undisputed heavyweight champion of the European Dimension: Art of Superstate Part 1 & 2 goes to a Saxon Queen.

A Mercedes Benz sign over Rotterdam points the way
 to Europe's new Germania Magna. 2011

Renowned for shrewdness and political vision she has nurtured a sense of European destiny north of the Alps. Her people have prospered. Her country is now a modern Germania Magna at the heart of a European Superstate, part 3.

Consisting of  “The Core” Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland and a bunch of smaller satellites Eurozone #2 will now seem an attractive financial opportunity to Denmark and Sweden.

There will soon be a serious rush of thought, ideas and political searching to decide the future.

But Europe means all its corners. They all must eventually prosper if the project is to become a United states of Europe and this spirit must never be diluted. Failure lies ahead if the periphery slides into a backwater of forgotten peoples.

It is a bold move to make a two speed Europe but it has to be done if Europe is to keep up with the challenges ahead. The world is dividing into powerful regional groups. China India, Islamic Unity and for us the Atlantic alliance. Floaters such as Brazil, Russia and Africa will play the game as they see fit.

Within the European block, Germany can guide the centre with Eastern and Northern neighbours. It was always an option to speed up the Art of Superstate. Merkel has chosen this option. These are interesting days ahead.  

Violence, Veils & Bloodlines by Louis J Salome; A Reflective View:

In Harmony, we reunited. Tales of riverbanks.

It had been a hot Spring day. I was travelling north towards Amsterdam. It was Lou Salome’s choice to fly from Boston to join a river cruise from Bruges to Amsterdam that gave his memoirs a full circle twist for us two men.

Dorothy, the river boat’s tour guide had just called on the phone. Her Dutch tones and confident air produced a settling exchange of information. “He is here, waiting, come to the boat “

I was heading to meet Lou Salome, a New Hampshire based American journalist and author, who in his book Violence, Veils and Bloodlines recounts revealing and poignant memoirs from his travels through recent historical wars and conflict zones. As a foreign correspondent, Lou Salome spent over 35yrs covering relevant hot spots shaping todays political landscapes. For much of that period, he was stationed in Jerusalem, but he spent time in Bosnia, Ireland, Algeria, Somalia, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Soviet Union.

His extraordinary revealing book explores how entrenched notions of self, family, and tribalism dictate human behavior in our modern world. He defines tribalism as a natural instinct for people of common backgrounds to band together while dividing themselves from people of other backgrounds.

"But Lou, if you go back through the mine field 
and give yourself up it will mean certain death. 
Lets swim the river to Turkey and freedom." I said
"But Martin" replied Lou "I can't swim." 
From the Khabur Beach party, Iraqi Kurdistan March 1991.
 

In short, Lou wrote a book giving the reader a rare opportunity to be a companion to a road-worn, wise but never weary observer of the World.   

It was twenty years ago in March 1991, Lou Salome, then of the Atlantic journal, met me, an AP photojournalist, in a Damascus hotel. The Gulf war had just come to a swift and inconclusive finish and media people in the region were broadening their radar for extra news stories.

I was asking to go to Beirut to cover possible hostage releases while Salome pondered whether to try Kurdistan to check out reports of an uprising there against Saddam Hussein. The outcome was next day we both were crossing the Syrian desert in a taxi toward the mighty Tigris river, and into North Iraq.

Salome recounts the journey in Violence, Veils and Bloodlines. The Chapter covers how we crossed the swollen river at the invite of would be President of Iraq Jabal Talabani to join rebelling Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and their ensuing defeat at the hands of Saddam's Republican guard. It recounts how we fled the battle field under fire with fourteen other journalists. And, the night time flight in a Dump truck, over treacherous mountainous passes near Iran, to the apparent safety of a rebel camp situated between an Iraqi minefield and the Harbur river along the Turkish border.

This close encounter with war and its effects made two strangers friends and respectful of each other as human beings. Much became of our understanding of conflict while sitting it out in the camp waiting for a solution to materialize while the Republican guard pushed the retreating Peshmerga past our location.

Eventual escape came after Turkish authorities permitted local Kurds to assemble a raft which ferried the foreign correspondents over the fast flowing Harbur.

Back in Damascus a mere ten days later we departed company, April 1991. The episode described in the chapter made us mindful of the need to nurture the positive sides of human nature. However, for Lou and I contact was lost. Salome went to London where he was assigned to cover Africa and the middle east while I re-located to the Romanian capital Bucharest to cover post Communism and the Balkan wars.

Our paths missed on a number of occasions in Bosnia and Bulgaria. Lou tried to re-connect, but for professional reasons I had decided to remain beyond easy reach.

Now twenty years on almost to the month Lou Salome and myself were reuniting to celebrate our friendship and discuss his book.

Violence, Veils and Bloodlines is relevant in today’s world. Reporting from such places as Belfast, Kabul, Bosnia and Somalia, Salome provides a unique perspective on the role nationalism and tribalism play in conflicts around the globe. While sweeping in its scope, the work bears witness to one man's examination of his family roots and ethnicity, and the ways in which tribalism is found lurking under his own roof.

I had a small extract from the book with me in the car. I came across it while searching for Lou on the Internet two weeks prior. I just caught him as he was leaving for Boston Airport to fly to Europe on holiday with his wife Patricia. At some stage they would be passing by boat through Netherlands for Amsterdam near to where I am currently living. A flurry of texts, emails and cell phone calls set up the meeting. 

Dorothy called again “The roads are closed around the central station, come by the harbor route we will be waiting beside the boat at the riverbank.” “And the name of the boat,” I asked. “Harmony,” she replied “Come to Harmony, you can talk to Lou in Harmony.”

“River Harmony,” the name of the cruise boat, a fitting compliment to the small make shift Kurdish raft which took us to safety from the camp over the Harbur river just twenty years past.

….............Near the Syrian-Iraq border, far from Northern Ireland, Martin Nangle and I were knocking on doors looking for help to reach Iraq in March 1991, hours after the end of the first Persian Gulf War. A freelance photographer, Nangle was on assignment for a wire service’s London office. “Where are you from” a Syrian asked. “Ireland Nangle answered. “Irlanda. Irlanda, “ the Syrian shouted with hard hand shaking joy. ….........extract..

This review is continued on the Review Page      http://martinnangle.blogspot.com/p/review-page-violence-veils-and.html
 

E. U. Crisis: An Alternative Union, Grab it and Change it While you Can

It may be dawning on the so called Euro elites that top down leadership devoid of anchors to the reality of citizen approval and the democratic process is equated with failure. Especially as the crisis swells towards a threatening Tempest.

The United Kingdom faced such a political and economic crisis in the 1970's. It was especially prevalent in the North of Ireland until communities eventually came together to decide their destiny.

Uncanny, how the song below 1978 by Belfast Punk Band Stiff Little Fingers spells the same message for Europe today and the present crisis as it did back then for Ulster youth. 

Sunny Ulster flies again. Where there is a will, there is a way. The 

annual Marching season gets started for 2011.

The controversial Stiff Middle Finger sculpture 

by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan in front of the Milan Stock Exchange 2010.

Some say it reflects feeling towards the E.U. establishment.

Nothin' for us in Belfast... 

We ain't got nothin' but they don't really care     
They don't even know you know
Just want our money
And we can take it or leave it
What we need is

An Alternative Ulster
Grab it and change it it's yours......

Take a look where you're livin'
You got the Army on your street
And the RUC dog of repression (police)
Is barking at your feet
Is this the kind of place you wanna live?
Is this where you wanna be?
Is this the only life we're gonna have?
What we need is

An Alternative Ulster..
Get an Alternative Ulster
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Ulster


They say they've got control of you
But that's not true you know
They say they're a part of you
And that's a lie you know
They say you will never be
Free free free

Alternative Union......

Get an Alternative Union      

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt talks of “Europe's state of anxiety......that this is a time for fresh thinking in Europe.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14031601

Of course it is time for fresh thinking. Isn't that what crises are for....As for the Punk Band I remember them well keeping me awake as they practised in their flat above me in Osborne Park during the Belfast Summer of 1978. I was thinking back then there must be some alternative to this kind of music.

Greek Crisis: The Athens 300 Strike the Spartan Spark

Wednesday June 29 13:10 hours tweets: Greek PM is addressing parliament - making the point that 300 rioters do not reflect the opinions of 11 million Greeks.

In days past around the year 480 BC 300 Spartans gave their time to saving Greece.

The battle of Thermopylae was the scene for King Leonidas to engage the mighty Superpower of the day. Then, as now, they lost the first battle but their actions helped win the war.

Xerxes, The Greek Tragedy mask of Dionysus, Reaper at the door 2011

 The battle for Athens on the day June 29^th may be have been the scene for 300 untrained and lightly armed rioters. They were declared by politicians not to speak for 11 million Greeks. But this day was observed by many millions more Europeans. They see not rioters but a statement. Not a wanton orgy of destruction but a desperate attempt to control their destiny. Not a defeat but a beginning of serious focus on EU leadership who have lead the Union into trouble. Not a victory for the bankers but an urge to resist them with people power.

The Greek PM may be right when he says the Athens 300 do not reflect the opinion of 11 million Greeks. They may just end up reflecting the opinion of 300 million Europeans.

Greek Crisis: Union Blues: A morning in the European Union of Discontent.

0953 Protesters have been urging MPs to reject the package, shouting, "Don't bow your heads, the only way is resistance!"
0956 tweets: Quite rightly the people of #Greece do not want to pay for a debt not caused by them. Make the banks pay! #solidarity
emails: The Greek people are upset because of the injustice of being robbed of their pensions and savings.
1130 Clouds of tear gas are billowing around the square in front of parliament
1134 BBC News A group of demonstrators who were in front of the parliament building suddenly surged at the barricade at which point a volley of tear gas and stun grenades was fired by the police.
Emails: the parliament and its members will most probably be arrested and charged with treason.
1139 BBC News More and more riot police are now streaming out from behind the parliament building, wearing their gas masks, wearing their helmets, carrying their shields.
emails: Good luck to the Greek revolutionaries.
1203 BBC News Protesters have been seen throwing rocks and molotov cocktails.
1204 BBC News The anger of the crowd is intense and it's a very different atmosphere from yesterday . This time it feels like the whole crowd feels angry with the police.
1221 tweets: Been massively teargassed - police fired it outside parliament #greece. End result of gas - dry-retching, streaming eyes, burning skin.
tweets: Parliament is expected to pass austerity plan. Protesters will probably be v angry.
1247 BBC News Police have cleared most of the square, but still the tear gas comes.
emails: They are calling the politicians "traitors" -
1258 Twitter There are clashes everywhere now. The situation is very critical. Which country will be next to fall? a very sad day for Europe and world equality.
1310 tweets: Greek PM is addressing parliament - making the point that 300 rioters do not reflect the opinions of 11 million Greeks.

After all the calls for a new Europe, has it come to this! Athens before the vote.
Pictures: Yannis Bakahis Reuters: Simela Pantzartzi EPA

texts: The Greek government are serving the interests of foreign companies rather than the Greek people.
1329 Greek prime minister tells parliament they must avoid the collapse of the country at all costs
1331 The vote in parliament is due to begin shortly, after being delayed slightly by the violent clashes outside the assembly between police and protesters.
1336 Reuters says the vote in the Greek parliament has begun.
1403 Protesters have attacked the offices of the Finance Ministry, off Syntagma Square.
It's a very weird situation. Things are not well here.
1408 Breaking News The vote in favour of the austerity measures has passed the 151 votes needed for them to be passed

1417 BBC News There was a deep rumbling "boo" among protesters in the square when the result was announced over the tannoy system.
emails: The Greek Government have just sold their souls to the IMF / EU. Greece will now be in debt to them forever. Such a shame.
1754 That's it for our live coverage from Greece for the day. The Greek parliament voted narrowly in favour of a drastic package of austerity measures. which would save the country from defaulting on its debts. Syntagma Square in Athens was filled with demonstrators and violent clashes continue between protesters and the police.
1754 Thanks for following our rolling coverage. You can continue to get all the latest news developments via the front page of the BBC News website.

Greek Stairway to E.U. Superstate or Goddess Eris: Looking for leadership, Seeing the Enemy

It is the year 2011. Her name is Eris

Some Greeks say she reigns in Berlin. 

  I am walking in heaven, on the stairway to Discordia, Ruin and Revolution. Dear Goddess, please help me.

When a democratically elected government becomes your enemy you have a powerful weapon to fight it with. The weapon of free choice to decide your peers at an election.

This is the pillar which holds up society above dictatorship. Once choice is removed by rulers, people's trust follows out the door and soon struggle looks inevitable to restore freedom.

The Europe project was designed and created to banish internal wars and conflicts of varying natures. The project is now becoming a focus of hate. An opaque institution riddled with business interest using financial means to gain economic and eventually political control. The means justifies the end, even if it hurts the lives and future of those it is meant to serve and protect. It seems money is more important than people. Was it ever any different since the first raiding party took the road to the tribe next door.

Five long years of economic hardship is to be imposed on a democratic people by an unelected faceless financial bureaucracy . This is how many Europeans will see the outcome of this weeks crucial Greek parliamentary vote, if it goes through, if gets implemented and if it doesn't provoke a massive violent backlash on the streets of Athens and beyond.

Van Rompuy's talk of his new "palace" offered a perfect excuse for Cameron to court popularity at home by attacking a Europe with its head still stuck in the clouds

 Already the legions of unemployed youth are massing along the southern flank of the E.U. for a response to more, more and more. Their older leaders have deserted them but new ones will be cultivated on the streets, bars and cafés in Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Naples, Rome and Athens.

For an unemployed youth generation, disobedience and revolution is a necessary obligation.

Five years hard, is a sentence dished out to serious criminals, terrorist combatants, political prisoners and now seemingly to be meted out to innocent civilians en mass for the wrongs of bankers and politicians. A group of insiders who have mostly escaped free, bar mild rebuke, from the crisis they provoked. Bankers in bed with politicians to line their pockets is the classic gift to a revolutionary cause.

Citizens are now to be forced fed the lie they are the true cause of this crisis, that they and not their leaders are to blame for the world standing on the brink of another crisis. The blame is shifting to the poor to carry the can or be dammed as the ones who destroyed society. They are the greedy lot who are now getting their comeuppance, even though they had little or no say in the running of private banks and investment bodies who gambled and lost.

In short they are being criminalised if they refuse to accept a sentence of Five Hard.What criminal ever came out of prison with nothing but hatred for those who put them inside.This a gambit on how far the establishment can push citizens before there is a backlash. Quo Bono from this move.

It has been suggested Brussels can win by offering to ease the victim's hardship sentence if the victim acquiesces to more Brussels control over them, more Europe, more togetherness, more stability and less say in self determination for Europe's tribes. Maybe a good thing in the long run.

Superstate was born in 1999. Now 2011 it demands nourishment. But a Superstate demanding supper from the twists of strong arm tactics over protesting citizens who are its own family, creates the reason d'etre of its own destruction.

This is a time when citizens survey the road ahead for true leadership. They can't see leadership, can't find leadership, it just isn't there, just isn't there. Only see the enemy.