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It can be difficult of course. When does the simple imparting of information cross the line into propaganda?
Then again, at other times there’s no real problem with making the distinction.
EU Tube’s attempts to adopt street language have also misfired, with ventures such as a three-minute “euro-rap”, which urges young viewers “you gotta be a part of” a united Europe.
“Get on our team, you know what I mean,” the rapper sings, surrounded by teenagers brandishing the EU flag. “It’s the return of the blue. See I’m going to move across from Germany to Paris, oui. We get united and take a stand in solidarity. I speak in all ’hoods.”
Or this:
a three-minute series of clips of people having sex, ending with the words “Let’s come together”. The video, intended to promote the Brussels film subsidy,
Hmmm…
EU Tube is funded out of a €207m (£196m) communication budget from Brussels. So far the channel has attracted 7,391 subscribers. The community has a population of 500m.
I think we’d probably take those examples as being propaganda, wouldn’t we?
A spokesman for the European commission in London said: “This is not propaganda, we are simply providing information.”
Ah, yes, that simply confirms it then.
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As we all know, this is the European Union’s anthem
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcUxwpOQ_A&hl=en&fs=1]
D’ye think we could get them to play this version at official events? About the right level of seriousness don’t you think?
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Interesting times yesterday in the European Parliament. It starts off with this:
The French president sided with federalist Euro-MPs who are engaged in a bitter feud with Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president and a Eurosceptic.
Senior MEPs, including the president of the European Parliament, Hans Gert Poettering, caused a diplomatic incident ten days ago after demanding that Mr Klaus hoist the European flag over his residence during bad tempered talks in Prague.
“It was a wound, it was an outrage to see that flags had been taken down from public buildings,” said President Sarkozy, the current holder of the EU’s six-month rotating presidency which he hands over to the Czech Republic in January.
Yes, that dreary insistence that the EU flag must be flown everywhere, even where it’s not wanted. The response is rather plain and simple:
Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, hit back as the diplomatic war of words between Paris and Prague threatened to overshadow the smooth transfer of the EU presidency.
“There is no law binding the Czech Republic to hang the EU flag over Prague Castle. Prague Castle is a symbol of the Czech state and not the EU,” he said.
“It is not up to the head of another state to criticise the Czech president over flags.”
Quite. Whatever might be the ambition, the collapse of the nation states into a federal system, it hasn’t actually happened yet. People are allowed to fly the 12 stars, but it’s not required as yet. And Nigel Farage had something to say on it all:
Nigel Farage, the leader of UK Independence Party, compared the EU flag demand to the behaviour of Nazi or Soviet officials, both dictatorships that had occupied Prague and its Castle in the past.
“The manner in which Cohn-Bendit demanded that President Klaus fly the EU flag over his castle could easily have been done by a German official of over 70 years ago or a Soviet official of 20 years ago,” he said.
“No doubt they think that Buckingham Palace should fly the EU flag to show its dominium.”
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The Politics Show is a TV programme coming out of Birmingham.
Just a short note to the people who run it.
An MEP is a Member of the European Parliament.
MEPs do not have the address “House of Commons, London”, although thank you for the Christmas card.
No wonder there’s a certain confusion amongst the population at large when those speakers of truth to power, the professional media, get such trivially simple things wrong.
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Oh, very good, very good indeed.
“Well were they wrong when they elected your husband?”
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They do in fact seem to get verse and verse.
The entire commissioner college,
Is bereft of all relevant knowledge.
Their spirits are stunted,
Their wits are all blunted,
And their brains are like watered-down porridge.
Anyone who can do better please do so in the comments.
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Perhaps the pound will achieve parity with the euro; perhaps it might even approach parity with the dollar. But so what? The habit of financial writers to call such milestones “psychologically important” just shows that they are in fact economically irrelevant. And the idea that parity with the euro somehow strengthens the case for British membership is asinine: please name one country that has joined it because its old currency was at or close to parity. It is utterly irrelevant.
One worth remembering in the times to come. The arguments in favour and against membership of the euro are nothing at all to do with what rate the exchange rate is. And, as above, from the ex-editor of The Economist, the idea that parity means we should join the euro is simply asinine. Irrelevant even.
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The solution is contained within the problem.
However, it was estimated that half of the visitors to London’s West End were savvy continental shoppers who had travelled to Britain hoping to make a saving by cashing in on a weak pound.
Jace Tyrrell from the NWEC said: “Just as we used to head to New York to grab a bargain, we’re now seeing foreign visitors, particularly Europeans, flocking to London. The strong euro against the pound means Europeans are flocking to London to grab a bargain - with prices about 25 to 30% down on Paris and Milan.
“This week Fortnum and Mason’s cafe was 70% European visitors and our market across the West End is 50% tourists.”
The pound falls, our exports become cheaper for foreigners to buy and thus economic activity here is boosted.
This is how floating exchange rates work and are supposed to work, the solution is built into hte very system. Absolutely the last thing we want to do is give up this self-correcting mechanism by joining the euro.
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The apparatchiks of the European Union establishment have one thing, at least, in common with serial rapists. They cannot accept that no means no. These people all want it really, they say. They’re not victims; they’re gagging for it. And they’ll love it really when we get our way with them. What the EU establishment wants, it gets. It takes, regardless.
Can’t really say fairer than that, can you?
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Can someone explain to me why Gordon Brown wants Ireland to vote twice on the Lisbon Treaty while simultaneously insisting that Britain shouldn’t vote at all?