Mélenchon: an asset or a threat for Hollande?
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Slowly, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has points in this presidential campaign. Slowly and increasingly, he seems to be the revelation of the 2012 race to the Elysée Palace. He also seems to embody a radical left, deeply wishing to get another direction ̷...
The closer
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Round-up US equity markets ended the day slightly down as trading thinned going into the long Easter weekend, and earlier in the day Spanish bond yields climbed to multi-month...
‘Sovereignty is the other name for liberty’ Mélenchon tells 70,000 in Toulouse
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Tens of thousands amassed in Toulouse Thursday evening to hear Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Presidential candidate for the radical Left Front, defend France’s national sovereignty in the face of threats from the EU and NATO, and workers from exploitati...
Cyberculture roundup: Facebook vs. Google at search; EFF on Cybersecurity Bills; Instagram for Android…
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Man vs. Machine: Could Facebook’s people-sourced search beat Google’s algorithm? from The Next Web by Drew Olanoff It’s a well-known fact that most people don’t get past page one of Google’s search results. This is why the company is doubli...
Regarding the Trayvon Case, Le Monde Suggests America as a Place Where James Bonds with Licenses to Kill Run Around, Gunning Innocent People Down
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With both feet, Le Monde jumps gaily into the Trayvon Martin racism scandal, stating on the front page that In overarmed America you are allowed to kill — suggesting cold-blooded 007s and other professional assassins running around with licenses t...
Deutschland: Gesundheitsausgaben 2010 auf rund 287 Milliarden Euro gestiegen
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Im Jahr 2010 betrugen die Ausgaben für Gesundheit in Deutschland 287,3 Milliarden Euro. Wie das Statistische Bundesamt (Destatis) anlässlich des Weltgesundheitstages mitteilt, war dies gegenüber 2009 ein Plus von 8,9 Milliarden Euro oder 3,2 %. Da...
Counting the collateral, Main Street edition
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Our earlier post on the excellent Credit Suisse collateral note risked alerting Blogger Interpol for its verbiage, but there was one more item we thought worth noting.Specifically...
Syria and Beyond: The Need for a Steady Turkish Hand
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Probably, no one has a higher stake in ensuring that the Syrian hinterland is not transformed into a Yemen-style haven for terrorism than Turkey. Reconciling diverging policies will present a true test of Turkish leadership in the region.
Defining Turkish Leadership
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A West that turns a blind eye to the deficiencies of the unfinished Turkish model because it needs Ankara’s strategic assets would ultimately do a disservice to Turkey and regional progress.
All Eyes on Ankara: Can Turkey Lead in Syria?
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Turkey has far more tools at its disposal than ever before to advance its agenda as a leading regional power. Now, Turkey’s litmus test of leadership comes in Syria.
Libertas the Return part III
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Libertas are back...again...or is that again and again and again. I heard Declan Ganley on RTE radio 1 Drivetime today, he was using the word we a lot, when asked who "we" were he agreed that "we" meant Libertas.For the third time G...
Vital Space – Istanbul, a video project
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And now for something different. The Sydney College for the Arts (part of the University of Sydney) is hosting Danae Stratou’s video installation VITAL SPACE – Istanbul. For a glimpse of the videos involved, plus my text on the project...
Vital Space – Istanbul, a video project
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And now for something different. The Sydney College for the Arts (part of the University of Sydney) is hosting Danae Stratou’s video installation VITAL SPACE – Istanbul. For a glimpse of the videos involved, plus my text on the project...
The “poetic” Taliban (!!!!)
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When I first saw this in the New Statesman, I thought it was some kind of sick joke, given the proximity to April 1st. Apparently not: And to add to the feeling of nausea, here’s an endorsement from “acclaimed author” William Dal...
The “poetic” Taliban (!!!!)
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When I first saw this in the New Statesman, I thought it was some kind of sick joke, given the proximity to April 1st. Apparently not: And to add to the feeling of nausea, here’s an endorsement from “acclaimed author” William Dal...
And after we've left the EU…
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I think I've decided what to do when I put myself out of a job as an MEP. The next big task, once we're safely out of the EU, will be to repair the Anglosphere: the community of free English-speaking democracies. I have written a piece about it in t...
Stocks Fall Lower On Exhaustion Of Federal Reserve Monetary Authority … Sharply Higher EU Sovereign Yield Rates Herald The Age Of Sovereign Insolvency
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Financial Market Report for April 4, 2012 1) … Introduction World Stocks, ACWX, broke fractally lower, that is sharply lower, as Mining, MXI, and Growth Stocks, IXG, as well as Europe Financials, EUFN, tumbled, on exhaustion of neo liberal f...
European River Travel For Independent Travelers
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So, you are contemplating European river travel. You are looking for the cruise to be a luxury travel vacation. Europe tours should be part of the holiday package. Then the right European cruise travel vacation for you is a European river cruise!One...
Bunnies - Austrian Supreme Court delivers Easter egg to Lindt & Sprüngli
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It is not quite Easter yet but according to Austrian media reports the Austrian Supreme Court OGH last week delivered an early Easter egg to Swiss chocolate makers Lindt & Sprüngli. Our readers will, of course recall, the long standing "gold bun...
BlueGold, 2008-2012
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*BLUEGOLD HEDGE FUND TO LIQUIDATE, RETURN MONEY TO INVESTORSWe know commodities markets have been trendless… and funds’ returns have been (well) multidirectional...
Hannam’s gotta do…
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It must have come as quite a shock to the FSA apparatchiks when Ian Hannam turned on them. The accepted procedure following the ritual humiliation, fine and brutal publicity that...
So farewell, Brian Sack
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The man who did the Fed’s buying will – by coincidence – leave the NY Fed pretty much the minute Operation Twist finishes in June.Full release below:NEW YORK—The...
Bosnia-Herzegovina wears its history like a pair of cement shoes | Vesna Maric
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As war tourists ingest 20 years of horror stories with their picnics, it's time to challenge the labels 'war-torn' and 'troubled'There are many ways a curious traveller can choose to visit Bosnia-Herzegovina in the year that marks the 20th anniversar...
That government transparency policy in full
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The data.gov.uk site is meant to, according to its own spiel, “help people understand how government works and how policies are made“, as part of the coalition’s pledge to be, erm, the “most transparent and accountable governm...
When safe assets return
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Like so many others, FT Alphaville has spent much of the past year thinking about collateral shortages in the shadow banking system and how safe assets function as a kind of currency....
No ordinary KGB man
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LEONID SHEBARSHIN, who died last week aged 77, was no ordinary KGB officer. The dark-haired graduate of Moscow’s prestigious Institute of International Relations had risen to head the service’s foreign intelligence directorate in 1991 when his...
