Latest posts
Fix My State
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Traffic light stuck on amber. For 6 days solid*. And no-one has done a thing. A STIB tram passes this light every 10 minutes – it’s at the southern end of Chaussée de Charleroi. At least one police vehicle will...
No pay, no ads – explaining my blogging approach
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An interesting debate has broken out in Brussels this week over the declining number of accredited journalists that follow the work of the EU institutions. Charlemagne and Leigh Phillips have differing approaches to the issue, and Julien has a viscer...
The importance of place – a personal mashup of Richard Florida and Wikinomics
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I’ve just finished reading Who’s Your City by Richard Florida and, in short, it strikes me as intuitively about right. The essence of the book is that where you live is as important a choice as what your job is or who your partner is. Add...
Möjligheternas Land – how social democrats need a bit of Swedish optimism
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I’ve been at a conference in Brussels this morning organised by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and I was asked to give a presentation about Social Democracy in the e-society era – you can find my slides...
Brussels crime: EU expats need to get active
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A mother of three has been shot in Uccle and EUObserver is jumping up and down reporting on the crime rates in various Brussels communes. You can just hear the typical EU expat having a whinge at Place Lux complaining about things, about how unsafe B...
Ethical offsetting
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A good friend of mine works for GAIA / No Burn, an organisation that makes the case for alternatives to incinerating waste. The problem is that for his work my friend there has to fly all over this place – this year already to Calif...
Letting an organisation’s intern see my holiday photos? I think not
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Perhaps I have a naive and simplistic approach to it, but for me Facebook Friends are actually supposed to be people, not organisations. Hence I am automatically going to reject anyone called ‘European Federalists Secretariat‘, ̵...
So College of Europe funding is safe then?
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Seems that BIS has had a re-think and reckons that the UK should still provide some scholarships to the College of Europe in Bruges, as reported in today’s FT. This is an issue that I first covered here on 29th January this year, so the change...
RSS: the biggest time-saver on the web
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I ran a workshop on online campaigning in Brussels last night, and in the initial round of introductions I asked the participants if they blogged, were on Facebook, on Twitter, or used RSS. A couple of people said they ‘didn’t have time f...
Framing the debate: Future of the BBC
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There’s something deeply wrong with the ‘debate’ currently going on about the future of the BBC, and I think it boils down to the essential question: what is the value of public service broadcasting? Two themes dominate the deb...
Sorry Cameron, but Britain is not “in a complete and utter mess”
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OK, the UK has some difficulties due to the financial crisis and is struggling out of recession, but does Cameron really reckon that people think the place is “in a complete and utter mess” as he has termed it in today’s speech that...
How a web design goes straight to hell
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This has happened to me so many times that seeing the comic is just painful. Can I send this to clients before I start to work with them?
I think I have some sort of political depression
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I have a problem. A serious problem. I’m beset by some kind of political depression. It’s not because I fear the result of the UK’s forthcoming general election – even if Labour wins there will be scant optimi...
I’m backing John Cryer in the Leyton & Wanstead selection
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Ballot papers are currently being sent out for the Labour selection in Leyton & Wanstead and I’ve made up my mind – I’m going to be casting my vote for John Cryer. I was unable to attend the hustings yesterday so I&#...
A little more on Leyton & Wanstead
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The shortlist for the Labour selection in Leyton & Wanstead has been published. The names on it are: Tristram Hunt (still no site online, despite this) John Cryer Terence Paul (no website as far as I can tell) Sophie Lin...
As one 39 year old bright spark stands down, so a 38 year old bright spark steps forward
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There seems to be considerable surprise today that James Purnell, former Work & Pensions secretary, is to stand down as a Member of Parliament at the general election. Purnell is 39 and has been an MP since 2001. Personally I’ve never reall...
A short Brussels journey by bike
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Brussels on a bicycle is the fastest way to get around, but it’s often like some sort of assault course. Here’s an example. I set off from home at 1950 last night, heading from St Gilles to a friend’s place in St Josse, going v...
Who says EP speeches are never fun and interesting?
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Bit of genius from Danny the Red Green: Dany Cohn-Bendit-Investiture de la Commission Barroso IIenvoyé par EurodeputesEE. – Regardez les dernières vidéos d’actu.
European rail passengers’ rights – time to do something? But what..?
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I have a reputation as a blogger that gets things done – I don’t just have opinions on things, I try to transform my thoughts into practical action. Campaigns such as Gender Balanced Commission and the Atheist Bus Campaign hav...
One tradgedy doesn’t mean Thalys needs to mess up everyone’s lives
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Tragedy hit the Belgian railways today with the crash of two commuter trains at Buizingen. There’s nothing I can add to what has been written about that already – any loss of life is always devastating, and I just hope this cr...
