United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Statements

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Statements.

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Why Syria’s images of suffering haven’t moved us – The Washington Post

 

Why Syria’s images of suffering haven’t moved us – The Washington Post.

Senate Finally Frees the Press (Kind Of) | American Civil Liberties Union

 

Senate Finally Frees the Press (Kind Of) | American Civil Liberties Union.

BBC News – Mass anti-government march in Poland against reform

 

BBC News – Mass anti-government march in Poland against reform.

Just a thought: “Be as if you were Humanity’s only hope!”

 

ProPublica

 

ProPublica.

Just a thought: instead of “left” and “right”….Let’s balance “over” and “Under”

Public Universities Ramp Up Aid for the Wealthy, Leaving the Poor Behind – ProPublica

 

Public Universities Ramp Up Aid for the Wealthy, Leaving the Poor Behind – ProPublica.

Nigel Farage confronts Barroso on global warming scam (State of the Union 2013)

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Translations into Italian, French and Polish here:http://www.ukipmeps.org/articles_714_…

• European Parliament, Strasbourg, 11 September 2013

• Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the ‘Europe of Freedom and Democracy‘ (EFD) Group in the European Parliament – http://nigelfaragemep.co.uk

With a response from José Manuel Barroso, President of the EU Commission and a cameo appearance by Guy VERHOFSTADT MEP (Belgium), President of the Liberal group (ALDE)

• Debate: State of the Union
Statement by the President of the Commission
[2013/2623(RSP)]

Transcript

Round One

Well, Mr Barroso, not just you but the entire unelected government of Europe and a chance perhaps for our citizens to reflect on where the real power lies in this Union.

I’ve listened to you for nearly ten years – full marks for consistency – you are a man that likes fixed ideology, you probably picked it up when you were a communist or Maoist, or whatever you were, and for the last ten years you’ve pursued euro-federalism combined with an increasing green obsession.

And yes, it’s been good – for bureaucrats, for big businessmen, for landowners, it has not been a bad decade. But it has been a disaster for poor people, unemployed people and those on low wages.

The euro which you believed would give us monetary stability has done the very opposite, it was a misconstruction from the start, and it’s pretty clear that youth unemployment, at nearly 50% across the Mediterranean, is probably nearly double what it would have been as a direct result of the misconstruction that is the euro.

They’re in the wrong currency, but I know that you’ll never ever admit to that, and the euro I think will die a very slow and painful death. But you’re all in denial about that.

But it’s the green agenda that I find really more interesting. You keep telling us that climate change is an absolute top priority, and you’ve been greeted with almost hysteria in this place over the last ten years.

Well, those of us who have been sceptical about this have been mocked, derided, called ‘deniers’.

We’ve argued from the start that the science wasn’t settled, and we’ve argued very strongly that the measures we’re taking to combat what may or may not be a problem are damaging our citizens. 

And we’ve been proved to be right. Tens of millions forced into fuel poverty, manufacturing industry being driven away because of course our competitors in China and in America are going for cheap fossil alternatives and of course wind turbines blighting the landscapes and seascapes of Europe.

And still today you go on about green growth. Well, the consensus is breaking behind you – you know, [Industry] Commissioner Tajani the other day said that actually we face a systematic industrial massacre.

It is time to stop this stupidity and to help you [holds up colour pictures] there is the NASA photograph last August of the northern icecaps. And there is the NASA photograph this year of the icecaps. They increased by 60% in one year. Leading American scientists are now saying we are going into a period of between 15-30 years of global cooling.

We may have made one of the biggest stupidest collective mistakes in history by getting so worrying about global warming. You can reverse this in the next seven or eight months. You can bring down peoples’ taxes. If you don’t, they will vote on it in the European elections of next year.

Round TWO

“Well next year’s European elections will not be contested on the old division lines of left and right and several group leaders have agreed with that today. Frankly that is all irrelevant. 
It will be contested between those of us who believe in national democracy within the nation state; and those who believe that the 28 countries that are part of the EU are better governed by these institutions. That in a sense is what this comes down to.

But Mr Barroso, those of us who believe in national democracy do not want to take us back to the Western Front or 1914. Those of us who believe in national democracy will say to you that it is a healthy assertion of identity. 

But it also shows a deeper understanding of why the problems of Europe were caused in the past. It is democratic nation states in Europe that are stable and will not go to war with each other. 

I will remind people that without the vote in the House of Commons two weeks ago that we would now be at war in Syria. What better proof can there be that nation state democracy can be a force for good. 

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Video source: EbS (European Parliament)
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ProPublica

 

ProPublica.

Valentina has uploaded a new video: Beethoven “Moonlight” Sonata op 27 # 2 Mov 3 Valentina Lisitsa

Recording in Beethovensaal, Hannover Germany, Dec 2009. Wilhelm Kempff recorded Beethoven cycle in the very same hall.
Buy Moonlight Sonata DVD http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Royal-Al…

Valentina Lisitsa Live at the Royal Albert Hall
US iTunes – http://bit.ly/iTunesUSVal 
US Amazon – http://bit.ly/ValRAH

 

Nigel Farage lambasts “extreme militarists” during Syria debate (“Arm the rebels? What are you thinking of?”)

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• European Parliament, Strasbourg, 11 September 2013

• Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the ‘Europe of Freedom and Democracy‘ (EFD) Group in the European Parliament – http://nigelfaragemep.co.uk

Blue card questions:
– Charles TANNOCK MEP, Conservative Party, ECR Group
– Ioan Mircea PAŞCU MEP, Socialist Group (S&D)

• Debate: Situation in Syria
Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
[2013/2819(RSP)]

Transcript

I represent a group that is against military action in Syria. We’re against it not because we’re pacifists. We’re against it not because we don’t care about the awful things going on there. 

We’re against because we think there’s some pretty poor thinking going on.

This idea that somehow the rebels are the good guys and Assad are the bad guys really is over-simplifying a situation where of course we know that Al-Qaida have significant representation amongst those rebel groups.

And of course we’ve seen it all before. An endless series of military adventures over the course of the last 10 to fifteen years, one of which of course – notably, in Afghanistan – is still going on and is not achieving any of its original aims.

And I was worried when I heard the Americans telling us to begin with, it was about punishing Assad, and then within a week it was about regime change, a position that I know the noble Baroness herself supports.

We think firing a thousand criuse missiles in is likely to make an unstable situation even worse than it is now.

But of course, Baroness Ashton, in a sense, you’re sitting pretty, because as the highest paid female politician in the world, luckily, you got a non-job. Because the EU, thank goodness, hasn’t yet got a foreign policy, and as a result of that what we saw two weeks ago in the House of Commons was a nation state democracy standing up and saying something. 

And as a direct result of that vote in the House of Commons we have not gone to war in Syria, we have entered a period of negotiations, and Assad has a chance to prove to all of us whether he is a good man or a bad man.

Twitter / washingtonpost: Read the document outlining …

 

Twitter / washingtonpost: Read the document outlining ….

U.S. and Russia reach deal to secure Syrian chemical weapons, set possible penalties – The Globe and Mail

 

U.S. and Russia reach deal to secure Syrian chemical weapons, set possible penalties – The Globe and Mail.

New Widget at euzicasa: Change.org – “The world’s petition platform. What will you change?”

http://www.change.org/ (Click to access Site)

Change.org: “The world’s petition platform. 
What will you change?”

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Change.org is a website operated by the Change.org, Inc., an American for profit and certified B Corporation^[1]incorporated in Delaware, whose businesses include hosting sponsored campaigns.

Organizations, including Amnesty International and the Humane Society, pay the site to host their petitions.^[2] Its stated mission is to “empower anyone, anywhere to start, join, and win campaigns for social change“.^[3] In addition, “millions of people sign petitions on Change.org each month on thousands of issues, winning campaigns every day to advance change locally and globally”. Popular topics of Change.org petitions are economic and criminal justice, human rights, education, the environment, animals, health, and sustainable food.

change.org
Formation	February 7, 2007(6 years ago)
Headquarters	United States
Founder	Ben Rattray
Chief technology officer	Mark Dimas
Staff	100 (as of February 2012)
Website	change.org

Petition | BioMarin Pharmaceutical: Give Andrea Sloan (@andi_sloan) access to the cancer drug that could save her life | Change.org

Petition | BioMarin Pharmaceutical: Give Andrea Sloan (@andi_sloan) access to the cancer drug that could save her life | Change.org.

Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K. 216

The Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg in 1775. Mozart was only 19 at the time. The piece is in three movements:
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
and 3. Rondeau, Allegro.
The Allegro is in sonata form, opening with a brilliant G major theme, played by the orchestra. The main theme is a bright and happy discussion between the solo violin and the accompanist, followed by a modulation to the dominant D major, then its parallel key D minor. It experiments in other keys but does not settle and eventually heads back to the tonic, G major, in the recapitulation with the help of the cadenza.

L. Boccherini: Guitar-Quintet No. 1, I. Allegro moderato – “Boccherini Ensemble”

Luigi Boccherini (1743 – 1805)

Guitar-Quintet No. 1 in D-Minor (G. 445)
I. Allegro moderato

Boccherini Ensemble:
Gerald Smrzek (Austria) – Guitar, 
Valbona Naku (Albania) – Violin, 
Armando Toledo (Cuba) – Violin, 
Lina Jihye Kim (Korea) – Viola, 
M. d. G. (Italy) – Violoncello
[June 25, 2010 – Salvatorsaal (Vienna/Austria)]

 

Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake Op. 20, Act IV No. 29, Scene finale

Charles Dutoit, Montreal Symphony Orchestra

 

Quotation: Jerome K. Jerome

How long the dawn seems coming when we cannot sleep!

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) Discuss

 

Today’s Birthday: JAN MASARYK (1886)

Jan Masaryk (1886)

Masaryk, a diplomat and politician in newly independent Czechoslovakia, was named ambassador to Britain in 1925. Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, he became foreign minister of the Czech government in exile in London. He supported cooperation with the Soviet Union and maintained his post after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948. Two weeks later, Masaryk was found dead outside his window in the Foreign Ministry. What are the conflicting explanations for his death? More… Discuss

 

This Day in the Yesteryear: FIRST MAN-MADE OBJECT REACHES THE MOON (1959)

First Man-Made Object Reaches the Moon (1959)

In the early years of space exploration, the US and USSR launched numerous probes in their race to explore outer space and the Moon in particular. The first probes were intended either to pass very close to the Moon—performing a flyby—or crash directly into it—a maneuver known as a hard landing. The Soviets were the first to succeed in the latter objective. Luna 2 impacted the lunar surface on September 14, 1959. What did Premier Nikita Khrushchev present to the US president the next day? More… Discuss

 

MUSICIANS JUDGED BY THEIR PERFORMANCES, BUT NOT AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT

In the classical music world, sound is considered the most important element of a musical performance, yet it appears that competition judges are actually most heavily influenced by how performers look, their stage presence, passion, uniqueness, and creativity. More than 1,000 people ranging from musical novices to professional musicians were asked to identify the top three finalists from 10 international classical music competitions using audio, video, or silent video samples from those competitions. The only participants whose accuracy was above chance levels were those assigned the silent videos. More… Discuss

 

ART FILMS

An art film is a motion picture made as a serious artistic work—not primarily for mass appeal. Unlike big-budget, escapist Hollywood blockbusters, art films are often low-budget and experiment with unusual narrative techniques. Traditionally, makers of art films have struggled to get financial backing, but today, major motion picture studios have divisions devoted to non-mainstream fare, which sparks debate over whether such films are truly “independent.” What are some famous art films? More… Discuss