Christmas is fast approaching and – as usual – that means heading home to the town of my upbringing, Newport in South Wales. The place is famous as the hometown of Goldie Lookin’ Chain and has an interesting transporter bridge, one of very few examples in the world. Christmas in […]
There’s a really interesting quote buried away in Mark Mardell’s column on the BBC News website – read it here. Mardell asked Tony Blair whether an EU tax was a way out of nasty negotiations on the budget every few years. Blair’s reply was: “We’ve never been in favour of […]
All I seem to ever feel in the UK is that there are crackdowns on this and that in the name of security. So it is with some pride that I can today write an excellent and positive story about the UK: from today civil partnerships are legal in the […]
A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that it is unconstitutional to teach so called Intelligent Design in schools – read the articles from the Seattle Post and BBC. This is quite a landmark ruling, as Kansas and other states have pioneered the teaching of religious ideas about evolution and […]
Everyone has assumed that’s it: the Heads of State have agreed the Financial Perspectives at the summit at the end of last week. But Monday comes and the European Parliament is signalling its wish to push for better. MEPs – especially those from the Green/EFA and GUE/NGL groups – have […]
I was asked a tricky question today after work: if Brussels is the capital of Europe, and lots of people are moving there, why are flat rental low in comparison to other western European capitals? Here’s a wild guess of an answer… Just like anything else in Belgium, this must […]
The game Nationstates that I mentioned here a few days ago is getting more and more bizarre. The main industry in Ventotenesis, my country, is the pizza delivery industry but they were on strike. So, with the future of the country at stake, what should I do? For the hell […]
Things have changed here a bit… New technology and a new website! I have moved my blog from pLog to WordPress, and also started to renovate all my other webpages at the same time. The Euroblog is now fully functional in the new format, offering: – Better, clearer design – […]
I cannot quite believe it, but we actually have a deal on the EU budget this morning. I have just read some of the analysis and – to be honest – I cannot work out why anyone but the British would have agreed to this. A bit of cash has […]
It started with an e-mail from my flatmate Justin, and now I am perplexed and fascinated… The reason – Nation States – a bizarre kind of online nation building experience. Have a look at the main website here, or the Federation of Ventotenesis, the nation I am trying to build […]
First it was the European Constitution, rejected because France could not get its act together. Now it seems like enlargement is likely to meet a similar fate, with French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy refusing to grant the Republic of Macedonia candidate status – see this article. Blazy’s reason: because the […]
Right then. We finally know the inevitable – David Cameron is the new Tory leader. It”s been a contest that has been dragging on for months, and now it’s final. He beat David Davis 2 votes to 1. So what should we make of it all? Cameron is clearly trying […]
