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2004-06-18 15:38
Cory Doctorow goes and
tells Microsoft why Digital Rights Management is stupid, wrong and
doomed. Along the way:
Today we hear ebook publishers tell each other and anyone who'll
listen that the barrier to ebooks is screen resolution. It's bollocks,
and so is the whole sermonette about how nice a book looks on your
bookcase and how nice it smells and how easy it is to slip into the
tub. These are obvious and untrue things, like the idea that radio
will catch on once they figure out how to sell you hotdogs during the
intermission, or that movies will really hit their stride when we can
figure out how to bring the actors out for an encore when the film's
run out. Or that what the Protestant Reformation really needs is
Luther Bibles with facsimile illumination in the margin and a
rent-a-priest to read aloud from your personal Word of God.
There is much righteousness in the whole thing, all of which you
should read.
(via th' Timber)
[NB: The guestbladet is down, you will observe. I miss it terribly when that happens, for sure.]
[Permalink]
2004-06-18 11:49
In particular, its Framework
for langwidge learning, which harmonises attainment across languages
and countries and education systems, which were previously a
considerable barrier in langwidge teaching markets. (How many
Forreners know what an old UKish GCE 'O'-level is worth in their local
currency?)
Having tested myself on a TISUS
flavoured test, I have been estimated to be at about B1+ in Swedish,
which is a nice upper-intermediate level (e.g., reading simple
newspaper articles) and now I can shop around
and around
(this is a big list of resources for the distance learnee, not all of
which are courses although some are not only courses but free online
courses, hoorah!)
and around
for distance courses to match.
But there seems to be a bit of a gap in the market for the B1+ to C
range, which is where I need to get to: the TISUS test, which is for
matriculation to Swedish universities, is the only qualification in
the langwidge worth having so far as I can see, and I covet it
desperately, but I'm a way away from it still.
[Distancelearninglinkage via Birgitte, tack!]
[Permalink]
2004-06-18 morning (utc+1)
Priskrig means "price war", and is thus the best possible
Norwegish word to put next to �l.
- Vi mener at 12 kroner er en fornuftig pris p� merke�l. Det er
viktig at ogs� dette �let finner sin plass i prisbildet, sa
innkj�pssjef i Rema-systemet Harald Kalv�y til VG klokken 17.58. Fra
og med i dag selger han Ringnes pilsner, Dahls, Lysholmer,
Nordlandspils, Arendalspils og Carlsberg til 12 kroner for en 0,33
liters flaske. I g�r m�tte du betale mellom en og to kroner mer for
samme �l.
"We say that 12 kroner [0.94 GBP] is a reasonable price for brandname
�l. It's important that that �l also finds its place in the price
picture", says Harald Kalv�y, head of purchasing for Rema's alcohol
section to VG at 17:58 hundred hours. From and including today he's
selling Ringnes pilsner, Dahls, Lysholmer, Nordlandspils, Arendalspils
and Carlsberg at 12 kroner for a 33 cl bottle. Yesterday you'd have
paid a kroner or two more for the EXACT SAME �L!
So that's 2.84 GBP per litre. Now, the Economiste's Big Mac index
[Svedish link] is all very well, if you're a bloated
junk-food-munching whale-person, but at this 'bladet the international
commodity of reference is in fact and of course �l.
And as it happens, yesterday I received my first delivery of Internet
mediated grocery shopping (I am so very decadent!) from Tesco. This included a set of their
celebrated beer capsules: "premium" (but unbranded) French lager in 24
little (25 cl) bottles.
At 8.44 GBP this works out at 1.41 GBP per litre, about half the
Norwegish price. (I'd put Tesco's Premium No-Name �l up against any
Norwegish �l for quality, personally.) Is it just the strong pound,
or is Norway really getting cheaper?
[Permalink]
2004-06-17 16:56
It is cold in Sweden! The mighty Smultron is cold! When Smultron is
cold, his strawberries do not ripen! Fear Smultron, faithless
Swedishes, and feel his wrath!
L�nge s�g det ut att bli gott om svenska jordgubbar till
midsommar. Men den senaste tidens envisa sommarkyla g�r att b�ren
mognar l�ngsammare.
- Det kan bli brist till midsommar, hotar odlaren Calle Ericsson p�
S�by g�rd i Kolb�ck i V�stmanland.
In the long run it looks good for Swedish strawberries for midsommar.
But the recent cold spell has meant that the strawberries are ripening
slowly.
There could be a shortage for midsommar, warns or threatens Calle
Ericsson at S�by farm in Kolb�ck in V�stmanland.
You blame the weather, Swedishes, but perhaps Smultron's anger has
other causes.
Vid sidan av frilandsodling satsar alltfler p� odling i v�xthus eller
tunnlar av plast. Det ger en l�ngre s�song och chans till dubbla
sk�rdar i s�dra Sverige.
Besides cultivation on open land more and more cultivatio takes place
in green houses or plastic tunnel. This gives a longer season and the
chance of doubling harvests in southern Sweden.
Is it wise to trifle with Smultron's cherised strawberries in this way
or manner, Swedishes? If there is indeed brist till midsommar
will you still blame the weather?
I warn or threaten you, Sweden: Smultron has no taste for the confined spaces of greenhouses or plastic tunnels.
[Permalink]
2004-06-17 samwidge (utc+1)
Leave off of our Svennis,
Murdochian muckrackers! Note that this is a Norwegish article on the
subject - the Nordic Brotherhood hunts pretty much as a pack in
foopball, although I'm looking forward to the Denmarklund v.
Swederlund game. (Not in the sense of knowing when it will be or
anything, just slightly anticipatorially frissoned.)
Sven-G�ran Eriksson f�r s� �ra flagrer i den vanligvis seri�se
avisen The Times: �Eriksson var en vaskeekte, 24 karats, 100
prosents idiot mot Frankrike�.
The Murdoch Times is a "usually seri�se newspaper" in much the same
way that I am engaged to be married to kronprinsess Victoria of
Sweden. Learn this, Foreign Persons, learn it well, and please learn
it soon!
Meanwhile, Aftonbladet's Sportbladet takes time out from its busy
schedule to pat
itself on the back:
Hur st�r sig Sportbladet j�mf�rt med de �vriga stora europeiska
drakarna under EM? Vi har unders�kt: Bara franska L'Equipe har fler
sidor varje dag. K�p tidningen med den b�sta EM-bevakningen i Sverige
- varje dag!
How does Sportbladet stack up against the other big Yoorpean dragons
during the Yoorpean cup? We've done a survey: Only Frenchy-French
L'�quipe has more pages every day. Buy the newspaper with the best
Euro-2004 coverage in Sweden - every day!
I wonder if the Swederlund supporters would settle for "pretty good,
but not as good as the French" as their motto for the tourn�e, also?
I did go back to buy myself some nice Swedish merchandise. Guess if
they ship outside Sverige? Oh, you guessed.
Just for that, I have appointed L'�quipebladet official purveyeurs
of foopballing insight for the tournament. (I think I can even buy
the dead tree edition if I want, which I don't - it's only foopball.)
Anyway, it's a big night for the lads tonight up against the mighty
Croats, and I have taunts to work on. What d'you think of � Vous
ne jouez pas tr�s bien, mes amis anciennement yugloslavs !�?
[Permalink]
2004-06-17 morning (utc+1)
Pizza! Perhaps second only to �l as the
sacredest of ingestibles, isn't it? You will surely recall our coverage of the Neapolitan pizza
puristes' pizza preparation propriety proposal.
In the wake of this, the Norwegish tabloid VG has put some twos
together with some other twos, it would appear, and is
less than fully
satisfied with the quality of the resulting fours.
It would appear that Norwegish pizza company Stabburet - there is no
more authentically 'Wegian food than the mighty pizza - have been
boasting that their new �La Mia Pizzeria�-pizza is �approved by The
Federation of Italian pizzabakers�. On their very packaging!
Den italienske organisasjonen Stabburet samarbeider med, heter
�Associazione Pizzaioli e Similari�(APES), som p� norsk betyr
�Foreningen for pizzabakere og lignende�. Men Stabburet har gitt
organisasjonen et mer h�ytidelig navn, og omtaler den alts� i reklamen
som �Det italienske pizzabakerlauget�.
If�lge APES' egne hjemmesider holder foreningen kurs for pizzakokker
og jobber for � fremme italiensk pizzakultur. Men s� langt VG kjenner
til, st�r det ikke ett ord p� hjemmesidene om at foreningen driver med
pizzagodkjenningsvirksomhet.
Det er derimot den anerkjente organisasjonen �Associazione della Vera
Pizza Napoletana� som har f�tt tillatelse av italienske myndigheter
til � godkjenne pizzarestauranter som lager pizza i tr�d med strenge,
italienske tradisjoner.
The italian organisation Stabburet collaborates with is called the
�Associazione Pizzaioli e Similari�(APES), which in Norwegish means
�Foreningen for pizzabakere og lignende� [Englishing either is left as
an exercise - DvB]. But Stabburet has given the organisation a more
impressive name and refers to them in the advert as �The Federation of
Italian Pizzabakers�.
According to APES's own website, the association holds courses for
pizza makers and works to advance Italian pizza culture. But so far a
VG knows, there isn't a word on the website that the organisation
operates a pizza-approval-enterprise.
There is however an acknowledged organisation �Associazione della Vera
Pizza Napoletana� which has received permission from the Italian
authorities to approve pizza restaurants which make pizza in line with
strict, Italian traditions.
I'm exhausted from all that Norwegish so I can't summon all the
analytical rigour this so richly deserves. Briefly, Stabburet has
awarded itself (more or less) an award as a marketing device, although
their marketroid-in-chief makes a fair case that the collaboration
with their Italian chums was in good faith and improved their pizzas.
The Neapolitan heavy mob that VG has cottoned on too (and which we
featured in our previous story) has pushed through guidelines for
approval for Neapolitan pizza, and their claim that this is the
most authentically authentic pizza that there is is one that comes
with a side order of (very authentic) vested interests.
Quis custodiet, which is to say and let's face it you knew it was
coming, ipsos custodes?
[Permalink]
2004-06-16 allez! (utc+1)
Stephen "Seething" Wells is
covering the foopball from the FDRUSA, as you do, which doesn't
show up in the following:
Last night's Sky Sports News had shown the usual fat, drunk and
utterly unlovable England fans singing "If it wasn't for the English
you'd be Krauts". At some Croats. And the Croats were smiling and
shouting back. And looking a little confused. Were they, I wondered,
attempting to discuss with the English some of the finer points of
mid-20th Century history (with particular reference to east European
geography, the role of the Red Army and the Yalta conference of 1945)?
<column author="Toynbee, Polly">
The UK was once a world leader in xenophobic abuse, but a lack of
investment in infrastructure and education has left us a
laughing stock in a geopolitically transformed Yoorp.
We desperately need government intervention to devise and propagate
more up-to-date taunts. Is it really too much to hope that next time
England participate in a major international tournament with Croatia
our fans will be informed enough to shout "If it wasn't for NATO
airstrikes you'd be Serbs!"? </column>
But so far the jolly Engleesh merry-makers are of the common-or-garden
drunken rioter variety, rather than proper hooligans, and they are
therefore easily
kept in check by mounted officers and riot police:
"There were about 300 of them. They were singing, and some of them
were racist to some black people who were there. At around 2am they
began throwing bottles and glasses into the road. They were also
throwing tables and chairs at the police. We had to use horses and
dogs to bring the situation under control, and we had to order the
closure of other bars in the area and evacuate the people from them."
[said Captain Manuel Jorge of the Portuguese police].
Welcome to En-ger-lund, Captain Manuel Jorge!
[Permalink]
2004-06-16 15:10
Pitter-patter
pitter-patter pitter-patter. We're not bothering you, are we
kronprinsess Knudella of Denmark? It is the occasion of the
off-showing of the extensive giftage to which the Kronprins Couple
were subjected by their subjects and otherwise:
De glade givere er overbevist om, at Mary og Frederik snart f�r
sm�b�rn. Der er smukt barnestrik i hvidt, og fotoalbum til barnets
f�rste �r. Bliver det en pige, kan hun gl�de sig til et meterlangt
kunstv�rk, rigt dekoreret med Barbie-dukket�j.
The happy givers are convinced that Knudella and Kronprinsfred will
soon have small childrens. There is beautiful baby-knitning in white,
and fotoalbums for the bebis's first year. Becomes it a girl, can she
glad herself with a metre long artwork richly decorated with Barbie
toy clothes.
From fairy-tale prinsess to heir-cosy, how short a step it is.
[Permalink]
2004-06-16 samwidge (utc+1)
Poor old kronprinsess Vickan of Sweden! First, of course, there is
the endless
round of banquets and wednings and baby-dipnings, with the
attendent befrockning and - which is especially draining - all those
hats:
Kronprinsessan har ett h�rt pressat schema bakom sig, d�r hon knappt
varit hemma en enda helg. Hon har varit p� sl�kttr�ff i Mai-nau, p�
br�llop i Danmark, Jordanien, Spanien och p� flera dop.
The kronprinsess has had a gruelling timetable, where she's hardly
been home a single weekend. She's been meeting relatives in
Mai-nau(?), attended weddings in Danmark, Jordan, and Spain as well as
a severality of baby-dipnings.
(Isn't sl�kttr�ff, "meeting relatives" a fabulous word?)
But as if that's not enough, Expressen is sticking to its story that
the king and Vickan's daddy - who are one and the same! - doesn't hold
with her bestly belov�d. It allegedly turns out that he's allegedly
an uncultured oaf:
Kungen har ocks� klagat �ver att pojkv�nnen inte kan
f�ra sig i de fina salongerna, att han inte kan prata engelska och
inte n�mna namnet p� en nutida svensk f�rfattare.
The king has also expressed concern that the boyfriend can't conduct
himself in fine salongs, that he doesn't speak the Engleesh, and
can't name any modern Swedish authors.
(Not even Henning "Hilarity" Mankell? The mind boggles...)
Now, I can't actually name any modern Swedish authors of yer actual
fiction, but I don't imagine that will last very long once I get
within range of its many fascinations, and I certainly speak something
at least as close to Engleesh as most Scandiwegians manage. (If I had
a GBP for every Forrener who'd condescended to my "non-native"
Engleesh, I'd've spent it all on beer and quite right too.) So even
if I'm not that great at salongs, I'm still clearly ahead of
Wassname. Hmm...
Take note, fellow suitors! It is apparently not the kronprinsess we
need to win over - the power behind the throne in this case is in fact
on the throne.
("Ah, there you are Vickan."
"What ho, Your Daddiness!"
"Have you met the Count von Bladet, dear; he's very well informed
about contemporary Swedish literature, and his Engleesh really isn't
that bad. Count, this is my daughter, the kronprinsess
Vickan."
"How d'you do, Count von Bladet?"
"Delighted, your prinsessship."
"Oh, and you're marrying him next June."
"What?! But..."
"Yes, I know, but it turns out there is
a weekend free after all; auntie Hilde has just died, so the
strawberry seasonstart sl�kttr�ff is off, of course.")
[Permalink]
2004-06-16 morning (utc+1)
After World War II, football took the place of nationalism - and not
only in the Netherlands. "Wars were not fought anymore, they were
played out on the football field. In 1974 everyone thought the Dutch,
who had invented a new kind of football, would win. But it was the
Germans who won, so the young generation was confronted again with a
Germany who defeated Holland. The Dutch youth could now easily
identify with their parents, who had experienced the defeat of 1940.
They made this connection."
-- Brilliant
Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, David Winner,
p. 107
(The interpolated quote is from Hermann van der Dunk, "one of the
leading historians of Dutch-German relations".)
This formula becomes highly significant when we recall that Freud
considered that two traumas (and not one, as is so commonly
said) are necessary in order to generate the individual myth in which
a neurosis consists.
-- Claude L�vi-Strauss, "The Structural Study of Myth", in Structural
Anthropology vol. I
By the 1980s Holland's five day defeat in 1940 and the five years of
occupation that followed were firmly established as defining
experiences of modern Dutch history. The events were taught
extensively in schools and appeared as a constant theme in the media.
This helped shape a new generation of self-righteously and openly
anti-German Dutch youngsters.
Brilliant Orange, p. 107
Glossary:
'football' - foopball
'nationalism' - nationalisme
'Holland' - the Netherlands
Bonus: How you can be so brilliant orange, too!
It's a very good book on the post-war Netherlands and Dutch society in
general, but I don't expect to read it again. If you want my copy
mailed to you at my expense, drop me a line. Note that precedent
shows that more than one person may enter this exciting contest, so
there is a quite real chance you won't win, sorry.
[Permalink]
2004-06-15 16:43
There are Czechia supporters out there, for sure, but I'll be rooting
for the red, white and red* of Latvia (�Lettonie�) in tonight's
foopball encounter. My unwavering support will possibly stretch even
as far as having the radio on, although it may not. It won't stretch
to bacon and grey peas, because I haven't found anywhere that'll sell
me the requisite peas of greyness and Staburags don't deliver out
here, which is only sane. Perhaps I should acquire some �l which is
at least not Czech and toast them from my genuine Rigan non-souvenir
glass.
Meanwhile, although I have sort-of sworn off non-'Wegian languages in
preparation for next month's trippage, you just can't beat L'�quipe's
coverages. In the langwidge of Descartes, even foopball commentary
can sustain a spirit of rational enquiry such as to fool the casual
observeur at least:
Equipe inattendue, la Lettonie ne doit pas faire de complexes si
elle veut se donner un espoir de finir dans les deux premiers. La
chance de passer est toutefois infime au vu des adversaires du
groupe. C'est donc a priori rel�ch�s et sans pression que les
Lettons vont aborder cette rencontre o� ils joueront avant tout pour
ne pas perdre.
The surprise qualifiers, Latvia must not have ze complexes if she wants
to give 'erself a hope to finish in the first two. The chance of
getting through is however weaker in view of the adversaries in the
group. It is thus a priori relaxed and without pressure that
the Lats will begin this meeting where they will be playing above all
not to lose.
I'd better translate that again into Proper Engleesh Foopball, isn't
it?
Yeah, obviously the Lats are the surprise package in the tournament,
and it'll be a big ask for them to go through from what's a very tough
group. Tonight they'll be starting very much as the underdogs so they
can maybe relax a bit and just focus on not giving anything
away.
I wonder if Radio Foopball has any vacancies for a
cosmpolitain-en-r�sidence? Foopball fans are celebrated above all for
their unquenchable thirst for culture and sophistication, isn't it?
* The colours of their flag and their kit: Maillot rouge, short blanc,
bas rouges. Very fetching, I'm sure.
[UPDATE: What do you mean it's on now? Oh, well. Heads Germany, tails Nederlands...
UPDATE TWO (2): Gutted. We've led 1-0 for most of the match, only to go down 2-1 in the closing stages. Now I know what it feels like to be an En-ger-lund supporter. Apart from the bit about supporting En-ger-lund, obviously.]
[Permalink]
2004-06-15 samwidge (utc+1)
�1. Tactball!
Neil
Clark auto-Godwinates for a spectacular opening to his otherwise
dreary "foopballers today, with their sponserships and their yobbery"
mimblings:
The German socialist Werner Pusch once described his feelings of pity
over not being able to share the belief of the excited and hysterical
hordes present at one of Adolf Hitler's rallies. "For some seconds,
now and again, I felt it would be wonderful just to jump into that
bubbling pot to be a member of all those who are believers". As
England descends into frenzy over Euro 2004, I can appreciate what
must have been going through Pusch's mind. The temptation of jumping
into the bubbling pot of flag-waving, England-shirt-wearing hysteria
over the next month will, for many, be a strong one.
But not for me, of course. I wore my Chelsea shirt yesterday. It is
blue. Allez les bleus, has a lovely ring to it, isn't it?
Perhaps today I will actually order a nice Swedish shirt, because fem-noll, after
all. (That's a link to a Norwegish tabloid's coverage of Swedish
Aftonbladet's coverage, of course. Only the finest second-order
foopball meeja here at the 'bladet, for sure!)
�2. Remembrance of tact past
Bosnia,
take 2.
Zijad [Jusufovic], 38, is the first, licensed independent tour guide in
Bosnia catering for the growing numbers of tourists. During the war,
in the early 1990s, he worked for the Red Cross.
"I also take people to the town of Srebrenica (the scene of the worst
atrocity of the war) and I organise excursions to Radovan Karadzic's
house in Pale".
It wasn't very long ago, nor very far away.
�3. Yugoland!
A fun theme
park from the better than the immediately above at least
old days!
Despite its rather basic design a visit to Yugoland can be an
emotional experience - especially late in the day when the band is in
full swing and the beer barrels are running dry.
One elderly man stands out - he's wearing the 40-year-old military
uniform - complete with cap - of a country that no longer exists. As
he prepares to board the bus home, he straightens the medals on his
chest and wipes a tear from his eye.
Sigh. The Independent Republic of Trieste and Trst, whose government
in exile I occasionally comprise, doesn't even have a theme park! But
do not weep for us, Varied Reader; our time will come again.
[Permalink]
2004-06-15 09:43
We review John McCrone reviewing
Gerald Edelman's latest (we are so very meta!):
However, where Edelman really falters is in trying to clear the final
philosophical hurdle, the point where doubters say you may have
explained brain function and the intelligent behaviour that results,
yet this still does not say why brain activity has to feel like
anything subjectively, why there has to be that strange inner glow of
experience. Edelman resorts to a contorted version of the position
known as causal supervenience. Neural states cause other neural
states. Consciousness then just happens to be the way these states
feel from the inside. So consciousness is not caused as such, it is a
property of a physical process. Yet most will feel this is avoiding
the issue rather than answering it.
Blah blah blah, isn't it? I happen to think Edelman is on the right
track, and I do not hold it against his account of the underlying
mechanismes of consciousness that he does not mistake it for an
account of how it feels to be conscious: these are questions fully
embued with duality, and by no means interchangeable. Compare and
contrast:
However, where Newton really falters is in trying to clear the final
philosophical hurdle, the point where doubters say you may have
explained gravitational attraction and the movement of the solar
system that results, yet this does not say why gravity has to feel
like anything subjectively, why there has to be that strange pull of
heaviness.
Edelman's ventures into philosophy are not the highlights of his
enterprise, but does anyone really think that "Barking" John Searle
and co. would stop their endless Ineffable Mysteries of
Consciousness blathering even if we succede in building a
walkin'-talkin' singin' and dancin' AI? If so, would you also like to
buy the �resund bridge at a very competitive price?
I reviewed an actual book of Edelman's a
while back.
[Permalink]
2004-06-14 16:38
I've mostly stopped reading Lib�bladet - since the last round of
"improved" web redesign it's been barely readable (die, webdesigners,
die!) - but if you want to wallow in yesterday's heroic capitulation
by En-ger-lund to les bleus touts-puissants, you can't beat their round-up
of the UKish press's fair and balanced reactions.
Et l'in�vitable r�f�rence de circonstance, au sang, � la sueur et
aux larmes chers � Churchill, revient sous la plume du chef des Sport
du quotidien.
And the head of Sport at [the Sun] made the obligatory reference to
the blood, sweat and tears dear to Churchill.
I'm reading it in Forren, head of sport at the Sun, and I laugh in
your general direction! Allez les bleus, and don't spare the
tabloids - I use up all my sporting patriotisme on the criquette, and
don't think I don't.
[Permalink]
2004-06-14 samwidge (utc+1)
Madeleine goes to
a wedding!
Madeleine i k� f�r en br�llopskyss
Madeleine goes to a wedning!
But big sis kronprinsess Vickan was on duty at the baby-dipning ov
Hollands prinsessa Catharina-Amalia and couldn't make her close chums
wedning. It isn't easy being a prinsess!
And did you remember Madde's birthday? Expressen did, but:
Madeleine sa ocks� att hon inte hunnit tr�ffa kungen och drottningen
p� dagen.
Madde also said that she hadn't managed to see the king and queen on
the day.
The king and queen are Madde's daddy and mummy! But they were busy
all day holding audiences at the castle. On Madde's special day! It
isn't easy, as I have pointed out before, being a prinsess!
[Permalink]
2004-06-14 10:29
It is not at all worrying to see forests of car-mounted flags of St
George fluttering at me everywhere I go, since this symbol has long
since been reclaimed of simple-minded xenophobia and quite right too.
Equally, who could worry that the UK "Independence" Party rode the
nation's instinctive euroscepticisme and disenchantment with Mr Blair
to unprecendented
success in the European parliamentary elections. After all this
isn't some thuggish brand of raciste throwbacks; it is just the
federalisme implicit in the Yoorpean union that repels them, as their
manifesto makes clear:
Le Royaume-Uni est plein, clame-t-il, �a craque d�j� aux
entournures. [...] Un gouvernement UKIP fera tout ce qui est
n�cessaire pour r�duire la criminalit� au niveau de celle des ann�es
50.
The United Kingdom is full, it claims. It's already bursting at the
seams. [...] A UKIP government would do what's necessary to reduce
criminality to the level of the 50's.
This, apparently, is the acceptable face of nationalisme, although not
necessarily to me.
The BBC isn't doing a Yoorp-wide overview that I can find - Yoorpean
elections are of course not especially about Yoorp - so we'll rely on
the EU
observer despite its sophisticated redesign. (Die, web-designers,
die!)
Their pie chart tells us that the EPP-ED (Yoorpean people's party)
came out on top. A little research confirms that this is the Christian
Democrats, i.e., the mainstream centre-right with a side order of
religion, by way of an inclination to Jesus-up the constitution and a
tendency to remark that Turkey is full of not quite our sort of
people, don'cha know?
Sigh...
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