Treaty of Lisbon

The "Treaty of Lisbon" is the last of a series of a so called completive treaties that is supposed to simplify and eventually decrease the burden of bureaucracy already congesting the European political apparatus. As a reminder, it started in 1948 in Brussels, then further treaties and agreements in 1953,1958,1967,1987 and 1993 of Maastricht, 1999 of Amsterdam, 2003 of Nice were to be completed with the now 2009 of Lisbon.

Some of the important features of the Lisbon treaty are :

a/The President of the European council will be chosen for a period of 30 Months (instead of 6 months)....b/ the position of Foreign representative (minister) will be combined with that of the foreign commissioner (meaning less bureaucracy)....c/The charter of human rights will be binding (best part of it all)....d/ as of now, any petition or proposal signed with more than one million people, has to be considered...e/ All national parliaments get 8 weeks to object to any law passed by the EU...f/ As of 2014, instated of having 27 commissioner's (one per member state), there will be 18, but rotating amongst the member states( which will mean faster actions)...g/ Reducing the number of MPs in the European parliament and increasing its power simultaneously...h/ Expansion of influence in areas such as health, energy, space and to a large extend education...i/ simplifying the passing of different laws and legislations, by reducing the necessary votes from over 70% to 55% or the votes of countries representing about 65% of the European population as of 2014..j/the until now required unanimity (necessity for all to agree) will give way to a simple majority...k/The new treaty will also extend the powers of the Union in drawing a general defense doctrine and etc etc....

Those of us living in the European Union, ought to realize that about 70% of our daily routines have been regulated in Brussels and only about 30% by the national or local Parliament/Government, and as of 2014 this equation will change to a 80% to 20%. Judging from history, one can imagine what the next treaty will be all about, since the tax regulations are mostly regional and a sovereign matter of the states, most corporate establishments will then move to areas and states with easier tax regulations as a result of which the more populous states, inevitably press for some sort of a new treaty forcing a coordination on the Tax system. Whatever the case, this treaty was a positive one for Europe and its residents,lets only hope the political unity that this treaty is to initiate, proves to be emancipated and balanced and not some Pax Americana. After all, the future is Europe and China, and not the USA and Russia anymore.

RIP Rosa Montazami

Fateme Bahreini, better known as "Rosa Montazami" was born in 1921 in Tehran-Iran, the exact date of which is not registered, however she was known to have been very diligent at school and remembered affectionately for her lively personality.

Roza Montazami, published her first cookbook "The art of cooking" in 1964 at the age of 43 which included 600 different meals, she often explained that it took her 2 years to collect and write the book. Her book rapidly became a must have in every Iranian household. The book has been republished 41 times since its first edition and the latest edition is known to have over 1700 recipes. It is known that during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), the western embargo on Iran, also resulted in a scarcity of paper, her books were still considered a household necessity and distributed to newlyweds next to washing machines and dishwashers upon request.

Roza Montazami passed away on Friday October 23, 2009 in Tehran, she was 87 years old.

For those interested, I leave a link under the category "Good Links" which directs them to a blog with her recipes,the site is bilingual.
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Faces of Evil

From Top left...

1- George W. Bush, was an ex drug and alcohol addict,who became the US president from 2001-2009, due to his utter lack of intelligence, he missed the chance to greatness and decided to go on a revenge spree for the 9/11 attacks, despite knowing the names and whereabouts of those responsible. Thus bearing responsibility for at least 1 Million deaths so far and rising. He is alive and waiting to face his creator.

2-Ariel Sharon, was an Israeli Prime minister and after losing one of his testicles and half his penis in a battle in the 1950s against a Jordanian unit, he became obsessed with killing "Arabs", He never let an opportunity out to start wars and kill off a peace initiative. His official biographies are mostly edited to his benefit, but that does not change what he was. He went into a Coma in 2006 and awaits his death.

3-Saddam Hussein,was an Iraqi dictator, and his complex riddled Arab nationalism caused him to commit many war crimes, the west delivered him weapons of mass destruction to threaten Iran into backing off from pursuing the IRAN-IRAQ war (1980-1988), but he not only used them against Iran but used them against his own people. He was hanged in 2006.

4-Augusto Pinochet, was a Chilean dictator, and was supported,financed and shepherded by the CIA into power after killing the democratically elected President of Chile,during his rule, dozens of thousands of people were killed, imprisoned, raped and tortured. Because he stood on the US side of the political equation, he never had to pay for his crimes, he died in 2006.

5-Pol Pot, was the Cambodian "Khmer Rouge" (Red Khmer,Khmer is a language)leader and his ingenious political leadership, killed almost 2.5 million of his own countrymen,which at that time (1970's) was over 20% of the Cambodian nation, He never paid for his crimes and died in 1998.

6-Joseph Stalin,was the Soviet General Secreter and his iron fist rule on the USSR caused the death of many millions of his own countrymen. He was truly feared, and his death in 1953 was a big relief. His luck was that, he happened to stand on the winner side in WWII, and that covered much of the trail of blood for far too long.

7-Adolf Hitler,can be considered the superstar of all evil, his genocide on the Jews still echoes to this date not to mention the war, in which almost 60 million from many nationalities fell victim to. He reportedly shot himself in the head as he was cornered and committed suicide in 1945.

8-Benito Mussolini,can be considered a typical Italian,his nostalgic sense of nationalism and his efforts to do it his way through Fascism, spilled a lot of innocent blood on two continents. He was lynched by his own countrymen in 1945.

Naomi Wolf

Naomi Wolf, was born in 1962 into a Jewish family, and did her BA in English literature at the Yale University , she is known as an awkward "third-wave feminist" author. Understandably she is not everyones darling, but her theories regarding the deterioration of the US democratic institutions, which was reflected in her 2007 published book "The end of America" struck a cord. In this very interesting book, which I personally recommend all Americans to read, she warns of historical parallels,comparing some well established and documented historical Dictatorships that aroused from well established democracies, by following a so called "Blue Print" of a list of 10 steps.

The 10 steps are;

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy.
2. Create secret prisons where torture takes place.
3. Develop a thug caste or paramilitary force not answerable to citizens.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system.
5. Harass citizens' groups.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release.
7. Target key individuals.
8. Control the press.
9. Treat all political dissents to be traitors.
10. Suspend the rule of law.

She explains in detail every step, and outlines all the US parallels,which I have to admit, was well researched and eloquently presented. Her latest work is called "Give me liberty" and can be considered as a sequel to the "The end of America" and explains and describes how at different stages in the past individuals and groups "successfully" fought back the establishment of a fascistic America.

I have embedded a speech by Naomi Wolf, explaining the book in her own words.