what do these people think they are doing? I mean, if you are really angry you go out and demonstrate outside some building.Far from being an article trying to change peoples way of revolting against governments, ill for once be a bit of a radical(for once?)if you are really angry, go ahead, burn the prime ministers car in sign of protest. What do the french arabs that are revolting against the system think they are going to do by burning their neighbours cars? is it a revolutionary way of recruitment, burning up the cars of people that are in your same situation and hope that because of it they will be smashing and burning the streets next evening?Martin Varsavsky pointed out something similar in his blog referring to the disruption caused in Mar del Plata after president Bush’s visit.I was in paris last week and it is kind of scary to think that this was going on at the same time that i was there. Thank you T.C for the link. If you have quicktime, click on the following link to watch a pretty shocking video taken just a few days ago.

http://joi.ito.com/archives/2005/11/04/home_video_clip_of_paris_police_shooting_in_suburbs.html#comments

We were all surprised when US president George Bush nominated Paul Wolfowitz for head of the World Bank. The former deputy secretary of defence was one of the driving forces behind the Iraq war, and has always been a strong supporter of George W. This is why the world community was amazed when Wolfowitz took office on june 1st, and even more surprised by the speeches he made during his trip to Africa, where he showed that, not only was he ready for the job, but looked forward to helping the developing nations of the world with aid, etc… The question now is, whether his initial statements have been sincere or a futile way to change public view towards him. A good point is that he has already openly criticised methods that harm developing world agriculture, such as massive subsidies in medc’s (a common tecnique used by George W) We will have to wait for more events to unfold to decide wether Wolfowitz is working at the right place…

today in fiumicino airport in rome, I (with uk passport) along with two other brits and a czech were held back, almost stoipped from checking in, as our friends with spanish passport waltzed through the line and checked their bags. It took 15minutes to get the check in cleared. Isnt it what the EU is for?freedom of movement?(among others). anybody know why uk+czech rep. are on berlusconi’s black list?

I just got back today from a 5 day tour of the bay of naples area, in Italy. I had been to Rome before, but the contrasts between the north and south of the country makes it seem like you have crossed a border. No problems getting on the plane, landing, and getting off, but problems started arising after this. It seems the Italian public transportation system is designed so that only Italian people who live in the area can use it with confidence. I started by entering a bathroom in the train station(one of the few in Italy where I did not have to pay to get in). As I entered i saw people looking over the tops of cubicles as if hiding something inside, people walking with hands in pockets suspiciously. In my opinion, none of the toilets in the largest train station of Naples were better than a hole in the ground, as th running water was not working in most cases. To move around the Pompeii/sorrento area, we used 1960’s trains, fully covered in graffitti(which seems to be the norm)and which obviously lacked air conditioning and any other “luxury”.We were all lost in a country where as far as the toursits concluded, everything was crap and nothing worked, excluding roman architecture, prosciutto pizza, and booze. Today, as I got on different trains to get from sorrento to fiumicino airport in rome, the voice of people offering small boxes of biscuits and cheap water reminded me of journeys through ecuador, a third world country.(WHich seems strange in one of the countries that has been in the EU the longest) And then I realised. The views of Naple’s streets from the train reminded me of third world countries, and so did the houses, cars, and shops.(notice I exclude clothing, as Italians take great pride in wearing impecable clothes) With such cultural and economic contrasts in the 15Eu countries, was it a good idea to extend 10 more countries and start the money flow towards the east?

This weekend there are regional elections in Italy, one of the only countries that has developed amazingly in the EU but has failed to create a good political system. A good example of the ideals present in this country is the ballot in Lazio. If you live here, you will be expected to vote either for the actual governor( neo-fascist national alliance), a center-left party, or for Mussolini’s grand-daughter, Alessandra Mussolini, famous for her right wing views. This election will be a test for 14out of20 regions in Italy, but the real exam comes in a few months, when their chance comes to get Silvio Berlusconi out of office. If it werent for the names, this paragraph would not have sounded like one from a country that has been in the EU for decades.

posted by nick robinson-