Guardian…

European leaders have embarked on a mammoth effort to forestall the ruin of the single currency at what was seen as the most important Brussels summit in years, with France, Germany and the leaders of the eurozone lined up against David Cameron and his campaign to extract a price in return for agreeing to Europe’s new “fiscal compact”.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the two-day summit was the EU’s last chance to save the euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the central figure pushing a new punitive euro regime, voiced confidence that a satisfactory deal would be reached. Cameron insisted he wanted a “fair deal” for Britain and warned he would not hesitate to veto Franco-German proposals unless he got something in return.

Tough-talking Cameron. Showing them foreigners who’s boss, eh?

In what was seen as a warning on behalf of Germany and France, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg and chairman of the Eurogroup, told Cameron to back off or face the prospect of being sidelined by a new treaty forged simply among the 17 eurozone countries.

Does he really think that all these countries that are directly affected gonna not implement what they think they need to because some jumped up, shiny headed, PR man from Britain thinks it’s a bad move for his tiny country?

The Eurozone, those countries that use the Euro currency, are the majority. 17 out of 27 countries. This summit is about saving the Euro, not bringing closer integration or forwarding the European project. This is not about us. It’s about them.

Cameron hasn’t got a chance, what-ever happens he’s fucked, at home or abroad and he’s just carries on like nobodies noticed.

The dreaded EU has struck again…

Under the rules, children under the age of eight are no longer allowed to blow up balloons, if they are unsupervised.

Teddys have to be washable, too. Not only that but ‘scratch and sniff’ has been banned because they contain, yes, chemicals!

Something has been banned because of chemicals? Yes, it’s the Daily Mail again.

Party blowers – which unscroll when blown – are categorised as unsafe for under-14s under rules governing toys that children put in their mouths. EU officials claim bits of blower could come off and cause choking. They can no longer be sold unless they pass strict new tests.

Some children’s musical instruments, such as recorders and whistles, are also banned because they may come apart and pieces of them could be swallowed.

How dare they ban toys that could come apart in childrens mouths and choke them to death. I’ve choked to death more than once as a kid. Never did me any harm. In fact I got sent to my room with a clip round the ear for being so stupid. Made me the man I am today, it did.

The Mail does add a single line which justifies this measure…

This measure follows cases where children have swallowed small magnets which have then disintegrated and pulled intestines together, causing severe injuries.

Teh Telegraph (h/t FullFact.org) does an equally rabid report on the banning of children children being able to live life on the edge complete with a quote from an EU official that, to me at least, doesn’t read like a real quote…

Another EU official admitted that the new regulations could be difficult to understand but insisted that safety experts knew best.

“You might say that small children have been blowing up balloons for generations, but not anymore and they will be safer for it,” said an official.

But in the end, balloons and shit haven’t been banned and these regs aren’t new…

Several newspapers have claimed that “Brussels” has imposed new rules on the UK banning children from blowing up balloons or using party whistles. This is wholly untrue.

EU legislation on toy safety aims to protect young children from death and injury and reflects expert medical advice – and simple common sense.

Balloons and other toys placed in the mouth can and do cause death and injury.

The EU rules referred to date from 1988. They state that ballons made of latex must carry a warning to parents that children under eight years should be supervised. Stronger plastic ballons do not need to carry this warning.

They also state that all toys aimed at children under three should be large enough to prevent them being swallowed.

The Child Accident Prevention Trust says that each year, in the UK, over 15,000 children under five and a further 10,000 children aged between 5 and 14 are treated at accident and emergency units after choking. Only half these incidents involve food.

US research by the Consumer Product Safety Commission shows that ” Of all children’s products, balloons are the leading cause of suffocation death”. So similar rules exist in the US.

So what’s so unreasonable about these regs, again? Regulations that are so draconian that other countries independent of the EU have similar ones?

Oh, yeah, their ‘imposed’ on us from those bloody Europeans.

Bastards.

The Guardian has a piece about Blair and the EU presidency.

Our Tone might face some obstacles…

These are: a petition, which has so far attracted 41,326 signatures saying that it would be wrong to appoint a man who allegedly violated international law in the Iraq war; the implacable opposition of the Tories, who have warned EU leaders that appointing Blair would be seen as a hostile act in Britain; strong opposition from smaller EU member states, who fear that such a high profile figure would eclipse them; and a concern across the EU that it would be wrong to appoint someone from the most reluctant member of the EU.

But is still considered, by many, the favourite. Although he isn’t making life easy for himself by refuse to campaign. This refusal, the article says, is because he is worried about getting a humiliating slap down and also…

“It will be decided in horse trading over the coming weeks,” one Blair ally said. “This will all take place behind closed doors.”

Blair believes this is why it would be wrong to campaign. “This is a very odd election,” one ally said. “It will be decided by 27 people. This is not something that can be won by running a campaign.”

Not really an election, is it? More of an appointment, wouldn’t you say?

Is it really too much to ask for a little bit of democracy and, if we must have a president, let the people decide who it should be?

But it’s not about democracy, is it? I’m buggered if I know what it is about, but democracy it isn’t.

Over the weekend something called ‘Operation Freedom’ was launched.

I have heard or seen no news over the weekend and being a lazy arse, I’m just gonna go straight into it.

Well, according to the BNP, for it is they who have sent it, Fat Nick and his ex-NF buddy (whatever his name is) are going to be banned from the House of Commons.

Under a headline, in big, bold red type, they procliam…

ELECTED BNP PARLIAMENTARIANS BANNED FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS!

…a bit like that, really, there is an awful lot of waffle about Marxist state and totalitarian experiment and a fucking big history lesson, which also includes Simon de Montfort, which according to my l33t Wikipedia skilz was either a French nobleman, a son of a French nobleman or the grandson of a French noble man.

Anyway, blah blah blah, EU, blah blah blah, dictatorship, waffle waffle waffle, only credible aternative, rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb.

And then… BLAM!

Just recently, crooked diabolical MP’s led by the arch-traitor Harriet Harman voted in favour to BAN the recently elected BNP MEPs, Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons, from the House of Parliament!

Hahahaha! Cunts.

Aw, fuck it. I wasn’t gonna swear in this post.

As far as I was aware, MEPs’ had traditionally had access to the Houses of Parliament, or at least the commons areas, as a favour. Y’know, they’re all working to the same ends, making Britain better etc, but never any formal right to go anywhere more than a normal prole does. I am prepared to be corrected on this point.

This effectively means they have banned 1 MILLION British voters and two democratically elected parliamentary representatives from the highest democratic institution in the country! They have banned YOU!

A little bit of confusion in the teeny-tiny minds of the racist fuckwits.

Because Fat Nick and his sicko side-kick are democratically elected representatives, but not to the House of Commons. Those one million voters already have someone that they can go to, representatives that were actually elected to the House of Commons in the last general election. Their MPs’. (Once again, lazy shit that I am, you’ll have to find out for yourself who them MPs’ are, but rest assured, each and every one of those one million voters will have an MP that they can got to.)

Fat Nicks’ and what’s-his-names’ arena is the EU parliament, not Westminster.

One little bit of success, that wasn’t even down to the them, and it’s gone right to their heads.

Word comes from Craig Murray that the British embassies in the EU are to start getting support for Tony Blair to be the made the first permanent president of the EU.

Maybe I should’ve used the proper word there: appointed. ‘Made’ could mean elected by the people he would be president of.

As Craig eloquently puts it…

For anyone to occupy the position of President without a popular election would be very, very wrong. But Tony Blair? It is simply an appalling thought.

Why would anyone want a war criminal as president?

Horrifyingly, it appears that Blair may well be able to get a majority of EU member governments prepared to support him. That is despite his record as Bush’s poodle in launching illegal war, as one of the chief architects of the banking bubble economic disaster, and as the Middle East Peace Envoy who held the ring for Israel’s murderous assaults on Lebanon and Gaza.

I’m in two minds about the EU. It could be good, but at the moment the unaccountability and the bureaucracy, well, it seems like it is being run for the commissioners and the MEPs benefit, not the citizens of the EU.

In typical EU fashion, even the term is a bit ambigous: Permanent President.
Do they mean ‘for life’? Would they do that? What other meaning could the EU mean? The presidency at the moment is on a 6 month rotating basis, with the national leaders taking up the role. The occupant of the new style post of president would be full-time, rather than part-time, but still not permanent. Surely?

Either way, for the EU to have Blair as an unelected permanent El Presidente would lose what little credibility it has. And that isn’t a lot.