The Sunday Papers (slightly crumpled in the main)

international | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Monday December 29, 2003 14:13

by i want to go back to work now.

the useful €UROPE 2004 info bit rescued from a non taxed bin after the rest was used for wrapping.

----long observed---
mass----absorb---non banking.
-------- long observed ---- people ------- on ----- non-banking ---------------- absorb shite ------ Dangerous ---------, Famous ---------, Sensible Saving --------, Hol-------, Intere----- fac--, Sport -------, Media, garden--- --- --alth

famous people---- said to be recovering ----- having trouble sitting down----- B--- ---- ---- ------------- mostly rumour-- --------.

€urope.2004.
If you are Irish then you are very lucky, from Jan 1 to June you will share the €uropean Presidency with Bertie Ahern and approximately four million other people, this affords you considerably more political influence then say a Frenchie, who has to share with many millions more. However don't feel too powerful, the Luxembourgish still win hands down, quite legitimately wrestling with great problems of European Integration during their average of four hours each as President of the Union.
Bertie will naturally be looking for counsel, advice and a helping hand throughout these six months, so we all should think how best to spend our thirty minutes presidency. Useful tip: Don't try and dissolve the €U, you'll meet with unseen problems.

If you want to leave Ireland, and abandon your responsibilities just like Bertie does, you can choose to visit other "important" European Cities this year, it really is quite startling how many of the "2004 year of X" have gone to €urope this year, and is probably a sure sign of our very much lessened influence in the World. And to be honest "people on the ground" the infamous grassroots types, are being less than enthusiastic about the great round of "2004€urope". Each city has presented itself as a sort of bourgois weekend holiday venue with some new architecture and a brazen attempt to internalise popular malcontent into the municipal state machine.
Each city selected, faces unpredicted problems with European integration, and a quick look at the "chat forum" attached "de rigour" to each official site, sees the incredulity of locals at odds with the "gloss and vanity" of such corporative business exercises masquerading as regeneration and culture. And this really is only the beginning, in the great €urope of 25 states of the future, municipal state authorities will compete to present the "Conference / Weekend Venue Deluxe". €urope has more pretty cities with easily moved poor people than the USA and that's how it is.

Athens 2004 home of the Olympics. It might be fun to put drugs in the water. But you won't get away with it, the Greeks have passed lodas of measures to protect Athens from biological and chemical attack, from evil doers who will try and spoil the traditional fun. Now this really is "medium to high risk" has evildoers have attacked Olympiads before. You can read the Greek Diplomatic daily updates at http://www.greekembassy.org/press/2004updates/

Genoa 2004 european city of culture, very busy promoting itself as a conference venue,
and let us remind everyone forgetting the death of a protester Carlo Guilliani. Genoa will present the usual mishmash of culture products on the street and infront of plush seats, whilst dealing with the European Federalist conference 19-21 March http://www.mfe.it/ and chitchat on Biotechnology, and a *_must not miss_* the European Plastic Surgeons conference on May 27- 29. http://www.euraps.org/home.htm
Sums it up really.

Barcelona. really don't bother.
If you really want to help the people of Barcelona, do _not_ visit the city in 2004. If you visit, you push up the living costs in terms of accomodation (which each year increase by 150%). All the interesting people will do their best to get out and bring their tourist spin-off capitalist caché to other places so officially Barcelona is "UN-COOL" this year. except if you're a cryptologist:
http://www.crm.es/Activities/Act2003-04/ContemporaryCryptology/ContempCryptology.htm

Sensible Saving Options: -------------- ----------$ ---------------= ---- --- -------- --! ---- -- (--- ---,---- %-) ---- € ------. _------ -----,---- $!

horoscope: --- ---- ------ -- -- -----probably feel tired---- good reason to look forward----
---------- -----------

There were two lucky winners of the "which county of Ireland has the most naturally occuring radiation" : Mr- ----- ------ and M- -------- ---------, ---- ------ ----- a lovely ----- ------- -------. So for the benefit of all those who didn't know the answer it was County ----------!