Citizen Europe (Lite)

New Citizen Europe Blog!

2009-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Goodbye, Blogger!

I'm making the move over to WordPress. Anyone interested in reading about European nationalism can find me writing on my new blog over at http://citizen-europe.eu/

See you there!

Where have I been?

2009-06-24T12:15:00.001-07:00

I've been keeping a low profile in the EU blogosphere since the TH!NK ABOUT IT finale in Rotterdam.

The main reason for this is that I'm up to my eyeballs in work at the moment, so my blogging has suffered.

The other reason is that I'm working on a brand new blog/website (powered by Wordpress) to be launched soon.

More info to follow...

Blogging in the Stone Age: How Political Blogging in the EU is Playing Catch-up With America

2009-06-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

I've just had an editorial published on www.dailybabel.com.

I'm sure it will prove at least mildly controversial, and I hope it
will generate a bit of debate. If not debate, then at least some
thoughts!

Comment if you think I've got it wrong, because I will listen to you.
I actually would love to be proved wrong in this case!

You can read my editorial here: http://dailybabel.com/?p=2329

What is the Point of the EU Blogosphere?

2009-06-06T06:38:00.001-07:00

I'm going to try experimenting more with audio and video as a blogger.
I'm sure this is a better way to connect with people and show the
human side of EU politics. So here's a video I've put together,
showing some of my thoughts about what we could do with an EU
blogosphere.

Please criticise my mad ideas!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXk31wm8xFY

My Editorial for JMECE Lab

2009-06-05T10:20:00.001-07:00

The Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence Lab has published an
editorial I wrote about European identity. It's a personal piece
describing my own feelings as a young European living and working in
the EU.

You can download it or read it online here: http://www.box.net/shared/c3zc8msutf

Comments and criticism welcome!

Some News on How the Elections went in Maastricht

2009-06-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

The UK and Netherlands were the first countries to go to the polls today in the EU parliamentary elections!

I was sent an e-mail today by Faten, a voter in Maastricht in the EU elections.

[EDIT: Fatan isn't actually a voter, because she is South African. But her partner is Dutch and voted in the elections].

She offers a personal account of going to vote in the Netherlands:

"Dear Joe,

As promised I wanted to drop you a quick email on my observations on how the elections went in Maastricht.

It was a normal cold Thursday morning; people going to work as one sees it every morning on bikes. Pretty much like other days, really. There was no rush to vote. I live next to a voting office, which I pass on my way to work.

The voting office is a school and the traffic of this morning was rather calm - again the usual traffic caused by parents dropping off their kids at school. The City Hall also housed a voting station. To guide the voters, small signs were put up to direct the voters. Those were the only noticeable signs that some type of elections were taking place (if one doesn't know he wouldn't recognize that EU elections are taking place due to the lack of some type of poster of even a sign of the EU flag). However, the preliminary estimates show that 40% of Dutch went out to vote - a higher figure than initially predicted. One of the key concerns in the run up to the election was that the radical PVV party of Geert Wilders would win the majority of votes. As it looks now, they only got the 2nd position (of course official results still have to be announced). Preliminary results show that CDA (the leading party in government) is leading (20% - 5 seats which is a
decline of 2 seats from the previous election) followed by the radical PVV which has secured 15% of the votes according to the preliminary estimates.

The elections were not only 'spiced-up' by the radical PVV but an animal for the animals also run for elections and the preliminary results show that they are close to securing 1 seat. The party is said to represent those who are victims of human cruelty. Interesting!

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Faten"

What Future for the EU Blogosphere?

2009-06-03T07:59:00.001-07:00

My latest TH!NK ABOUT IT post can be found here -
http://www.thinkaboutit.eu/2009/06/what-future-for-the-eu-blogosphere/
- in which I muse about how we can build a better EU blogging
community.

Guest-blogging on TH!NK ABOUT IT

2009-05-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of updates.

It's been a hectic week - and it's about to get more hectic. I've just
started guest-blogging over at http://www.thinkaboutit.eu/

I'll be blogging there this week, so I may neglect my duties here at
Citizen Europe. But please do comment on my ramblings at TH!NK!

A United Europe?

2009-05-26T04:00:00.001-07:00

I will try to post a cartoon every Monday, if I am able. Today's Monday cartoon is on Tuesday - but my excuse is that this has been a busy week!

http://citizen-europe.blogspot.com/2009/05/monday-cartoon-united-europe.html

Blogger Interviews Irish Minister for European Affairs

2009-05-23T00:04:00.001-07:00

This is a follow-up to an earlier post:
http://citizen-europe.blogspot.com/2009/05/european-democracy-politicians-are.html

Frank Schnittger, a blogger over at TH!NK ABOUT IT managed to
interview Dick Roche, Ireland's Minister for European Affairs. Watch
his interview here:
http://www.thinkaboutit.eu/2009/05/roche-lambasts-krugman-klaus-and-ganley/

He asked a good mix of questions, focusing on both domestic Irish
issues and on broader European issues as well. Dick seemed happier
talking about the broader European picture, but Frank did ask some
difficult questions and tried to pin the Minister down on specifics.

It's great that someone at the level of a Minister has granted a 50
minute interview to a blogger, so (no matter what you think of his
politics) Dick Roche should be congratulated for that.

The audio quality on the recording is not amazing, and Frank
unfortunately managed to lose part two of the video (leaving only
parts one and three). He says this was a technical fault, but I'm
wondering if it wasn't because Dick Roche let slip about the EU plans
for world-domination, and "they" confiscated the video. Probably
not...

Anyway - Well done to Frank for scoring this interview!

Monday Cartoon: Britain and The 'F' Word

2009-05-18T02:15:00.001-07:00

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZLtpi0JhJp4/ShEmpCRABoI/AAAAAAAAAQc/Vv21cjgKakE/s1600-h/Britain+and+the+%27F%27+Word.JPG

Launching Citizen Europe (Lite)

2009-05-17T16:20:00.001-07:00

The Prudent Investor left a comment on one of my posts, here: http://citizen-europe.blogspot.com/2009/05/european-democracy-politicians-are.html

"Giuseppe, [EDIT: For that would be my name in Italian] nice blog. May I only suggest you change the colors as white script on dark backgrounds is tremendously eye-tiring (to the older geezers like me? Humans have got used to black on light backgrounds since Gutenberg."

Prudent has a point, and it's something that troubled me when I started up my blog. It's a question of access.

I like my blog. I like my colour scheme. I like all my gadgets and widgets and gizmos cluttering the place up.

But if you're reading my blog and you're colour-blind (or if you just don't have the eye-sight of a hawk) then you might not find my layout so stylish.

Moreover, if you're reading my blog on a mobile phone or if you're using a dial-up modem or have a dodgy internet connection, you might not appreciate all my widgets and gadgets and things.

So, I've started up another blog. It's exactly the same content as Citizen Europe, but it's just plain black text on a white background. There will be no pictures, videos, gadgets or widgets slowing down your connection (although I will try to provide text links to pictures and videos so you're not missing out).

The address is: http://citizen-europe-lite.blogspot.com/