Paddington? A typical example of migrant

The popular bear is more than a fictional character for children

by Emanuele Bonini

Probably it doesn't need presentations, because is a well famous character. It is British, but not really. We talk about Paddington, the bear who brought smiles and happiness to all the kids in the United Kingdom and beyond. Because still remaining an important character of the British culture, Paddington bear is in the house of many and many people all around the world. It's impossible to imagine what moms tell their children when they read about Paddington's adventures, but it would be useful to keep in mind that Paddington is first of all a migrant. Of course it is a nice and sweet teddy bear, but it basically remains a migrant. Let explain this to our children, let start reading between the lines, and maybe one day they will discover migrants don't represent a threat. Paddington Bear is a fictional character in children's literature created by Michael Bond, and appeared for the first time in 1958. In the first story, Paddington is found at Paddington railway station in London by the Brown family, sitting on his suitcase with a note attached to his coat that reads «Please look after this bear. Thank you». It is explained that the bear comes from the deepest Perù.

The disgusting hypocrisy of Europe on migration

All divided on redistribution, all unite on return. Always ready to exploit African resources, never ready to accept Africans. The EU agenda? A way to say we don't want anybody

Opinion

Wouldn't be easier and more honest say Europe doesn't want immigrants? What we are seeing with the European debate on the agenda for migration is a pitiful and shameful show. Something really disgusting, I would add. Resettlement? Relocation? Redistribution? Nothing of all that. The European agenda for migration is nothing but return. People arriving in Europe have to be identified and pushed back to their country of origin, and that's it. European leader clearly agreed on that. The European answer to this humanitarian crisis has to be a European mechanism of identification and return. Don't call it expulsions, because it is about no admission that we talk about. It doesn't matter where people are coming from, the key point is that people entitled to get the refugee status can stay, while all the other have to leave. The main political issue is how to save face both at home and outside. After an extraordinary European Council summit meeting summoned in order to find a solution to the migration flows, European leaders have to show their capacity in delivering of outcomes. At the same time they can't say their national electors that they are going to spend energy or money to take care of foreigners. Hypocrisy is ruling Europe right now.

FACT SHEET / European Parliament political groups

EFDD and ENF are both expression of Euroscepticism

Far-right anti-EU parties form a political group

Marine Le Pen will chair Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), the new entity of the European Parliament. Xenophobic decision makers gain 17.5 million Euro

by Emanuele Bonini

Far-right Euroscepticism found a political house in the European Parliament, thanks to the new Europe of Nations and Freedom group formed today. French National Front leader Marine Le Pen announced the rise of the new coalition, formed by the most xenophobic parties in Europe. ENF group is in fact represented by FN (France), Lega Nord (Italy), Pvv (the Netherlands), Fpo (Austria), Vlaams Belangs (Belgium), former UKIP MEP Janice Atkinson (United Kingdom), and two MEPs from KNP (Poland), Michał Marusik and Stanisław Żółtek. Anti-EU, anti-Euro and anti-immigration, the new block wants to re-shape the traditional political agenda. «The EU is not the right way», said Marine Le Pen, who will chair the ENF group. «Ours will be a political force that will go far beyond our previous situation. We’re here for our peoples, for their freedoms».
  Far-right parties tried to form a political group already one year ago, immediately after the European general elections. In that occasion was not possible meet the minimum requirements (at least 25 members from at least 7 different countries of the EU). Marine Le Pen «now takes her rightful place at the front of the European Parliament in opposition to the Brussels cartel», stated Janice Atkinson, among those who made the creation of the group possible. With 36 MEPs already registered, the ENF group is supposed to reach 40 members in the coming days, when the Parliamentary delegations currently in mission outside Europe will be back. The creation of a political group grants far-right eurosceptic parties grants 17.5 million Euros over the remaining four years of the Parliament.

bLOGBOOK - The scapegoat

A special section dedicated to special people and special memories. A book might not be enough, but collecting some words doesn't hurts

Chapter 2: Paola 

The scapegoat is an ancient and mythological figure, but in modern times scapegoat refers to someone who is unfairly blamed by others for problems. She is our scapegoat just because of that. Nicknames have always uncertain origins, and in this sense she is not an exception. Probably she started to be called "scapegoat" after that famous night, when her former boyfriend started to scream against her in the middle of a party, apparently with no real practical reasons. I think everything started that night. From that night - a night still living in our minds - she officially became the scapegoat. I met Paola well before that night, when she was still a secondary school. I started to deal with her only after that period, once both of us went to the university. I guess it had just question of time: our small towns are truly small, and very very close each other, so it was logic and natural we found together after all. I started to remember Paola as a restless girl, always in movement and constantly in searching of some experience. Somebody could call al that will to live, and it wouldn't be wrong. Everything was supposed to be something to discover and to share. OK, she's not an easy person (it's she who repeats to be «grumpy», and I have to say I can't deny), but she always liked being with other people. Among Paola's skills there is that one of socialization. Left alone in an empty room she could easily find the way to socialise with ants. Of course at last she will find the way to get out of there, too. But this another story. But her very particular special power is finding a parking. With her leaving the car somewhere is never a problem. If I think that I probably have a super-hero for friend and that the same person is known as "scapegoat", I can't avoid thinking how unfair life can be. But that's life, and in particular a scapegoat life.

Pressmen, chapter 6

Star System

In Hollywood rules the so called "star system". Basically, a person can have the chance to count only if present. If you're not there you don't exist: that's what the star system is about. But there is no need to travel to Hollywood in order to find a star system. Any press card is sufficient to live like in Hollywood. Journalist means star, no way. Any journalist lives to become a super-star. Any journalist wants to be the king of this star system. So pressmen basically are everywhere, because this is the only way they have to be. Of course they simply are, according to the press world commandments. Anyway, put into the star system pressmen have to appear. It doesn't matter how, the only thing that really counts is to appear. There are several methods to live the star system: one of the most popular is giving the impression to be in a place without being. In this case pressmen work comfortably at their own office in their home town, writing as they are somewhere else. For example, when a journalist in Rome has to write about a F1 race which took place in Prague, at the beginning of his article he will write «Prague, 13 March...». Rules and professionals ethics would require the journalist to write the name of the city where he is, but rules and professional ethics are for beginners. Once a man gets a press card he becomes a journalist. And journalists have no ethics and, above all, are gods. Thus, they can modify rules at any times. Using the name of the city for their articles, journalists can show the world to be correspondent, to travel, to be real scoop-hunters. They basically can demonstrate to be there, in full compliance with the star system basic rule: if you're not there you don't exist. Even if it is totally untrue, pressmen are everywhere and in this way they exist.

Corporate tax, new action plan with old strategy

The latest EU package for a fairer system will re-launch a project from 2011

by Emanuele Bonini

CCCTB, let's try again. On Wednesday the European Commission will adopt Action Plan to make corporate taxation fairer, more efficient and more transparent in the EU. Despite the purposes behind this proposal, the main fact is the European Commission is re-proposing something at least five years old. In fact, as they perfectly know in Brussels, the project for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), was launched already in March 2011. Making a comparison we have nothing but a «re-launch» of the ancient proposal, as admitted by the same European Commission. But what is the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB)? It is a single set of rules that companies operating within the EU could use to calculate their taxable profits. In other words, a company or qualifying group of companies would have to comply with just one EU system for computing its taxable income, rather than different rules in each Member State in which they operate. The 16th of March, 2011, the European Commission proposed to the Member States to introduce the CCCTB. In that occasion the idea was to set a common system for calculating the tax base of businesses operating in the EU, although the CCCTB was not compulsory. On the contrary, it was foreseen that the CCCTB could be optional for companies.

FACT SHEET/ The carbon Cycle

Image source: The carbon cycle, NASA Earth observatory

The most important GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2), which persists in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Other important GHGs are methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases. CO2 has the largest impact on climate change. In 2014, the average atmospheric concentration of CO2 was almost 400 parts per million (ppm), up from 280 ppm in pre-industrial times.

   The carbon cycle is the flow of carbon through the earth's systems. Carbon is released by plants, soils and oceans, and taken up by plants and oceans, and over very long time periods (thousands of years) also by rocks. A CO2 molecule, made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, is created when carbon reacts with oxygen, for example in the burning of wood or when humans and animals breathe. CO2 is destroyed when the carbon is separated from the oxygen, for example by plants through photosynthesis.

   Human activities lead to additional releases of carbon, from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and land use change, as well as cement production. About half of this additional carbon is taken up by plants and oceans, while the rest remains in the atmosphere as CO2. However, the take-up of CO2 in plants and oceans appears to be slowing down, as these carbon stores become saturated. Carbon dioxide removal would involve modifications of elements of the carbon cycle to enhance the uptake and storage of CO2 in biomass, soils, oceans and geological formations

Is Russia a friend? The European debate is open

In Strasbourg the EU Parliament called on a review of bilateral ties, while in Brussels there was who preferred share other ideas. Completely different

by Emanuele Bonini

Russia is no longer a strategic partner of the EU. Or maybe it is. That's the dilemma that is dividing Europe, as usual happens in case of hot dossier. It could be said that without division a dossier wouldn't be hot, and this true. But apparently the leopard can not change its spots, thus once again the EU is acting under the "business as usual scenario", that one of different voices. Basically what happened basically was the vote of the European Parliament on Russia, immediately disavowed by the member States. We talk about Italy, to be precise. In Strasbourg MEPs passed a resolution (494 votes to 135, with 69 abstentions) condemning Russia for «deliberate violation of democratic principles, fundamental values and international law with its violent action and destabilisation of its neighbours». Any reference to Ukraine is not entirely fictional, in fact MEP Gabrielius Landsbergis (EPP), rapporteur of the resolution, had no problem to say «with its aggression against Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, the Russian leadership has put our relations at a crossroads». Somebody could define all this "state of play", somebody else "diplomacy". Anyway, with its vote the European Parliament called the EU «critically re-assess its relations with Russia», which means the EU «must devise a soft-power contingency plan to counter Russia’s aggressive and divisive policies». Meanwhile in Brussels the Italian minister for Foreign affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, clearly stated that in Italy opinion «there is the need to look at the future», which means «a framework of ties with Russia has to be re-established because the country is strategic for Europe».

Maia

Oops, I did it again. I wanted to come back being an author, so I wrote Maia. It wasn't my intention, to be honest. But, you know how it works: once the inspiration comes, so does the story. And here we have Maia, something new, something different. How new and how different? Well, I leave the audience answer these questions by clicking here or on the right side of this blog. I can only say Maia marks an historical moment, being the first work in another language. So, enjoy. As usual, Maia is in "my books" section.