The good news continues
Jacques Barrot, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport, inaugurated the TGV Est high-speed line. This completed the first phase of work on the largest railway engineering project at the start of this century, which the European Union has cofinanced to the tune of €241 million. The 300 kilometres of track already built between Paris and Baudrecourt in Lorraine are the first section of a 1 500-kilometre European railway line intended to link Paris and Bratislava via Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Munich and Vienna.
Slovakia’s economic growth in the last quarter of 2007 increased from 9.4% in the third quarter to a surprising 14.1%. Although a small part of this increase was caused by one-off excise tax income related to increasing stock of tobacco products created due to the expected increase of excise tax on these products.
The Japanese company, Sony, has stated that it has serious interest in further investments in Slovakia. It plans to establish a logistic and distribution centre to provide direct deliveries to Slovakia and European markets including Germany, the UK, Ukraine, Italy and Scandinavia.
According to the Minister of Economy, Jan Pociatek, Slovakia should not have any problems with meeting the inflation related Maastricht criterion. “Everything is under control. I do not foresee any unexpected developments regarding Slovak inflation compared to the Euro-zone,” he said speaking to Reuters before a meeting of EU Ministers of Finance. Slovakia’s plan to meet the budget criterion was on the agenda of the meeting.
Globalisation's chief winner pictured
"If we had as little bureaucracy as the EU we would have to cut two thirds of our civil servants."
Hannes Androsch
Photographer.’ I can tell I’m in Europe againâ€"there’s an artsy creative feel to these cities that seem to give them a progressive edge over many American cities. Although Millennium Park in Chicago is one place that comes to mind that always reminded me of something I’d find in Europe. The plazas and lanes here burst with life and public art mixes with form and nature. After 7pm,
families come out with their kids for a refreshing gelato treat, lovers nuzzle and purr into each others ears on benches lining the park, girlfriends laugh and chat over a glass of wine, and the tourists snap happy photos of this fairy tale scene that is real life Slovak-style.
Something hard not to notice hereâ€"the people are all beautiful. I have to say, so far on my trip, these
are the most gorgeous women, as a group, that I’ve encountered. Of course, I’ve seen pretty Asians, Australians, Argentineans, and Emiratis (at least their eyes were amazing), but the majority of the gals I pass here could all be walking right off the runway of a fashion show. You know them as all the eastern European models on the pages of the fashion mags: extremely tall with legs up to their neck, thin, and nearly perfect.
Another sign I’m in Eastern Europe? Beer is the breakfast of choice here with many locals. Every morning I would undoubtedly see guys hanging out at cafes way before noon with a couple pints of lager and a cigarette. I like to do as the locals do, but I still prefer a latte and maybe some eggs over easy. Or a bagelâ€"something else Slovakia has. I haven’t seen one of these since…hmmm….maybe Australia, but I honestly don’t recall any there either.
The one odd thing that stands out amidst the scene of medieval delightâ€"besides the rows and rows of
communist apartment buildings just on the ‘other’ side of town and the Soviet super highway that was built right
through the old Jewish quarter destroying dozens of old buildings in its path â€"is the local McDonald’s. But even it is brimming with life under the umbrellas on its alfresco ‘McCafe.’ And even this little slice of America somehow, if it’s possible, takes on an air of European charm.
By Caroline Briggs
BBC News
The Power of Nightmares began as a three-part documentary
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 thrust documentary film into the spotlight
at the Cannes Film Festival when it won the Palme d'Or for best film. The
Power Of Nightmares, by British documentary-maker Adam Curtis.
The powerful film looking at how fears over an organised Al-Qaeda terror
network have come to dominate US and UK politics was shown on the BBC last
year.
But organisers approached Curtis and asked him to make the three-part
documentary into a single film to be shown Out of Competition at the
festival.
Curtis is on the Riviera to watch the film premiere under the glare of the
world's media at the Palais on Saturday night.
"I'm really interested in why this lot - the cineastes and arty lot - are
interested in politics and factual stuff, and I think it is because they
have run out of ideas for fiction.
"People like me are interesting because we are describing the world in a
new sort of way."
Curtis used Gus Van Sant's Last Days - which is in competition for the
Palme d'Or - as an example of what he believes is lacking in current films.
The film is loosely based on the final days of Nirvana frontman Kurt
Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994.
Beautiful evocation
"I thought it was a good film, but I thought it is typical of a lot of
films of our time - they don't really know what to say about the world,"
Curtis explained.
"They can describe it beautifully, and Last Days was exactly that. It was a
beautiful, beautiful evocation of the horror of an event, but it didn't
explain it to you, and it almost didn't explain to you deliberately.
"It was sort of like, 'I'm going to just show what it was like to be
there', and that is what Last Days was like."
Curtis said Van Sant's direction was typical of the current emotional
climate about the importance of the individual running through the veins of
society.
"Film-makers have other responses to the world other than their own
emotions. We are living in a time when emotions rule everything.
"In a sense Mr Van Sant is being completely honest and true, which is
probably what a good artist does, but actually the only way you can be true
at the moment in terms of being an individual is to say 'well I feel this',
and that is his feeling about Columbine or about Kurt Cobain.
"I think the really difficult thing to do in our time is analyse why people
like Mr Van Sant only have that response."
Curtis believes Gus Van Sant relies on personal emotions for his movies
Curtis said The Power of Nightmares attempted to explain the modern world
and put it in context with the individual.
He said: "I think the cineastes and film-makers are getting quite
interested [in The Power of Nightmares] because a lot of their fiction has
run into a dead end.
"The film I have just made is about the relationship between individuals
and society.
"Film doesn't seem to want to 'do society' any longer, its sort of given up
on this, it is just about 'I feel this', which seems to be a condition of
our time.
"I haven't seen a movie that deals with society for 20 years."
The Power of Nightmares explains how Curtis believes the vision of an
Islamic terror network has been distorted by politicians intent on creating
a climate of fear.
I will have to make it absolutely clear that I am not saying there is no
terrorist threat, but it isn't as simple as you are being told
Adam Curtis
The film makes it clear there are fanatical individuals willing to conduct
acts of terror, but shows there is no formal terrorist Al-Qaeda
organisation.
Talks are underway at Cannes with distributors who are keen to show the
film in the US. Curtis said he hoped any screening of the film would open
up a "critical debate" in the US about the existence of Al-Qaeda and the
wider terrorist threat touted by politicians.
"I will be questioned a lot, but maybe this is rather optimistic, I think
there is a sense in the backs of people's minds that things don't quite add
up.
"I will have to make it absolutely clear that I am not saying there is no
terrorist threat, but it isn't as simple as you are being told. The threat
has been over-simplified in the wake of September 11.
"I hope that would receive a decent critical response, rather than an
emotional response."
This is very similar to other 3rd world countries, pseudodemocracies &
other oligarchies.
May I also suggest some newly incompatible word pairs that will elicit
mirth in the future.
love & marriage
first-time (home) buyer
career path
job satisfaction
constructive criticism
impartial advice (especially financial)
public relations
objective reporting
words that cannot be used in any context
civic
progressive
left
prudent
loyal
committed
generous
pro-bono
open-minded
re-distribution
I will refer to a simple thing about the American example, that I think might give one a good reason to think twice..
FROM BBC
"For the 1.5 million Americans who go through bankruptcy in an average year, medical bills are the leading cause. For all of that, you would think there would be a loud and visible constituency for healthcare reform.
You would think there would large demonstrations, or at least aggressive lobbying for change. But there is very little."
The Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia, Ivan Sramko, stated on Tuesday that Slovakia is to start meeting the Maastricht inflation criterion in September 2007.Adam Smith (The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759):
also...
Theodore Roosevelt ("New Nationalism" speech, 1910): "I believe in a
graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more
easily collected and far more effective-a graduated inheritance tax on big
fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly with
the size of the estate."
We have come to a major milestone in economic development in Slovakia. According to latest estimates by Eurostat, Slovakia is to achieve the second highest ranking in standard-of-living among the Visegrad 4 countries, moving ahead of Hungary in terms of GDP per capita.
Slovakia has exhibited an outstanding GDP growth in recent years, which is becoming tangible. A strong and stable economy means more local spending power.
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