Here we go again

This blog was started on May 15, 2008, to fight for a more democratic EU and, therefore, against the terms of the pre-constitutional legalistic text called Treaty of Lisbon, with a post containing only this declaration:

The Irish are the voice of all citizens of Europe

(Click on the title to read it in English, or click on the following links to read the same text in other language: português, français, deutsch, nederlands, español.

Sixteen months later, the deafness of our politicians forced many of us back to the fight.

This time, this blog will be used more as a support to others better organized, advertising initiatives and actions, reporting  news and results.

*****

It’s the end?

Klaus welcomes Swedish proposal on treaty stand-off
(Irish Times, Saturday, October 24, 2009)

Czech leader positive on Lisbon
(BBC News, Friday, 23 October 2009)

Czech leader ready to agree to EU changes
(United Press International, Oct. 23, 2009)

UE dá «prendas» ao presidente checo para aprovar o Tratado
(TVI 24, 24-10-2009)

Of the world as we know it? (click on the image to be directed to the video)


 

The last chance to stop the thing

The Lisbon treaty is an undemocratic constitutional instrument that effectively renders every nation state in Europe into a province of the European Union.
By accepting the treaty of Lisbon we collectively surrender the sovereignty and independence, that European nations have fought so hard to achieve.
When Ireland voted ‘No’ they were pressured to vote again, this time returning the ‘Yes’ result that the EU required. The only obstacle to the final ratification of the Lisbon treaty is one man; the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus.
So far he has demonstrated admirable courage and conviction in refusing to sign this treaty - but, following the Irish ‘Yes’ vote, he will be under increasing pressure to ratify it on behalf of the Czech people.
It is vital to lend Mr. Klaus our full support, and to make him aware that we are behind him and that we support his decision not to sign. If he holds out for a few months until the UK Conservative party gain power at the forthcoming general election there is every chance that the British people will insist upon their own referendum.

(Support Vaclav Klaus! Stop the Lisbon Treaty! on Facebook)
 
Sign (and promote) the petition
 
See the site of Kent Ekleroth, the author of the petition.
 

A glimpse on EU people’s Orwellian future

European illuminati illuminated unelected leaders are already preparing some goodies for their serfs citizens.

1.

The European Union is spending tens of millions of euros on an artificial intelligence system known as “Project Indect,” which would draw from multiple data sources, namely public surveillance cameras, in order to detect “threats” and recognize “abnormal behavior” across the whole continent.

Perhaps more chilling, the project promises “continuous monitoring” of “web sites, discussion forums, usenet groups, file servers, p2p networks [and] individual computer systems”. …

(‘Project Indect’: An A.I. to police all of Europe, Stephen C. Webster, Sept. 20, 2009, The Raw Story)

See also here.

2.


A separate EU-funded research project, called Adabts – the Automatic Detection of Abnormal Behaviour and Threats in crowded Spaces – has received nearly £3 million. Its is based in Sweden but partners include the UK Home Office and BAE Systems.
It is seeking to develop models of "suspicious behaviour" so these can be automatically detected using CCTV and other surveillance methods. The system would analyse the pitch of people’s voices, the way their bodies move and track individuals within crowds. …

(EU funding ‘Orwellian’ artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for "abnormal behaviour", Ian Johnston, 19 Sep 2009, Telegraph)

See also here.

3.

The EU Joint Situation Centre (SitCen) monitors and assesses events and situations worldwide on a 24-hour basis with a focus on potential crisis regions, terrorism and WMD-proliferation. The SitCen also provides support to the EU High Representative, Special Representatives and other senior officials, as well as for EU crisis management operations.
The SitCen is divided into three units: the Civilian intelligence Cell (CIC), comprising civilian intelligence analysts working on political and counter-terrorism assessment; the General Operations Unit (GOU), providing 24-hour operational support, research and non-intelligence analysis; and the Communications Unit, handling communications security issues and running the council’s communications centre (ComCen). …

(Written answers and statements, 27 June 2005, SiteCen, UK Parliament, TheyWorkForYou.com)

See also here.

Do you really want to live this way?

Ler em português sobre este assunto aqui.

The last glimmer of hope for democracy in the EU

is now upon this man alone: (click on the image to be directed to the video)

 

Of course, the same "democrats" that broke the will of the Irish people are already dealing with this little annoyance.

Democracy is officially dead in EU

Although there are no official results in yet, tallies everywhere are showing a big increase in support for the Treaty. (…)

(Lisbon tallies indicate massive Yes swing, Saturday, Saturday, 3 October 2009 11:53, RTÉ)

Europe lives now in a modern plutocracy.

Raymond Crotty’s efforts were in vain:

(…) More than 20 years ago the late Raymond Crotty won a case against the Irish Government which meant any EU rules that impacted on Ireland’s constitution must be approved by the people.
Mary Crotty said her father’s win has resulted in less than four million Irish people voting on behalf of half a billion Europeans on the Lisbon Treaty. (…)

(Daughter of referendum case winner urges ‘No’ vote, 30/09/2009 - 16:02:46, IOL News/Ireland On-Line)

On a first impression, the winners of this referendum were these:

(…) Two multinationals - Ryanair and Intel - are spending huge sums on the campaign to encourage a Yes vote. (…) Between them, Ryanair and Intel have contributed €700,000 to the Yes campaign, and huge contributions from Europe are also pouring in. (…)

(Euro federalists bully us and buy our vote, 27 September 2009, by Tom McGurk, Irish Post)

But if you think just a little more carefully, you can find the real winners of this poll:

(…) our consistent message is that Europeans must pool their efforts and resources.  We cannot continue to conduct the business of defence in separate national boxes.  The money is just no longer there, even in the biggest national defence budgets. (…)

(European Defence Industry Must Break Out of "National Boxes", EDA Chief Executive Nick Witney says, 9th International Exhibition of Defence & Security Technologies, IDET 2007)

The European Defence Agency was established in 2004 to create such a stronger European market for defence equipment. (…)

(European Defence Agency, Wikipedia)

(…) While European defence budgets remain fragmented and massive duplication in research and development exists, the European defence industry has made some moves towards consolidation. British Aerospace was widely expected to merge with Germany’s DASA to form the first major European defence giant. Instead in 1999 BAe merged with another British company, GEC’s defence businesses (GEC-Marconi), to form BAE Systems which has tended to focus on the Anglo-American market. As a result, in 2000, DASA merged with Aerospatiale-Matra to form EADS. Further consolidation of the smaller defence firms cannot be ruled out.

In 2002 the formation of MBDA brought together the product portfolios of Aerospatiale Matra Missiles (of EADS), Alenia Marconi Systems missiles, and Matra BAe Dynamics to form Europe’s No. 1 missile manufacturer and No. 2 globally after Raytheon.

Other major players include:
AgustaWestland
BAE Systems
Dassault Aviation
Diehl BGT Defence
Eurocopter
Eurofighter International
Finmeccanica
Krauss-Maffei
MBDA
Rheinmetall
Rolls-Royce
Saab Bofors Dynamics
Snecma
Thales
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems

(European Union defence procurement, Wikipedia)

Shame on you, Mr. Cow(ard)en

and on your friends from the European Commission!

‘Look at what happened to Iceland - I don’t want that to happen here’
LAST YEAR Louise Sheffield and her friend Barbara Keating were firmly in the No camp. The two mothers are in their early 30s. Women and those aged under 35 were two of the demographic groups that voted overwhelmingly against the Lisbon Treaty 16 months ago.
And Tallaght, where the two women cast their ballots yesterday, returned the highest No vote last year, with more than 65 per cent rejecting the treaty.
Yesterday, however, Louise and Barbara ticked the Yes box when they voted at Scoil Aonghusa in Tallaght.
"This might help the economy," said Barbara. "What harm can it do?" Louise agreed. "I didn’t know enough about the treaty last year but I feel better informed this time," she said.
"We need it because we need to be part of the plan for economic recovery."

(Two Sides, Two Constituencies, Saturday, October 3, 2009, Mary Fitzgerald on the Irish Times)


How did you end frightening women?

What’s next, frightening little children? How lower can you get?

Sir, this time vote NO for me, please

The only thing that I don’t get about this second Lisbon vote thing on Friday is how many people are taking it seriously. This is an absolute sham. It makes a mockery out of everything democracy is meant to stand for. (…)

I made no secret nor apology that I voted Yes last year, and if I went back in time and had to vote again, then I would most definitely be voting yes. Friday isn’t going back in time and doing it again however. Friday is proof of why nothing you say or do really matters in Ireland.

Those who flip from a No to a Yes this time around are acknowledging that they were fucking idiots last year, with their heads totally stuck up their own arseholes. (…)

That’s why I’m not voting on Friday. I’m not sure if I will abstain completely or just spoil my vote. (…)

("Lisbon: Part Deux", posted by Gamma Goblin, 30-Sep-2009, on Riemann’s Cut blog)

Sir, you are consulted twice (and more, for sure, if you don’t give the "correct" answer). I’ve not been consulted, despite what was promised to me, and to all the other 9 million 999 thousand Portuguese. Please, consider voting NO for me, this time. It would be only fair, don’t you think?

More arguments real and significant to vote NO

If you are happy with the current Dublin Government, the half million jobless, savage budget cuts on public services, re-introduction of student fees, drastic loss of Irish sovereignty and neutrality, by all means vote yes.
However if like me, you desire a social Ireland, playing a progressive role in a social Europe, then stand up for the over 500 million EU citizens denied a vote, stand up for our children, for the future of Ireland, and for Europe and vote No!
(Use democracy for democracy’s sake - vote No! Posted by Ógra Shinn Féin, September 28, 2009)
 
  
 (click on the images to see them full sized)
 

Arguments real and significant to vote NO


If the Yes vote wins through on Friday – it will be a really sad day for democracy. We’ll never get the chance to Vote on anything as significant as this again and all because we were greedy, ignorant and lazy. So greedy that we felt the only way to line our pockets with cash again would be to vote yes. So ignorant towards what is in the actual treaty to vote Yes and so lazy to take the time out to actually see how the treaty will affect us in the future.
A simple look at how much of a difference our No vote made the last time round is just a sign of what is to come. When we ratify this treaty, they won’t have to ask us what we think again, they can just go ahead and do whatever the hell they like. The voice of the people will not be heard when it comes to Europe making decisions that could affect all of our lives.
(Last post on Lisbon Treaty II, Posted by Tom Doyle, Sep. 29)
 

Lisbon: Bad for all Europeans

Time for change - the first step is to say No.

Military spending is the only area where Lisbon demands an increase – no mention of health or education. And neutrality is completely out the window. Article 31 makes clear that decisions under the Common Foreign and Security Policy would be very difficult to veto. And if we disagreed with a decision, the loyalty and gagging clauses in Article 24 mean that Irish representatives could not speak out at places like the UN. An EU armed force is envisaged in Article 42. The military industries are incorporated into European treaty law as the Eureopan Defence Agency – to which all must contribute. A sub-group of well-armed states can form their own alliance within the EU, linking up to NATO, and go to war outside Europe – using the resources provided by all EU countries. Willie O’Dea has just published a Bill saying Ireland could join such a military alliance by a decision of the Dáil – no mention of a referendum. Nor is a UN mandate is needed for EU military action.

 

Time for Change - Women Say No To Lisbon

Women Say No To Lisbon, Buswells Hotel, Dublin, 11am Wednesday, September 30 2009

… Article 207 of the treaty removes the veto governments now have on the EU’s international proposals to liberalise health, education and social services. Keeping the power to veto proposals could help us tthat would let even more multinationals make profits from essential services.

click on the image to be directed to the home page of the site

Campaign Against the EU Constitution