From Wikimedia Commons So Mitt Romney goes to London and insults the British, just as they’re preparing for the biggest event in England since the release of the last Harry Potter movie. The gaffe, in which Romney questioned London’s preparedness for the event, honestly made me scratch my head. What was he thinking? Politically, there was no upside. He didn’t make himself look better, nor did he seem more presidential. Ideologically there was n...
...h futures of pain and deformity. Almost thirty years later, hundreds of broken children crawl, attempt to walk, or sit quietly in their wheel chairs at Bhopal’s mock Olympics to protest the involvement of Dow Chemicals in the London 2012 Games. Dow Chemicals, the corporation which now owns Union Carbide, has decided to sponsor the world’s biggest extravaganza but refuses to help the children whose lives they destroyed or even the community they p...
...Ireland acted as a possible bellwether for nationalist campaigns in other British regions. But most importantly, when it came to the home rule referendum, the Scottish people – operating through their Members of Parliament in London – lacked direct control over their vote and the discourse that surrounded it. Lasting from the introduction of devolution legislation in 1976 aimed at creating a Scottish parliament with limited power until the 1979 v...
...hole for tourists, atrophied from real Parisian life. Of course, the Champs-Élysées is not the first street to be stripped of its historic and sentimental value and pimped out by corporations. Oxford Street in the West End of London is a good example of a similar story, as is the whole city of London, arguably. Certainly Times Square is no longer alive or of value to anyone who spends more than a week in New York, and is meant as more of a theme...
from Wikimedia Commons Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s trip to the United Kingdom received heightened media coverage after he told NBC’s Brian Williams, “There are a few things that were disconcerting. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials…that obviously is not something which is encouraging.” Romney’s critical commentary on the London Olympic...
...consider the four to eight years in office as a time to get America back on track.” The British, it seems, aren’t so worried about ostentation, and proved it with Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee. The June event began in London with a four-day celebration of the 60th year of her reign, the crown jewel of which was the flotilla parade that went gliding down the Thames. Royal barges, single-man canoes, military vessels, boats with names like G...
...r choice to participate in the games. After the opening ceremony Wojdan left the stadium for the remainder of her stay to train at a private, undisclosed location, so as to insure she would not mix with men during her time in London. Wojdan confessed in a private post-match interview that the big crowds in the stadium scared her. Despite all of these disconcerting realities, the New York Times reports that, “Olympic officials praised the match as...
...nent and his running mate are new to foreign policy”. Romney created further doubts about his ability to be Diplomat-in-Chief when his comments made during an international tour expressing doubts regarding the security of the London Olympics nearly created an international incident with our “special friend” Britain. Obama regularly criticizes Romney for the gaffe, and it’s something that Obama will surely attempt to cite in tonight’s debate. Toni...
...problematic. In Tunisia, the presence of revolutionary forces outside the state was not an issue, and in fact led to a swift transition as Rashid al Gannoushi, leader of the Nahda (Renaissance) movement, arrived from exile in London just days after Ben Ali fell. In Syria, however, the Syrian National Council which I have previously written about here has faced leadership struggles throughout the prolonged transition process. A national movement s...
...ep forward in the march towards universal human rights and the rule of law.” Other scholars contend that the Court is essentially irrelevant. Spyros Economides, an International Relations and European Politics lecturer at the London School of Economics, has argued that the Court’s independence and capacity to act have been “sacrificed… at the altar of state sovereignty.” And in some diplomatic circles, critics like Henry Kissinger argue the other...
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