In a post which appeared earlier this week Tobias asks us whether, given some of the possible consequences of a French “non”, it might not be reasonable to ’scare’ voters a little by spelling out some of the potential fallout which might follow a French rejection of the Constitution Treaty.
Perhaps the phrasing is unfortunate, [...]

No really.
“Local environmental workers in Hamburg have described it as a scene out of a horror or science fiction movie, with the bloated frogs agonizing and twitching for several minutes, inflating like a balloon before suddenly bursting.”
The arrival of Hollywood agents is probably only a matter of time…

Because no one has one. Well, no one has a public plan about how to handle one or more rejections of the European consitution in upcoming national referenda. But as the French referendum is approaching and the numbers do not look too good for the “yes” camp, unofficial Plan Bs are suddenly everywhere, if only [...]

For those who are interested, the German S?ddeutsche Zeitung has an amusing photo gallery of newspapers from around the world reacting to the new pope. It’s quite telling even if you don’t understand the German comments on the side. (”N?chstes Bild” means “next picture” - click there to take the tour.)

The Financial Times quotes former EU Commission President Romano Prodi on the consequences of a French rejection of the constitutional treaty.
?There would be no more Europe. We will pass through a long period of crisis.
?The problem will not only be a catastrophe for France, but the fall of Europe.?
This is arrant nonsense.
Nor is it [...]

Our own Nick Barlow is all over the UK election. So if he’s too busy to cross-post here, catch him in his native habitat at What You Can Get Away With.
Just because Blair’s a shoo-in doesn’t mean there aren’t interesting back-stories. Go read.

For late night thoughts, the New Scientist offers 13 problems for science.
From ultra-energetic cosmic rays to Martian methane, from tetraneutrons to the placebo effect, a baker’s dozen places where the gaps in our scientific knowledge may be openings for some very interesting learning.

Read [...]

Not mine, of course, the 50 novels from the Sueddeutsche Zeitung’s list. Since several of my recent book reviews have been negative or lukewarm, I’ll say here above the fold that the latest batch has indeed brought me in touch with literary greatness.

[...]

Not just in the production of reigning Popes, but also, according to according to a report from the Commission, in subsidies. (As reported in a German newspaper whose website really could be better organized.)
Germany spend ?16.5 billion on subsidies in 2003, the latest year for which statistics are available, nearly one-third of the EU-15 total [...]

(Latin speakers from the previous thread will be swift to offer corrections, I am sure.)
Linguistic confusion reigns in the early days of Benedict XVI. One local tabloid said a German was Pope, another claimed him as a Bavarian, the third as a M?nchner. The Bild-Zeitung said “Wir sind Papst,” which would literally mean “We’re Pope,” [...]