tagged w/ Brussels
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(Anyone else reminded of the Legion of Doom?)figg
By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels
While Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, has described his "Europa building" as a "jewel box", David Cameron has been less enthusiastic dubbing it a "gilded cage".
But perhaps even more unfortunate is the moniker the edifice, which will house Mr Van Rompuy's presidential office and be home to future Brussels summits from 2014, has earned from EU officials.
Built as a state of the art glass and wood wing to an existing Art Deco building, the complex will be focused around a womblike central structure providing a home for summits and meetings of Brussels officials or diplomats.
And it this organic looking "urn" shape has already been nicknamed the "E-Uterus" by Council of the EU officials who will be working in the new building.
"It looks like a womb and, I am sure, many grand visions of Europe will be birthed from there," quipped one official.
The building was unveiled to EU leaders by Mr Van Rompuy in a 14-page slick colour prospectus, produced at a cost of £100,000, when they sat down to a Brussels summit dinner on Thursday night formally dedicated to imposing a savage austerity programme on Greece.
Before discussing the Greek debt crisis that has threatened the existence of the euro, Mr Van Rompuy surprised EU leaders, who were tucking into a starter of scallops with artichoke vinaigrette, by trumpeting the venue, due to open in 2014, which will come complete with a "colourful woven carpet" to represent "European diversity".
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, expressed his anger at the promotion of a grandiose Brussels project at a moment when EU leaders were supposed to be taking tough decisions that would lead to painful austerity measures imposed on millions of people.
"When you see a document being circulated, a great glossy brochure about some great new building for the European Council to sit in, it is immensely frustrating. You do wonder if these institutions get what every country, what every member of the public, is having to go through as we cut budgets and try make our finances add up," he said.
"I do think it's important as we do that that the politicians aren't sitting in some gilded cage asking everyone else to take responsibility."
Bill Cash, chairman of the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee said: "We need an investigation into the extravagance and the cost of this Aladdin's palace. It is a cross between the bonfire of the vanities and Kafka's Castle."
Over the last 14 years, EU leaders, ministers and diplomats have been meeting in a building called the Justus Lipsius which is regarded as too cramped and drab to represent a body that has grown from 15 member states to 27.
The complex of buildings will also house the offices of Mr Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, a job created by the Lisbon Treaty.
Mr Cameron, who had dined the night before with other leaders on black cod with onion ragout washed down with a 2009 Sancerre wine, said that he regretted that the decision, taken seven years ago, to build a new EU venue could not be reversed.
"I've only been to this building seven times in the last year but it seems to me to be to do a perfectly good job. The microphones work, there is plenty of room and the food isn't bad either," he said.
With almost 27,000 sq metres of floor space, the new edifice is the latest development in a burgeoning post-Lisbon Treaty euro quarter in Brussels.
It will be a new environmentally friendly addition to the existing Residence Palace, built in the 1920s to houses luxury apartments for officials, commercial offices, a private theatre, swimming pool and restaurants.
The palace was requisitioned in 1940 as the headquarters of the German army during the Nazi occupation of Belgium during the Second World War.
Emma Boon of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "We're cutting back at home and we can't afford more ludicrous spending by Eurocrats. This is yet more evidence that we shouldn't hand any more money to Europe, they're already wasting the millions we give them each day." (more pics at site of the E-Uterus)LOL :/ sorta(Anyone else reminded of the Legion of Doom?)figg
By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels... more
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Located in Brussels, Belgium, the facility features a restaurant with portals for viewing the swimmers, simulated underwater caverns, and a 33m(108ft) deep diving zone.Located in Brussels, Belgium, the facility features a restaurant with portals for... more
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“Once a World’s Fair” is a collection of photographs by Jade Doskow; the series includes architectural images taken at World’s Fair sites all over the world, from both the 19th and 20th centuries. Doskow has been tracking down each site, one by one, to see how the once-grand spectacle sites exist today. She was interested in finding out about what happened to the World’s Fair as a concept, as well as in seeing how the old sites and structures are being used presently in their communities.
Doskow found that there has been considerable arbitrariness about how the sites and structures that remain from these large events currently exist in time. Often, the hosting city has used the fair as a purpose to turn an unused part of the city into a public park. Typically, it appeared that little foresight had been given to how the city could possibly afford to maintain these large and often strangely engineered buildings over time. In addition, she found that while the World’s Fair structures were meant to reference “the future,” in the actual future many of them appear poorly maintained, very outdated and quite odd.
This piece includes a number of high-resolution color photographs, a slide show and three documentary short films from other sources.
http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/once-a-worlds-fair-the-once-grand-spectacle-sites-today/“Once a World’s Fair” is a collection of photographs by Jade Doskow;... more
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Originally from Strasbourg (Albania) and inspired by the Belgian meaning of life. Kania Tieffer (her name is a flat french joke) is a girl doing faces obsessed by otters and creating short songs in her Brussels’ laboratory since 2005 with cheap keyboards for children, an old computer and an electric guitar… sounding like fake nonsense r’n’b or whatever lofi disturbed electropop.. Must listen.... http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php/poplo-fi/3849-kania-tieffer-le-sens-des-valeurs-the-eastern-worldOriginally from Strasbourg (Albania) and inspired by the Belgian meaning of life.... more
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worrg
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2 years ago
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In this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert eats at some Brussels restaurants and food stands. Like any large metropolitan city, Brussels offers a variety of cuisines. It's possible to get an affordable, traditionally Brussels meal at Tavern de Skieven Architek. The cheapest, fastest meal in Brussels is going to be found in Pita Alley, near La Grand-Place (guess what kind of food is served there). And a trip to Brussels wouldn't be complete without a Belgian waffle. So much sugar, and so much deliciousness.
Get more travel tips and videos at www.travelbugrobert.com.In this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert eats at some Brussels restaurants and food... more
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In this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert travels to Brussels, Belgium. This European city is the unofficial capital of the European Union. That being said, it has a similar feel to Washington D.C., only if D.C. were filtered through European sensibilities. Since Brussels is only EU's unofficial capital, it lacks the sweeping memorials like D.C. It does, however, have decent public transportation and some fine examples of Art Nouveau architecture from the turn of the 20th Century. You just need to keep your eyes open. The gorgeous buildings are sometimes stuck between stuffy office buildings.
Get more travel tips and videos at www.travelbugrobert.com.In this Travel Bug Robert episode, Robert travels to Brussels, Belgium. This European... more
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My heart goes out to North Dakota, who no longer have any items of note in their state. The KVLY-TV mast, was the world's tallest structure, until today's opening of Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai.) At 2,717 feet, it's the tallest man-made structure EVER. That being said, I've got a gripe here:
Why is everyone so excited about the tallest building in the world. Shouldn't we be focused on more important things? Namely the COOLEST building in the world? These are some potential candidates:
Jogno, Seoul - This building is so awesome. It looks like a regular building that is being attacked by a space creature. This would be the perfect disguise, if space creatures actually attack Seoul.
30 St Mary Axe, London - This building is nicknamed The Gherkin. A gherkin is a type of pickle. Pickles are a cool condiment. Ergo this is a cool building.
Guggenheim, Bilbao - Great design, obviously. More different than anything you've ever seen (unless you've every other Gehry building.) Why is this cool? Because any cool person who just got back from Spain, will go on endlessly about how cool this building is. As I am a sucker for circular reasoning, I'm going to have to agree with them.
Selfridges, Birmingham - Inside it's a department store, outside it looks like a vacuum cleaner. And as your OCD friend says, nothing is cooler than a clean room.
Atomium, Brussels - Who doesn't remember the 1958 Brussels World Fair? This structure is so cool, because it looks like it was built in the future. Today, we live in the future, and our buildings don't even look this cool. Which makes this building cooler than the future it predicted.
Kingdom Centre, Riyadh - This the 45th tallest building in the world, but remains the only building that reminds me of opening beer bottles. I bet this would be a painful daily reminder, if you were an alcoholic living in Saudi Arabia, where beer is outlawed.
Seattle Central Library - Yes, I am impressed by the unorthodox Koolhaas design. Yes, I think this is a great use of public space. But this building is really cool, because once I was walking around Seattle and I had to poop. Their bathrooms are open to the public, and pretty clean.
Do you have any other suggestions for world's coolest buildings?My heart goes out to North Dakota, who no longer have any items of note in their... more
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[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="959" caption="A farmer sprayed milk on police during a protest against falling milk prices outside the European Union headquarters Monday in Brussels. EU farm ministers are to discuss proposals in Brussels Monday on European dairy market rules to help milk farmers hit by falling prices. (Georges Gobet/AFP/Getty Images)"][/caption]
We covered another recent milk protest in Belgium:
Milk Protests in Belgium: Raw Video
Other recent Raw Videos:
- Flooding in Cambodia: Cambodia's Flash Floods (video)
- World's Smallest Girl in India: Raw Video
- Jellyfish Swarm Spain: Raw Video[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="959"... more
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Farmers angered by collapsing milk prices demonstrated in Brussels on Monday, pelting police with bottles and chickens. As shown in the amazing photo spraying officers with milk directly from a cow's udders.
The streets of Brussels were left covered in milk and manureFarmers angered by collapsing milk prices demonstrated in Brussels on Monday, pelting... more
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Farmers drove hundreds of tractors and a lone cow to the heart of the European Union bureaucracy on Monday, pelting police with bottles and chickens and dumping milk and manure onto the streets of Brussels in a protest against collapsing milk prices.
Over 2,500 farmers from across the EU burned tires and hay outside an emergency meeting of farm ministers.
They sprayed milk from huge canisters, and the cow's udder, on a square close to the meeting. The jittery cow was frightened by firecrackers, sprang loose and chased an office worker down the street before it was recaptured by the farmers.Farmers drove hundreds of tractors and a lone cow to the heart of the European Union... more
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ajrmy
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3 years ago
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RAWCUT
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3 years ago
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If you're a greenie, you probably already have a "thing" for recycling and can get preeeee-tty creative with empty cans and plastic bottles.
In spite of your imaginative repurposing skills, something tells me that you never considered doing what artist Jan Fabre has done for YEARS with beetles.
Talk about being a feast for the eyes....If you're a greenie, you probably already have a "thing" for recycling... more
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On April 24, 1964, the key architects of the “Brussels EU” – all of them active members of the IG Farben/Nazi coalition during WWII – met at the “Brussels EU” headquarters to stake their claims on the future of the European continent.
1. Walter Hallstein, a German lawyer, had been appointed the founding president of the so-called EU Commission, the highest body within the “Brussels EU.” In 1964, the time above meeting took place, he had already been the chief architect of the “Brussels EU” construct for seven years. Hallstein, not legitimized by any democratic vote anywhere in Europe, ruled like a “tsar” – imposed by the successors of the IG Farben oil and drug cartel – over an army of 3,000 administrative servants in Brussels and a budget of billions of Euros (in today’s currency).
2. Ludwig Erhard had been an economic consultant to the Nazi/IG Farben-coalition. He was founder and head of the Nazi-financed “Institut für Industrieforschung” (“Institute for Industry Research”) from 1942.
After World War II, Erhard became an economic consultant to the Allied forces and later Minister of Economic Affairs and Chancellor in post-war Germany. He was then a member of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU). In his functions, he was responsible for the reintegration of the IG Farben managers sentenced in Nuremberg for crimes against humanity into leading corporate positions in post-war Germany.
One of those to be “reintegrated” was BAYER's WWII director Fritz Ter Mer. This executive of the world’s largest pharmaceutical (!) company was convicted in the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal No. VI for genocide in connection with the deadly human experiments with patented Bayer drugs in the KZ Auschwitz (www.profit-over-life.org).
3. Ludger Westrick was chairman of the board, president, and later central trustee of the state-owned “Vereinigte Industrie-Unternehmen AG” (VIAG) during the Nazi era. In post-war Germany, Westrick joined the Christian Democratic Party (CDU).
By 1964 – at the time of the above meeting – he had been appointed head of the German Chancellery, one of the most powerful positions in the German political system. In that function he controlled all key decisions of German politics, including economics, foreign policy, secret service, political funds, public relations and propaganda of the post-WWII German government.
Westrick, the man on the above picture, was the immediate successor of Globke and had been introduced into his office by this man.
4. Karl Carstens was an enthusiastic Nazi follower, joining the SA in 1934. He was a registered member of the Nazi party, the NSDAP from 1940 on. In 1955 he became member of the German Christian Democratic Union. Concurrently, he advanced to the position of Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs with the defined field of responsibility: “European Questions.”
5. Karl-Günther von Hase joined the Wehrmacht, the German army in 1936. He participated in the Nazi-German Invasion of Poland in 1939, the Battle of France in 1940 and the Invasion of Russia from 1941 to 1945 and married the daughter of a Nazi-General. From 1962 to 1967 – including the time of the above meeting in Brussels – von Hase was head of the press office of the German government and responsible for its public relations and propaganda.
Only 19 years after the IG Farben/Nazi-coalition had caused the death of 60 million people and destroyed half of Europe during WWII, they were already at it again. Their third attempt to conquer Europe would not take place in military uniforms but in the grey suits of corporate and political stakeholders of the cartel.
Please have a look at the article itself as there is more information there. Also many translated documents are available on this site www.eu-facts.org which show the clear roots of the "Brussels EU."On April 24, 1964, the key architects of the “Brussels EU” – all of... more
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The Delirium Bar in Brussels has about 2,500 different beers on its menu. Apparently staff have to train for five weeks before they can work behind the bar. The menu is literally 200 pages long and a hot commodity for sticky-fingered tourists. I have a hard enough time choosing what to drink when there are five beers, but 2,500? I'd probably just panic and end up with something boring and obvious.The Delirium Bar in Brussels has about 2,500 different beers on its menu. Apparently... more
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Horse owners will have to sign a pledge not to eat their animals under new EU legislation, it has been reported.
The rule, aimed at continental Europe, where two million horses are reportedly eaten every year, will still have to be signed in Britain.
The Horse Identification Regulations, which will come into force at the beginning of next month, is partly to stop vets' drugs from entering human diets. Anyone who refuses to sign up to the regulations could face prison or an unlimited fine.
Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, said: "I'd like to be a fly on the wall when the Queen and Princess Anne are asked to sign a form saying they're not going to eat their horses. Measures to stop the trade in horse flesh may be a good thing. But any common sense in Brussels is drowned by the sheer weight of ludicrouse suggestions."
The new law has left British horse and stable owners perplexed.
Kate Gillanders, of Kindross, Pertshire, told The Sun: "We don't see our horses as cattle. The thought of them being eaten is utterly repulsive. Brussels is poking its nose in where it should not be."Horse owners will have to sign a pledge not to eat their animals under new EU... more
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A pilot aboard a Continental Airlines flight from Brussels to Newark. A co-pilot took over and the plane has landed safely in New Jersey.A pilot aboard a Continental Airlines flight from Brussels to Newark. A co-pilot took... more
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http://www.triponadeal.com - Eight great summer vacation deals that excite your senses but are nice to your wallet. How to get a cheap camper in New Zealand, with a roundtrip flight thrown in. What carribean island will pay you to relax on its sandy beaches? Plus trips to Europe, Asia and Alaska. That and more on this week's Trip on a Deal!
trip, deal, vacation, travel, deal, dude, alaska, bermuda, aruba, london, brussels, amsterdam, zealand, new_zealand, china, shanghai, beijing, Paradise_guest_ranchhttp://www.triponadeal.com - Eight great summer vacation deals that excite your senses... more
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Police in Brussels have arrested suspected al-Qaeda members planning on using suicide attacks on the European Union leaders' summit.
"We don't know where the suicide attack was to take place," federal prosecutor Johan Delmulle said.
"It could have been an operation in Pakistan or Afghanistan, but it can't be ruled out that Belgium or Europe could have been the target."Police in Brussels have arrested suspected al-Qaeda members planning on using suicide... more
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