West Wing Week: May 20 - May 26, 2011

West Wing Week "OCONUS III: A Homecoming of Sorts"

This week, President Obama embarked on a six-day trip to Europe, visiting Ireland, the United Kingdom, France and Poland to engage our allies in the region on a host of issues. While overseas, the President pledged support for those back home affected by devastating tornadoes in Missouri and across the Midwest. Before leaving, the President met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and went to the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA. That's May 20th to the 26th, or "OCONUS (Outside the Continental United States) III: A Homecoming of Sorts.

Britain: 13th in survey of personal well-being in Europe

Britain has been ranked 13th in a survey of personal well-being in Europe that found Denmark, Switzerland and Austria the nicest places to live. Measure smiles, not just GDP: British 'among least happy in Europe' Tired, suspicious, bored and lonely: the British fare poorly in a new, detailed study which ranks European countries according to a sense of national contentment. Britain comes third from the bottom in western Europe in the National Accounts of Wellbeing report, published today. (link via guardian.co.uk) National Accounts of Well-being The personal well-being headline indicator measures people’s sense of how they are feeling within themselves and experiencing their lives. It is a combination of five component indicators which measure: emotional well-being; the extent to which people have a satisfying life; vitality; resilience and self-esteem; and positive functioning. I do think British society is becoming more and more negative generally, especially in regards to opinions and attitudes about young people. That would certainly affect people's self-esteem and sense of purpose. What are your thoughts about the results of the survey?

UK officially ratifies the EU Lisbon Treaty

Unfortunately, this outcome was predictable. Gordon Brown and his cronies have ratified the Lisbon Treaty: The UK has officially ratified the European Union's Lisbon Treaty. (link via BBC News)

UK and Ireland rank bottom in Quality of Life Survey

Oh dear. I know I tend to post a lot of negative articles about life in Britain and I try not to (I actually love living in England) but here's another one: Britons have the second lowest quality of life in Europe caused by high fuel prices, rising energy bills, long working hours and lack of sunshine, according to a new survey. European Quality of Life Index 1. Spain 2. France 3. Germany 4. Netherlands 5. Denmark 6. Sweden 7. Italy 8. Poland 9. UK 10. Ireland (link via telegraph.co.uk)

Unanimity from all the EU's 27 member states not required for Lisbon Treaty

EU Constitution author says referendums can be ignored (link via telegraph.co.uk)

Future referendums will be ignored whether they are held in Ireland or elsewhere, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the architect of the European Union Constitution said. The former President of France drafted the old Constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters three years ago before being resurrected as the Lisbon EU Treaty, itself shunned by the Irish two weeks ago. Mr Giscard d'Estaing told the Irish Times that Ireland's referendum rejection would not kill the Treaty, despite a legal requirement of unanimity from all the EU's 27 member states.

"We are evolving towards majority voting because if we stay with unanimity, we will do nothing," he said. "It is impossible to function by unanimity with 27 members. This time it's Ireland; the next time it will be somebody else." "Ireland is one per cent of the EU". Mr Giscard d'Estaing also admitted that, unlike his original Constitutional Treaty, the Lisbon EU Treaty had been carefully crafted to confuse the public. "What was done in the [Lisbon] Treaty, and deliberately, was to mix everything up. If you look for the passages on institutions, they're in different places, on different pages," he said. "Someone who wanted to understand how the thing worked could with the Constitutional Treaty, but not with this one."

Charming! So much for democracy in Europe.

And doesn't that ring alarm bells (!) to learn that the Lisbon EU Treaty has been deliberately worded to confuse the public? What are they trying to hide?

Ireland Votes NO to Lisbon Treaty!

Irish voters reject EU treaty Ireland today decisively rejected the Lisbon treaty on European Union reform, plunging the project into chaos. The European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, said he believed the treaty was still "alive", but was immediately contradicted by Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker – the longest serving leader in the EU - who said the Irish vote meant it could not enter into force in January 2009 as planned (link via guardian.co.uk) Eighteen countries have already ratified the Lisbon Treaty and it was due to come into force on January 1 if all nations agreed. Ireland was the only country to hold a referendum on the issue. I don't profess to understand all the implications of the proposed treaty but so far I haven't been convinced by any of the politicians that it would be a good thing, so I'm grateful to Ireland for their decision to reject the Lisbon Treaty of the European Union. Thank you Ireland! The EU's Lisbon Treaty explained in simple terms by The Telegraph What will the EU look like if Lisbon is passed? Lisbon Treaty explained - YouTube video produced by Galway for a Democratic Europe - Vote No Edited to add a link to an excellent post to explain the referendum result today and the repercussions: Hurrah for the Irish! on the BillCarmichael blog. (thanks for the link, Flighty!)