Clipmarks | righthand's Europe collection

What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:45:52 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Finland's teens score extraordinarily high on an international test. American educators are trying to figure out why.

High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7

Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules. Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal. But by ninth grade they're way ahead in math, science and reading -- on track to keeping Finns among the world's most productive workers

Tags: finland, children, education

Really Bloody Awful WW1 photos of DEATH

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:05:19 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: Be Warned. Some of these will SHOCK!

After WW2m the German citizens were brought to the death camps to see the horror practised in their name. Any advocating war against ANYONE - Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Cuba, whoever - should first have to view such photos. There are worse on the site, if you dare.

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Personal effects: British prisoners of war assisting German soldiers in searching the dead

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Looking back

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

C

hanging on the barbed wire

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

French trench: living and dead together

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Unbearable

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Left behind

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

C

victim of a gas attack

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Serious lesions of burns of the genitals

musterd gas burned right through his clothes

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Go for a ride

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Body count

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Young Belgian electrocuted

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Defeat

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Rest

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Friend less

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Burial

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

No time for burial

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

German soldier boy

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Female Russian soldier raped and killed

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Austrian soldiers hanging villagers in Serbia

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Country Road

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

German soldiers executing Russian villagers accused of spying

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Unfinished cemetery

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Field of glory?

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

After the Battle

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Eternal Rest

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Digging Job

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Path of Glory

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

What Dreams May Come

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

Lined Up

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

BLOODY PICNIC

Clip Source: www.greatwar.nl

On the Battlefield

Tags: ww1, history, photos

Rome style Ethnic Cleansing of Roma Gypsies!

Sat, 17 May 2008 12:21:27 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Firefighters inspect the remains of a Gypsy camp set alight in Naples after a resident was accused of trying to abduct a baby

68% of Italians want Roma expelled - poll

· Government accused of stoking racial tension
· Yobs boast of ethnic cleansing after attacks

Sixty-eight per cent of Italians, fuelled by often inflammatory attacks by the new rightwing government, want to see all of the country's 150,000 Gypsies, many of them Italian citizens, expelled

70,000 Gypsies in Italy hold Italian passports, including about 30,000 descended from 15th-century Gypsy settlers in the country. The remainder have arrived since, many fleeing the Balkans during the 1990s

10,000 Gypsies came from Romania after it joined the European Union in January 2007, according to an Italian human rights organisation, EveryOne, part of the approximately half million Romanians believed to be in Italy

Romanians were among the 268 immigrants rounded up in a nationwide police crackdown on prostitution and drug dealing

Italy

Tags: italy, ethnic.cleansing, fascist, racism, eu

Vagina Bicycle

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:27:59 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: You've got to see it to believe it.

Clip Source: jalopnik.com

Finnish artist Mimosa Pale feels the world is too man-parts-centric. We'd agree. However, we're not sure what to think about a form of protest that includes thrice weekly cruising the streets of Helsinki. inviting its inhabitants to take a ride by slipping inside her giant disembodied vagina mounted on top of her bike taxi.

Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation

Fri, 23 May 2008 22:55:10 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: The company says an application error by the seed company which failed to use the glue-like substance that sticks the pesticide to the seed, led to the chemical getting into the air.

Bayer spokesman Dr Julian Little told the BBC's Farming Today that misapplication is highly unusual. "It is an extremely rare event and has not been seen anywhere else in Europe," he said.

Clothianidin, like the other neonicotinoid pesticides that have been temporarily suspended in Germany, is a systemic chemical that works its way through a plant and attacks the nervous system of any insect it comes into contact with.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency it is "highly toxic" to honeybees.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Bees gather around a honeycomb

Pesticides: Germany bans chemicals linked to honeybee devastation

Germany has banned a family of pesticides that are blamed for the deaths of millions of honeybees

The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has suspended the registration for eight pesticide seed treatment products used in rapeseed oil and sweetcorn

The move follows reports from German beekeepers in the Baden-Württemberg region that two thirds of their bees died earlier this month following the application of a pesticide called clothianidin

"It's a real bee emergency," said Manfred Hederer, president of the German Professional Beekeepers' Association. "50-60% of the bees have died on average and some beekeepers have lost all their hives."

Tests on dead bees showed that 99% of those examined had a build-up of clothianidin

It was applied to the seeds of sweetcorn planted along the Rhine this spring

Tags: eu, animals, usa, environment

False Flags you may know about?

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:53:40 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: Should we learn from what we now know of these incidents from our recent past and what we now know to be the truth, that we should not trust what our governments about what appears to be the situation. We only seem to have achieved to give away the rights that our citizen gained. For what? Increased security? What increased security and at what cost in money and loss of liberties?

The security fascist who were the bottom of the labour chain, now control our every move. The lunatics are running the asylum! No wonder the citizens were never more afraid!

Clip Source: www.helium.com

Is al Qaeda to blame for summer 2007 bomb scares in London?

History has proven beyond a doubt that the majority of "Terrorism" and terrorist incidents we have witnessed since WWII are in fact State-sponsored terror

There is now enough official declassified evidence available to the public which document this disturbing trend of "False Flag" attacks by Western Governments

Documented examples include the Reichstag Fire(

Operation Ajax(1953 CIA Coup in Iran

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

USS incident (Israel's destruction of a decorated US ship

Operation Gladio- the CIA & NATO's terror operations in Italy

infamous Bologna Bombing of 1980.

All these events provided the context for a major conflict, the installation of an authoritarian regime, or to further a wider global agenda

In each

every case, the media covered the initial lie, while history eventually revealed the truth

All each case, the government and the media immediately produced a set of terrorists

history eventually found them to be innocen

Tags: falseflag, cia, vietnam, iran, italy, uk

They had sex WHERE?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:32:12 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.embarrassing.us

Church Sex

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

They had sex WHERE?

Wed

An Italian couple who were caught having sex in a church confessional box while morning Mass was being said have repented and made peace with the local bishop

The couple, in their early 30s, were detained by police earlier this month after they had made love in the confessional box in the cathedral in northern Cesena. They were cautioned for obscene acts in public and disturbing a religious function

Their lawyer said they had been drinking all night and realized they had gone too far

The lawyer told the area's local newspaper on Wednesday the couple met with the local bishop on Tuesday night, asked for his forgiveness and that he had given it

Last week the bishop celebrated a "Mass of reparation" in the cathedral where the confessional box incident took place to make up for the sacrilege

Tags: italy, sex, church, court, peace

New France Law: Thin Models Illegal!

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:51:47 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: The bill reflects concerns about pro-anorexic (so-called pro-ana) websites, said to encourage extreme weight loss. But Boyer said the legislation's impact would be wide-ranging.

The bill is the latest in a series of measures to be proposed following the 2006 anorexia-linked death of a Brazilian model prompted efforts to tackle eating disorders within the fashion industry.

Didier Grumbach, president of the influential French Federation of Couture, said: "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny. That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."

Marleen S Williams, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, who researches the media's effect on anorexic women, said it was almost impossible to prove that the media causes eating disorders.

She said studies showed fewer eating disorders in "cultures that value full-bodied women". But she added that she fears the new French law,

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

1.30pm BST

French fight anorexia on the fashion pages

Models wear creations from German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s

France's lower house of parliament today adopted a groundbreaking bill that would make it illegal for anyone to publicly incite extreme thinness

Fashion industry experts said that the law, which would apply to magazines, advertisers and websites, would be the strongest of its kind anywhere

Valerie Boyer, from the ruling UMP party, proposed the new legislation which she said would give judges the power to imprison offenders and fine them up to 30,000 euros (£24,125) if convicted of "inciting others to deprive themselves of food" to an "excessive" degree

The National Assembly approved the bill after the legislation won unanimous support from the ruling conservative UMP party. It will go to the Senate within a few weeks

French lawmakers and fashion industry members signed a nonbinding charter last week, on promoting healthier body images

Spain banned ultra-thin models

Tags: france

Israeli/French BANKS Money Laundering on Grand Scale

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:15:39 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: "Embattled French bank Societe Generale faces fresh troubles Monday when a trial opens in Paris involving a vast money laundering scam between France and Israel.

Four banks, including Societe Generale, and 138 people, including the bank's chairman Daniel Bouton, are on trial over the multi-million dollar scam that allegedly began in the late 1990s.

The other banks include Societe Marseillaise de Credit, Barclays France and the National Bank of Pakistan.

Societe Generale revealed late last month it had lost a staggering 4.8 billion euros (7.1 billion dollars) in the biggest rogue trading scandal in history.

Takeover talk is now swirling around France's third largest bank, with two French banks eyeing a possible bid on Societe Generale. "

...AFP

Clip Source: afp.google.com

Societe Generale on trial in French-Israel scam

a trial opens in Paris involving a vast money laundering scam between France and Israel

Four banks, including Societe Generale, and 138 people, including the bank's chairman Daniel Bouton, are on trial over the multi-million dollar scam that allegedly began in the late 1990s

Cheques trafficked from France were allegedly cleared in money exchange offices or banks in Israel, where a third party can clear a cheque by paying a cash sum, making it difficult to trace the origin of the funds

Among those charged in the France-Israel scam include six rabbis, a former French prosecutor and 57-year-old Bouton, along with other banking managers

All four banks are charged with contributing to money laundering and profiting from the deals

Investigators have gathered 600 tonnes of paperwork and evidence for the trial which is expected to last until July

Eighty five people have already been found guilty

10.4 million

stolen cheques from the Israel Discount Bank

Tags: corruption, israel, france, money, laundering, bank

Micosoft Loses Again. Euro Fine 497m

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 10:28:30 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.ft.com

Microsoft loses EU antitrust appeal

By Tobias Buck in Brussels

A top European Union court on Monday upheld a landmark antitrust ruling against Microsoft, dealing a serious blow to the US software giant in its nine-year battle with European regulators

The European Court of First Instance rejected Microsoft’s appeal against a ruling by the European Commission that found the software group had violated competition rules by abusing its dominant market position

the court refused to strike down the Commission’s finding that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in two ways: by refusing to supply rival companies with crucial information about the ubiquitous Windows operating system; and by bundling its Media Player software into Windows, thereby undermining competition from other media player providers.

The court also upheld the record €497m fine imposed by the Commission three years ago

It is thought likely that the company will appeal the ruling to the European Court of Justice

highest cour

Tags: net, eu, money, court

Most Visited City in the World - PARIS - pics

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:24:48 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Show comments (20)

Paris - The Most Visited City in the World

Tags: paris, photos

Ireland rejects EU treaty. Euro drops.

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:55:23 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: ukpress.google.com

Ireland vote rejects EU treaty

Clip Source: www.buyimage.co.uk

Clip Source: ukpress.google.com

Ireland has rejected the EU reform treaty, politicians said based on a wave of returns from the referendum on the issue

Tallies of votes produced nationally by election observers, as well as early official returns, all showed the "no" camp ahead in the vast majority of Ireland's 43 electoral constituencies. Pro-treaty voters were clearly ahead in only a few

Electoral officials expected to confirm the result later and send shock waves throughout the EU

The euro fell to a one-month low on the news

Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he expected all other 26 EU members to ratify the Lisbon Treaty through their national parliaments by the end of this year

This would leave Ireland - the only member to put the mammoth, often-unreadable document to a national vote - diplomatically isolated but nonetheless wielding the power to prevent the treaty from becoming law and forcing a period of renewed negotiations

Ireland votes No - what next?
BBC

Tags: irish, eu, euro

CIA Rendition Victim RAPED Twice: Account

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:21:30 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: "He describes how he was twice RAPED. He mentions, almost casually, the hearing loss in his left ear from the beatings, and how he still wakes up at night screaming, takes tranquillizers, finds it hard to concentrate, and has unspecified "problems with my wife at home." He is, in short, a broken man.
,,,MotherJones

He's now living in Egypt, where he was tortured. Some terrorist!

Clip Source: www.motherjones.com

Exclusive: I Was Kidnapped by the CIA

NEWS: Inside the CIA's extraordinary rendition program and the bungled abduction of would-be terrorists

Abu Omar as he describes his years of torture at the hands of Egypt's security services

Spreading his arms in a crucifixion position, he demonstrates how he was tied to a metal door as shocks were administered to his nipples and genitals

His legs tremble as he describes how he was twice r

Omar ended up inside Egypt's torture chambers courtesy of the United States, via an "extraordinary rendition"

streets of Milan

flagrantly violates the Convention Against Torture, an international treaty that Congress ratified in 1994

An Italian prosecutor has launched a probe of the kidnapping, resulting in the indictment of 26 American officials, almost all of them suspected cia agents

to Egypt, where Abu Omar now lives

Milan, where he'd been granted political asylum in 2001 following an earlier spell of imprisonment and torture in Egyp

something was stuffed in his anus

Tags: cia, usa, rendition, italy, egypt, torture, rape

Hitler's Love Child of British Aristocrate Alive?

Sat, 17 May 2008 21:21:23 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: She was Sir Winston Churchill's cousin, Lord Redesdale's daughter, Sir Oswald Mosley's sister-in-law, while her sister Jessica was a communist.

Clip Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Did Unity Mitford have Adolf Hitler’s love child?

She was the English aristocrat who became so enamoured with Hitler that she shot herself in the head at the outbreak of war

daughter of Lord Redesdale, had been so entwined in the Führer’s inner circle that British secret services described her as “more Nazi than the Nazis”

could this cousin of Winston Churchill have been closer to Hitler than anyone suspected?

Mitford, who survived her suicide attempt, may have given birth to his child

If the theory that this baby was born in a tiny Cotswolds village and rapidly adopted were true, Hitler’s child could be living somewhere in Britain today

one of six well known – and somewhat politically diverse – sisters who included Diana, the wife of Sir Oswald Mosley, and Jessica, a committed communist.

She first went to Germany in the early 1930s, when the Nazis were on the rise, and the young woman was so overwhelmed by a visit to the Nuremberg rallies that she became determined to meet Hitler

Tags: uk, german, nazis, history, ww2, children, suicide

CSM: Europeans "We separate America from the White House."

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:41:58 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: June's Pew Global Attitudes poll, favorable views in Britain dropped from 83 to 51 percent between 2000 and 2007. In France, they fell from 62 to 39. Germany fell from 78 to 30 percent.

"We found strong negatives on US foreign policy based on a feeling the US acts unilaterally in the world," says Richard Wike "But Europeans rate the American people far higher than the country."

"You get angry, but what can you do? I think everyone is now waiting. It is easy to blame America for everything, and a lot of us do."

There's a sense that US foreign policy is shifting away from a "with us or against us" mentality. Younger Europeans say the US has been humbled, and that a democratic process is under way.

"We lost the basic trust that our parents had in America. We are critical.... A lot of us want to say we aren't the US; many of us feel proud to be 'old Europe"

Clip Source: www.csmonitor.com

Many

World

Europe's youth take complex view of US

Its 'Iraq generation' moderates harsh views of US policy with admiration of American creativity and 'coolness.'

Negative attitudes in Europe about America hardened steadily during the Iraq war, particularly among Europeans under age 30.

Yet the harshest anti-US feelings may be peaking among Europe's young – giving way to more complex and ambiguous views of the US and its identity

Formative views among Europe's "next generation" have been shaped, if not seared, by a war lasting longer than World War II. Some call it an "Iraq generation," harking back to the "Vietnam generation" here in the 1960s.

"The longer the war runs, the more intense the feelings of younger Germans,"

"I worry about future relations with the US."

his friends think Iraq is a "huge mistake." Yet, "I grew up on America," he says

He questions American military hard power, but is smitten by American soft power, with subcultures like hip-hop.

US effort to rehab image falls short 06/

Tags: eu, usa, bush, government