Et Tu, Europe?

Usually, I try to avoid the smugness Europeans like to pretend they don't indulge in, and had been grateful for the moderately more effective response by the EU towards the credit crisis.

I had also been happier with the greater concern - comparatively - that Europe had shown towards global warming and its related bag of terrors, than some other developed countries.

But I was disheartened, to say the least, to see the following posted on the New York Times website today:

European Nations Seek to Revise Agreement on Emissions Cuts

"BRUSSELS — Fears of a sharp worldwide economic slowdown are threatening a hard-won European plan on climate change that European leaders hoped would set an example for the rest of the world.

At a rancorous summit meeting this week of the European Union’s heads of state, several Eastern European countries and Italy said they might no longer be able to afford to slash greenhouse gas emissions as envisioned under a broad plan agreed upon last year and would need some concessions from other countries in the bloc. That agreement called for the union to reduce such emissions, linked by climate scientists to global warming, by 20 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2020.

The plan — hailed by the former French president Jacques Chirac as “a great moment in European history” — goes beyond the Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrial nations bound by the treaty to reduce the emission of global-warming gases by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.

After the outline was agreed to last year, the countries began working on detailed proposals for how they would reach the goal for emissions cuts, which essentially meant figuring out how much of an economic burden each nation would bear. France, which holds the rotating presidency of the union, had hoped to win approval for a more detailed agreement in December.

While some countries had already begun worrying about how much they were being asked to contribute to hit the emissions reduction goal, the economic downturn increased their concerns."

Read the rest here.

And if you're in mind to get an astrological perspective of the rather gobsmacking changes we're living through, check out the humour, insight and analysis at the wonderful Astrotabletalk blog, run by Dharmaruci.

Putting Money Where The (Hungriest) Mouth Is, Or How Athens Is Feeding Her Poorest

I am happy to be able to post some very good news today from Greece, which actually cheered me up immensely: basically, a scheme has been initiated enabling the poorest in Athens to be able to shop for the necessities of life - all for free!

I actually heard about it on the BBC news this afternoon, but am happy to post the opening to an online story "No cash, no cards? No problem" on the subject by Kathy Tzilivakis for the Athens News:

At first glance it looks like any other supermarket. Housewives, senior citizens and couples with young children busily browse aisles stacked high with brand-name products, filling their shopping carts with cornflakes, fresh milk, eggs, canned foods, frozen vegetables, soft drinks, diapers, shampoo and cleaning supplies.

But look closer, and you'll spot the difference.

There are no cash registers. Not even a debit card machine. In fact, all money transactions are prohibited.

"You can't buy anything here with money," said the store manager, Panos Lendaris. "We're not allowed to take any money."

Thanks to a joint corporate social responsibility venture between Europe's largest retailer, Carrefour, and the municipality of Athens, some 200 jobless and working poor in Athens are now doing their weekly grocery shopping for free at the new Sofokleos St supermarket. The products lining the shelves are surplus stock that have been provided free of charge to Carrefour from its suppliers.

"Caring for those people who are deprived of even the basic necessities of life is a central pylon at the municipality," said Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis. "The creation of this new grocery store is evidence of the benefits that can arise when local government cooperates with the private sector and when the guiding principle is social welfare and progress."

The 200 recipients are entitled to shop for between 100 and 350 euros' worth of products at the Sofokleos St supermarket every month. The amount, which has been set by the municipality's social welfare office, depends on the recipient's financial situation. Low-income families with three or more children, for example, are entitled to spend the maximum 350 euros each month.

You can read the rest of this heartening - yes, heartening, you read that right! - news story here.