London Riots - blame feral politicians?

When an establishment politician denounces the rioters as part of a 'feral underclass' he may well have a point, but should he not also denounce feral politicians that hike the fees students have to pay by absurd amounts?

How to make Football more democratic

Democratic reform is not limited to the realm of government but has also to include the vast area of business and voluntary activity. A good example is Football where a small clique of officials in Zurich's FIFA headquarters runs the show without any input from the ultimate stakeholders, the members of individual football clubs and the supporters or spectators. When a prominent club manager demands reforms and calls for the inclusion of clubs, player, leagues and referees in the decision process it is remarkable that he makes no mention of the most important stakeholders at all. Associations such as FIFA - and the Olympic Movement  would be another one - today are also vast businesses and to a certain extent monopolies and this should be another reason why the wider public should have a commanding say in the governance of their activities. The existing constitution of FIFA may appear to be democratic - there are elections to its various boards etc - but the tiered structure of the organisation means that the existing members are to a large extend shielded from any proper supervision and elect their successors and supervisors.

Almunia claims EU citizens want more integration

One has to wonder where Joaquin Almunia gets this insight from. As he is part of the Politocracy that rules in the EU and most European States we have little optimism that he has consulted the subject-citizens. No surprise that he seems never to have held a job outsided the charmed circle of party, government or think tanks.