“There’s nothing like tales of butter-eating, wine-guzzling, yet somehow-still thin Europeans to add to American angst over holiday calories and upcoming resolutions. (…) It’s true that overall, Europeans are fairly healthy. Life expectancy in E.U. member states has gone up by more than six years between 1980 and 2010, to 75 years for men and 82 years for women. But a recently-released report by the OECD found that the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and asthma has also increased — in part because of better diagnosis, but also thanks to underlying causes such as drinking, smoking and eating fattening foods. Here’s a look at which Europeans are most obese, most inactive and drink most.” >full text (c) WorldView / WASHINGTON POST, 2012
Archive for Europe
Which EUropeans are fattest, laziest and drink most
Posted in Uncategorized with tags alcoholism, charts, Europe, Health, obesity, USA on 6 December 2012 by delclemSrebrenica: A town still divided
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnian War, Europe, genocide, memorial, Serbia, Srebrenica on 11 July 2012 by delclem
“Ethnic divisions continue to plague this town, where more than 8,000 people were slaughtered in July 1995.” >Full report (c) AL JAZEERA, 2012; photo (c) AFP.
Image of the Self & the Other
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Africa, Euro 2012, Europe, Germany, Italy, Racism, soccer, stereotypes on 30 June 2012 by delclem
The Long History of the Espresso Machine
Posted in Uncategorized with tags coffee, coffee machine, espresso, Europe, inventions, Italy on 29 June 2012 by delclem
“For many coffee drinkers, espresso is coffee. It is the purest distillation of the coffee bean, the literal essence of a bean. In another sense, it is also the first instant coffee. Before espresso, it could take up to five minutes –five minutes!– for a cup of coffee to brew. But what exactly is espresso and how did it come to dominate our morning routines? Although many people are familiar with espresso these days thanks to the Starbucksification of the world, there is often still some confusion over what it actually is – largely due to “espresso roasts” available on supermarket shelves everywhere. First, and most importantly, espresso is not a roasting method. It is neither a bean nor a blend. It is a method of preparation.” >read more (c) Smithsonian.com, 2012
Soccer Nationalism is back ;)
Posted in Uncategorized with tags Europe, Nationalism, soccer on 8 June 2012 by delclem
‘The imagined community of millions seems more real
as a team of eleven named people.” Eric Hobsbawm
500 Years of Crisis
Posted in Uncategorized with tags crisis, Europe, history, Spain on 6 June 2012 by delclem
“Spain has frittered away its chances for economic development for the second time. The first was after it discovered the Americas in 1492, and the second was after it joined the European Union in 1986. The anti-economic thinking that has dominated Spain is rooted in its history and culture.” >Excerpts from an article published by Süddeutsche Zeitung (c) presseurop.eu, 2012
Yanko Tsvetkov’s stereotype maps
Posted in Uncategorized with tags America, Europe, maps, Stereotyping, Yanko Tsvetkov on 25 February 2012 by delclem
“It’s well known that Americans have a disarmingly blunt view of other nationalities, but seeing such brazen prejudices laid out, country by country, might shock even them. This is the world as depicted by graphic artist Yanko Tsvetkov. It is also a world in which gay men view Ireland as ‘being in denial’ and Greeks see the rest of Europe as a ‘Union of Stingy Workaholics’. Plus, read Tim Dowling’s interview with Yanko Tsvetkov: ‘Is it what they think of us?'” (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2012
Eco: ‘It’s culture, not war, that cements European identity’
Posted in Uncategorized with tags culture, Europe, interview, Italy, Umberto Eco on 31 January 2012 by delclem
The writer and semiologist Umberto Eco advocates a sexual revolution to make us all ‘European’. Interview by Gianni Riotti, La Stampa;
English (c) THE GUARDIAN, 2012; photo: Sarah Lee
The X-files of art history
Posted in Uncategorized with tags art, esoteric, Europe, Europe & the Spirit World, exhibition, France, occult, Strasbourg on 7 January 2012 by delclem
‘EUROPE & THE SPIRIT WORLD,
or: the Fascination with the Occult, 1750-1950’
“This is a cross-disciplinary exhibition exploring the influence of the occult on artists, thinkers, writers and scholars throughout Europe, at decisive moments in the history of the modern world. The exhibition is organized into three sections:
A bit of science fiction: the New Europe, AD 2021
Posted in Uncategorized with tags 2021, Europe, Niall Ferguson, prognosis, science fiction, United States of Europe on 28 November 2011 by delclem
A prognosis by Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor of history: the UK and Ireland reunited, plus a Nordic League; both entities outside the “United States of Europe” under German leadership (and Vienna as its capital).
A probable scenario or just an overwrought academic mind going berserk? Interesting is the way how underlying (national) stereotypes of angst and desire inform this narrative…
Article (c) THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 19 Nov. 2011
Map illustration by Peter Arkle.
PS. review of Ferguson´s book Civilisation: The West and the Rest
(c) LRB, 2011
delirium clemens 