Update [2005-6-12 23:8:5 by BooMan]:OKAY FOLKS!! European Tribune IS OPEN FOR NEW MEMBERS, NEW DIARIES, AND LOTS OF NEW FUN. I HOPE YOU LIKE THE NEW COLORS AND SOME OF THE NEAT NEW FEATURES!! GOOD LUCK TO JEROME, SIROCCO, SOJ, AND DeANANDER!!
Update [2005-6-12 23:16:22 by Jerome a Paris]: Hah! Booman beat me to officially announce the opening of the site! See how impatient we are to invite you over… I have also posted an introduction diary over at dKos. May I kindly ask that you go over there and recommend it here to get the site some extra publicity? Thanks – and come visit European Tribune yourself!!!
I decided to create Booman Tribune long before I ever decided on a frog for a mascot. I never envisioned that we would all come to refer to this place as the ‘Frog Pond’. I’m not even sure who the first person was to use that term. (Mad mojo to whomever figures it out).
Before I had a mascot, I had a motto. It was: We Plan for Serendipity. That motto kind of got dropped in favor of We Wont Rest ‘Til They’re Frog-Marched Out. But I still believe in it. If we structure the site correctly, and create the right culture, fortuitous things will happen. And they have. Because now we are launching another sister site for those of us on the other side of the ‘Frog Pond’.
European Tribune is the brain child of Jerome a Paris and Keith Barratt. Keith is no longer with us on the project, but he did contribute quite a lot as we developed it. I’ll leave it to Jerome to introduce the site when the time comes to open the doors. But I want to talk a little about why the project intrigued me, and why I was eager to help build the site.
In a post Cold War world we suddenly entered into a new phase of American politics. Suddenly, it was possible for a man like Bill Clinton, who had never served in the military, to become President. Foreign affairs receded into the background of political debate.
The attacks of 9/11 ended that brief era. When I looked at the Democratic candidates for President in 2004, I saw a deficit of foreign policy experience. I went with Kerry and was encouraged and relieved when Clark got in the race. But I was discouraged by the lack of qualified alternatives.
I was even more discouraged by the lack of debate within the progressive community about what the alternatives to war with Iraq might be.
What should be done about the oppressive governments of our longtime allies: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan? Would it be safe to lift the sanctions on Saddam and how would we prevent him from re-arming? What responsibility does the UN Security Council have to prevent weapons proliferation? Can the world community insist on civilian control of the military before it permits a nation to develop certain weapons technologies?
These were the discussions that we needed to have in a post-9/11 world. And we needed to have these discussions with our allies in Europe, with Russia and China, with the whole world. And it wasn’t happening. It still isn’t.
It’s not enough to oppose the Manichean War on Terror. We need alternative ways to deal with ‘rogue regimes’ in possession of ‘the world’s most dangerous weapons’. It’s not enough to oppose imperialism in the energy producing regions of the world. We need to figure out how we are going to get enough alternative energy. These issues cry out for global conversations and global solutions.
So, I built this site with the ‘World Recommended Diary’ feature to help foster a global conversation. And I jumped at the chance to expand on my vision by helping Jerome to create his own vision. Together, I think we may make some progress and begin to develop an alternative foreign policy. And that can only benefit all of us.
If you’re a night owl, you just might be able to visit European Tribune before you go to sleep. Meanwhile, Jerome is going to bed and getting his rest. Tomorrow will be an exciting day.
Appreciate the mention. I wish the project success because it is an added voice against a world that has too many dark clouds on the horizon.
Keith
I will look forward to seeing the information that Booman and Jerome put together…
But I suspect that my heart will be with Welshman and http://www.newinternationaltimes.com/
Great news for all of us here – we get the benefit of 2 international sites by 2 of the people that we respect a lot!
Thanks Booman and Jerome. I have to say it is an honor to be here with you and I may have to watch for things tomorrow. Have a real job to go to tomorrow and need to finish domestics up and shower and hit the hay. I have truly enjoyed today. I have had lots of fun and really enjoyed meeting new posters. I too am egar to do what it is necessary to do to bring us in the world together and try to keep things from breaking apart any further. Hope to meet others from across the big pond and share ideas as well. Thanks a million and more…you are a tribute to society and Americanism and caring about ppl…
Fantastic! The global conversation is crucial and I am so excited this is happening. Best wishes for the new site!
BooMan, your well-worded comments made it quite clear why this is so important. Good luck with the new venture. I’m sure we’ll all spend much time there.
I really like all your ruminations about global foreign policy, alternative energy, etc. Those are incredibly important questions. I’m not going to offer anything substantive at the moment (I haven’t eaten all day, and besides I think I’d have to really think and research before I can tackle such weighty issues), but I just wanted to say that I am so glad to see them being talked about.
Alan
Maverick Leftist
I get the feeling that you just love to put that link up, knowing that we will click it and get the internet equivalent of “go Cheney yourself”. That’s just wrong, man…er, Booman. 🙂
it will not be long now, DH.
Unfortunately, my body is still on a teenage schedule, meaning I need about 12 hours of sleep to function properly. So I won’t be awake for the unveiling of this project.
I’ll just have to wait until morning, I guess.
I should have checked my e-mail last night…grr.
Oh well. I still get UID #199, which is still very low. I hope. Unless people refuse to join the site, making my ID the lowest, and forcing me into perpetual newbie status. That would suck eggs, and I really hate eggs.
Unlike a man like Ronald Reagan, who never served in the military, got his second wife pregnant before they were married, and should have faced indictment for his role in giving MCA the power to both produce and represent talent.
From The Corruption of Ronald Reagan by Dan Moldea:
At the end of Reagan’s fifth term, he began to have serious financial problems, particularly with the IRS. In response, MCA negotiated a deal with the Last Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas–which was then operated by Chicago mobsters–for Reagan to host a song-and-dance show for two weeks and to receive enough money to cover his back tax debt. When Reagan returned to Hollywood, MCA, through its newly formed Revue Productions, hired him to host its flagship television program, The General Electric Theater for $125,000 a year. He was paid additional fees when he produced episodes for the series.
Despite his status as a television producer, Reagan remained on SAG’s board in another violation of the guild’s bylaws, which prohibited producers from holding office in SAG. In 1959, when Reagan ran for an unprecedented sixth term as SAG’s president, his opponents raised the bylaws issue. Publicly, Reagan denied that he had ever produced The General Electric Theater–a flat-out lie….
In 1962, the Justice Department filed a federal antitrust suit against MCA on the basis that it was both a talent agency and a production company; SAG was charged as a coconspirator.
Reagan was the subject of criminal and civil investigations by both the FBI and a federal grand jury in Los Angeles. A Justice Department memorandum quoted a Hollywood source as saying, “Ronald Reagan is a complete slave of MCA who would do their bidding on anything.”
Reagan was subpoenaed before the grand jury, but he appeared to experience amnesia during his testimony on February 5, 1962, and failed to recall the major decisions that had been made when SAG had granted MCA the exclusive blanket waiver in 1952. Federal prosecutors were so convinced that Reagan had perjured himself repeatedly during his testimony that they subpoenaed his and his wife’s income tax returns for the years 1952 to 1955. Nancy Reagan had been a member of SAG’s board of directors since 1951.
The entire transcript of this testimony is contained in my 1986 book, Dark Victory: Ronald Reagan, MCA, and the Mob (Viking Press, pp. 167-201), which is now out of print….
However, in July 1962–in the wake of MCA’s purchase of Decca Records, the parent company of Universal Pictures–MCA agreed to abolish its talent agency. As a result, all charges against and investigations of the company and its alleged coconspirators were dropped and the record of the case was sealed.
Deeply affected by the breakup of MCA, Reagan, a lifelong Democrat, became an anti-big government Republican….
As President, Reagan watched as his Justice Department quashed major federal investigations of the Mafia’s penetration of both MCA and the entire motion picture industry, which were being conducted by the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Strike Force Against Organized Crime. Two highly respected Strike Force prosecutors, Marvin Rudnick and Richard Stavin, lost their jobs because of their refusal to succumb to pressure from the Reagan Administration.
with my pants down. You’re right, of course. Somehow Reagan projected such a reckless militarism that it made people forget he was not a WW Two vet.
Reagan got so caught up in the propaganda films he helped make that he forgot he served, too. He used to tell people about helping to liberate concentration camps.
behind his smiling persona,
was a bad, bad man.
Thanks for this reminder, involving an episode that I wasn’t aware of.
As I was reading this and Moldea laid out the MCA role in Reagan’s career, it connected with another piece of Reagan history I’ve heard or read somewhere. I understand that while hosting GE Theater, Reagan took to the rubber chicken circuit for GE, basically as nuke plant salesman to local Rotary Clubs and Chambers of Commerce. GE boiling water reactors were built by Bechtel. Top executives at Bechtel in the 60s included George Schultz and Caspar Weinberger.
This MCA story strikes a familiar cord. Criminal and subversive elements in Italy had crucial roles in pushing the Reagan Addministration’s clandestine agenda. One little known figure involoved was major Reagan contributor and fellow Californian, Philip Guarino.
Know anything about him?
This is a very positive development. Thank you Booman, Jerome, et al.
As I said, I can’t wait. Booman wrote,
What should be done about the oppressive governments of our longtime allies: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan?
My answer: Stop propping up these regimes with massive arms trade and other support. The key, of course, is to rip our lips off the petroleum teat, which will require real vision, sacrifice, and the foregoing of big profits by the oil guys. Prediction: it won’t happen until a crisis forces the government’s hand.
Hip Hip HOORAY! Great idea and great timing!! I’ll be hangin’ around and joining in on the conversations. Thanks for starting this up!!
What a great idea. The more we can cross-pollinate the progressive movement across the pond (the frog pond?) the better! Love it.
I waited around so I could get over to this exciting new venture and now I’m having the same problem I had for awhile at Kos…after signing in I kept getting password as incorrect..grrrrr and can’t have them do a new one for 2 hours..tried checking things on my computer and that still didn’t help. After hoping to be over there as a sort of welcoming committee I’m now frustrated.
It looks great over there and can’t wait to be able to read and post there also.
check the small and large caps…also if you have 0 or o or O….it happened to me when I signed up at booman…..I couldn’g get on…find Booman..he may be able to help you out..
Thanks Cham…was playing around with the caps but so far hasn’t helped…and I stayed up just so I could be at the Grand Opening.
hey, I am up for no good reason. But we will fix you up tomorrow. Andy is asleep. If you can describe the problem that would help.
Hi Booman. It just says Incorrect Login. So imagine it has something to do with the password I got. I tried that dozens of times-expecting different result which is the sign of insanity right………
I got my password without a problem, but for some reason can’t get the site to come up on my browser aagain. Is there something wrong?
BTW, “We plan for serendipidity” is a pretty good motto, too!
CONGRATULATIONS! What a great group! Will be over as soon as I get that second IV of coffee goin’!
Hi people, very interesting site.
Have been member of Soj’s site for quiet some time and couldn’t resist having a peek at this one.
Found many of the comments intriguing, especially the ones emanating from the USA.
Have been conducting exchanges with many people from the USA over the last four years, and unfortunately found the majority I speak too, supporting their Administration and party in office 100% despite the fact, they have lost more freedoms in the short span of this govt in office then over the last 50 years.
Something I find extremely hard to comprehend.
I also find dissencion with the folowing from the above article;
“It’s not enough to oppose the Manichean War on Terror. We need alternative ways to deal with ‘rogue regimes’ in possession of ‘the world’s most dangerous weapons’. It’s not enough to oppose imperialism in the energy producing regions of the world. We need to figure out how we are going to get enough alternative energy. These issues cry out for global conversations and global solutions.”
For instance what’s this stuff called the ” ROGUE REGIMES” ?
Who interprets someone as a “ROGUE REGIME”, who appointed them as an Overseer to make such a judgement ?
The reference to ‘the World’s most dangerous weapons’ I have no problems with, neither do I have any problems with NAMING THE REGIMES THAT HAVE THEM WITHIN THEIR POSSESSION and have stated they are prepared to use them FIRST.
None other then our claimed good friends the Americans.
Finding alternative energy sources, I also have no problem with, though am realist enough to know, that the current oligarchy in control of fossil fuel distribution will NEVER allow any such event to happen.
Congrates on your new site, I hope it has a long and successful future ahead of it.
My UID here is 297 and my UID at ET is 298… I’ll have to use that combo for my lotto tix.
Jerome, good luck to everyone. I’m sure it’ll be a smashing success.