divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/27631?ns=guardianpageName=Politics%3A+UK+closer+to+joining+euro%2C+EU+commission+president+saysch=Politicsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Politics%2CEuropean+Union+%28News%29%2CUK+news%2CEconomic+policy%2CForeign+policyc5=Credit+Crunch%2CMiddle+East+Travel%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Staff+and+agenciesc7=2008_12_01c8=1126840c9=articlec10=GUc11=Politicsc12=European+Unionc13=c14=h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FEuropean+Union" width="1" height="1" //divpThe UK is "closer" to joining the euro than ever before, according to the president of the European commission./ppJosé Manuel Barroso said some British politicians were considering signing up to the single currency in a bid to beat the effects of the global economic crisis./ppHe told French radio station RTL: "We are now closer than ever before./pp"I'm not going to break the confidentiality of certain conversations, but some British politicians have already told me, 'If we had the euro, we would have been better off.'"/ppBut Barroso admitted that the majority of people in the UK were still opposed to the idea of joining the single currency./ppA Downing Street spokesman said: "We have no comment on this. Our position on the euro is the same - it has not changed."/ppWilliam Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said it was "extraordinary" that the government was "whispering to the EU commission about joining the euro behind the British people's backs"./pp"Keeping the pound is vital for Britain's economic future," he said. "We need interest rates that are right for Britain, not the rest of Europe. There are no circumstances in which the next Conservative government will propose joining the euro.br / br /"If Labour ministers still want to get Britain into the euro they should come out and say so. We will be putting questions to the government to find out what conversations have been going on."/ppNigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence party, said: "The ruling elite would love to bounce us into the euro and will grasp at any straw to do so, for it's a step on the way to their dream and our nightmare, a federal superstate./pp"We're told that some British politicians have said, 'If we had the euro, we would have been better off.' Whoever these people are we need to hunt them down and explain some simple economics to them. Membership of the euro would have meant lower interest rates in the boom, making the bubble even larger. And it would mean higher interest rates now in the bust, making the recession even deeper. The pound has fallen against both the dollar and the euro thus providing us with that fiscal boost that everyone says is so necessary, a boost which we couldn't have had if we were in the euro."/ppHe said that if Barroso wanted to consult the people who mattered in Britain he should call for a referendum on the euro and the Lisbon treaty "so that the people of Britain can tell him where to go"./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/eu"European Union/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy"Economic policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/foreignpolicy"Foreign policy/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/fmkwvaOPYEsV9BC8ovLyIxxES3k/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/fmkwvaOPYEsV9BC8ovLyIxxES3k/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says his country will fully back the U.S.-Iraq security pact if it's approved by Iraqis in a referendum next summer.

The conflict within the state senate's Democrats and a push for re-election of Governor David Paterson has some lawmakers wary of attempting to pass a marriage equality bill in New York this session, perhaps not until 2011, the NYT reports:

"Internally, the debate has created two camps among lawmakers who back the bill — with one group saying a vote should happen as early as possible in 2009, and another camp arguing for an indefinite delay. But delaying it could upset some advocates of same-sex marriage, who poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into State Senate races this year. 'Since when are fixing the economy and civil rights mutually exclusive?' said Daniel J. O’Donnell, an assemblyman from the Upper West Side who led the push for the bill in the Assembly. Mr. O’Donnell added that expectations are high in the gay community that New York will be able to deliver the movement’s next victory. 'The leadership of the Senate and others in our community collected a lot of money from a lot of people with the promise — spoken and unspoken — that if the Democrats won the Senate, they would take a vote,' he said. Mr. O’Donnell plans to introduce a bill relatively early in the 2009 session, setting up a possible confrontation with the Senate."

O'Donnell, if you'll remember, spoke out about marriage equality when a bill was waiting to be taken up by the Senate in July 2007.

I posted about the status of the Democratic conflict within the Senate on Wednesday. No doubt there will be more pressure in coming weeks.

A message from the Facebook group 'Stop a marriage referendum in N.Y.: Malcolm Smith for Majority Leader', AFTER THE JUMP...

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VIA Stop a marriage referendum in N.Y.: Malcolm Smith for Majority Leader', AFTER THE JUMP...

Monday, December 1, 2008

It’s time to flex your political muscles again. Program the following contact into your cell phone:

Senator Carl Kruger
Democrat, Brooklyn
Phone: (718) 743-8610
Email: kruger@senate.state.ny.us

And just as you did two weeks ago with Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., email that contact information to everyone you know in New York, everyone you now in the country, and everyone you know on Facebook, MySpace, or Friendster. Post it in every Facebook group. If you have a blog, post it. Post it in your status on Facebook and on Twitter. If you’re part of a wiki, post it there.

And while you’re at it, make sure nobody forgets Senator Diaz’s number – (718) 991-3161.

Then, starting today, start calling Senator Carl Kruger, and make sure everyone you know starts calling. And just as you did with Senator Diaz, in the most polite, respectful, non-argumentative way, I want you to tell whoever answers the phone that you are counting on Senator Kruger to be true to his party, the Democratic Party, and to support Malcolm Smith as Senate Majority Leader. Do not call to ask him to support marriage equality. Just remind him, he is Democrat, and it’s his duty to support the Democratic Majority Leader.

Why? BECAUSE YOU ARE EFFECTIVE.

For two weeks you and thousands upon thousands of marriage equality supporters have called Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. to tell him the same thing. It appears you’re beginning to have an impact. Read this note for the evolving story of Diaz and Smith: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=37752848556.

Now, without taking the heat off of Senator Diaz, it’s time to focus that attention on Senator Carl Kruger as well and to show him how effective we can be.

Kruger, a Democrat from Brooklyn, another member of the so-called “Gang of Three” is also using his opposition to marriage equality to defend his stance against supporting Malcolm Smith.

Hopes are stirring that the EU's reform treaty, quashed by the Irish No vote last June, may be revived after the country's parliament found no legal obstacle to hold a second referendum on its ratification, writes Quentin Peel

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/2843?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Ch%26aacute%3Bvez+drive+for+indefinite+re-election+as+presidentch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=Venezuela+%28News%29%2CHugo+Chavez%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Rory+Carrollc7=2008_12_01c8=1126652c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Venezuelac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FVenezuela" width="1" height="1" //divpHugo Chaacute;vez yesterday launched a push for constitutional reform that would allow him to go on seeking indefinite re-election as Venezuela's president. After nearly a decade in power, he said he needed more than another 10 years to entrench his self-styled socialist revolution./pp"We are going to begin the national debate," he told a televised rally of supporters in the capital Caracas. "I'm ready to be with you until 2021." Under the constitution Chaacute;vez, 54, should step down when his term ends in 2013. In a referendum last year, voters narrowly rejected a proposal to abolish term limits - but a recovery in the president's popularity has emboldened him to try again./ppAnalysts said he was keen to act before tumbling oil prices forced cuts in government spending which have fuelled his image as a messiah for the poor. The move is a gamble however, because urban voters punished the president's candidates in local and regional elections last week. /ppA resurgent opposition rode discontent over crime, inflation and poor public services to win major cities and five states, including the populous and economically important Miranda, Carabobo and Zulia regions. Chaacute;vez's candidates swept 17 states and 80% of town halls. Both sides claim victory. Chaacute;vez sought to turn those gains against the opposition by claiming its governors and mayors had revealed "fascist" tendencies even before they had been sworn in. He alleged they were undermining free clinics and schools. The opposition said that was absurd, since it was elected on the promise of improving public services./ppThe president has moved to curb the loose coalition of students, old elites and "Chaacute;vista" turncoats which styles itself as a bulwark against the ambitions of a megalomaniac. The government began legal actions against incoming opposition mayors and governors, and transferred some of their powers to central government./ppA telecoms watchdog is investigating an opposition TV network, Globovision, which could result in a fine or closure. "This is another demonstration that the government wants to restrict the right to information," said Julio Borges, an opposition leader. /ppVictorious opposition candidates said they wanted to work with the president and his allies to tackle urgent social problems. Chaacute;vez rejected this offer as a ruse by anti-democratic forces bent on a US-backed coup similar to the attempt which briefly ousted him in 2002. He warned of grave consequences. "The revolution is armed, and prepared to counter those who may attack the people. We won't show them mercy." /ppEach side accuses the other of sabotage. State media said that opposition thugs burned a health clinic and harassed Cuban doctors. The opposition said outgoing "Chaacute;vista" administrations were looting office equipment such as TVs, computers and radios, and burning documents./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/venezuela"Venezuela/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hugo-chavez"Hugo Chávez/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/c_1rzco4wp6OnLeUIk4jAiYQ0dA/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/c_1rzco4wp6OnLeUIk4jAiYQ0dA/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Szwajcarzy opowiedzieli się w referendum za tym, by pedofilia i "przestępstwa pornograficzne (popełniane) na dzieciach" nie ulegały przedawnieniu.