Are these the 'United States' of Europe?

Is there a certain flag missing from this picture?
Namely, the Stars and Stripes?



What is the dirty secret about the EU?

The United States was the mid-wife to the birth of European Unity. After WWII, the Americans fully promoted the goal of political and economic reconstruction and integration in the western half of Europe. It was in the self-interest of the United States to do so.

Ideas that the EU can act independently of the United States in global affairs are overstated. Much was made of the fact Germany and France opposed the war in Iraq. It was a good call on their part, but it hardly signaled a desire to go it alone in the world. The US does not fear an independent Europe.

Check out this quote from one of the top planners of Yankee imperialism:

"A breakdown of Franco-German cooperation would be a fatal setback for Europe and a disaster for America's position in Europe."

From page 65 of Zbigniew Brzezinski's book The Grand Chessboard.

So, what do you think? Is the EU a rival or a partner of the United States?
Would a world in which the EU was more powerful than the United States be a benign world?

Ride for Heart

Take a bike ride, but only when the air is clean!





This is your blogger and some of the other twelve thousand cyclists riding south on the Don Valley Parkway. We just passed the halfway point on a 50KM charity bike ride.

Cycling is normally an activity that keeps you fit and your heart healthy. However, here in the T-Dot we have no shortage of bad air days. On days when the smog mixes with humidity it's wiser to leave the bike at home and avoid any strenuous exercise which requires you drawing vasts amounts of air into your lungs. Actually, it's best to avoid the outdoors at all on those days.