I knew things were bad and growing worse. I was not prepared, however, for the most disturbing of news on a local level. Ron Seigel, a nationally respected reporter, was brutally stabbed in the back by two masked men as he was returning to his waiting taxi on Wednesday, November 24th, the evening before Thanksgiving. Ron is a Jewish man in his early 60s and one of the gentlest but most intelligent people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.From Ron Seigel's bio:Ron Seigel, a seasoned ... Read Full Story
I've been mulling over Javier Solana's words in his Stockholm/Russia interview. You can watch it for yourself by clicking here. I've also been pondering his sudden total lack of fame at Google.com whereas at Yahoo.com he present enjoys 6,990,000 hits as of the time of this writing. At Google.com he is down to 297,000 hits -- that is until you do the search like this: "Javier Solana" -CumbeyAt which point, the hits instead of decreasing by the 9,800 stories where my name and his are me... Read Full Story
It's hard for me as an observer to believe that either of these appointments are serious or lasting ones. Is this Europe's equivalent of Germany's pre Hitler Weimar Republic?Both of these individuals are relatively unknown. It is safe to say that neither have extensive diplomatic nor military expertise. I will be posting more as I learn more. Javier Solana said in the interview I posted in my last post that he would be active as "advisor" to his successor. I rather suspect with this one ... Read Full Story
Tomorrow is a big day for the European Union. Its 27 heads of state doing business as the Council of Ministers of the European Union are to meet. Javier Solana is the Secretary General of that body as well as his other positions (Secretary General of the Western European Union; Office of the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy CFSP), etc. They are meeting to elect a President for the EU and even more importantly the "High Representative." It is clear from read... Read Full Story
H E L P W A N T E DUPDATE: YOU MUST, HOWEVER, BE 'SUPERHUMAN'!"Perks" include your personal EU standing army!It seems nobody wants to be Foreign Minister of the European Union with its enhanced budget, power, and huge diplomatic and military retinues. I rather suspect Javier Solana is far too much of a European patriot to let the post go vacant or to somebody inexperienced. If you are interested in applying for the job, read all about it by clicking here. Otherwise, I am suspecting tha... Read Full Story
The mystery of Javier Solana's lineage continues. A few years ago, famous Spanish writer and diplomat Salvador de Madariaga was proudly proclaimed as Javier Solana's grandfather. Javier Solana was his "nieto" (Spanish for grandson). After revelations of Nieves Mathew's occultism, suddenly, Salvador de Madariaga became an "Uncle" and thereafter "Great Uncle." Nieves Hayat deMadariaga Mathew's Italian language eulogy proclaimed she was the mother of "due figli" (two sons). Now the relati... Read Full Story
WONDER WHO WILL GET THESE NOVEMBER PRESENTS? Herb Peters and I used to have amused discussions about what we called Javier Solana's "November presents." They (significant additional grants of power) were usually 'gift wrapped' and handed to him very close to November 20th on several occasions. A small sampling is below.1995 Treaty of Association with Israel (November 20th)1995 NATO headship (November 30, 1995)1999 Western European Union headshipI am bemused by learning that November 19th,... Read Full Story
David Miliband has definitively declined the EU Foreign Minister job created and defined by Javier Solana. Javier Solana has reportedly been signed by the Acciona Group as a "consultant" on its international projects. My guess was that he was offered A LOT OF MONEY for the job.My educated guess is that since the USA opposes Italy's Massimo D'Alema because of Italy's criminal court convictions of 23 CIA agents found guilty there of illegal rendition that despite Frattini's optimistic project... Read Full Story
I thank blog poster "Anonymous 12:35" for calling this important breaking news to my attention. You can read about it in full by clicking here. The same Ehud Barak who gushed all over Javier Solana November 27 and November 28, 1995 now has been forced to cancel his planned visit to Spain. When the original Barcelona Conference was held on those two days, it was Ehud Barak who said that "at long last, Israel has joined the European club." He went on to enumerate the benefits of "belonging ... Read Full Story
