President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy warned against protectionism, nationalism and euroskepticism in the first annual “Europe Address” in Berlin. The speech, organized by three German policy institutes, is meant to to measure progress in European integration and is to take place every year on November 9, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Posts Tagged ‘Berlin Wall’
Travie McCoy Arrested After Spray-Painting Berlin Wall
October 29th, 2010 |
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“Billionaire” singer Travis “Travie” McCoy is laying low in Amsterdam this Friday after the Gym Class Heroes frontman was arrested in Germany this week for spray-painting the historic Berlin Wall. The star was nicked by cops on Thursday after he foolishly defaced the structure and posted photographic evidence of his grafitti blueprint on Twitter! “The [...]
For Robert De Niro, direction is a nightmare
June 16th, 2010 |
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Robert De Niro has said that directing a film is a “nightmare”, and he is not going to continue behind the camera for long.
The two-time Oscar winner said he is likely to direct only “two or three” more films in his lifetime, including one or two sequels to ‘The Good Shepherd’—his 2006 directorial venture, revealed [...]
Roger Waters: The Wall Tour
April 12th, 2010 |
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ROGER WATERS COMMEMORATES 30th ANNIVERSARY OF THE WALL ALBUM
WITH HISTORIC TOUR & MONUMENTAL PRODUCTION OF HIS MASTERPIECE
Roger Waters’ The Wall North American Tour Opens September 15 in Toronto
 Up Against The Wall! Photo by: Mark Fisher |
Roger Waters, co-founder and principal songwriter of the archetypal progressive band Pink Floyd, is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the original release of The Wall with a monumental tour featuring a full band and a newly-mounted state-of-the-art production of his epochal masterpiece of alienation and transformation performed in its entirety.
Up to date details on Roger Waters’ The Wall Tour, and more, may be found on the artist’s newly relaunched and redesigned website, RogerWaters.com. Waters is personally involved with the site and will be communicating with fans through it.
The Wall has been previously performed live in its entirety by Waters just 31 times including Pink Floyd’s 1980-81 tour in support of the album. A spectacular Roger Waters solo staging and performance of the rock opera in July 1990, celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, drew nearly a half million fans to the Potsdamer Platz.
Roger Waters’ The Wall North American Tour, produced by Live Nation, will open September 15 in Toronto and runs through December 14 at the Anaheim Honda Center (please see full itinerary following).
The New York Times (March 2, 1980) declared that “The Wall show remains a milestone in rock history, it will be the touchstone against which all future rock spectacles must be measured.”
Originally released in November 1979, The Wall was America’s top-selling album of 1980, is one of the top-selling double albums of all time, and is still in the U.S. Top 5 best-selling albums of all time.
The Wall was made into a metaphorical musical film, directed by Alan Parker with screenplay by Roger Waters, in 1982.
One of the most profoundly influential albums in the history of recorded music, The Wall continues to affect pop culture while resonating with generations of music fans.
Roger Waters The Wall Tour Dates :: Roger Waters News :: Roger Waters Concert Reviews
“Serbia must enter EU as soon as possible”
December 14th, 2009 |
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Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Äelić said that Serbia will do everything in its power to become a full-fledged EU member-state as soon as possible. He added that he should not be expected to give a date, saying that several weeks ago, the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was marked, but that “it can also be said that another wall fell with the liberalization of visas for Serbia”.
Happy Birthday Disco…
November 16th, 2009 |
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Land Rover’s Discovery was launched twenty years ago today. So, just after the Berlin Wall had come down enabling half of Europe to stretch its legs in unfamiliar territory, us Brits could tackle the tricky terrain of the Tesco car park in a Land Rover that wasn’t designed for ease of mucking out (Defender) or as an accessory for the affluent county set (Range Rover). And it did indeed help to define a rapidly expanding mid-range SUV segment.
Here are a few lesser known Disco factoids with which to impress your friends:
- The first Discoverys shared their headlights with the Freight Rover van, and shared their rear lights with the Austin Maestro van. Very early examples were built with tail-lights carrying the Austin-Rover logo.
- Among the options of the first Discoverys was a shoulder bag trimmed to match the seats of your vehicle which could be attached to the centre console. These bags now command quite a high premium with Land Rover enthusiasts, Land Rover says. Nice.
- The original project code name for Discovery was Project Jay. This was because of the naming policy put in place by Alan Edis to enhance prototype secrecy – projects were named in alphabetical order, following bird and animal themes.
- Discovery was the first Land Rover programme to fully utilise CAD technology. The exterior of the Discovery was fully surfaced in CAD to enable prove out models and tooling to be created. The interior was created in a wire frame format in CAD.
The beginning of the end
November 12th, 2009 |
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Looking back at the era of a cold warrior
“MR GORBACHEV, tear down this wall”. Ronald Reagan’s stirring speech at the Berlin Wall on June 12th 1987 was not the death blow to communism, but it did highlight the West’s renewed confidence in demanding what had previously been impossible. Though the president’s advisers egged him on, American diplomats were horrified at what they felt was provocative behaviour: they saw their job as managing relations with communism, not trying to overturn it.
Those glory days were the subject of a day-long conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California on November 6th. A motley collection of heroes from east and west (with your columnist tagging along as a moderator) gathered to discuss the great communicator’s role in the collapse of communism and what his approach could still offer today. Nancy Reagan, frail but immaculate, presided. Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev sent messages of congratulation. Freedom fighters such as Mart Laar from Estonia, Leszek Balcerowicz from Poland and Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic recalled how Reagan’s approach had inspired them and demoralised their captors. …
Sarkozy’s claims of demolishing Berlin Wall challenged
November 10th, 2009 |
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been embroiled in a bizarre controversy after he claimed that he had personally helped to demolish the Berlin Wall on the first day of its fall 20 years ago.
Sarkozy has posted on Facebook a photo of himself chipping away at the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe. The photograph is dated [...]
Berlin Wall celebration marked by joy and caution
November 10th, 2009 |
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Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Monday with symbolism, fireworks and concerts, VOA reports. Current and former world leaders joined tens of thousands of people who marked the event. But amid much joy was also a note of caution.
Don’t Blame Capitalism for Wall Street’s Corruption and Lawlessness
November 9th, 2009 |
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When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought about Western civilization, he answered:I think it would be a good idea.I feel the same way about free market capitalism.It would be a good idea, but it is not what we have now. Instead, we have either soci…
Video: Jay-Z Joins U2 For “Sunday Bloody Sunday” In Berlin
November 9th, 2009 |
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U2 & Jay-Z Perform “Sunday Bloody Sunday” at MTV Europe Awards
At last night’s MTV Europe Awards, Jay-Z joined U2 for a new look at the classic “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Performed at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was an historic event on several levels. Watch the vid here:
Jay-Z recently announced a major 2010 tour, details here.
World leaders in Berlin for fall of wall bash
November 9th, 2009 |
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World leaders past and present are in Berlin to celebrate the “happiest day in recent German history.†They will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the event that led to German reunification, the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Soviet Union.
Tadić: Balkans tearing down walls to EU
November 8th, 2009 |
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President Boris Tadić said that the Western Balkans region is tearing down its “Berlin Wall†with the its aspirations for joining the European Union. He said that the walls will be broken down when the region joins the EU, adding that this historical moment will complete the process of European unification.
The week ahead
November 8th, 2009 |
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Barack Obama travels to Asia, taking in visits to Japan and China
• BARACK OBAMA begins a trip to Asia on Thursday November 12th. A visit to Japan could prove to be frosty, even though the country is America’s most important ally in the region, as the newly elected government has seemed unwilling to back American foreign policy, for example in Afghanistan. Mr Obama will also attend a summit of leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, the part of the world demonstrating the most robust economic growth. Most notable, the American president will spend four days in China, where talks may focus on international efforts to curb carbon emissions in the hope of limiting global climate change. Economic relations, in particular American concern about the weakness of the yuan, may also be discussed.
• CELEBRATIONS will be held in Germany, and elsewhere, on Monday November 9th to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Despite current economic difficulties in the region, opinion polls suggest that the populations in eastern and central European countries that had previously been subject to Soviet style rule remain resolutely committed to liberal democracy and capitalism. See article …
U2 Jay-Z Perform Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary Concert MTV EMAs [VIDEO]
November 6th, 2009 |
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U2 and Jay-Z performed “Sunday Bloody Sunday” during a concert in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany on Thursday. U2 performed a free concert in collaboration with MTV Europe Music Awards to help the city celebrate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Going global
November 5th, 2009 |
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Articles mentioning “globalisation” in The Economist
“GLOBALISATION” is a relatively recent term. A search in the archives of this newspaper, perhaps the one most closely associated with globalisation, shows the word first used in 1961 in an article on the need for economic reform in Spain. Only in the 1980s did the term get the meaning it now has, when Theodore Levitt, a Harvard academic, used it to refer to the spread of corporations around the world. By the end of the decade, with the Berlin Wall in pieces, the number of articles (and letters to the editor) mentioning globalisation surged. Protests in Seattle in 1999 and in Genoa two years later encouraged more uses of the term, as did global trade negotiations in 2006. But with the current recession, the term is somewhat out of fashion.
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The glow fades
November 4th, 2009 |
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Public enthusiasm for democracy and capitalism is waning in many former communist countries
THE fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 marked the beginning of the end of communism in Europe and, for many, the dawn of a new, democratic era. Two decades later, however, enthusiasm for democracy and capitalism east of the former Iron Curtain appears to have waned considerably. In a survey of nine countries in 1991, large majorities of citizens in each said they approved of the move from a single-party state to a multi-party political system. But a new poll shows support has now fallen drastically, especially in poorer countries such as Ukraine and Lithuania. And in every country, fewer people now approve of the change to a free-market economy. The belief that the changes have benefited business and political elites far more than ordinary people is widespread.
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U2 Berlin Wall Fall 20th Anniversary Concert MTV Europe Awards Nov. 5
October 28th, 2009 |
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U2 will perform a free concert to help the city celebrate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, MTV announced on Tuesday evening.
The Irish rockers will perform in front of the Brandenburg Gate on Nov. 5 during the network’s Europe Music Awards, hosted by Katy Perry. The band’s performance will beamed via satellite [...]
Tension brews as Merkel kicks off coalition talks
October 6th, 2009 |
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Freshly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday begins what could be prickly talks with her new coalition partners over forming a government amid growing tension between the allies.
The talks, between Merkel’s conservatives (CDU/CSU) and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), could last weeks as they thrash out the policies and the ministers needed to haul [...]
Lostpolitik
October 1st, 2009 |
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Will the Free Democrats quell east Europe’s fears?
EASTERN EUROPE owes a huge debt to the Germans. By showing that capitalism worked better than planned economies, West Germany helped win the cold war. East Germans kept trying to escape, forcing the Soviet-backed regime to build the Berlin Wall, destroying communism’s claim to be popular. East German people-power brought that wall down and tore up Stalin’s map of post-war Europe by demanding unification. In the 1990s Germany forced expansion onto the European Union’s agenda and then made it happen (and paid for it, German taxpayers would add sourly). And to this day, Germany’s Vergangenheitsbewaltigung is a template for other countries wanting to come to terms with their past.
All the odder, therefore, that Germany is not more popular in the east. The burgeoning trade and political ties between Berlin and Moscow have spooked the countries in between. Germany and Russia are planning a condominium, just like 70 years ago, the worriers say. An opinion poll last year showing that a substantial majority of Germans would oppose the military defence of the Baltic states if they were attacked further stoked those fears. The countries between Russia and Germany feel squeezed—all the more so now that America is distracted, NATO divided, and Britain out of the game. …