While marketing and mainstream communications campaigns have derived branding inspiration in the comic-like cartoon style of street art, and the values attached to its culture—freedom, community, transgression—the paradox still exists to see it framed and sold through traditional art channels.
We caught up with street artist Rafael Suriani at his recent show, "Collages Urbains", at Cabinet d'amateur gallery in Paris, where he told us more about street art and his relationship with the medium.
Suriani's mark features animals, surviving and thriving in the streets for its powerful and highly recognizable aesthetic. In his half-human-half-animal figures, the animal faces act as liberating masks, allowing the artist to express social criticism in an elegant way. The vibrant, seemingly playful creatures refrain from getting too serious and maintain a suggestive tone that avoids the obvious.
The stickers are the result of a double-binding process that first assembles man and animal, then adheres the resulting figure to the wall. In the past, Suriani has drawn from his Latin-American heritage, playing with shamanic mythology figures such as toucan or jaguar. In his recent series, on the other hand, he is more interested in urban domestic animals such as cats and dogs—according to the artist, the convention that they tend to resemble their owners offers a metaphoric way to talk about us people. Recently Suriani made a series of French "Bulldogs" as a special dedication on London walls, using this breed to cartoon and make fun of some French characteristics. Each dog expresses a different state of mind—humor, spirituality, criticism or beauty.
Suriani uses the rare technique of hand-painting every poster he sticks on the streets. Making each sticker is the result of a process involving selecting photos from the Internet, cutting them in Photoshop, then screening and painting before cutting the final product. Such repetition lies at the heart of street art practice, which is often based on plastering as many spots as possible, invasion-style.
When considering the ephemeral fate of the piece of work destined for degradation of the elements, police destruction or theft from passers-by, the time and effort for such little reward seems remarkable. Suriani explains, however, that the fleeting nature of his work is freeing and allows him to be audacious with both subject and technique. To him, because there is no pressure or constraint, that achievement is rarely a failure.
In the end, the piece of art is not the only sticker by itself, it is the sticker in its context, seen as a whole on the wall with the daylight shining on it, the motorbikes parked against it or the branch of a tree creeping across. Rarely is the work's time spent on the wall its only life, after all, with the rise of dedicated photographers immortalizing the scenes for the Internet.
Suriani claims his intention to step into the city's landscape by bringing much-needed beauty comes with a positive message. Rather than being aggressive or controversial, Suriani takes pleasure in having people on the street enjoy his figures. His work is bound to the city—physically, geographically and socially—compelling the public to refresh their view of their surroundings and drawing their eyes to the places that typically go unnoticed. As an architect, Suriani has found a way to unveil the city and change people's perception of the scenes they see everyday without truly seeing them. The choice of venue is very important, based on aesthetic consideration with attention to the context and surroundings like the location.
Euro 2012 recently began and, for those of you who don’t know, it’s the European football championship. European football is what we Americans call soccer, and it has slowly gained steam over the years, although still not as popular as American football… Whether you’re into the championship or not (or even sports in general), you’ll probably love these simple, modern posters David Watson ofTrebleseven designed for it.
Each poster represents a particular country that’s playing, and the colors of their flag are incorporated into one of the various circular designs. I love the typographic twist these posters have and how they don’t have blatant sports references in them.
The natural territory of the street artist Shepard Fairey would seem to be as all-American as it gets. Emerging from the country's skateboarding scene he achieved global prominence with his much copied, much parodied Hope poster displaying a stylised Barack Obama in shades of blue and red.
He spent much of Friday assembling his latest street mural in a seemingly less likely locale – a suburban street in Turnpike Lane, one of north London's more economically mixed neighbourhoods.
Hoisted aloft by a rented cherry picker, the 42-year-old artist used stencils and paint to create Envision, an image of a giant, stylised eyeball design, set in the frame of a disused Victorian placard site on the wall of a local shop.
The unlikely public commission, carried out with any charge by the artist, was the almost accidental result of a wider community regeneration programme carried out by the local council, Haringey, and the green travel charity Sustrans.
In getting together to decide options for more pedestrian-friendly street layouts, locals pondered what to do with the crumbling and slightly tatty shop wall, and decided the existing frame left by the long-disappeared Victorian placard would be best filled by a mural.
James Straffon, a local who helped organise the project, went to a London art gallery specialising in graffiti artists to seek help.
He said: "The woman from the gallery asked: 'Ideally, who would you like?' I said: 'I know it would never happen, but Shepard Fairy.' She said: 'Shall I get in touch with him, then?' I stuck my neck out and said yes and sent them a diagram with the sizes, thinking nothing would happen. Literally a week later they said, he's interested and he's coming over."
Straffon says he remains unsure why such a celebrated artist would be interested in a relatively out-of-the-way location. He said: "I think what sold it was that it's an old Victorian billboard. I think they like the fact it's the old London thing."
Before Fairey arrived, Straffon and some neighbours spent a day preparing the wall, painting it in a specified shade of red for a background to the stencilled design.
The US artist and his team spent several hours in decidedly mixed weather putting the design in place. Straffon said: "He's come from west coast America to dreary, sodden London. He must be thinking: 'Great, I've got to do this.' It's quite windy, too."
Another oddity is that this is Turnpike Lane's second work by a globally-known street artist in a matter of months. Last month, a mural believed to be by Banksy, a rough UK equivalent to Fairey, appeared on the wall of the area's local Poundland shop, showing a child sweatshop worker sewing jubilee bunting.
Beyond leaving you drowsy and irritable, sleepless nights can take aserious toll on your physical and mental health.
"We know sleep is a critical biological function that influences a wide variety of physiological process," said Dr. Susan Redline, a sleep specialist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Sleep deficiency can affect mood and the ability to make memories and learn, but it also affects metabolism, appetite, blood pressure, levels of inflammation in the body and perhaps even the immune response."
Lack of sleep has been linked to stroke, obesity, diabetes, anxiety, depression, and the country's No. 1 killers: heart disease and cancer. Read on to learn the health hazards of sleep deficiency and how you can sleep better.
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Stroke
A new study of more than 5,600 people found those who slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely to suffer a stroke than their well-rested counterparts.
"We speculate that short sleep duration is a precursor to other traditional stroke risk factors, and once these traditional stroke risk factors are present, then perhaps they become stronger risk factors than sleep duration alone," Megan Ruiter of the University of Alabama at Birmingham said in a statement.
The study was presented today at the 26th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston, Mass.
Stroke risk is also higher in people who are overweight, diabetic or hypertensive -- all conditions linked to poor sleep.
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Obesity and Diabetes
Sporadic and irregular sleep can raise blood sugar levels and slow the body's metabolism,increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes, according to an April 2012 study published in Science Translational Medicine.
"The evidence is clear that getting enough sleep is important for health," said study author Orfeu Buxton, a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Sleep deficiency can also lead to bad food choices, according to a study that found the sight of unhealthy food activated reward centers in the brains of sleep-deprived people.
"The results suggest that, under restricted sleep, individuals will find unhealthy foods highly salient and rewarding, which may lead to greater consumption of those foods," said Marie-Pierre St-Onge from St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University in New York, and lead author of the study presented today at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston. "Indeed, food intake data from this same study showed that participants ate more overall and consumed more fat after a period of sleep restriction compared to regular sleep."
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Anxiety and Depression
Sure, sleepless nights make for miserable mornings. But chronic sleep deficiency can lead to anxiety and depression -- both serious mood disorders.
"People feel more anxious, restless, irritable, less satisfied," said Dr. Mark Dyken, director of the University of Iowa's Sleep Disorders Center in Iowa City, adding sleep deficiency can impact careers and relationships. "They have difficulty focusing and sometimes feel like they just don't care anymore."
Brain imaging suggests sleep deprivation can boost activity in the brain's emotional centers, according to a study presented today at the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Boston.
"Our results suggest that just one night of sleep loss significantly alters the optimal functioning of this essential brain process, especially among anxious individuals," study author Andrea Goldstein from the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a statement. "This is perhaps never more relevant considering the continued erosion of sleep time that continues to occur across society."
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Cancer
Sleep deficiency has also been linked to an increased risk of cancer.
A 2008 study published in the British Journal of Cancer found women who slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely develop breast cancer, and a 2010 study published in the journal Cancer found those who slept fewer than six hours a night were more likely to have colorectal polyps, which can lead to colon cancer.
The biological mechanisms are unclear, but lack of sleep has been shown to boost levels of inflammation in the body and interfere with the immune response, both of which have been implicated in cancer.
"Sleep is restorative," said Dyken. "And if you don't get it, your health will suffer."
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Heart Disease
Short and sporadic sleep may also raise the risk of heart disease.
A 2011 study published in the European Heart Journal found people who slept fewer than six hours a night were 48 percent more likely to develop or die from heart disease.
The link could have something to do with levels of inflammation in the body, but the researchers also found higher blood pressure and cholesterol in people with sleep deficiency.
HEALTH HAZARDS LINKED TO LACK OF SLEEP
Get Your Sleep
With hectic work and family schedules, getting a good night's sleep is no easy feat. But experts say a little planning can go a long way, helping you feel refreshed the next morning and for many to come.
"Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet, and avoid reading anything that's going to make you excited or worried," said Dyken. "Try not to exercise or eat a big meal within three hours of your bedtime, but don't go to bed hungry, either."
Caffeine and alcohol can also interfere with sleep, according to Redline.
"Much of sleep deficiency is self-inflicted," she said. "But adults should do their best to get to bed at regular times and aim to have 7.5 hours on average of sleep. Set your schedule such that you honor and respect your sleep needs."
According to Merriam-Webster, ingenuity can be defined as "skill or cleverness in devising or combining" or "cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance." We'd say that's an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.
What to do? Why, disassemble the broken hulk and build yourself a motorcycle from its pile of parts, of course! As the story goes, Emile was able to use the inventive machine to escape the desert, though not before convincing the local authorities that he wasn't an insurgent and paying a fine for importing a non-conforming vehicle...
Since Emile was the only soul in the area, nobody has been able to confirm the veracity of the events that led to the little French runabout's conversion into a makeshift motorcycle. That said, judging by the images you can see here (apparently from the March 2003 issue of 2CV Magazine), this Citroën-bred two-wheeler does indeed exist, and it was definitely fashioned from parts scavenged from an old 2CV.
Emile, wherever you are, we take our hats off to your real-life MacGyver skills, sir.
After the recent stream of disturbing news reports of people eating others' flesh, Hornaday Manufacturing has released bullets that promise to ‘make dead permanent.’
The ammunition, branded as Zombie Max offers Proven Z-Max bullets, is live ammunition, but is actually only intended for use on targets – not people.
Scroll down for videos
The Walking Dead: Hornady Manufacturing has started selling Zombie bullets, 'just in case'; it is live ammunition
Attacks: Carl Jacquneaux, left, who was arrested for allegedly biting another man's face and Brandon De Leon, right, who allegedly tried to bite two policemen while threatening to eat them
Hornaday spokesman Everett Deger told WWJ Newsradio 950 that the company’s president has a love of zombie culture – including popular shows like the Walking Dead – and was inspired to make the bullets in honour of the cultural phenomenon.
ON CLOUD NINE: BATH SALTS BY ANOTHER NAME... WITH STRONG COMPULSIONS TO REDOSE
The 'bath salts' sold under the name Cloud Nine are likely to be stimulant drugs such MPDV or ephedrine.
'Bath salts' does not refer to a single chemical, but instead to a range of synthetic drugs that can be sold legally in the U.S. as long as they are not marked for human consumption – hence the misleading name.
Drugs such as MPDV are highly potent stimulants, similar to some amphetamines, and in MPDV's case particularly, cause a strong compulsion to 'redose' with more of the drug.
In high doses, such drugs can cause violent and unpredictable behaviour, and terrifying hallucinations – and the compulsion to take more of the drug continues, even once the 'high' has begun to make the user feel bad.
Various different compounds use the name 'Cloud Nine', and it's still not confirmed which exact chemical was in the drug reported to have caused these attacks, but some reports have pointed the finger at MPDV.
The chemical is already illegal in Florida – although other 'bath salts' remain perfectly legal in the state.
‘We decided just to have some fun with a marketing plan that would allow us to create some ammunition designed for that…fictional world,’ he told the radio station.
Mr Deger noted that the bullets are some of the ammunition company’s most popular products.
The news comes as two more cannibal attacks have been reported in the US as police warn of a dangerous new mind-altering drug called Cloud Nine.
Last week Rudy Eugene - who is believed to have taken the over-the-counter ecstasy-like drug - growled at officers as he chewed off most of a homeless man's face before being shot dead by Miami police.
Since then two further incidents have been linked to the substance, which is part of a new line of 'bath salts'.
More...
Revealed: Miami cannibal's girlfriend shows herself in public for the first time and claims her beau was carrying a BIBLE before the attack
Caught on camera: The moment woman driver rams into pedestrian and travels for hundreds of yards with him clinging on 'because of her hormones'
Revealed: The videos 'Canadian cannibal' sent to his 'fans' while on the run from police - and one of them contains infamous song from American Psycho
The second occurred on Saturday when a snarling homeless man, identified as Brandon De Leon, threatened to eat two officers, echoing the Miami attack.
A third incident took place in Louisiana where Carl Jacquneaux, 43, bit off a chunk of his victim's face. Miami police have issued a warning about Cloud Nine and told their officers to exercise extreme caution when dealing with homeless men who appear to be acting unusually.
Police investigating the case of Rudy Eugene, who ate the face off a homeless man, say as well as being naked, he was carrying a bible.
Some pages had been ripped out of the book and were found close by, according to CBS Miami. A preliminary toxicology examination has also found that the 31-year-old had been smoked cannabis shortly before the incident.
They were forced to fit 21-year-old De Leon with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask after he was arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach. When put in a police cruiser De Leon slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted at officers, 'I'm going to eat you', NBC Miami reported.
He then growled, gnashed his teeth and tried to bite the hand of an officer attempting to treat his head wounds.
'Brandon growled and opened and closed his jaw, slamming his teeth like an animal would,' the report said. Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs, including Cloud Nine.
In a second case Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Victim: Todd Credeur, though in shock, managed to spray his attacker in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face
Scene: Todd Creneur was attacked while working on the yard outside his home in Scott, Louisiana
KATC reported that Mr Credeur was working in his front yard when he was attacked.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: 'During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim's face off.'
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
Jacquneaux then allegedly left the home and went to another man's home where he held him at knife point and stole a hand gun. This is where police found him and arrested him.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Eugene ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo in Miami last week and a police memo to officers has highlighted the dangers surrounding the drug's use.
It warned the De Leon case 'bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man's face'.
'Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.'
Police have suggested Eugene was under the influence of the synthetic stimulant usually sold in drug paraphanelia shops.
Cloud Nine is 'addictive and dangerous', the memo said, part of a 'disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products'.
The drug, which is also as Ivory Wave in the U.S., comes in harmless-looking packets, police said, adding that it is illegal in Britain and Australia.
Crazed attack: Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene (left) when he savagely attacked 65-year-old Ronald Poppo (right)
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour.
The series of shocking incidents began on May 26 when a naked Eugene encountered his victim, 65-year-old Ronald Poppo, who was sleeping in the shade on elevated train tracks.
In surveillance footage from the nearby Miami Herald building, Eugene was seen struggling with the naked homeless man, throwing him to the ground and then tearing into his face with his teeth as cars and bicycles sped by.
About 18 minutes into the attack, an officer appeared on the scene and yelled at Eugene to stop, but the 31-year-old just growled at him and continued chewing Poppo’s face.
The officer then opened fire on Eugene, shooting him to death.
Enlarge
Horrific attack: The spot on MacArthur Causeway when a man was killed after chewing the face off a stranger
Disfigured: Poppo, here on a stretcher, miraculously survived the attack, but was left without a nose, mouth or eyes
Poppo remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital with his nose, mouth and eyes torn off. He faces months of treatment to rebuild his features and psychological care.
Controversially this week the scene of the attack on Poppo has been Miami added to sites visited by a tourist tour's itinerary.
The famous Miami Mystery & Mayhem: Crime Tour tour led by Miami-Dade College professor Dr Paul George will stop on the road that connects downtown Miami to popular South Beach.
Dr Paul told the South Florida Business Journal: 'Horrible as it was, it is part of our history. Currently, our tour takes us over the causeway right past the site, so this fits well.'
In a completely separate case not involving the drug, Canadian Luka Rocco Magnotta has been sent back to his country from Germany after an international manhunt.
He is alleged to have killed his partner, Jun Lin, before eating parts of his body then chopping it to pieces that were then posted to different authorities. Mr Lun's head has not yet been found.
'ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE': RECENT CANNIBAL ATTACKS ACROSS AMERICA
Since Rudy Eugene attacked and ate the face of homeless man Ronald Poppo on May 26 in Miami, Florida, while allegedly high on 'bath salts' there has been a spate of similar attacks.
The 'Miami Cannibal' case shocked the nation after police had to shoot dead Eugene when he refused to stop eating his victim's face off. Poppo is now recovering in hospital with horrific injuries.
Brandon DeLeon, 21, was high on drugs and drunk on Four Loko on June 2 when he tried to bite off a police officer’s hand after he was arrested for disturbing customers in a Miami fast food restaurant.
The homeless man repeatedly banged his head against the patrol car’s Plexiglas and yelled, ‘I’m going to eat you.’
At the police station, De Leon tried to bite the officer who was taking his blood pressure and tending to his self-inflicted wounds. The police report noted that he 'growled and opened and closed his jaw slamming his teeth like an animal would.'
Carl Jacquneaux, 43, is accused of attacking Todd Credeur at his home in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after he became upset following a domestic issue.
Mr Credeur reportedly managed to spray Jacquneaux in the face with wasp spray to stop him from eating any more of his face.
A friend of the victim said she believes Jacquneaux was under the influence of Cloud Nine, which is the same drug which is believed to have been taken by the 'Miami Cannibal' Rudy Eugene.
Alex Kinyua, 21, a college student, used a knife to carve up Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, 37, before eating his heart out and parts of his brain.
He then took to his social networking site to boast about it to his friends saying: 'Are you strong enough to endure ritual HBCU mass human sacrifices around the country and still be able to function as human beings?'
He referred to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech and 'other past university killings around the country' and warned 'ethnic cleansing is the policy, strategy and tactics that will affect you, directly or indirectly in the coming months.'
Narcotic Cloud Nine was blamed for the attack when Rudy Eugene ate 75% of homeless man Ronald Poppo’s face in Miami last month.
Horrific images surfaced of the attack that only ended once police shot and killed 31-year-old Eugene.
Mr Poppo is still recovering from his injuries in hospital.
Police are now warning people to stay away from Cloud Nine – also known as ‘bath salts’ - after two similar attacks were reported.
The most recent prompted an internal memo to police warning officers the case “bears resemblance to an incident that occurred in the city of Miami last week, when a male ate another man’s face”.
The memo called the synthetic drug “addictive and dangerous” and said it was part of a “disturbing trend in which new drugs are sold in the guise of household products”.
It added: “Please be careful when dealing with the homeless population during your patrols.”
Rudy Eugene, 31: Ate 75% of a man's face in Miami before being shot dead
AP
Brandon De Leon, 21: Tried to bite two police officers after he was arrested in North Miami BeachCarl Jacquneaux, 43: Bit a man's face in Scott, Louisiania. Wasp spray was used to end the attackAlex Kinyua, 21: Accused of eating the heart and brain of friend in Maryland
Splash
Horror: Film cannibal Hannibal Lecter
Channel 5
During the latest attack homeless Brendon De Leon threatened to eat two Miami police officers and had to be fitted with a Hannibal Lecter-style mask to prevent him carrying his threats out.
He had been arrested for disturbing the peace in North Miami Beach while high on drugs and put in a police cruiser when he slammed his head against the plexiglass divider and shouted: “I’m going to eat you” to officers before growling and baring his teeth.
Miami police said they believe he was on a cocktail of drugs including Cloud Nine.
In another case, Carl Jacquneaux, 43, was accused of attacking Todd Credeur in his front garden in Scott, Louisiana, over the weekend after being upset over a domestic issue while under the influence of what is said to be bath salts.
Jacquneaux bit Mr Credeur before being sprayed in the face with wasp spray.
Scott Assistant Police Chief Kert Thomas said: “During the attack, the suspect bit a chunk of the victim’s face off.”
Jacquneaux was then said to have left the property and gone to another man’s home where he held him at knife-point and stole a handgun before being apprehended by police.
The drug, which is also known as Ivory Wave, was blamed for several deaths in Britain during 2010 before being banned. It is also illegal in Australia.
The potentially addictive drug stimulates the central nervous system and symptoms include heart palpitations, nausea, hallucinations, paranoia and erratic behaviour and is often sold in plain packaging with the contents purporting to be harmless.
Bank of England policymakers meet today to decide whether to change interest rates or to pump in more money into the ailing economy, with leading economist saying they may opt to inject a further £50bn of stimulus.
Global capital markets, now the most powerful force on earth, are rapidly losing confidence in the financial coherence of the 17-nation euro zone. A market implosion there, like that triggered by Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008, may not be far off. Not only would that dismantle the euro zone, but it could also usher in another global economic slump: in effect, a second leg of the Great Recession, analogous to that of 1937. This risk is evident in the structure of global interest rates. At one level, U.S. Treasury bonds are now carrying the lowest yields in history, as gigantic sums of money seek a safe haven from this crisis. At another level, the weaker euro-zone countries, such as Spain and Italy, are paying stratospheric rates because investors are increasingly questioning their solvency. And there’s Greece, whose even higher rates signify its bankrupt condition. In addition, larger businesses and wealthy individuals are moving all of their cash and securities out of banks in these weakening countries. This undermines their financial systems. 423 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post The reason markets are battering the euro zone is that its hesitant leaders have not developed the tools for countering such pressures. The U.S. response to the 2008 credit market collapse is instructive. The Federal Reserve and Treasury took a series of huge and swift steps to avert a systemic meltdown. The Fed provided an astonishing $13 trillion of support for the credit system, including special facilities for money market funds, consumer finance, commercial paper and other sectors. Treasury implemented the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program, which infused equity into countless banks to stabilize them. The euro-zone leaders have discussed implementing comparable rescue capabilities. But, as yet, they have not fully designed or structured them. Why they haven’t done this is mystifying. They’d better go on with it right now. Europe has entered this danger zone because monetary union — covering 17 very different nations with a single currency — works only if fiscal union, banking union and economic policy union accompany it. Otherwise, differences among the member-states in competitiveness, budget deficits, national debt and banking soundness can cause severe financial imbalances. This was widely discussed when the monetary treaty was forged in 1992, but such further integration has not occurred. How can Europe pull back from this brink? It needs to immediately install a series of emergency financial tools to prevent an implosion; and put forward a detailed, public plan to achieve full integration within six to 12 months. The required crisis tools are three: ●First, a larger and instantly available sovereign rescue fund that could temporarily finance Spain, Italy or others if those nations lose access to financing markets. Right now, the proposed European Stability Mechanism is too small and not ready for deployment. ●Second, a central mechanism to insure all deposits in euro-zone banks. National governments should provide such insurance to their own depositors first. But backup insurance is necessary to prevent a disastrous bank run, which is a serious risk today. ●Third, a unit like TARP, capable of injecting equity into shaky banks and forcing them to recapitalize. These are the equivalent of bridge financing to buy time for reform. Permanent stability will come only from full union across the board. And markets will support the simple currency structure only if they see a true plan for promptly achieving this. The 17 member-states must jointly put one forward. Both the rescue tools and the full integration plan require Germany, Europe’s strongest country, to put its balance sheet squarely behind the euro zone. That is an unpopular idea in Germany today, which is why Chancellor Angela Merkel has been dragging her feet. But Germany will suffer a severe economic blow if this single-currency experiment fails. A restored German mark would soar in value, like the Swiss franc, and damage German exports and employment. The time for Germany and all euro-zone members to get the emergency measures in place and commit to full integration is now. Global capital markets may not give them another month. The world needs these leaders to step up.
A crime linked to Facebook is reported to police every 40 minutes. Last year, officers logged 12,300 alleged offences involving the vastly popular social networking site. Facebook was referenced in investigations of murder, rape, child sex offences, assault, kidnap, death threats, witness intimidation and fraud.
According to Merriam-Webster, ingenuity can be defined as "skill or cleverness in devising or combining" or "cleverness or aptness of design or contrivance." We'd say that's an apt description of a Frenchman named Emile who reportedly found himself stranded in the deserts of Northwest Africa after breaking a frame rail and a suspension swingarm underneath his Citroën 2CV.
