VIP: Very Important Parliament 

In this election year, the EP is determined to once and for all establish its democratic authority within the EU. One of the strategies is to simply show what impact it has on your daily life. For example, last year, the European Commission proposed a plan to introduce full body scanners in airports. You know, those fancy scanners that produce pictures as if you were naked. The European Parliament considered that this would violate the fundamental rights of citizens and rejected the legislation. She same happened to a proposal that allowed airlines to pass personal information to the American security authorities. And by personal information we´re talking about email address, credit card number, hotel reservations and even meal preferences. So, indeed without the EP we might feel literally very naked. 

Tulips, wooden shoes and … no more coffeeshops 

The Dutch were long known as the champions of tolerance and freedom. However, the current Dutch Government is rather keen on reintroducing the good old Christian values. And obviously, hallucinating mushrooms, legal mariuhana and red light districts were not on the 7 day menu when God created the world. The latest anti-liberal attack is targeted at coffeeshop owners. Recently, the owner of  the country´s largest coffeeshop is being prosecuted for leading a criminal organisation. The court case will represent an important test case for the paradoxal Dutch  soft drugs policy. So next time you visit Holland you´ll have to entertain yourself with cheese, tulips, and wooden shoes. 

Everything but cold feet 

Imagine it’s around minus 5 and your hiking in the snow of the beautiful Swiss Alps. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Well, now imagine that you’re wearing aboslutely nothing but shoes, socks and a backpack… Believe it or not, the canton of Alpenzell in northeast Switzerland has become a nude hiker’s mecca, attracting hunderds of … naked .. amateurs. The idea has given shivers to the conservative local authorities whom are to propose a law to prohibit nude hiking. Well, as a representative from the Swiss tourist board said: “Reading about nude hikers is so much more fun than reading about Swiss banks.”