Friday, June 11, 2004 AD
"And co-decision with the council of ministers applies!"
Baffled by the workings of the European Parliament? Or just needing something to occupy the long hours before the EU election results are published on Sunday evening? Via the Guardian's Backbencher column comes a link to "the cartoon adventures of Strasbourg's most intrepid MEP, the ravishing Irina Vega", Troubled Waters. "Discover the European Parliament through a thrilling story in your language", promises the opening page.
Sample dialogue: "The plenary today will be crucial. If I don't manage to win Parliament over we'll have missed a wonderful opportunity to use our environmental powers." "Yes, solidarity is the only answer."
For those of you whose internet connections are likely to buckle under the strain of the 10.7Mb download for the full story, there's an EP phrasebook (PDF, 487Kb) to help you understand the intricacies of the Parliament's activities (oddly, there's no entry for "fraudulent travel expenses claim"). This document caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over me, being strangely reminiscent of the "Superheroes Dictionary" I had as a boy, in which the meaning of words was explained using cartoon panels featuring the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman and Captain America ("I need to eat some lunch. But Superdog has eaten my sandwiches already. He ate them yesterday as well" - that sort of thing).
Sample dialogue: "The plenary today will be crucial. If I don't manage to win Parliament over we'll have missed a wonderful opportunity to use our environmental powers." "Yes, solidarity is the only answer."
For those of you whose internet connections are likely to buckle under the strain of the 10.7Mb download for the full story, there's an EP phrasebook (PDF, 487Kb) to help you understand the intricacies of the Parliament's activities (oddly, there's no entry for "fraudulent travel expenses claim"). This document caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over me, being strangely reminiscent of the "Superheroes Dictionary" I had as a boy, in which the meaning of words was explained using cartoon panels featuring the likes of Superman, Wonder Woman and Captain America ("I need to eat some lunch. But Superdog has eaten my sandwiches already. He ate them yesterday as well" - that sort of thing).
