Meaningful freedom has always
implied responsibility.

I met today with the excellent think tank OpenEurope, along with other MPs of various parties:

Open Europe is an independent think tank, with offices in London and Brussels, set up by some of the UK’s leading business people to contribute bold new thinking to the debate about the direction of the EU.

While we are committed to European co-operation, Open Europe believes that the EU has reached a critical moment in its development. ‘Ever closer union’, espoused by Jean Monnet and propelled forwards by successive generations of political and bureaucratic elites, has failed.

The EU’s over-loaded institutions, held in low regard by Europe’s citizens, are ill-equipped to adapt to the pressing challenges of weak economic growth, rising global competition, insecurity and a looming demographic crisis.

Open Europe believes that the EU must now embrace radical reform based on economic liberalisation, a looser and more flexible structure, and greater transparency and accountability if it is to overcome these challenges, and succeed in the twenty first century.

The best way forward for the EU is an urgent programme of radical change driven by a consensus between member states. In pursuit of this consensus, Open Europe will seek to involve like-minded individuals, political parties and organisations across Europe in our thinking and activities, and disseminate our ideas widely across the EU and the rest of the world.

It was all very encouraging. Through The Cobden Centre, I advocate free trade and peace in addition to our work on honest money, so naturally I am keen to promote a more open and dynamic Europe which is actually accountable to  the people, instead of trampling their democratic rights whilst issuing ever more regulations, raising nationalism to the continental level.

Apparently the EU is now ripe for radical reform. Good.

With 63 of 69 seats declared:

As Mark Mardell writes:

It’s an important result. As a whole it confirms the mood of the British electorate towards the EU. It is also significant in terms of its impact on the Conservatives. It is pretty clear if you compare the local elections with the Euros that the Conservatives lost votes to UKIP. They want those votes back in time for a general election. So if there was ever any argument for them soft-pedalling their hard line on the EU it’s gone. Those who’ve argued for a range of policies, pulling out of the centre-right group, arguing for a referendum, for a new relationship with the EU, will have their hand strengthened.

via BBC – Mark Mardell’s Euroblog. Mardell also writes of the EU-wide failure of social democracy, a failure which should surprise no one familiar with the political economy of freedom and equality before the law.

An idea for another time:

What is Motorail?  Normal passenger trains dont carry cars or motorbikes, just passengers and sometimes bicycles.  However, special Motorail trains carry cars & motorbikes using car transporters attached to the back or front of the train.  These run on a limited number of holiday routes, usually on certain days of the week, usually summer-only.

via A guide to Motorail trains in Europe: Taking your car by train.

Inspired by the documentation for Wee Planets, I created this panorama with Hugin, an outstanding tool for aligning, joining, blending and correcting images. I simply followed the installation instructions and threw six relatively carelessly-taken photos at it to obtain this result. It was reported as a “very bad fit” by Hugin, which may indicate the quality that can be achieved with care. The original size is available here.

Hugin includes everything needed to quickly create panoramas: I did not have to use separately autopano-sift or Enblend.

Great fun and highly recommended.

Wanderung 37, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

The runs in this shot are presently closed, but covered in snow, horrible melting snow. If the temperature drops and a little snow falls, an Easter ski here may yet be feasible.

Salzburg 19, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

So we visited Salzburg, with its endless squares and vistas.

Follow the link from the photo for more.

Dachstein ice palace, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

The ice sculpture in the Dachstein Ice Palace is remarkable. With its dark blue glacier ice, this Grecian scene was simply beautiful. The figures from Ice Age were stunning, particularly the Mammoth:

Ice Mammoth in the Dachstein glacier, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

The Dachstein Ice Palace is well worth the €7 entrance fee: recommended.

Saab in Austrian Alps 3, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

Despite recent heavy snow, roads were clear at all altitudes. Click on the photo for more shots from today.

Altenmarkt Snow, originally uploaded by stevenjbaker.

These rooftops and roads were clear last night and the snow is still belting down.

My associates tell me that it’s snowing too much for a ski. I’ll probably go find a minor, uncleared road to enjoy.