NEW RIGHTS ALERT – AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  We provide this as a service for any readers who might be looking for new rights to assert here in the backward, militaristic, tea partying USA, which doesn't yet have the progressive touch of Europe.  From The Sunday Times (London):

AN overseas holiday used to be thought of as a reward for a year’s hard work. Now Brussels has declared that tourism is a human right and pensioners, youths and those too poor to afford it should have their travel subsidised by the taxpayer.

Under the scheme, British pensioners could be given cut-price trips to Spain, while Greek teenagers could be taken around disused mills in Manchester to experience the cultural diversity of Europe.

The idea for the subsidised tours is the brainchild of Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, who was appointed by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.

The scheme, which could cost hundreds of millions of pounds a year, is intended to promote a sense of pride in European culture, bridge the north-south divide in the continent and prop up resorts in their off-season.

COMMENT:  I'd like a subsidized trip to Disney World to explore the cultural aspects of Mickey Mouse.  After that, I want a subsidized trip to European Union headquarters in Brussells to examine exactly what a Mickey Mouse outfit looks like. 

If you have a suggestion for new rights that we at Urgent Agenda might advocate, please let us know.

April 19, 2010