Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password

User pages for Gag Halfrunt:

Debunking Eurabia

by Gag Halfrunt
Mon Nov 19th, 2007 at 02:35:43 AM EST

In the Financial Times, Simon Kuper reviews and debunks four books about the nefarious Islamofascist conspiracy to take over Europe, including the one that started the whole business, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye'or. He begins by comparing the Eurabia meme to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion:

Diary rescue by Migeru

Read more... (28 comments, 525 words in story)

Divide and conquer

by Gag Halfrunt
Thu Oct 18th, 2007 at 10:28:10 AM EST

Today's Guardian has a profile of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, prime minister of Poland, and his twin brother Lech, the president.
They are two men who appear to operate as one, and their central mission since coming to power - the president in 2005 and the prime minister 15 months ago - has been to restore Polish pride, and to get the world to sit up and take notice of their country. They have done this by driving through their own version of social cleansing, after years of what they see as moral decline, and by turning Germany into a bogeyman and ramping up Poland's fractious relationship with Russia. They have indeed been getting their country noticed, but whether it is for the right reasons is another question.

Read more... (2 comments, 302 words in story)

5 Myths About Sick Old Europe

by Gag Halfrunt
Sun Oct 7th, 2007 at 11:55:00 AM EST

Steve Hill wants the Washington Post's readers to know that Europe is not, in fact, a collapsing socialist hellhole.

In the global economy, today's winners can become tomorrow's losers in a twinkling, and vice versa. Not so long ago, American pundits and economic analysts were snidely touting U.S. economic superiority to the "sick old man" of Europe. What a difference a few months can make. Today, with the stock market jittery over Iraq, the mortgage crisis, huge budget and trade deficits, and declining growth in productivity, investors are wringing their hands about the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, analysts point to the roaring economies of China and India as the only bright spots on the global horizon.

But what about Europe? You may be surprised to learn how our estranged transatlantic partner has been faring during these roller-coaster times -- and how successfully it has been knocking down the Europessimist myths about it.


Via Atrios, who comments:

This article provides a useful corrective to the myths of Yurpean economic disaster.

But aside from simple economics, most conservative commentators write about a fantasy place which does not even exist. You can't call what they do caricature because the have no comprehension of the place they're pretending to describe.

Mebbe a few of them should actually get a passport.


Comments >> (13 comments)

Recent Diaries
Sunday Train: Heritage Opposes Freedom to Choose High Speed...
by BruceMcF - Mar 21
2 comments

Wilders' Ideology
by Nomad - Mar 21
9 comments

Israel censors Universal Declaration of Human Rights
by shergald - Mar 21

so.. what comes in America after the HCR vote...and how will...
by johnfire - Mar 21
12 comments

A map for the future
by Sven Triloqvist - Mar 21
2 comments

Getting to know van Rompuy
by Sven Triloqvist - Mar 20
1 comment

Gas, Oil and the Central Oil Bank of Saudi Arabia
by ChrisCook - Mar 20
4 comments

Will Bloggers Rescue the Lehman Story?
by danps - Mar 20
2 comments

Early Friday Photography Blog #131.
by LEP - Mar 20
51 comments

Meet Shayna Bailey, Slow Food International
by borderjumpers - Mar 20

LQD: Gays blamed for Srebrenica Massacre
by Frank Schnittger - Mar 19
10 comments

Getting Water to Crops
by borderjumpers - Mar 19
3 comments

LQD: Sovereign Equity (2) : Why Conventional Economics Is...
by ChrisCook - Mar 19
22 comments

US General: Dutch Gays in Military to Blame for Massacre...
by Oui - Mar 19
5 comments

Israel thumbs its nose at Obama, again
by shergald - Mar 18
6 comments

Innovation of the Week: Providing an Agricultural Answer to...
by borderjumpers - Mar 18
6 comments

The "ŕ Paris" family grows
by Jerome a Paris - Mar 18
37 comments

Juan Cole avenges former IDF Corporal Jeffrey Goldberg
by shergald - Mar 17
25 comments

Kucinich abandons left fight against insurance bill
by fairleft - Mar 17
15 comments

1,000 Words About Uganda
by borderjumpers - Mar 17

More Diaries...
Debates
Campaigns
Occasional Series