by Frank Schnittger
Tue Jan 31st, 2023 at 11:21:33 AM EST
Recent discussions about the Protocol in Northern Ireland have focused on the problems it poses for the DUP. But from an EU perspective it seeks to solve a far larger problem for the EU as a whole. Much of the analysis of Brexit has been in terms of it being an English nationalist project. What has been missed is the extent to which it is also a political libertarian project.
Much of the driving force behind Brexiteer ideology has been the belief that the "Brussels bureaucracy" and its focus on regulation has been stifling British innovation, dynamism and the potential for growth. The main `benefit of Brexit' was always supposed to be the freedom it gave Britain to chart its own way in the world, with its own trade deals, and with much freer and closer relations with the rest of the world.
`Singapore-on-Thames' would become the gateway and bridge between some of the most dynamic economies in the world - in the Far East, the pacific rim, the Commonwealth, and in the USA. (Let us ignore, for the moment, the fact that Singapore is actually one of the most heavily regulated and strictly enforced places on earth). Global Britain would triumph where a sclerotic bureaucrat ridden old Europe would fail to compete.
by Frank Schnittger
Thu Jan 26th, 2023 at 08:48:51 PM EST
Cross-posted from Slugger O'Toole where it has topped 10,000 readers and 400 comments with many commenters saying it is one of the best opinion pieces they have ever read...
---
When I saw the headline to Brian Walker's piece, Rather than keep slagging off the DUP over the Protocol, let's recognise their better points, I expected to see a forensic analysis of the DUP's 7 tests for determining whether the Protocol had been adequately reformed to meet their requirements for re-entering the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland (NI).
I was looking forward to seeing what elements might be extracted from them that could be congruent with the EU and its legal and political obligations towards its member states. I was hoping for an exploration of any potential common ground that might lead to a settlement.
Instead, what we got was an expression of shared fury with the DUP, and a reduction of the Protocol to identity politics embellished by a gratuitous sideswipe impugning the EU Commission. I was moved to respond as follows:
by Cat
Wed Jan 25th, 2023 at 05:00:40 PM EST
...Thanks to the courage of our soldiers holding back the occupiers, and thanks to the leadership of the United States of America, which has consolidated the world in defense of freedom, we see how to win this battle.
Yet to win, we must engage all our resolve and our strength.
It is like starting your own business and working every day from morning till night, every day, so that one day you can see how your dream is becoming true - when you finally have your own operating business....
Frontpaged - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Sun Jan 22nd, 2023 at 03:10:31 PM EST
Brexit and the resulting impasse around the protocol have tended to put the focus on the DUP and the failure of the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement (BGFA) institutions to operate properly. For unionists the issue is a perceived diminution in the constitutional link with Britain. For nationalists it is another sign of the failure of Northern Ireland to function properly and the need to remedy that by preparing for a united Ireland.
Cross-posted from Slugger O'Toole.
by Oui
Sun Jan 15th, 2023 at 04:46:02 PM EST
Zelensky uses each and every opportunity to get more advanced weapons delivered from NATO allies ..
From day one ...
Ukraine's Zelensky asks citizens to resist and Europe to do more
Yesterday and today ...
Once blood flows and "investment" increases in warfare, one gets a perpetuum mobile to sustain a stupid, senseless war! 😡
No one wants this war and only a handful of delegates in government have their hands on the lever ...
Frontpaged - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Fri Jan 13th, 2023 at 11:24:35 AM EST
Cross-posted from Slugger O'Toole, the leading political blog in Northern Ireland. Warning: This story contains links to original sources and may challenge existing perceptions
Treaties can be as dry as dust and as boring as old rope, which is why lawyers have to be paid to read them. But sometimes it is worthwhile to scan their more important provisions. This is how the 1957 Founding Treaty of Rome (Official text not available in English), later consolidated and incorporated into The Treaty on the Functioning of The European Union describes its purpose on its very first page:
PREAMBLE
HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE GRAND DUCHESS OF LUXEMBOURG, HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS,
DETERMINED to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe,
(continued)
by Oui
Tue Jan 10th, 2023 at 09:51:51 AM EST
Mary Robinson is a valiant fighter for Our Planet
Then the war in Ukraine erupted, not suddenly, but with a long history leading towards war!
Mary Robinson: Ukraine fallout should serve as catalyst for move to clean energy | May 4, 2022 |
A fallacy as she should know ☮️
Frontpaged - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Tue Jan 3rd, 2023 at 03:08:26 AM EST
New years day marked the 50th. Anniversary of Ireland's accession to the EU (then EEC), the single most transformative event in our 100 years of independence. Indeed, our post-independence history could be neatly divided into two periods, pre- and post-EU, although many would trace the origins of Ireland as a modern advanced economy to the Lemass reforms associated with Dr TK Whitaker's seminal 1958 study, "Economic Development."
There aren't any soldiers marching or trumpets blaring to mark the event, but the Irish Times has been publishing a series of articles on EU related themes. One such article was written by Anthony Coughlan, my old Social Policy lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and leader of Irish Sovereignty Movement and National Platform. He opposed Ireland's accession to the EU and just about every EU related Treaty since and pre-figured many of the arguments used by Brexiteers against membership.
His latest article, entitled Fifty years later, I still think EU membership was a mistake, is a good summary of his views and I have responded as follows with a letter published by the Irish Times as the lead letter in response:
by Frank Schnittger
Thu Dec 29th, 2022 at 12:28:43 PM EST
Alex Kane and Newton Emerson are two of the foremost unionist commentators on Northern Ireland and are widely read throughout Ireland through their regular columns in the Irish Times and other newspapers. So it matters when Alex Kane concludes, in yesterday's column, that many in the unionist community have come to the conclusion that the (suspended) Strand 1 Good Friday Agreement institutions - the Assembly and Executive - are not worth saving.
I have responded with a letter published in the Irish Times (second letter down, just above a letter from Gerry Adams) as follows:
by Oui
Sun Dec 25th, 2022 at 10:50:05 AM EST
"Hatten Sie gedacht, ich komme mit Pferdeschwanz?" -- Die Zeit
Angela Merkel über ihren neuen Lebensabschnitt, mögliche Fehler ihrer Russlandpolitik, ihre Rolle in der Flüchtlingskrise und die Frage, ob mit deutschen Kanzlern ungnädig umgegangen wird.
When I first learned of the content, I could not believe to have been deceived by the Germans and Angela Merkel ... I had much trust in Merkel's leadership. If her statement about the intent of the Minsk Agreement is her attempt to revise history for her biography, she handed the Kremlin an argument for starting the military operation and propaganda never to sign any peace or security treaty with the West or NATO allies again.
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Fri Dec 23rd, 2022 at 11:27:03 AM EST
The chart above probably does more to sum up the economic histories of Ireland and the UK in recent decades than any other. Taken from countryeconomy.com it compares Irish and UK GDP per capita growth since 1970. Of course, there is an argument that Irish GDP is somewhat inflated by the activities of global corporations located here, but what I want to focus on is the trend.
by Oui
Mon Dec 19th, 2022 at 03:56:53 PM EST
Situation during the Covid-19 pandemic - Nov. 2021
Energy poor must not bear the cost of soaring energy prices
Rising energy prices put European households in jeopardy, particularly energy-poor and vulnerable households. While gas, electricity and carbon prices are soaring across Europe, millions of European are forced into unacceptable choices between heating or paying their rent. People on lower income living in poorly insulated homes and reliant on fossil gas for heating will suffer the most.
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by gmoke
Mon Dec 19th, 2022 at 04:00:38 AM EST
This Zoom event comes from Energy (and Other) Events Monthly (http://hubevents.blogspot.com) 12/9/22. I attended and am sharing my notes.
Energy as a Weapon of War: Russia, Ukraine, and Europe in Challenging Times
with Margarita M Balmaceda, Professor of Diplomacy and International Relations School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, author of Russian Energy Chains, and an Associate of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
and
Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director and Fritz Stern Chair of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution
Moderators: Elizabeth Wood and Carol Saivetz, both MIT
Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1DrP8wqqPs
A transcript will be available as well
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Wed Dec 7th, 2022 at 03:10:26 PM EST
by paul spencer
Tue Dec 6th, 2022 at 06:02:07 AM EST
I don't visit ET often, but I easily perceive that Oui's take on the Ukraine/Russia war is not generally accepted here. Just to set the tone for my post, I support the RF with few reservations, due to my long-held belief that the US and our closest 'allies' (I prefer the old CPC term running dogs) are by far the greatest source of trouble on Earth. There is simply no reasonable or useful comparison between US/NATO aggression and destruction vs that of any other nation or group of nations.
The most frequent - and egregiously incorrect and ahistorical - description of RF's SMO in Ukraine by the 'western' alliance is that it was "unprovoked". The following article by Chuck Spinney, a long-term Pentagon employee who has evolved from a critique of the lack of accountability and competence in the US DoD to an understanding of the political foundation of our foreign policy. He published this piece in April of this year to try to explain the SMO from a military viewpoint.
Frontpaged - Frank Schnittger - a useful corrective to the dominant "western" perspective - although an article written from a Ukrainian perspective might also be a useful corrective. Putin may have been provoked, but who is the greater provocateur now?
by Frank Schnittger
Sat Nov 26th, 2022 at 09:00:33 AM EST
Electric cars - charging ahead? Destroying the incentive, Sat Nov 26 2022
A chara, - They say one should never waste a good crisis and the ESB [Irish state owned Electricity Supply Board] seems intent on not doing so by adding an up to 67 per cent price increase on top of a previous 47 per cent price increase last May at public electric vehicle charge points.
This is despite a 37 per cent decrease in wholesale electricity prices since last September and a 52 per cent decrease since September 2022 and brings the cost of electricity up to a level comparable to diesel ("Electric vehicle charging to match cost of diesel after 67 per cent further hike", News, November 24th).
With electric car prices still far beyond the reach of most car buyers, this destroys the one incentive we had to go electric, the reduced cost of running one, which could offset the increased repayments required to finance the purchase.
With the purchase of electric vehicles already far below the Government targets required to achieve our greenhouse gas emissions reductions, this latest increase seems designed to sabotage any chance we ever had of meeting those targets.
Buying an electric vehicle now only makes sense if you have a private charge point and large solar panel installation, which excludes the vast majority of the population.
Once again, the Green Party seems to be asleep at the wheel with the Minister for Energy already having allowed swingeing increases in road tolls at a time of booming revenues for toll operators due to increased traffic volumes.
What planet does Eamon Ryan live on? - Is mise,
by Frank Schnittger
Fri Nov 25th, 2022 at 11:14:31 AM EST
Letter to the Editor, Irish Times Fri Nov 25 2022.
A chara, - Newton Emerson is to be congratulated on his forensic analysis of taoiseach-in-waiting Leo Varadkar's speech to the Fine Gael ardfheis ("What Varadkar didn't say about the North in his ardfheis speech was revealing", Opinion & Analysis, November 24th).
But his analysis, written from a unionist perspective, also highlights some flaws of his own.
Apparently, it is the incoming taoiseach's responsibility to fix the protocol, complete the Narrow Water bridge project, and build a motorway through Northern Ireland to service the northwest.
All of these aspirations and projects are laudable, and should indeed be completed, but nowhere in his analysis does your columnist mention any contribution unionists might make to their realisation.
It is this sense of learned helplessness which characterises much of what passes for political debate in Northern Ireland.
It is always someone else's responsibility to resolve their problems, whether that someone else be based in London, Brussels or Dublin.
Perhaps help from these quarters would be more forthcoming and effective if unionists and others in Northern Ireland were to become more proactive in resolving their own problems?
It often seems that any help given now will only be used to prolong internal conflicts and antagonisms with almost no recognition given to the bone fide efforts of others to be of assistance. - Is mise,
by Frank Schnittger
Mon Nov 7th, 2022 at 06:31:02 PM EST
I have just deactivated my Twitter account. I wish I could delete it completely. I don't want to be part of the Musk rat shit show. Perhaps I will join Mastodon or similar platform, but for the moment I don't feel a pressing need to do so. I hope I don't have to leave Facebook as well. It all depends on how they treat their employees. Firing 50% of your employees, including entire human rights and content curation teams, is not a good look. Doing so by email and shutting off employees' access to their accounts and desks overnight should just be plain illegal. I will not be part of such abusive behaviour. Goodbye Elon. I won't be buying a Tesla either!
by gmoke
Sun Oct 16th, 2022 at 03:47:36 AM EST
Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects by Dmitry Orlov
Gabriola Island, BC, Canada: New Society Publishers, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-86571-606-3
(page 5) Wars take resources; when resources are already scarce, fighting wars over resources becomes a lethal exercise in futility. Those with more resources would be expected to win. I am not arguing that wars over resources will not occur. I am suggesting that they will be futile, and that victory in these conflicts will be barely distinguishable from defeat.
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by Frank Schnittger
Mon Oct 3rd, 2022 at 09:54:58 AM EST
The contrast between how the recent budgets in the UK and Ireland have been received by the markets and the general public couldn't be greater and tells us much about where the respective economies are currently at. (Let us ignore the distinction that the UK budget was officially dubbed a "Fiscal Event" rather than a formal budget. That euphemism has uncomfortable resonance with the Russian "Special Operation" rather than invasion of Ukraine).
In Britain £45 Billion in unfunded tax cuts and £120 Billion in energy price cap expenditures was greeted with dismay by the markets, who lost trust in the UK's debt expansion trajectory. The Pound slumped, shares crashed, and, most crucially, pension funds were at risk of becoming insolvent as their holdings in government debt - normally the safest of investments - went underwater. The Bank of England was forced to intervene with an emergency programme of buying up £65 Billion in government debt from private investors now unwilling to hold it.
