Category; Politics
© EPA/Orestis Panagiotou
They are burning German flags in Athens.
Hardly surprising.
Whoever is crunching the numbers in Berlin, Paris and Brussels, whoever is shaping European financial policy has a tin ear to the echoes of the past. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Middle East, Media
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
There has been fevered discussion about who was responsible for the killing of an Iranian nuclear engineer this week; click here for a news report, or click here, or click here or here.
I say discussion, but actually everything I have read has assumed that Israel was involved; the only point of discussion is whether America was involved too. That’s lazy journalism; I cannot work out why no-one has mentioned another player in the region – Saudi Arabia.
There are at least three reasons why they should have joined Israel and America in the list of possibles: Read the rest of this entry »
Bristol Council, in the South West of Britain, seems to have money trouble. It’s been revealed by the BBC that it is planning to raise £50 million in debt to finance a variety of projects – click here for the BBC website report.
That’s £50 million for the ratepayers of tomorrow, and for years to come, to pay for. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Politics
North Korea has, in Kim Jong-il, a second departed leader to add to its pantheon; I was in North Korea a few weeks ago and, while it’s difficult to pick out a single strand from the fabric of that experience, nothing can prepare you for the extent to which Kim Jong-il and his father, Kim Il-sung, dominate the lives of the people.
Category; Politics
Two Political leaders have died within a few hours and the contrast between them could not be greater: Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il.
While I never quite met Havel, I got close to it and to adapt Cartier Bresson’s phrase about photography; it was a decisive moment. Read the rest of this entry »
It takes a throwaway remark by a part-time local politician in one of Britain’s smaller cities to illustrate that while the eurozone crumbles and the Western world’s economy faces deep recession, no lessons have been learned.
They are still at it.
The councillor responsible for transport in Bristol was talking about a new scheme to charge visitors to park their cars where it currently is free. This is what he had to say to the local BBC:
“He hoped the move would raise some £200,000 per year – allowing £3m in capital to be raised.”
BBC News 26 November 2011 – click here for the report; Ashton Court Parking
So how does £200,000 turn into £3 million? I’ve already discussed how this works here and then here, and here it is in operation. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Middle East, Politics, Rowan Laxton
Rowan Laxton apparently has a new role: Website mareeg.com is reporting that he has been appointed Senior Political Officer to UNPOS - see here. It’s the UN office for Somalia.
A search of the UNPOS site and press releases reveals nothing, and a search of the UN site reveals nothing. The news does explain why he was meeting Somalis in Starbucks recently - click here – Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Criminal Law, Politics
© Getty
Someone I’ll call Suzanne was on my mind recently, while society watched, horrified, as the certainty of order disappeared.
Throughout Britain, smiling as they smashed in shops to take what they felt like or simply burn the place down, I saw lots of Suzannes.
I first met Suzanne because she’d been charged with theft. The childrens’ home she lived in, or rather was based in, had called the police after she had demanded a pound for an ice-cream and, when they had refused because of some rule infraction, she had gone and taken the pound anyway. They called the police because she took a pound. And the police came. And they arrested her. And the CPS charged her. And she was sent to court. Because she stole a pound for an ice-cream. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Politics, Criminal Law
There’s an anguished debate in the UK, and much puzzled scrutiny from abroad, about the nature of the recent civil disturbances in the UK; it’s usually referred to as ‘rioting‘, but they weren’t really riots.
People can’t see past political motivation for such disorder; the Syrian Ambassador to the UN was even crowing that they mirrored what was happening in Syria – see here. Well, he would, woudn’t he…
It’s very simple. They were Flash Mobs with looting and/or destruction; a Flash Yob.
Italy has approved a tough austerity plan; the Euro is saved, the ECB will shore up Italian Bonds and Berlusconi can joyfully bunga bunga the rest of the summer away.
Even if parliament approves the plan (click here for details), brought in by emergency decree, the country does not have the political will to follow it. There is absolutely no chance that the austerity package introduced on Friday will be implemented. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Literature, Middle East, Politics
Professor Roger Luckhurst
For academics to lure media interest their theories need to be catchy and controversial. Radio 3 had a discussion recently on the dangers that arise when academics appear on the media.
Roger Luckhurst is a good example of what can happen to scholarship when the media calls. He’s Professor in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck, University of London. See here for biography. The media calls him, a lot, and he has a theory that’s leakier than a wedding marquee on an August Bank Holiday. Read the rest of this entry »
“Why Not?”
That was the question asked by the charity fundraiser (or chugger) for Save the Children as I walked past today, with a shake of the head and a weak smile.
Why not? Well, four reasons:
First; do no evil
The man from Save the Children had the bad luck to collar me just as I’m reading a shocking analysis of the work of international aid agencies.
Linda Polman’s book ‘War Games’ (click here for details) catalogues how international aid agencies actually do much harm. How the work to save and improve lives actually, in many situations, does exactly the opposite. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Politics
I realise not everyone follows Minnesota politics… in case you don’t, they are facing a budget crisis.
If the Governor and legislature don’t agree on a new budget by Midnight on 1st July, the shutdown starts. I’ve posted here before about America and the spectre of budget impasse.
Minnesota is currently and in orderly fashion preparing for the shutdown; deciding what exactly is an absolutely essential service.
It is the orderly and civilised way this is happening that brought to mind a speech by a British Politician of a generation ago. It was a different crisis, but the words fit. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Politics
With the behaviour of French male politicians in the spotlight (click here for the latest investigation) it’s interesting to stumble across a quote from 4 years ago, written by Yasmina Reza, after spending a year on the campaign trail with Nicolas Sarkozy. To set the scene; they’re on an aeroplane:
She’s not afraid of us, he says, speaking of the stewardess, who smiles as she passes. It’s almost humiliating she’s not afraid of us. Everybody knows politicians are sex fiends. Read the rest of this entry »
Category; Media, Middle East, Politics
George Galloway gave a straight answer to a straight question yesterday.
OK, he didn’t give the straight answer straight away; he blustered, he railed, he orated. Then he gave a straight answer.
Problem is, the answer he gave, the definitive and certain answer; it wasn’t true. And demonstrably wasn’t true. Read the rest of this entry »
