As the UK slowly sinks in the west with no flags flying -would somebody ;il Terry-Thomas or Peter Sellers please send them a samurai sword it is time to turn our attention to its staggering opponent – the European Union. There was a time not so long ago when the core players in this game of thrones – the Central European musclemen Germany, France and the others were crowing about their future as a United States of Europe.
There’s little of that illusion left any more as the Brits apparently might be serious about sacrificing Ireland yet again and leaving the European chaps to the awful fate of doing without them. There’s actually very little of that anymore either a seem to have sort of decided to leave with no idea of what they might t do themselves afterwards. To show just how much the EU will miss the Brexit boys, the head honcho of the EU, Donald Tusk of Poland consigned them to Dante’ seventh circle of hell. Dem’s fighting words but there was little counter offensive from the robotically-challenged British political upper upper class.
That wonderful Year 2018: Part one – Great Britain
A summary a la Bob and Ray
It was that wonderful year in which the British voters and their even more comically gifted parliamentary representatives managed to bring to life and then perform over and over again LIVE and on stage exaggerated adaptations of several of the most brilliant satiric skits first put by the great Monty Python troupe. Leaving that crew in the dust they brought together a bevy of characters beyond the imagination of the Pythons. Who could invent such wonderland creatures as the mad hatters who demanded the liberation of their brave and threatened kingdom from their slummy neighbours who were hunkered down in Brussels, Belgium of all unimportant places.
When they actually won the vote for a breakaway independence by the slightest of margins, having lost by the largest in their colonial outposts in Scotland and Northern Ireland, not to mention Gibralter, the leader of the hatters and his merry revolutionary men acted with remarkable speed when they began to get the news that their declaration of independence from the nasty Europeans appeared to be succeeding. Never having imagined that possibility, their leader and his unrobinhoody band ran for the hills after someone must have told them of the problems they would be facing on the island of Ireland and Northern Ireland , and the existence of custom unions across the English Channel and the chunnel to France. And the leader of it all disappeared and was never seen agin. Okay this is only true in the Trumpian sense, as we actually did see Sir Robin today on the BBC, as he began to strike out on a run in his bathing costume through the streets of London. Not even the Pythons could come up with that for a display of bizarre chutzpah.
And now the stage was really set for chivalric disaster as they named a fearless and brave female warrior to defend their new borders and after more than two unarthurian years of agonizing behaviour yelled out against her heir from their secure halls of power, they threw their fearless female warrior princess right under the bus with a shocking crescendo of linguistic shabbiness. If you think this is the end of a miserable tale, think again. On the very next day they asked her to go back out onto the field of battle and take on the dragon again. again. Now they had confidence in her. And they didn’t even apologize. nAnd she said she would gve it another go. Bully on her but no one seems to think this will all have a happy end at the end of March, when the end must happen.
the votes are in
After 160 days, the outcome of the October election in Germany has finally been reached. It will be yet another Grand Coalition between the Conservative parties in Bavaria and the rest of Germany and the Social Democrats in all of Germany. For those of us who were in the Bavarian capital when the election was held, this is an extraordinary conclusion to a very divisive election, in which the Social Democratic, a historically monumental party, received its lowest percentage of votes in history, as did the conservative parties, though they received the most votes by a significant margin. But they were nowhere near the possibility of becoming a majority government and a very difficult attempt at coalition ensued..
In the process the Liberal party opted out at of talks at a crucial moment, and many think the result will be that it will disappear, the Social Democrats announced with a great flourish that under no circumstance would they again be part of a government with Angela Merkel as prime minister ( truly an odd development since it is not so long ago that a Social Democratic leader that would invite into Germany a million refugees ( a few more than that came), and that the conservatives would then have a field day in the next election, and the the opposite happened. In the end the Social Democrats didn’t seem to know if they were for or against Merkel’s extraordinary policy on refugees. At that point it became clear that if nothing dramatic happened, the Germans would have to have another election, and memories of Weimar and the rise of the Nazis. And (almost) nobody wanted that.
So the Social Democrats heed and hawed and finally concluded that they would resume talks for the good of the country, an their leader eventually announced that he had reconsidered and the coalition could be formed but only if he became the Foreign Minister. This so enraged the young socialists that he was sent out to the boondocks, where he remains, and the party announced they could form a coalition if the party members (more than 400,000 folks) agreed to it in a referendum. There was a split opinion among constitutional experts about whether that was legal but the referendum went ahead and the results arrived yesterday: the coalition was approve by 66% of the members. And if you wanted to see a muted celebration at a party headquarters that their party would once again be part of the government, this was the one to tape for future reference. It was much more like a wake and not of the Irish kind. If you look soberly at the results you can see why. There were only losers to be found rolling around on about the battlefield, with one exception. Angela Merkel had to make some sacrifices which no doubt disturbed her deeply But one non-change item trumps the all. She will once again be Prime Minister for another several years, and we all look soberly at the rogues now in charge in so many countries, in many of which this is a complete surprise, the Macron-Merkel duo in charge at the centre of Europe is as welcome as a sunny day in a seemingly endless winter.
Social Democrats in all of Germany.
For those of us who were in the Bavarian capital when the election was held, this is an extraordinary conclusion to a very divisive election, in which the Social Democratic, a historically monumental party, received its lowest percentage of votes in history, as did the conservative parties, though they received the most votes by a significant margin. But they were nowhere near the possibility of becoming a majority government and a very difficult attempt at coalition ensued.. In the process the Liberal party opted out at of talks at a crucial moment, and many think the result will be that it will disappear, the Social Democrats announced with a great flourish that under no circumstance would they again be part of a government with Angela Merkel as prime minister ( truly an odd development since it is not so long ago that a Social Democratic leader that would invite into Germany a million refugees ( a few more than that came), and that the conservatives would then have a field day in the next election, and the the opposite happened. In the end the Social Democrats didn’t seem to know if they were for or against Merkel’s extraordinary policy on refugees. At that point it became clear that if nothing dramatic happened, the Germans would have to have another election, and memories of Weimar and the rise of the Nazis. And (almost) nobody wanted that. So the Social Democrats heed and hawed and finally concluded that they would resume talks for the good of the country, an their leader eventually announced that he had reconsidered and the coalition could be formed but only if he became the Foreign Minister. This so enraged the young socialists that he was sent out to the boondocks, where he remains, and the party announced they could form a coalition if the party members (more than 400,000 folks) agreed to it in a referendum. There was a split opinion among constitutional experts about whether that was legal but the referendum went ahead and the results arrived yesterday: the coalition was approve by 66% of the members. And if you wanted to see a muted celebration at a party headquarters that their party would once again be part of the government, this was the one to tape for future reference. It was much more like a wake and not of the Irish kind. If you look soberly at the results you can see why. There were only losers to be found rolling around on about the battlefield, with one exception. Angela Merkel had to make some sacrifices which no doubt disturbed her deeply But one non-change item trumps the all. She will once again be Prime Minister for another several years, and we all look soberly at the rogues now in charge in so many countries, in many of which this is a complete surprise, the Macron-Merkel duo in charge at the centre of Europe is as welcome as a sunny day in a seemingly endless winter.
After 160 days, the outcome of the October election in Germany has finally been reached. It will be yet another Grand Coalition between the Conservative parties in Bavaria and the rest of Germany and the Social Democrats in all of Germany. For those of us who were in the Bavarian capital when the election was held, this is an extraordinary conclusion to a very divisive election, in which the Social Democratic, a historically monumental party, received its lowest percentage of votes in history, as did the conservative parties, though they received the most votes by a significant margin. But they were nowhere near the possibility of becoming a majority government and a very difficult attempt at coalition ensued..
In the process the Liberal party opted out at of talks at a crucial moment, and many think the result will be that it will disappear, the Social Democrats announced with a great flourish that under no circumstance would they again be part of a government with Angela Merkel as prime minister ( truly an odd development since it is not so long ago that a Social Democratic leader that would invite into Germany a million refugees ( a few more than that came), and that the conservatives would then have a field day in the next election, and the the opposite happened. In the end the Social Democrats didn’t seem to know if they were for or against Merkel’s extraordinary policy on refugees. At that point it became clear that if nothing dramatic happened, the Germans would have to have another election, and memories of Weimar and the rise of the Nazis. And (almost) nobody wanted that.
So the Social Democrats heed and hawed and finally concluded that they would resume talks for the good of the country, an their leader eventually announced that he had reconsidered and the coalition could be formed but only if he became the Foreign Minister. This so enraged the young socialists that he was sent out to the boondocks, where he remains, and the party announced they could form a coalition if the party members (more than 400,000 folks) agreed to it in a referendum. There was a split opinion among constitutional experts about whether that was legal but the referendum went ahead and the results arrived yesterday: the coalition was approve by 66% of the members. And if you wanted to see a muted celebration at a party headquarters that their party would once again be part of the government, this was the one to tape for future reference. It was much more like a wake and not of the Irish kind. If you look soberly at the results you can see why. There were only losers to be found rolling around on  the battlefield, with one exception. Angela Merkel had to make some sacrifices which no doubt disturbed her deeply But one non-change item trumps the all. She will once again be Prime Minister for another several years, and we all look soberly at the rogues now in charge in so many countries, in many of which this is a complete surprise, the Macron-Merkel duo in charge at the centre of Europe is as welcome as a sunny day in a seemingly endless winter.
The decline and fall of the final European Empire?
Well, what is going to happen to the European Union in the next decade? Will it go the way of all the other attempted regimes that have come and gone since the good old days when the French, the Prussians, the Spaniards, the Habsburgs, the Nazis, the tsars, the southern Slavs and the British all spread their wings and tried to bring in their European neighbours under their protective? cover. Amazingly all of the above failed, often in deadly wars, except, arguably, Russia, with a new tsar, who shows no sign of giving up its far eastern colonial holdings, and instead  seems intent on recovering some of its old territory.
But how is the most recent attempt to bring about a united Europe doing, this time  with a capital in Brussels? If you think it is going swimmingly there lately, you haven’t been lolling around in Europe watching the whole concept of the European Union  totter while suspecting that it is slowly falling apart. The Brits have pulled one major foundation stone out, without apparently knowing what they were doing, and their absurd departure has opened possible flood gates throughout central and eastern Europe.  As in now stands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary form a solid inward-looking border buffer zone from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans with little or no loyalty to the idea that Brussels should wield the machinery of power over them.  And east of them is the wilderness, with corrupt governments ruling in half a dozen EU member states.  And no one knows where Austria will actually land – east or west -when its new government is finally announced.  Let’s face it, the EU  is now completely dependent on the resources of Germany and France, with a dash of support from the Nordic countries.  May the power be with them.
Refugees in the UNITED Europe?
Okay that is the title of the supposed union of European countries that should work together to form something approaching a United State of Europe. There is no doubt that the influx of refugees from the war-torn Middle East, not to mention South-Sahara Africa, has resulted in the display of the most discouraging lack of unity in the decades-long history of the EU. Here are the official EU statistics on the number of refugees accepted in 2015 and 2016 by various key pieces of this perplexing puzzle.
Germany – 1,200,000 – Germany is the biggest country in the EU;Â France is the second-largest and has accepted about one-seventh of the number in Germany
Italy – 206,500. Another 90,000 have already arrived in 2017 and it is estimated that another 200,000 are scattered around in Italy.
Sweden -191,240
Austria – 130,415
Denmark 27, 115.
Poland – 24,495
Ireland – 5,520
Czech Republic – 2,990
Slovakia 475
Not included are the statistics for the now remote off-shore land ironically called the United Kingdom, which voted to remove itself from the United Europe, though they clearly didn’t mean to. (But that’s a story for another day.)
The statistics speak for themselves with regard to the currently disunited and arguably disintegrating EU. The only bright spot on the horizon. As long as Trump is in power, the EU countries are going to show an increasing desire to huddle under some kind of umbrella in face of the endless rain.
Come on Yanks, give him the boot before it’s too late
Okay guys, you’ve made a mistake and proven that democracy doesn’t always work. But now the proof is in the pudding and the profiteer of that foreseeable mistake, who did not even come close to winning the popular vote, has become a global farce. Isn’t there something you can do to return the USA to its designated position as the leading world power and a moral force, instead of the fantasies of a rogue farce, before the damage becomes very difficult to undo?
The US government of the moment may have already proclaimed itself to be an outsider, a non-member of the committee to act responsibly on the future of the planet. All countries, save three – Syria, Nicaragua, who thought the Paris accord didn’t go far enough, and the USA – belong to this world assembly. Russia just signed on. But don’t you have some sort of fail-safe system in place in your constitution to get the US back on the rails of common-sense, following an obviously awful political decision, before it’s too late? Please keep all us outsiders in the picture on this topic, before you sail into the obscurity reserved by history for once- revered empires, that have opted out of unified attempts to deal with a planet’s potentially lethal problems. At the same you are allowing the vacuum of power, caused by your government’s blinkers, to be filled by China, of all nations. Who would have thunk it possible even two years ago.
When is the next aircraft carrier coming?
April 12, 2018 – by direct presidential command: immediate change of course – the Carl Vinson to sail asap to the coast of North Korea.  Roger!  Okay and about time, the new US government under its new czar has taken its kid gloves off and displayed its cards with a flourish.  This time it’s the real deal – no more invisible and meaningless lines in the sand, this time they send in the marines, okay this time it will be a titanic aircraft carrier lurking off coast – the Carl Vinson -with an accompanying armada  of disposable destroyers, etc. to scare the  bejeezus out of the weird North Korean nuclear wannabees.
April 19  One thing:  Australian sources report a large armada of unidentified ships has been spotted sailing south towards Australian waters, and a US Navy press photo confirms that the Carl Vinson sailed through the Straight of Sunda between Java and Sumatra, 5000 kilometres south of North Korea on April 18.  Holy Moley.  Can it be that the US military doesn’t know where its various aircraft carriers are lurking.  Or that it doesn’t know where North Korea is?  Now that  scares the bejeezus out of everybody, not just the Australians
Don’t blame Trump – He’s just doing what he said he would, and he’s doing it with the class you expected
Now let’s wait a second.  All  of the decisions of Donald Trump in the last two weeks that are now being met with anger and derision by hundreds of thousands of marchers in the USA, many of whom didn’t feel like voting,  were long public  and cannot be a surprise.  These proposals  were thumped home in raucous fashion by the new President all across the country for months before the election.  There is certainly good reason to  be outraged by them, and  that is at least also partly because of the brutality and the amateurishness in which they have now been delivered.  The apparently spontaneous and unorganized travel restrictions placed on Moslems of seven countries that  the president doesn’t like, and the way it was announced and commented upon by a neanderthalean Press Secretary may be beyond any pale.  And the treatment of the President of neighbour Mexico also takes some kind of cake for arrogant boorishness and non-neighbourliness.  But the actual contents were  made clear long ago.
So didn’t anybody vote  for that programme?  Well, yes,  it turns out somewhere around 60 million Americans did vote for that, even if you don’t know any of them.  That’s a lot of Yanks who are not protesting.  That’s democracy for you and as the greatest troubadour of our times, Leonard Cohen, now safely buried on the peaceful north side of the border, wrote and sang not so long ago – “Democracy is coming  to theUSA”.  So get used to it and now get your act together and make sure it can”t happen again in four years time.
One last chance for Cyprus
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago and the always somewhat fragile agreement between Northern Ireland, part of th eUK  and the independent Irish Republic there is only one place left in Europe where a dividing line separates parts of what had once been a united country: Cyprus.   A Nomansstrip runs through the capital city of Nicosia, and beyond, that divides the country into a northern part, with an ethnic Turkish population, occupied by Turkish troops from the mainland, and an independent southern part populated by ethnic Greeks.  Previous attempts to unite the two parts have failed but once again discussions are going on.  Much depends on the approval of the Turkish government in Ankara, which is by no means a certainty, as well as agreement on land exchanges, and a method for organizing a single government for the entire island, built on two somewhat autonomous provinces.  There are many problems to be resolved, but also much to be gained if agreement can be reached.  It would in particular  be a very welcome development for the European Union, to which the southern part belongs – and the newly united one would  presumably enter – as it would be a demonstration of trust in the future of the EU despite the unwitting British effort to demolish it.  Stay tuned!