5 minutes ago
Looking to do a round-up of the Irish situation, as promised last night, to be blunt, I don't think I really know what is going on, or what the next steps are going to be.
However, we do get the Daily Mail twittering about markets being "braced for another nail-biting session", with hopes that the "£72 billion bailout for Ireland" will calm share, bond and currency markets and stop the crisis spreading to other eurozone members including Portugal and Spain.
Next, we discover that what is singularly missing from all this are a few minor details – like the details of the financial package that was supposedly agreed over the weekend. And there's the rub. Nobody really knows what is going on – which makes much of the comment little more than extruded verbal material.
One thing is fairly clear though. If you take a population of five million and a debt of €100 billion (including interest), you are looking at every man, woman and child owing €20,000 ... each, just to pay back the EU/IMF "bailout". It would be cheaper to hand in the keys and leave the country.
COMMENT: IRISH THREAD
I have been saying for some time that the Chinese economy is a basket case. With a highly insecure political system to boot, it is only a matter of time before it crashes and burns. And now, it seems, I have company.
Mind you, I would say the same of India. I do not believe the hype about that country. It will be dragged down by its innate inefficiencies and most particularly by the corruption of its ruling elites.
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"Far from being 'feral beasts', to use Tony Blair's phrase, the British media are overly respectful of authority. Newspapers and broadcasters tend to be suspicious of those who do not play the game ... ".
So writes John Kampfner in The Independent about Assange and the latest Wikileaks coup.
I would not have used the words "overly respectful" though, as that does not get close to the phenomenon. A better phrase might be "cravenly conformist", but even that does not really capture the essence of the beast. The closest I get is here with the discovery that:
News reporting is not a matter of discovering and publishing facts. Rather it is a process of gathering accounts from a very limited number of approved sources, and stitching them together to provide a defensible narrative. Any relationship with actual events, much less the truth, is entirely coincidental - and usually accidental.Once you understand that, everything falls into place.
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First, we had "climate change". Then we got "dangerous climate change". And now we have "extremely dangerous climate change", all on the basis of two-year-old recycled hype. They've lost it.
This is hardly surprising though. You cannot expect logic (or consistency) from warmists – their brains are not wired that way. Hence an interesting comment from Powerline blog about the New York Times and its treatment of the Wikileaks releases compared with the Climategate releases.
The money quote is that their statements on the two issues are "logically irreconcilable", which just about sums up the whole warmist creed. It really has been our greatest mistake - treating these people like responsible adults, capable of rational thought, instead of people suffering from a collective delusion.
Then you get this sort of thing:
Some of the world's largest oil, mining, car and gas corporations will make hundreds of millions of dollars from a UN-backed forest protection scheme, according to a new report from the Friends of the Earth International.All of which, of course, means that it is a money-making racket, which is what we've been saying for ages, with WWF one of the biggest potential beneficiaries. If they're not deluded, they're thieves. Take your pick.
The group's new report ... is the first major assessment of the several hundred, large-scale Redd (Reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation) pilot schemes. It shows that banks, airlines, charitable foundations, carbon traders, conservation groups, gas companies and palm plantation companies have also scrambled into forestry protection.
What they don't realise is that, when presented with the latest Louise Gray fantasy, the reaction of most people is a mixture of amused contempt and amazement of the credulity of a once-respected newspaper.
But when you get these mental midgets telling us that "global warming is now such a serious threat to mankind that climate change experts are calling for Second World War-style rationing in rich countries to bring down carbon emissions," derision is the only sensible response.
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But Autonomous Mind didn't. That's the beauty of the blogosphere (the intelligent bit of it).
Anyhow, it's about that Ofgem investigation into energy company "profiteering". One is deeply suspicious of Ofgem, and rightly so when we see that, on Friday, Energy UK, the industry group representing the big suppliers, hit back at suggestions the utilities are profiteering. It blamed the numerous green taxes imposed by the Government for increasing consumer bills at a faster rate than wholesale prices are rising.
"We have nothing to hide and believe in transparency in this complex marketplace," said Christine McGourty, director of Energy UK. The full story is here. Autonomous Mind takes it further.
We are – as you might have guessed – being seriously ripped off ... but not as much as the Irish. I'll look at that later today. Cries of "rape" are being heard. Even (or especially) the experts are stunned.
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You don't have to say any more. The mercury at Llysdinam near Llandrindod Wells plunged to minus 17.3C – the principality’s lowest ever temperature for November and the UK's chilliest for the month since 1985. That temperature, incidentally, is just a fraction above the optimum for a domestic freezer.
Yet still they prattle about global warming ... or anything else that avoids getting to grips with the reality that we've been held hostage to a scare which is costing us billions. It won't go away, because it costs real money, takes lives and gives excessive power to those who should have none. The status quo is not an option.
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Two "takes" on the same problem - this one from Alasdair Palmer and this one from Christopher Booker. Which one would you go for? And Booker is back on the case with stolen kids as well – and no help from a Tory minister. Why am I not surprised? Did I tell him he was wasting his time seeing him? Do bears do things in woods?
Then there is the case of the black days for the Carbon [dioxide] industry. Not so much Cancun as Can'tcun. But that won't stop them trying. As the climate scare dies, the sound of whistling in the dark grows ever louder, Booker writes. Failing that, there is always this - which offers useful and imaginative things to do with a tickling stick. I'd sooner it was a telegraph pole, but the idea is right. You can't have everything in this world.
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There would be more, but the trouble is that the march is being organised by the Irish TUC, to an agenda that many would not support. Many of the marchers will be public sector employees, seeking to keep public spending up. Thus, they are as much part of the problem as are the politicians against whom they are demonstrating.
This notwithstanding, the British media is not going to waste time and effort reporting on protesting Paddies. It has far more important things to deal with.
UPDATE: It looks as if more than 100,000 showed - despite overnight snow storms and freezing temperatures. Huge crowds have gathered in O'Connell Street "to demonstrate against the cuts aimed at driving down Ireland's colossal national debt," says The Guardian.
COMMENT: IRISH THREAD
Further, it is not just his carcase we will be funding, but the whole delegation of 45 British officials who will have a choice of 14 buffet and a la carte restaurants and 12 bars. They can even strengthen the Coalition over a round of golf on a course designed by Jack Nicklaus, says The Mail.
This sort of story, of course, is typical Mail, calculated to invoke fury in the breast of Middle England – and that is precisely what it does. But that does not mean the story does not stand up on its own merits in pointing out the hypocrisy of our loathsome masters.
We had similar stories come out of Copenhagen, with its luxury limousines and private jets, so we should know to expect nothing different, but it pays to be reminded of the nature of the slime which is telling us how much we must sacrifice to save the planet.
The old joke about rising up and slaughtering them, therefore, is losing its appeal – except it is not a joke. For Huhne read Marie Antoinette – the roles are interchangeable. As we gaze through the window at the layer of global warming covering the landscape, it is our earnest wish that they should share the same fate.
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You know that the MSM have totally lost it when they are lauding that loser John Major – who is now arguing that the Cleggeron coalition should continue after the next election.
WfW is suitably disgusted, but perhaps Major has a point. The not-the-Tory-Party and the Lib-Dims should combine permanently, but they should go further and take in the Labour Party as well. There is nothing between them of any significance.
Then, possibly, we would have the political space to develop a real opposition party, with a manifesto that includes getting out of the EU. And I suspect it would not remain in opposition very long.
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The final tally of votes cast in the Donegal South West by-election showed Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty with a significant lead - the man who would burn bondholders. The Belfast Telegraph early in the afternoon thought it was all but in the bag, and it was not wrong.
Fianna Fail conceded defeat after Doherty clinched almost 40 percent of first tally votes for the seat vacated by MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher. Doherty said the message for Taoiseach Brian Cowen from the people of Donegal South West was "get out of office".
Reuters then confirmed that it was over. Doherty says he is headed to Dublin to vote against the government's budget on December 7 and try to force an election. "I will try and bring down this government and make sure all of the parties get to go to the people," he adds. This is sort of like Labour winning Witney. Sort of ... don't get too excited.
What is doubly fascinating though is that even the traditional opposition seems to have been stuffed. Fine Gael and Labour have polled below expectations. "Analysts" are telling us not to read too much into it - a remote "former" Fianna Fail stronghold near the border with the north where Sinn Féin's nationalist politics might have more appeal than elsewhere. After all, one might say, Sinn Fein has been doing so well of late.
As to the broader crisis ... I do like the sound of the death rattle in the morning, when even (or especially) sterling does a wobbly and the Huns are getting restless - Ambrose has spoken. Mind you, this one you could not make up. By the way, have you heard the new song? Sung to the tune of "Irish eyes", the first line is: As Irish banks get downgraded ....
COMMENT: IRISH THREAD
The EU Commission has unveiled its new budget proposals - sticking to a 2.9 percent increase as demanded by EU ministers. But the commission has also added a "contingency fund" of up to €3.5 billion to be spent in the event of "unforeseen circumstances" – a sum which does not figure in the slated annual increase.
This means that the headline figure to be approved remains at 2.9 percent above last year, while the actual sum spent by the end of the year will be close (or even above) the six percent increase demanded by MEPs. As an exercise in having it both ways, this is quite creative, as long as we the people don't mind being taken for fools.
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"I can tell you that it's absolutely false, completely false," says José Manuel Barroso, flatly denying that a financial aid plan is in the works for Portugal. That's Portugal domed then. Bruno does an update, telling us that the euro is sliding "as Portugal bailout pressure builds".
It struck me the other day that, not only do the eursoslime and warmists share an agenda, they very often share the same language – the same assertive, unpleasant demeanour that brooks no debate and refuses to accept that there is any valid alternative point of view.
The warmists have "the science is settled" but the euroslime had the doctrine of inevitability – it was going to happen, whether you liked it or not ... it was the only game in town, etc., etc. Now, both factions are stuffed, the latter finding that the only inevitability is their impending demise.
Meanwhile, as the FTSE dives into the red, the race to collective suicide goes on. These people really are tired of living.
Still, there is always the expert view to keep us entertained. Kathleen Brooks, research director with foreign exchange service Forex, says it is was unclear where the crisis would spread. She adds: "Whereas the Greek crisis and the start of the Irish crisis were concerned with individual sovereigns and their problems, the current chapter of Europe's sovereign woes has turned into a periphery-wide issue where no one is safe."
You don't say!
UPDATE: And now that's Spain buggered as well.
COMMENT: IRISH THREAD
" ... while the UK is currently experiencing a cold snap and last year had the harshest winter for 30 years, the scientists said the evidence for man-made global warming had grown even stronger in the past year." Thus does Vicky Pope of the Met Office say that for global warming it was important to look at the global picture - which last year saw many parts of the world experience very warm temperatures even while the UK was gripped by snow and ice.
And she said: "We are starting to see changes in the climate even in the UK which we can link to global warming. We're seeing more heatwaves and seeing fewer of these cold winters."
The year 1940 saw the start of the "little cooling". That year and the subsequent period was marked by dreadful winters and, in some areas, fierce heatwaves (see above, column on the left - click to expand). On 20 July 1940, the Daily Express had reported that 160 Americans had died in two days because of the heat - as opposed to the 168 who had died in two weeks of air raids in Britain. "Global warming worse than Hitler, shock!" writes the Louise Gray of 1940?
Pope and the rest of the warmists see what they want to see – and fix the "evidence" accordingly. They do so because it is in their financial interests and because they are supported by institutions which stand to profit or extend their power, or both, by exploiting scares. The print and broadcast media will continue to promulgate such tosh because they are in the business of filling space and time with material from "approved" sources. They are a waste of both space and time.
It would thus be better if Johann Hari heeded his own words. He writes:
Why are the world's governments bothering? Why are they jetting to Cancun next week to discuss what to do now about global warming? The vogue has passed. The fad has faded. Global warming is yesterday's apocalypse.He thinks he is being ironic. But, even if unwittingly, he tells the truth. How interesting it is that the only way a warmist can tell the truth is by accident.
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With Cowen holding on for grim death, Bruno is predicting a blood bath for Fianna Fail in the Donegal south west by-election. Perhaps this is the the way forward.
And the "colleagues" don't need any more money, honest guv.
COMMENT: IRISH THREAD
It is a totally reliable guide. When a climate summit is in the offing, the bullshit index goes off the scale. This time, it is the turn of Geoffrey Lean, who gets hammered in the comments.
His newspaper surely must have realised by now that Lean is detested by the readership, does not represent their values and is a liability to the paper. Yet, as with Louise Gray, they persevere, ignoring their readers. To that extent, they are like the politicians they serve – having completely lost touch with the real world and oblivious to the sentiment of their own constituencies.
That this should be happening with politicians is understandable, but less so with newspapers, which are reliant on their commercial base. Why they should be so keen to commit suicide is difficult to explain. However, continuing to employ the Lean machine it as clear a statement as you are going to get that the paper does not give a toss about what its readers think.
I think we owe it to the newspaper to react accordingly.
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We only said it a few hours ago. And now they've gone and done it. That didn't take long.
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The Daily Express tells is that it is the first national newspaper actively to campaign for Britain's withdrawal from the EU. To that effect, it it mounting a crusade and asking the public to join it.
We are very pleased to see this, and hope that the newspaper of Beaverbrook prevails on this important issue. However, there is a small but important niggle. Getting out of the EU is not solely an Express campaign and the newspaper doesn't own it. In fact, it is very much a Jonny-come-lately.
The problem is – and this is not a small problem – is that we've seen this all before. The Sun, for instance, is notorious for waving the anti-EU banner when it suits it, then dropping the issue when it gets bored, or changes its political alliances.
Thus, if this newspaper tries (as it seems to be doing) to impose a proprietary stamp on the campaign (excluding the likes of UKIP and this website), then the campaign will wither on the vine. It will fail to attract support; the paper will get bored and move on, as they do so often.
We would, therefore, very much like to see the "crusade" continue, but The Express must recognise that it is joining us, not the other way around. We need a team player that will reach out and work with the broader "out" community, such that it is. The last thing we need is another solo player which has caught new religion and thinks it can run the show.
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