“We know and we have seen that conferences are events which bring together important people who are unable to act on their own, but who together are always able to resolve that in fact nothing can be done… Why is [Europe] unable to forecast and prevent one crisis after another?… Today the European spirit andContinueContinue reading “Presi in Paris”
Tag Archives: France
Infra Digging
Public opinion remains divided over the wisdom of bombing Syria. Much less so than the House of Commons, which this week allowed the red mist of ‘hitting evil hard’ to out-vote reasonable doubts over what military action can achieve without a lasting political solution in sight. Who benefits, besides the suppliers of Brimstone missiles atContinueContinue reading “Infra Digging”
Unenlightening Europe
Quelle surprise! As we noted in September, France was an easy target for terror. So, ten days on from the Paris attacks, how’s the reaction unfolding?Canadian blogger Vlad Tepes sums up the polarisation:“The most important thing you can do when people you don’t know are murdered by Muslims in an act designed to promote theContinueContinue reading “Unenlightening Europe”
Wrapped in Golden Chains
“There’s been a lot of pressure to highlight human rights abuses but the Chinese haven’t mentioned the DWP once.” Tory Comedians on Facebook Questioned in London this week on his country’s human rights record, Xi Jinping responded with the kind of explanation that would have appealed to Deng Xiaoping back in the 80s. Something alongContinueContinue reading “Wrapped in Golden Chains”
All Washed Up
Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, told BBC Radio 4 listeners today that the service could do with new surveillance powers to tackle the terrorist threat. That’s hardly surprising, according to the cynical view that you never let a good crisis go to waste. If necessary, you create one. We face a toxic combination. OnContinueContinue reading “All Washed Up”
Being Sub-Human
The Pyrenees are a formidable geographical barrier, the terror of would-be conquering armies approaching from north or south. What they are not is a formidable cultural barrier. Basque culture in the far west and Catalan culture in the far east transcend them and have done, peaceably, for millennia. The national frontier of today results fromContinueContinue reading “Being Sub-Human”
Jeux Sans Frontières
Events in Paris this week have exposed Europe’s anxieties to the full. Let’s consider some of the possible reactions. On the far Right, and among the not-for-prophet movement generally, this is I-told-you-so time. Even those who disagree with the politics must find recent analysis strikingly prescient. And at least it’s an opportunity to highlight someContinueContinue reading “Jeux Sans Frontières”
The War on Identity
“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long the nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was. The world around it will forget evenContinueContinue reading “The War on Identity”
Scared As A Bully
On 9th November 2014, Catalonia voted 4 to 1 for independence from Spain. Madrid isn’t ready to begin talks on separation. Instead, it’s determined to prosecuteCatalonia’s leading nationalists for organising the vote. Will David Cameron protest? Will there be airstrikes? On 20th November 2014, the French Parliament voted to abolish many of the historic regionsContinueContinue reading “Scared As A Bully”
The Summer of Discontent
David Cameron would like to think of Scotland’s referendum as a little local difficulty. Perhaps that’s why the mainstream media stay so quiet about the widespread discontent now simmering across Europe as our continent awakes to new possibilities. Catalans are ignoring Madrid’s refusal to allow them a vote on independence. Basques are thinking along theContinueContinue reading “The Summer of Discontent”
Wessex Regionalists 