Food prices through the roof. Oil at $113/barrel. Investment banks on the brink. The Israel-Palestine peace process stalled. Iraq in another downward spiral. Surely a good time for Gordon Brown to come to America and talk about ...
... cultural exchanges between the US and the UK and a joint US-UK program to teach English worldwide. At least that's what Gordon thought worthy of using a commentary in the Wall Street Journal to lead his arrival in the US today:
Enlarging the Anglosphere ..
In the last half-century the English language has become not only the language of Shakespeare and Twain, of J.K. Rowling and Cormac McCarthy, but of science, commerce, diplomacy, the Internet and travel.
So, finally, I propose that together Britain and America strive to make the international language that happens to be our own far more freely available across the world. I am today asking the British Council to develop a new initiative with private-sector and NGO partners in America, to offer anyone in any part of the world help to learn English.
No mention of how there's already an entire industry, TEFL, doing this without any government intervention and in response to the demand from the rest of the world to learn English and not motivated by some sentimental attachment of elites to the glory days of Churchill and FDR.
Which brings us to Gordon's opener --
When Winston Churchill met President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the deck of the H.M.S. Prince of Wales in 1941, he spoke of the common bonds between Britain and America: "The same language . . . the same hymns . . . more or less, the same ideals."
Churchill did say that, and parts of the rest of the speech doubtless brought a tear to his own eye and others as he described the psychic bonds he witnessed on his trip. But the entire speech is worth a read (apart from anything else, it's his famous "crime without a name" speech that prompted the invention of the word genocide). Perhaps most noteworthy is its truly internationalist nature: Churchill is not pushing the notion of English-speaking exceptionalism, but the common status of all nations as victims of the Nazis --
The Austrians, the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Belgians, the Dutch, the Greeks, the Croats and the Serbs, above all the great French nation, have been stunned and pinioned. Italy, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria--have bought a shameful respite by becoming the jackals of the tiger. But their situation is very little different and will presently be indistinguishable from that of his victims. Sweden, Spain and Turkey stand appalled, wondering which will be struck down next. Here then is the vast pit into which all the most famous States and races of Europe have been flung and from which, unaided, they can never climb.
This speech is also a reminder that 1941 was not the time for the cheap shots that George Bush and Dick Cheney like to take at the USSR in their comparisons of al Qaeda with past evils --
The Russian Armies and all the peoples of the Russian Republic have rallied to the defence of their hearths and homes. For the first time Nazi blood has flowed in a fearful flood. Certainly a million and a half, perhaps two millions of Nazi cannon-fodder, have bitten the dust of the endless plains of Russia. The tremendous battle rages along nearly two thousand miles of front. The Russians fight with magnificent devotion.
How exactly Brown draws from all this an imperative for others to go forth and teach English is not entirely clear.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
No gratitude
You'd think that after recess-appointing him as US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton wouldn't be quite so harsh about George W. Bush. To the left is the cartoon accompanying his slam of Bush's North Korea policy in today's Wall Street Journal.
One issue not raised
Today's New York Times has a fascinating article reporting on apparent confirmation (subject to dispute) that the Titanic was done in by poor quality rivets and riveting at the Harland and Wolff shipyard where it was built.
One feature of H&W may (or may not) be relevant: recruitment and retention of skilled workers was surely more difficult when there was de facto discrimination against Catholics.
One feature of H&W may (or may not) be relevant: recruitment and retention of skilled workers was surely more difficult when there was de facto discrimination against Catholics.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Revealed unto him
In preparation for the visit next week of Pope Benedict, George Bush did an interview for the Eternal Word Television Network. It was the sycophantic style that Bush likes. One wonders if the Vatican is paying full attention to how Bush appears to be using Benedict's visit for his own purposes. Anyway, in the absence of a full transcript, two points of note. First, Bush was asked what we [the USA] could do protect the Iraqi Christian minority --
Keep our troops there long enough to have a civil society emerge and go after them ... go after these killers.
So concern about Iraqi Christians is another reason to keep the troops there on an open-ended mission, but not another reason why the war should never have been started in the first place. Or at least should have had a contingency plan for protecting minorities.
At the end of the interview, there is this exchange
Q: You said famously that when you looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes, you saw his soul. What do you see when you look into Benedict's eyes?
A: God.
It must be great for faith to be that simple (it's worth listening to the exchange for the definitiveness of Bush's response). It's not clear though that Benedict sees himself as a portal. There's a lot in the Catholic faith about mystery.
UPDATE: Welcome Dan Froomkin readers. We'll take the opportunity to add here that Bush's "God" response is very curious from a Protestant perspective, which downplays the need for intermediaries in interaction of the worshipper with God.
FINAL UPDATE: Here's a transcript of the interview.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Those Obama remarks
Indeed they are strange, one strange aspect being their socio-economic determinism (which was also evident in his Philadelphia speech about Rev. Wright): that a broad range of behaviour and opinion can be traced back to a class grievance. Here's the key section --
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
But the charge of "elitist" is also strange. Obama's remarks about religion are within the range of theories that have been around for quite a while. In particular, there is an echo of Nietzsche and his notion of Ressentiment, which gets into the philosophy of religion. About which we know very little.
Consider though the "outrage" of the right that someone might trace religious adherence to a sense of grievance. That's precisely the Right's analysis of Islam, although they'll sometimes allow an -ism at the end to blunt the indictment of the entire group. For example, Bernard Lewis's influential post 9/11 New Yorker article and various writings by Roger Scruton, and one particular rant by Andrew Sullivan (who showed his own philosophy chops with the Nietzsche reference).
So Obama was bringing some strange baggage to his theories of small-town Pennsylvania. But it's baggage that others have too.
UPDATE: See Mickey Kaus for more on the college sociology aspects of Obama's thinking.
FINAL UPDATE: A couple of closing thoughts on this. Obama's critics are focused on the echoes of Marx in his thinking. Of course that's the obvious, if unintended, allusion. But Marx was operating within a 19th century German tradition of which Nietzsche was an important part. And, to his credit, Andrew Sullivan does an extended post noting that the neocon analysis of Islamism (and his own) is not that different methodologically from what Obama said.
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
But the charge of "elitist" is also strange. Obama's remarks about religion are within the range of theories that have been around for quite a while. In particular, there is an echo of Nietzsche and his notion of Ressentiment, which gets into the philosophy of religion. About which we know very little.
Consider though the "outrage" of the right that someone might trace religious adherence to a sense of grievance. That's precisely the Right's analysis of Islam, although they'll sometimes allow an -ism at the end to blunt the indictment of the entire group. For example, Bernard Lewis's influential post 9/11 New Yorker article and various writings by Roger Scruton, and one particular rant by Andrew Sullivan (who showed his own philosophy chops with the Nietzsche reference).
So Obama was bringing some strange baggage to his theories of small-town Pennsylvania. But it's baggage that others have too.
UPDATE: See Mickey Kaus for more on the college sociology aspects of Obama's thinking.
FINAL UPDATE: A couple of closing thoughts on this. Obama's critics are focused on the echoes of Marx in his thinking. Of course that's the obvious, if unintended, allusion. But Marx was operating within a 19th century German tradition of which Nietzsche was an important part. And, to his credit, Andrew Sullivan does an extended post noting that the neocon analysis of Islamism (and his own) is not that different methodologically from what Obama said.
The spinners are aware
George Bush's taped Saturday morning radio address is nearly always a cut and paste from his utterances during that week. This week the topic was the extension of the Surge in Iraq --
Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he will need time to assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making recommendations on further reductions. I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment.
This is a significant rephrasing from his Thursday speech which confirmed the policy --
Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he'll need time to consolidate his forces and assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making measured recommendations on further reductions. And I've told him he'll have all the time he needs.
Note that in the Thursday version, the nation's self-styled "first MBA President" had assigned a task and given an open-ended timetable for its completion. Recognizing the PR blunder (despite its accurate portrayal of his nonchalance), the statement was adjusted to be a tad more specific.
Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he will need time to assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making recommendations on further reductions. I've told him he'll have time he needs to make his assessment.
This is a significant rephrasing from his Thursday speech which confirmed the policy --
Beyond that [July], General Petraeus says he'll need time to consolidate his forces and assess how this reduced American presence will affect conditions on the ground before making measured recommendations on further reductions. And I've told him he'll have all the time he needs.
Note that in the Thursday version, the nation's self-styled "first MBA President" had assigned a task and given an open-ended timetable for its completion. Recognizing the PR blunder (despite its accurate portrayal of his nonchalance), the statement was adjusted to be a tad more specific.
Friday, April 11, 2008
The soldiers made him lie
George Bush, explaining to ABC's Martha Raddatz his upbeat "stay the course" style rhetoric in 2006 even when Iraq was in a downward spiral --
... the president insisted he did it to keep up troop morale.
"That's as much to try and bolster the spirits of the people in the field as well -- you can't have the commander in chief say to a bunch of kids who are sacrificing that either it's not worth it or you're losing. What does that do for morale?" Bush said.
So his job was to ignore what everyone (including the soldiers) could see, and tell them something different. These would be the same soldiers of whom Bush asserted during the course of a phony "outrage" by Senator John Kerry --
The Senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and it is shameful. (Applause.) The members of the United States military are plenty smart, and they are plenty brave, and the Senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology. (Applause.)
Yet he was assuming that the soldiers would be gullible enough to have their morale maintained by statements that Bush now claims he didn't believe.
... the president insisted he did it to keep up troop morale.
"That's as much to try and bolster the spirits of the people in the field as well -- you can't have the commander in chief say to a bunch of kids who are sacrificing that either it's not worth it or you're losing. What does that do for morale?" Bush said.
So his job was to ignore what everyone (including the soldiers) could see, and tell them something different. These would be the same soldiers of whom Bush asserted during the course of a phony "outrage" by Senator John Kerry --
The Senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and it is shameful. (Applause.) The members of the United States military are plenty smart, and they are plenty brave, and the Senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology. (Applause.)
Yet he was assuming that the soldiers would be gullible enough to have their morale maintained by statements that Bush now claims he didn't believe.
Historical footnote
Dick Cheney --
We're engaged right now in a struggle against enemies of a kind not easily dealt with. We're not facing a clash of huge armies and navies. The outcome of the fight won't be like chasing Hitler into his bunker, having a surrender ceremony onboard ship, or wearing down a communist empire.
To the extent that Hitler was chased into his bunker, it was done by the USSR.
We're engaged right now in a struggle against enemies of a kind not easily dealt with. We're not facing a clash of huge armies and navies. The outcome of the fight won't be like chasing Hitler into his bunker, having a surrender ceremony onboard ship, or wearing down a communist empire.
To the extent that Hitler was chased into his bunker, it was done by the USSR.
The week that's in it
With George Bush spending a long weekend on "the ranch" -- after claiming that the Iraq war involved national sacrifice -- it was left to Dick Cheney to sell the Surge extension to the loyalists, via interviews with Hugh Hewitt and Sean Hannity. Both interviewers seem to have been working from the same talking points, allowing Cheney to give similar answers. The main issue was Iran; the comments to Hewitt are representative --
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I've read about it [end-times, 12th-Imam], too. I don't know that that motivates all of the [Iranian] leadership. The one guy who talks about it repeatedly is Ahmadinejad. And -- in other words, a report even at one point that when he went to Iraq on a visit, that at least on one occasion, he insisted on there being a vacant chair at the table for the 12th Imam. And it's a -- it's hard to tell. I mean, if I look at what his beliefs supposedly are, the allegation that the -- a return of the 12th Imam is something to be much desired, and that the best contribution that a man can make is to die a martyr facilitating that return, and all that goes with it -- I always think of Bernard Lewis, who said that mutual assured destruction during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviets meant peace and stability and deterrence, but mutual assured destruction in the hands of Ahmadinejad may just be an incentive. It's a worrisome proposition.
Well, Bernard Lewis said a lot of stuff, such as that the Iranians would set in motion the end-times on August 22, 2006. Nothing happened.
Then there's business about Ahmadinejad insisting on an empty chair for the mysterious Imam. Next week at Passover, millions of Jewish people will sit at a table with an extra cup of wine poured for the prophet Elijah and at one point in the evening leave the door open for him. And the hoped for arrival of Elijah is a "messianic" moment, if you will. With implications for the world at least as radical as if the 12th Iman ever shows up. By the Cheney standard, that's dangerous behaviour.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I've read about it [end-times, 12th-Imam], too. I don't know that that motivates all of the [Iranian] leadership. The one guy who talks about it repeatedly is Ahmadinejad. And -- in other words, a report even at one point that when he went to Iraq on a visit, that at least on one occasion, he insisted on there being a vacant chair at the table for the 12th Imam. And it's a -- it's hard to tell. I mean, if I look at what his beliefs supposedly are, the allegation that the -- a return of the 12th Imam is something to be much desired, and that the best contribution that a man can make is to die a martyr facilitating that return, and all that goes with it -- I always think of Bernard Lewis, who said that mutual assured destruction during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviets meant peace and stability and deterrence, but mutual assured destruction in the hands of Ahmadinejad may just be an incentive. It's a worrisome proposition.
Well, Bernard Lewis said a lot of stuff, such as that the Iranians would set in motion the end-times on August 22, 2006. Nothing happened.
Then there's business about Ahmadinejad insisting on an empty chair for the mysterious Imam. Next week at Passover, millions of Jewish people will sit at a table with an extra cup of wine poured for the prophet Elijah and at one point in the evening leave the door open for him. And the hoped for arrival of Elijah is a "messianic" moment, if you will. With implications for the world at least as radical as if the 12th Iman ever shows up. By the Cheney standard, that's dangerous behaviour.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
It's definitely a message
RTE --
The Government jet, with the Taoiseach and 11 others on board, was struck by lightning this afternoon. The Gulf Stream jet, with eight passengers and four crew, left Dublin this afternoon and was on its final approach to Belfast City Airport when it was struck.
A Government spokesman has confirmed to RTÉ News that the jet landed safely after 'a huge flash'. No injuries occurred and the jet is now being examined.
Mr Ahern is in Belfast for celebrations to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. This is the second time that a Government jet has been hit by lightning as a delegation travelled to Northern Ireland on peace-process related activities
It's not far from Dublin to Belfast. After all, they're on the same small island. There is rail. One could even drive. But perhaps it's a message about the most celebrated peace process in history rather than the inefficiency in how the celebrants were getting there.
The Government jet, with the Taoiseach and 11 others on board, was struck by lightning this afternoon. The Gulf Stream jet, with eight passengers and four crew, left Dublin this afternoon and was on its final approach to Belfast City Airport when it was struck.
A Government spokesman has confirmed to RTÉ News that the jet landed safely after 'a huge flash'. No injuries occurred and the jet is now being examined.
Mr Ahern is in Belfast for celebrations to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. This is the second time that a Government jet has been hit by lightning as a delegation travelled to Northern Ireland on peace-process related activities
It's not far from Dublin to Belfast. After all, they're on the same small island. There is rail. One could even drive. But perhaps it's a message about the most celebrated peace process in history rather than the inefficiency in how the celebrants were getting there.
Convergence Point
George Bush just said that Iraq is the "convergence point" for al-Qaeda and Iran. His war made it that way.
He also said "the day will come" a few times. Tiocfaidh an lá.
UPDATE: Right after using his grave voice speech to talk about sacrifice, he headed off to the "ranch" for the weekend -- at midday on Thursday.
He also said "the day will come" a few times. Tiocfaidh an lá.
UPDATE: Right after using his grave voice speech to talk about sacrifice, he headed off to the "ranch" for the weekend -- at midday on Thursday.
When is Operation Barbarossa?
Wall Street Journal -- News Corp. is in serious talks with Microsoft Corp. over a joint bid for Yahoo Inc., people familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Cycle Jerk
Guido Fawkes asks --
Did James Naughtie really just describe Gordon [Brown]'s political situation as "a circle out of which he cannot jerk himself"
He sort of did. Here's the sound file. The action begins at the 23 minute mark. Naughtie is actually talking about the news cycle. But a cycle is somewhat circular and for the casual listener, it's hard to tell the difference.
Incidentally, Gordon did get one bit of good news --
The [WPP] chief executive [Sir Martin Sorrell] also denied recent reports that indicated Mr [Mark] Penn would be advising prime minister Gordon Brown.
Did James Naughtie really just describe Gordon [Brown]'s political situation as "a circle out of which he cannot jerk himself"
He sort of did. Here's the sound file. The action begins at the 23 minute mark. Naughtie is actually talking about the news cycle. But a cycle is somewhat circular and for the casual listener, it's hard to tell the difference.
Incidentally, Gordon did get one bit of good news --
The [WPP] chief executive [Sir Martin Sorrell] also denied recent reports that indicated Mr [Mark] Penn would be advising prime minister Gordon Brown.
Expensive shepherds
Not that the Iraq war needs much symbolism for its lunacy, but the caption says it all --
U.S. Army Soldiers watch as a flock of sheep moves past them during a cordon and search mission for high value insurgents in Upper Dugmut, Iraq, April 3.
Looking for terrorists. Pushed aside by sheep.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Powerpoints gone wild
From the presentation of General David Petraeus to the Senate today explaining the strategy against al-Qaeda in Iraq [AQI]. The War on Terror meets corporate America. It lacks the simplicity of "Wanted Dead or Alive".
UPDATE: Philip Carter actually read the slide.
The magical hand
Alan Greenspan, in a Bart Simpson style "I didn't do it" interview with the Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd) --
WSJ: Do you believe there has been a problem with how bank capital requirements are set?
Mr. Greenspan: Financial institutions need little capital except when a crisis arises. Since we can't forecast the crisis, capital needs to be available at all times.
That's just incorrect. If banks don't have capital, then they're just gambling 100 percent with other people's money. The effect on incentives is obvious. Making banks maintain capital keeps some of their own money on the line and forces them to be more careful.
It's weird that an acclaimed economist doesn't see that incentives can be a big problem.
WSJ: Do you believe there has been a problem with how bank capital requirements are set?
Mr. Greenspan: Financial institutions need little capital except when a crisis arises. Since we can't forecast the crisis, capital needs to be available at all times.
That's just incorrect. If banks don't have capital, then they're just gambling 100 percent with other people's money. The effect on incentives is obvious. Making banks maintain capital keeps some of their own money on the line and forces them to be more careful.
It's weird that an acclaimed economist doesn't see that incentives can be a big problem.
We have a new enemy
General David Petraeus, the 3rd ranking US policymaker on Iraq (behind Bush and Cheney) just said --
unchecked, these [Iranian-backed] Special Groups pose the greatest threat to the long-term viability of Iraq.
This is the war that began about WMD and then became about al-Qaeda. Neither was in Iraq when the war began, and the latter is now, apparently, no longer a threat.
UPDATE: There's a new catchphrase from Ryan Crocker -- "post-kinetic development". Kinetic was one of those military words that George Bush thinks is really cool.
FINAL UPDATE: The exact Petraeus statement was --
Unchecked, the Special Groups pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq.
Someone else notices the shift.
unchecked, these [Iranian-backed] Special Groups pose the greatest threat to the long-term viability of Iraq.
This is the war that began about WMD and then became about al-Qaeda. Neither was in Iraq when the war began, and the latter is now, apparently, no longer a threat.
UPDATE: There's a new catchphrase from Ryan Crocker -- "post-kinetic development". Kinetic was one of those military words that George Bush thinks is really cool.
FINAL UPDATE: The exact Petraeus statement was --
Unchecked, the Special Groups pose the greatest long-term threat to the viability of a democratic Iraq.
Someone else notices the shift.
Coming soon: EU Ministers making chicken noises at meetings
Irish Times --
France plans to push hard to encourage EU states to agree a common method of computing corporate taxes during its upcoming six-month presidency of the union.
French finance minister Christine Lagarde has dismissed Irish concerns about the plan, saying that she "hadn't met any Irish people that were afraid of anything".
France plans to push hard to encourage EU states to agree a common method of computing corporate taxes during its upcoming six-month presidency of the union.
French finance minister Christine Lagarde has dismissed Irish concerns about the plan, saying that she "hadn't met any Irish people that were afraid of anything".
Monday, April 07, 2008
Let the unlocking games begin
Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd) --
German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG said it is lowering the price of Apple Inc.'s iPhone handset in Germany to €99 ($122) in a two-month campaign.
The iPhone currently costs a minimum €399 in Germany, where Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit is the exclusive carrier. The multimedia phone costs at least $399 in the U.S. where it has been in short supply.
The new offer runs from April 7 to June 30 for the iPhone model with eight gigabytes of memory, the Bonn-based company said. The €99-deal is only valid in combination with a premium contract for which the customer pays at least €89 a month.
Deutsche Telekom has also introduced a starter iPhone contract that costs €29 a month -- the handset then costs €249.
Compare to the Irish price of €399 with more expensive plans than are being offered elsewhere.
German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG said it is lowering the price of Apple Inc.'s iPhone handset in Germany to €99 ($122) in a two-month campaign.
The iPhone currently costs a minimum €399 in Germany, where Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit is the exclusive carrier. The multimedia phone costs at least $399 in the U.S. where it has been in short supply.
The new offer runs from April 7 to June 30 for the iPhone model with eight gigabytes of memory, the Bonn-based company said. The €99-deal is only valid in combination with a premium contract for which the customer pays at least €89 a month.
Deutsche Telekom has also introduced a starter iPhone contract that costs €29 a month -- the handset then costs €249.
Compare to the Irish price of €399 with more expensive plans than are being offered elsewhere.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
What happens in Sochi stays in Sochi
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. I, first of all, was most grateful for the dinner that you gave last night. Secondly, thank you very much for providing fantastic entertainment. I'm only happy that our press corps didn't try -- see me trying to dance the -- dance the dance that I was asked to do. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT PUTIN: We were able to see that you are a brilliant dancer.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, well, thank you very much. We'll leave it at that, Mr. President. (Laughter.)
How long before a picture comes out?
Incidentally, every so often the jealous George Bush makes an appearance --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Look, it seems like there's a lot of interest in you, Mr. President-Elect [Dmitry Medvedev]. You've attracted a lot of cameras. (Laughter.)
Not to mention the George Bush somewhat anxious about what he'll be doing once he's no longer President --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Vladimir. Thanks for your gracious invitation. This is the very room where you served an unbelievably good dinner last night, with fabulous entertainment. Thank you for your hospitality. Laura and I are thrilled to be with you. And also, thank you for the briefing on the Winter Olympics. I'm sure the people in this area are really excited about the fact that you've been awarded the Winter Olympics. I congratulate you and wish you all the very best. And maybe you'll invite me to come as your guest -- who knows.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are 6 years from now.
PRESIDENT PUTIN: We were able to see that you are a brilliant dancer.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, well, thank you very much. We'll leave it at that, Mr. President. (Laughter.)
How long before a picture comes out?
Incidentally, every so often the jealous George Bush makes an appearance --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Look, it seems like there's a lot of interest in you, Mr. President-Elect [Dmitry Medvedev]. You've attracted a lot of cameras. (Laughter.)
Not to mention the George Bush somewhat anxious about what he'll be doing once he's no longer President --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, Vladimir. Thanks for your gracious invitation. This is the very room where you served an unbelievably good dinner last night, with fabulous entertainment. Thank you for your hospitality. Laura and I are thrilled to be with you. And also, thank you for the briefing on the Winter Olympics. I'm sure the people in this area are really excited about the fact that you've been awarded the Winter Olympics. I congratulate you and wish you all the very best. And maybe you'll invite me to come as your guest -- who knows.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are 6 years from now.
Welcome Russian billionaires
And others fleeing the brutal Gordon Brown crackdown on UK residents who are claiming an overseas domicile and therefore only paying tax on income brought into the UK. Ireland will take you in --
Some long-established U.K. residents, such as Stone, say moving to Ireland may be an easy option. ``We would look at other tax havens where we are not going to be hassled or bankrupted,'' she said.
Ireland offers the non-dom everything England is taking away, said Jim Ryan, a personal tax partner at Ernst & Young Tax Services in Dublin and deputy president of the Irish Taxation Institute.
Non-doms in Ireland still enjoy the breaks that are disappearing in the U.K. The Irish government estimates that more than 7,000 people live in Ireland as non-doms.
It's true that the non-dom rules are unlikely to be controversial in Ireland given that a critical mass of the public has no problem with a much more pernicious loophole -- that which allows tax exiles like JP McManus to be based somewhere like Switzerland for tax purposes, but still have enormous influence on Irish politics through donations to Fianna Fail, which includes having tax rules written for their advantage. Such as the "Cinderella rule", meaning that as long as you're out of Ireland by midnight on a particular day, that day doesn't count as a day in Ireland for tax purposes (which would otherwise risk the claim of not being resident).
Anyway, with the Irish public finances in trouble, the little extra revenue that new non-doms would bring on the Irish-remitted income may be badly needed.
UPDATE 20 NOV 2008: The Cinderella rule is dead. But rules for non-doms seem to have been relaxed (section 37: non-doms can have UK-based capital gains which are taxed on a remittance basis i.e. only on the amount they bring into Ireland).
FINAL UPDATE 13 DEC 2009: Budget 2010 confuses the issue with a new domicile tax, albeit one that seems designed to have very few people pay it.
Some long-established U.K. residents, such as Stone, say moving to Ireland may be an easy option. ``We would look at other tax havens where we are not going to be hassled or bankrupted,'' she said.
Ireland offers the non-dom everything England is taking away, said Jim Ryan, a personal tax partner at Ernst & Young Tax Services in Dublin and deputy president of the Irish Taxation Institute.
Non-doms in Ireland still enjoy the breaks that are disappearing in the U.K. The Irish government estimates that more than 7,000 people live in Ireland as non-doms.
It's true that the non-dom rules are unlikely to be controversial in Ireland given that a critical mass of the public has no problem with a much more pernicious loophole -- that which allows tax exiles like JP McManus to be based somewhere like Switzerland for tax purposes, but still have enormous influence on Irish politics through donations to Fianna Fail, which includes having tax rules written for their advantage. Such as the "Cinderella rule", meaning that as long as you're out of Ireland by midnight on a particular day, that day doesn't count as a day in Ireland for tax purposes (which would otherwise risk the claim of not being resident).
Anyway, with the Irish public finances in trouble, the little extra revenue that new non-doms would bring on the Irish-remitted income may be badly needed.
UPDATE 20 NOV 2008: The Cinderella rule is dead. But rules for non-doms seem to have been relaxed (section 37: non-doms can have UK-based capital gains which are taxed on a remittance basis i.e. only on the amount they bring into Ireland).
FINAL UPDATE 13 DEC 2009: Budget 2010 confuses the issue with a new domicile tax, albeit one that seems designed to have very few people pay it.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
He'll be back
It probably wasn't the comedy that they were looking for, but on a visit to the farmers' lobby, Silvio Berlusconi decided to illustrate the safety of mozzarella by faking illness after eating it. Luckily for Italy, he was fine.
Incidentally, with its out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to waste disposal, Ireland is headed for a similar type of crisis that Italy is now in, since the underlying issue is what has seeped into land from unrestrained use of landfill. Just one legacy that the Celtic Tiger and Bertie Ahern are dumping, so to speak, onto someone else.
Photo: AP/Plinio Lepri
Friday, April 04, 2008
He's such a maverick
that he would be ineligible for health insurance under his own healthcare plan. John McCain, that is. Paul Krugman notes the silence of McCain's "plan" (which is, as Krugman says, a list of bullet points) on people with pre-existing conditions who get denied private insurance coverage. McCain, as a skin cancer survivor would be one such person. Except that as an old person, he could always go into Medicare. Which is a government program that he presumably opposes.
But perhaps the Maverick deserves some credit. He has shown his opposition to Medicare (and Medicaid, the government program for low income people) by proposing to bankrupt it. On January 5, 2008, McCain told a questioner at a townhall meeting in Peterborough New Hampshire that he would dump people with pre-existing conditions into a Medicare/Medicaid trust fund.
As the Boston Globe noted recently, similar answers that he has offered before have left experts confused. Anyway, the result would be to ruin the programs financially, since they'd get all the people likely to have the highest costs. So he could abolish the programs that way.
But perhaps the Maverick deserves some credit. He has shown his opposition to Medicare (and Medicaid, the government program for low income people) by proposing to bankrupt it. On January 5, 2008, McCain told a questioner at a townhall meeting in Peterborough New Hampshire that he would dump people with pre-existing conditions into a Medicare/Medicaid trust fund.
As the Boston Globe noted recently, similar answers that he has offered before have left experts confused. Anyway, the result would be to ruin the programs financially, since they'd get all the people likely to have the highest costs. So he could abolish the programs that way.
Exempt from all intellectual influences
In the above short Bloggingheads clip, Paul Berman -- a key proponent of the Saddam/al Qaeda linkage -- concludes by saying "my thoughts and Dick Cheney's thoughts have nothing in common". Even after it was pointed out to him that Cheney uses the expression he (along with Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan) helped propagate, Islamofascism.
Yet much of his theory of how Islamism is fascist rests precisely on common intellectual influences and common sources, even when Osama bin Laden and Saddam never thought of themselves as fascist, or even like each other.
So Berman, as an intellectual, gets to put ideas out there while disassociating himself from the likes of Cheney when they use them. But his subjects get no such luxury.
UPDATE 15 APRIL: Here's a nice review from Daniel Davies of the role of Berman in the apparently defunct Euston Manifesto.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Surge Protected
When Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki launched his crackdown on the al-Sadr militias in Basra, George Bush said that it was "a defining moment". The phrase "clarifying moment" had already been used for another ill-advised crackdown on a Shiite militia -- the Bush/Blair backed Israeli attack on Hezbollah.
Notwithstanding the resulting humiliation for al-Maliki, he apparently can't get enough of these defining moments --
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, said he plans to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against "criminal gangs" in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Speaking to reporters, he singled out Sadr City and Shula — two Mahdi Army militia strongholds in Baghdad — as likely targets in the future operations.
Al-Maliki did not mention by name the Mahdi Army militia, but said those areas are under the influence of "criminal gangs." "We cannot remain silent about our people and families in Sadr City, Shula and other areas ... while they are held hostage by gangs that control them. We must liberate these cities because we came (to office) to serve them," he said at a news conference.
One factor in this decision is that he knows that even if he gets in trouble in these urban assault operations, the US and UK will back him up with firepower, even at the risk of major casualties.
This is what the presence of US troops is encouraging. There couldn't be a clearer case against the surge.
Notwithstanding the resulting humiliation for al-Maliki, he apparently can't get enough of these defining moments --
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, said he plans to launch more security crackdowns like the one in Basra against "criminal gangs" in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq. Speaking to reporters, he singled out Sadr City and Shula — two Mahdi Army militia strongholds in Baghdad — as likely targets in the future operations.
Al-Maliki did not mention by name the Mahdi Army militia, but said those areas are under the influence of "criminal gangs." "We cannot remain silent about our people and families in Sadr City, Shula and other areas ... while they are held hostage by gangs that control them. We must liberate these cities because we came (to office) to serve them," he said at a news conference.
One factor in this decision is that he knows that even if he gets in trouble in these urban assault operations, the US and UK will back him up with firepower, even at the risk of major casualties.
This is what the presence of US troops is encouraging. There couldn't be a clearer case against the surge.
That's why he's our man in Baghdad
Who is being described in this New York Times article? --
But interviews with a wide range of American and military officials also suggest that Mr. [...] overestimated his military’s abilities and underestimated the scale of the resistance. [...] also displayed an impulsive leadership style that did not give his forces or that of his most powerful allies, [...], time to prepare.
“He went in with a stick and he poked a hornet’s nest, and the resistance he got was a little bit more than he bargained for,” said one official in the multinational force in Baghdad who requested anonymity. “They went in with 70 percent of a plan. Sometimes that’s enough. This time it wasn’t.”
As the Iraqi military and civilian casualties grew and the Iraqi planning appeared to be little more than an improvisation, the United States mounted an intensive military and political effort to try to turn around the situation, according to accounts by Mr. Crocker and several American military officials in Baghdad and Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the actual context, which is the botched Iraqi government clampdown on Basra, it's about Iraqi PM Nouri al-Malaki, the preferred fall guy for the failure. But one could take any part of the above and insert George W. Bush's name, and you'd have a description of the original invasion.
But interviews with a wide range of American and military officials also suggest that Mr. [...] overestimated his military’s abilities and underestimated the scale of the resistance. [...] also displayed an impulsive leadership style that did not give his forces or that of his most powerful allies, [...], time to prepare.
“He went in with a stick and he poked a hornet’s nest, and the resistance he got was a little bit more than he bargained for,” said one official in the multinational force in Baghdad who requested anonymity. “They went in with 70 percent of a plan. Sometimes that’s enough. This time it wasn’t.”
As the Iraqi military and civilian casualties grew and the Iraqi planning appeared to be little more than an improvisation, the United States mounted an intensive military and political effort to try to turn around the situation, according to accounts by Mr. Crocker and several American military officials in Baghdad and Washington who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In the actual context, which is the botched Iraqi government clampdown on Basra, it's about Iraqi PM Nouri al-Malaki, the preferred fall guy for the failure. But one could take any part of the above and insert George W. Bush's name, and you'd have a description of the original invasion.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Change of venue
With the issue of Internet defamation back in the news in Ireland (and likely not going away any time soon even with Bertie's resignation), the Financial Times makes an interesting observation about the problem of libel tourism/forum shopping in English courts: that even if English law restricted libel cases that are based on very marginal jurisdiction claims, all the action might just shift to Ireland --
Other jurisdictions are accused of providing even readier forums for roving defamation claimants. Both Ireland and Northern Ireland have become hotbeds of libel litigation, due in part to the high payouts available
Paul Tweed, an Irish libel lawyer who has acted for singers Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez, says he has US celebrity clients who "just want an apology" they cannot secure at home. This raises the question of whether libel tourism is partly sustained by the US stance of making it almost impossible for public figures to sue successfully - even when they have legitimate grievances.
So, despite the new act in New York, libel judgments in countries with tight rules are likely to continue echoing around the world. They are a chastening reminder to writers that the ease of electronic publication and retailing has made defamation a global business. As Ms Tyler, Mr Akhmetov's lawyer, puts it: "It's no longer your news stand that contains the libel. It's accessible everywhere internationally."
It's not like Irish solicitors need the work.
Other jurisdictions are accused of providing even readier forums for roving defamation claimants. Both Ireland and Northern Ireland have become hotbeds of libel litigation, due in part to the high payouts available
Paul Tweed, an Irish libel lawyer who has acted for singers Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez, says he has US celebrity clients who "just want an apology" they cannot secure at home. This raises the question of whether libel tourism is partly sustained by the US stance of making it almost impossible for public figures to sue successfully - even when they have legitimate grievances.
So, despite the new act in New York, libel judgments in countries with tight rules are likely to continue echoing around the world. They are a chastening reminder to writers that the ease of electronic publication and retailing has made defamation a global business. As Ms Tyler, Mr Akhmetov's lawyer, puts it: "It's no longer your news stand that contains the libel. It's accessible everywhere internationally."
It's not like Irish solicitors need the work.
The Curse of Bush*
RTE -- Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced that he will tender his resignation to President Mary McAleese on 6 May.
*Of course it's unfair and empirically invalid to attribute Bertie's downfall to his 8th St Patrick's Day with Bush (unlike others in the congaline of suckholes who paid the electoral price). But when did unfairness and invalidity ever stop Bush?
UPDATE: Maybe it's the personality type that Bush attracts. Sarkozy is in trouble.
Not enough equipment
Announcement from Multi-National Force Iraq --
TIKRIT, Iraq – Eight Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, were killed and three were wounded in an improvised explosive device detonation in southern Ninewah April 1.
The detonation occurred while the SOI members were transporting the IED to a nearby joint combat outpost for destruction.
Prompting the question: why are the US's Iraqi counterparts not given the proper equipment or training to deal with IEDs?
TIKRIT, Iraq – Eight Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, were killed and three were wounded in an improvised explosive device detonation in southern Ninewah April 1.
The detonation occurred while the SOI members were transporting the IED to a nearby joint combat outpost for destruction.
Prompting the question: why are the US's Iraqi counterparts not given the proper equipment or training to deal with IEDs?
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