[BBC] A Ballymena man accused of explosives offences has had his bail conditions altered so he can attend Celtic's Champions League football match. Liam Lyness, 23, of Fisherwick Crescent, denies possessing three incendiary devices with intent to endanger life or damage property.
Belfast Crown Court suspended a condition that Mr Lyness has to report to police on a Wednesday. This will allow him to travel to Glasgow to see Celtic play AC Milan.
OK, one comment. Hopefully he'll be clever enough to remember that there will be cameras at the match and so he'll need to avoid coming to anyone's attention.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
On yer bike
There's no such thing as a cheap shot where George Bush is concerned, so it's easy to make fun of these proclamations that he issues as President, even though most of them are simply required by law and reflect little input from him. Of course he could absolve himself from them by citing the War on Terror but he seems to go through the motions. Nevertheless, we are in the week where he's likely to veto an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), so it's a tad embarrassing that he has to issue this proclamation --
The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 105), has called for the designation of the first Monday in October as "Child Health Day" and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, 2007, as Child Health Day. I call upon families, schools, child health professionals, faith-based and community organizations, and State and local governments to reach out to our Nation's young people, encourage them to avoid dangerous behavior, and help them make the right choices and achieve their dreams.
Note how the text is carefully calibrated to the responsibilities and choices of children and the consequences of their behaviour. He's been working these themes into the proclamation for a few years, but let's go all the way back to the first time he issued the proclamation in 2001, before the ideologues had time to work on it:
My Administration is strongly committed to supporting families and children in need and to improving our education system so that no child is left behind. Let us work together as individuals, families, communities, and Americans to ensure that the health of our children always remains a national priority. The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (U.S.C. 105), has called for the designation of the first Monday in October as "Child Health Day" and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, 2001, as Child Health Day. On this day, and on every day throughout the year, I call upon families, schools, child health professionals, communities, and governments to dedicate themselves to fostering the healthy development and well-being of all our children -- especially those with special health care needs.
i.e. it's all about others can help children -- who after all, are faced with the circumstances given to them by their parents, and the choices made by people and politicians, but not the children themselves.
Such as being a child in a nominally middle class family that does not have health insurance. In the 2008 Child Health Day, that's the child's problem.
UPDATE: The veto is official. The lie-filled justification is here.
The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (36 U.S.C. 105), has called for the designation of the first Monday in October as "Child Health Day" and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, 2007, as Child Health Day. I call upon families, schools, child health professionals, faith-based and community organizations, and State and local governments to reach out to our Nation's young people, encourage them to avoid dangerous behavior, and help them make the right choices and achieve their dreams.
Note how the text is carefully calibrated to the responsibilities and choices of children and the consequences of their behaviour. He's been working these themes into the proclamation for a few years, but let's go all the way back to the first time he issued the proclamation in 2001, before the ideologues had time to work on it:
My Administration is strongly committed to supporting families and children in need and to improving our education system so that no child is left behind. Let us work together as individuals, families, communities, and Americans to ensure that the health of our children always remains a national priority. The Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 18, 1928, as amended (U.S.C. 105), has called for the designation of the first Monday in October as "Child Health Day" and has requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Monday, October 1, 2001, as Child Health Day. On this day, and on every day throughout the year, I call upon families, schools, child health professionals, communities, and governments to dedicate themselves to fostering the healthy development and well-being of all our children -- especially those with special health care needs.
i.e. it's all about others can help children -- who after all, are faced with the circumstances given to them by their parents, and the choices made by people and politicians, but not the children themselves.
Such as being a child in a nominally middle class family that does not have health insurance. In the 2008 Child Health Day, that's the child's problem.
UPDATE: The veto is official. The lie-filled justification is here.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Because Jackie could make it look good
Laura Bush, weirdly identifying one change in White House First Lady fashions --
Q Do you think the [First Ladies exhibit] show is fun?
MRS. BUSH: I do think it's fun and I hope people come see it. It's fun to get to see the fashions. I know that a lot of -- that's one of the most popular exhibits, the clothes, at the American History Museum, where these things are from, at the Smithsonian -- and that is to get to see the fashions. It's very interesting as they move down in history what the fashions are.
For instance, the Jackie Kennedy dress that she took with her after -- obviously after her husband was assassinated, and then a few years later shortened because dresses were so short. And it does look very short.
Just visit watertiger's place any day of the week to see what might have Laura a bit envious.
Q Do you think the [First Ladies exhibit] show is fun?
MRS. BUSH: I do think it's fun and I hope people come see it. It's fun to get to see the fashions. I know that a lot of -- that's one of the most popular exhibits, the clothes, at the American History Museum, where these things are from, at the Smithsonian -- and that is to get to see the fashions. It's very interesting as they move down in history what the fashions are.
For instance, the Jackie Kennedy dress that she took with her after -- obviously after her husband was assassinated, and then a few years later shortened because dresses were so short. And it does look very short.
Just visit watertiger's place any day of the week to see what might have Laura a bit envious.
One weak spot
Reuters/Dylan Martinez; caption
Gordon Brown has gotten a lot right in the last few months but the obsession with Alan Greenspan is very strange. Greenspan is well on the way to being a discredited figure in the US -- far too tolerant of George Bush's fiscal lunacy when it was obvious to others what was going on, and far too willing to err on the side of not raising interest rates even as Wall Street financing got ever more reckless. Greenspan is clever enough to know which way the wind is blowing, as his book's distancing from Bush reveals, but it's really not clear what cachet Gordon is seeking from him. Hopefully Mervyn King is not taking it personally.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
More to this story?
photo added to blog post from Irish Times 17 October
At National Review's The Corner, Mark Steyn claims --
at Shannon, on the west coast of Ireland. The US military's use of the airport is not popular with an Irish public extremely hostile to the Iraq war. So on this occasion the plane landed and a charming colleen came on board and explained that a special separate area had been set up with food and drink but that uniformed servicemen would not be permitted in the main terminal. The very senior Pentagon official on board politely explained why this was grossly insulting and not acceptable, and, after consultations with her superior, the colleen escorted the passengers into the public terminal to enjoy the life-shortening pleasures of the full Irish breakfast.
This is in the context of claims that troops are not allowed into the main terminal building in Oakland, Calif. But since visitors to Shannon regularly report sightings of American troops in the terminal -- not least in the duty free shop (see above) -- it's not clear whether Steyn's incident is (a) true or (b) reflects some one-off incident.
UPDATE: Through the miracle of the Internet, Steyn has clarified when the incident took place. Revisit his link above. As he explains, it's not consistent with the generally friendly reception for American troops at Shannon, despite the unpopularity of the policy. Indeed, the troops had adapted enough to the local customs to be smoking in the toilets.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Iraq forever
News that conveniently emerges on a Saturday --
Iraq wants the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the 160,000-stong U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq only through the end of 2008, then replace it with a long-term bilateral security agreement, Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday ...
Iraq would then seek a long-term, bilateral security agreement with the United States like the ones Washington has with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt, he said ...
Zebari first disclosed the plan in an interview with the London-based Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that was published Saturday.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council on June 8, 2004, said the U.S.-led multinational force would remain in Iraq at the request of the interim government that was about to assume control of the country from the United States and Britain.
The resolution, drafted by the United States, authorizes a review of the mandate at the request of the Iraqi government every six months. The mandate last was extended for one year on Dec. 31 and expires at end of this year.
"We will ask the council to extend the mandate for another year...then our negotiations with the Security Council will be kicked off," Zebari was quoted as saying ...
"The negotiations and talks over the security agreements will take a long time as they will cover the issues of sovereignty and immunity, the mission of these forces, Iraq's security needs and the role of the U.S. forces in training (Iraqi forces)," he said.
Zebari said the bilateral agreement would "not set a timetable (for withdrawal of U.S. forces) ... but could include an article calls for decreasing their numbers."
So gone would be any outside conditions on the military presence, just an open-ended deal whose elements would be determined by George Bush and the Green Zone Iraq government -- all nicely put in place just before he leaves office.
Iraq wants the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the 160,000-stong U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq only through the end of 2008, then replace it with a long-term bilateral security agreement, Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday ...
Iraq would then seek a long-term, bilateral security agreement with the United States like the ones Washington has with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Egypt, he said ...
Zebari first disclosed the plan in an interview with the London-based Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that was published Saturday.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council on June 8, 2004, said the U.S.-led multinational force would remain in Iraq at the request of the interim government that was about to assume control of the country from the United States and Britain.
The resolution, drafted by the United States, authorizes a review of the mandate at the request of the Iraqi government every six months. The mandate last was extended for one year on Dec. 31 and expires at end of this year.
"We will ask the council to extend the mandate for another year...then our negotiations with the Security Council will be kicked off," Zebari was quoted as saying ...
"The negotiations and talks over the security agreements will take a long time as they will cover the issues of sovereignty and immunity, the mission of these forces, Iraq's security needs and the role of the U.S. forces in training (Iraqi forces)," he said.
Zebari said the bilateral agreement would "not set a timetable (for withdrawal of U.S. forces) ... but could include an article calls for decreasing their numbers."
So gone would be any outside conditions on the military presence, just an open-ended deal whose elements would be determined by George Bush and the Green Zone Iraq government -- all nicely put in place just before he leaves office.
Stanford University will be very proud
Condi Rice, doing another background interview, this time with the CBS editorial board --
QUESTION: What is your sense about how powerful Ahmadi-Nejad actually is? And are you concerned that there's been a fair amount written that all this attention is actually enhancing his reputation?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have no idea of what the power politics looks like inside of Iran.
Isn't it great that US policy towards Iran is being determined on that foundation?
QUESTION: What is your sense about how powerful Ahmadi-Nejad actually is? And are you concerned that there's been a fair amount written that all this attention is actually enhancing his reputation?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I have no idea of what the power politics looks like inside of Iran.
Isn't it great that US policy towards Iran is being determined on that foundation?
Friday, September 28, 2007
From Mother Teresa to Liam Lawlor
A bizarrre detail from the Planning Tribunal in Dublin today. This is in the context of evidence that in any normal country would have already brought down Taoiseach Bertie Ahern but today's subject was the deceased and corrupt former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor, whose political career was merely the leverage to a far more lucrative business in property development and "consulting". Also "consulting" was Frank Dunlop, a key intermediary between property kingpins and politicians --
The Mahon Tribunal has heard how the late Liam Lawlor used a forged invoice to cover a £25,000 payment from lobbyist Frank Dunlop. Mr Lawlor used the name of Ganley International, a company that had hired him to warn the Albanian government about the dangers of pyramid selling.
Mr Ganley said he had first met Mr Lawlor when he gate crashed his hospitality tent at the Galway races. He later discovered Mr Lawlor was a member of the international think tank the Trilateral Commission.
Mr Ganley said he hired Mr Lawlor in 1996 to warn the Albanian government to act against the growth of pyramid selling. Mr Lawlor was paid a total of around £30,000, which included expenses involved in hosting an Albanian delegation in Dublin.
Albania did indeed have a huge problem with pyramid schemes in this period, but when one source of the problem is poor governance, the last thing on Earth that you'd want to help solve the problem is advice from Fianna Fail in general and Liam Lawlor in particular. Could Lawlor really have been telling the Albanians about Ireland's clean politics? A forged invoice from a dubious venture truly encapsulates the state of Irish politics.
The Mahon Tribunal has heard how the late Liam Lawlor used a forged invoice to cover a £25,000 payment from lobbyist Frank Dunlop. Mr Lawlor used the name of Ganley International, a company that had hired him to warn the Albanian government about the dangers of pyramid selling.
Mr Ganley said he had first met Mr Lawlor when he gate crashed his hospitality tent at the Galway races. He later discovered Mr Lawlor was a member of the international think tank the Trilateral Commission.
Mr Ganley said he hired Mr Lawlor in 1996 to warn the Albanian government to act against the growth of pyramid selling. Mr Lawlor was paid a total of around £30,000, which included expenses involved in hosting an Albanian delegation in Dublin.
Albania did indeed have a huge problem with pyramid schemes in this period, but when one source of the problem is poor governance, the last thing on Earth that you'd want to help solve the problem is advice from Fianna Fail in general and Liam Lawlor in particular. Could Lawlor really have been telling the Albanians about Ireland's clean politics? A forged invoice from a dubious venture truly encapsulates the state of Irish politics.
So farewell then, Earth
AFP/Saul Loeb; caption
It would be good news if he really was leaving the planet. It would be bad news if that's because he knows he's already destroyed it.
History is a mirror
Laura Bush --
Q ... Mrs. Bush, just out of curiosity, what are you reading these days, and what about the President?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I'm reading as quickly as I can one of our Book Festival writers, J.A. Jance. She's a mystery writer; she's a best-selling writer. She's written tons of books, so I hope people will look at hers. The President right now is reading a book by Jay Winik, who is a historian. It's called "The Great Upheaval." It's a very long history of the world, really, up to the -- around the same time as the founding of the United States. And I think it will be very interesting. I also have that big book on my bedside table; Lynne Cheney gave it to me.
What might George Bush find interesting about Winik's book? Here's the LA Times review --
He focuses on people in leadership positions -- inherited, acquired by election or seized -- whose decisions were taken on the fly and reflected their character and convictions. At almost every watershed he describes, his main thrust is that things could have gone the other way ... America's leaders agonized over the best means to preserve their young nation and show that the rule of law could prevail without the iron hand of an autocrat -- and that democracy need not degenerate into mob rule ... The lengthy chronicle of Catherine's war against the Ottoman Empire, in particular, seems to have been included mostly because Western conflict with Islam is currently a hot topic ... Winik's Big Man approach to history -- the lower classes appear exclusively as members of enraged crowds brandishing severed heads on pikes or ripping hapless victims limb from limb -- scants the underlying social forces that made it highly improbable that France could nonviolently achieve in a few years the kind of moderately representative government it took England centuries to reach.
The book also has an extensive discussion of the disputed Presidential election of 1800 (=2000-2 centuries, geddit?). In which Thomas Jefferson ended up President.
Q ... Mrs. Bush, just out of curiosity, what are you reading these days, and what about the President?
MRS. BUSH: Well, I'm reading as quickly as I can one of our Book Festival writers, J.A. Jance. She's a mystery writer; she's a best-selling writer. She's written tons of books, so I hope people will look at hers. The President right now is reading a book by Jay Winik, who is a historian. It's called "The Great Upheaval." It's a very long history of the world, really, up to the -- around the same time as the founding of the United States. And I think it will be very interesting. I also have that big book on my bedside table; Lynne Cheney gave it to me.
What might George Bush find interesting about Winik's book? Here's the LA Times review --
He focuses on people in leadership positions -- inherited, acquired by election or seized -- whose decisions were taken on the fly and reflected their character and convictions. At almost every watershed he describes, his main thrust is that things could have gone the other way ... America's leaders agonized over the best means to preserve their young nation and show that the rule of law could prevail without the iron hand of an autocrat -- and that democracy need not degenerate into mob rule ... The lengthy chronicle of Catherine's war against the Ottoman Empire, in particular, seems to have been included mostly because Western conflict with Islam is currently a hot topic ... Winik's Big Man approach to history -- the lower classes appear exclusively as members of enraged crowds brandishing severed heads on pikes or ripping hapless victims limb from limb -- scants the underlying social forces that made it highly improbable that France could nonviolently achieve in a few years the kind of moderately representative government it took England centuries to reach.
The book also has an extensive discussion of the disputed Presidential election of 1800 (=2000-2 centuries, geddit?). In which Thomas Jefferson ended up President.
Attention Rangoon Residents
National Review's Jonah Goldberg, recapturing the spirit of the days when he was making fun of Katrina victims, has some advice --
From what I've seen and read the military is desperate not to kill monks — very bad p.r., that — but they don't much mind killing anyone else. Wouldn't it be smart for everyone to wear monk robes and, I suppose, shave their heads? The images would have enormous impact, the troops wouldn't know who is and who isn't a monk, and it would give a thrilling "I am Spartacus!" narrative twist to the uprising.
Apart from anything else, the regime is killing monks. And what would the women do? If it's obvious that everyone is pretending to be monks, then the protected status, such as it is, would disappear.
From what I've seen and read the military is desperate not to kill monks — very bad p.r., that — but they don't much mind killing anyone else. Wouldn't it be smart for everyone to wear monk robes and, I suppose, shave their heads? The images would have enormous impact, the troops wouldn't know who is and who isn't a monk, and it would give a thrilling "I am Spartacus!" narrative twist to the uprising.
Apart from anything else, the regime is killing monks. And what would the women do? If it's obvious that everyone is pretending to be monks, then the protected status, such as it is, would disappear.
Not QED
David Brooks complains about politics of expanding health insurance for children in the US --
a smoke screen of obfuscation between who pays and who chooses. States have an incentive to ramp up benefits because they know that most of the cost will be borne by taxpayers somewhere else ... a fund-raising mechanism cowardly in the extreme. Politicians in Washington like to talk in the abstract about shared sacrifice. They could go to the American people and say: We need to insure more children and to do that we’re going to raise broad-based taxes slightly ... But that’s honest and direct, and therefore impermissible. Instead, this program is funded by raising taxes on smokers, who generally are much poorer than average Americans and much less educated.
Which is an argument for having a healthcare system with one entity doing all the choosing and paying all the bills from general tax revenues and not any specific taxation. A "national health service", if you will.
a smoke screen of obfuscation between who pays and who chooses. States have an incentive to ramp up benefits because they know that most of the cost will be borne by taxpayers somewhere else ... a fund-raising mechanism cowardly in the extreme. Politicians in Washington like to talk in the abstract about shared sacrifice. They could go to the American people and say: We need to insure more children and to do that we’re going to raise broad-based taxes slightly ... But that’s honest and direct, and therefore impermissible. Instead, this program is funded by raising taxes on smokers, who generally are much poorer than average Americans and much less educated.
Which is an argument for having a healthcare system with one entity doing all the choosing and paying all the bills from general tax revenues and not any specific taxation. A "national health service", if you will.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Pot/Kettle
From the Middle East Times --
KUWAIT CITY -- A senior US human rights official Wednesday criticized laws in the oil-rich Gulf states that restrict migrant workers under a system that some campaigners say is akin to slave labor.
Mark Lagon, director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said during a visit to Kuwait that the so-called sponsorship laws restrict the choice of migrant workers and their control over their own lives.
... He pointed in particular to the sponsorship laws that he said "confine the choice and the control of their lives over migrant workers."
The system, a set of regulations that limits workers' movements and puts them at the mercy of their employers, is in place in all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states but is decried by rights bodies as akin to slavery.
This would be exactly the system of labour that was used to build the US Embassy in Baghdad.
KUWAIT CITY -- A senior US human rights official Wednesday criticized laws in the oil-rich Gulf states that restrict migrant workers under a system that some campaigners say is akin to slave labor.
Mark Lagon, director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said during a visit to Kuwait that the so-called sponsorship laws restrict the choice of migrant workers and their control over their own lives.
... He pointed in particular to the sponsorship laws that he said "confine the choice and the control of their lives over migrant workers."
The system, a set of regulations that limits workers' movements and puts them at the mercy of their employers, is in place in all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states but is decried by rights bodies as akin to slavery.
This would be exactly the system of labour that was used to build the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Found objects
It's fascinating where a little open ended weblink following can lead. A few weeks back we noticed a reference to a UK expatriate, Joe Lewis, now living in the Bahamas, who bought a big stake in the investment bank Bear Stearns. Bear Stearns has been under pressure since hedge funds it was running had big losses over the summer and it's probably a good takeover candidate so Lewis could have a nice speculative gain if that happened.
So anyway, the description of Lewis -- tax exile and currency trader -- is surely a familiar job description to followers of Irish politics. Because it's the same job description as Geneva-based J.P. McManus. Lo and behold, from a 9 year old profile of Lewis --
Traders have linked Mr. Lewis to a trading cabal made up of Kerry Packer (RIP), the Australian media giant; Sir James Goldsmith, the late corporate raider, and an Irish trio comprised of Dermot Desmond, a property magnate and stockbroker; J. P. McManus, a kingpin of the legal bookmaking business, and John Magnier, a horse breeder. But Mr. Lewis said that he had traded only for his own account. He acknowledges, though, that Messrs. Desmond, McManus, and Magnier are his friends.
But wait, there's more:
In 1991, investigators for the Irish Government began looking into the circumstances surrounding the sale of land to Telecomm (sic) Eireann, the state-owned telecommunications concern. The investigation was prompted by concerns that the land -- jointly owned by Mr. Lewis, the three Irishmen and others -- was sold at a vastly inflated price, a result of the group's influence with the administration of Charles Haughey, then the Prime Minister.
None of the men was ever charged with any wrongdoing in the matter, although a report issued in 1993 by John Glackin, a special investigator for the Irish Government, was highly critical of almost all those involved. The report included a series of rancorous letters between Mr. Glackin and Mr. Lewis's lawyer, regarding Mr. Lewis's unwillingness to provide information about his role in the affair. Mr. Lewis declined to comment about his involvement in the land deal.
This was the infamous Ballsbridge site that Dermot Desmond bought and then acted as an intermediary on its sale to the then state-owned phone company, and it was one of the seemingly endless series of financial scandals -- many linked to offshore entities -- that buffeted the late stages of Charlie Haughey's government in 1991.
All the principals from these scandals except Haughey (RIP) are still around.1 Private Eye has documented Dermot Desmond's increasing influence in the Labour Party via some large donations, and as they explain he's been linked to some poor quality government contractors (Venson) as well. So this is something that has radiated outwards from Ireland.
Of course just because it radiated out from Ireland doesn't mean that it left Ireland. The nexus, Fianna Fail, is still there. And if there's a lot of head-scratching as to why exactly Bertie Ahern might have been dealing in large amounts of foreign currency in the early 1990s, or might have had grateful friends so doing -- it's less mysterious when you look at Bertie's job description during that period and the not very hard to find links between him and the Lewis circle.
UPDATE 14 MARCH 2008: Given recent events at Bear Stearns, Lewis risks losing his entire investment.
1Magnier, McManus, and Desmond trade together, inter alia, as private equity group Lydian Capital Partners.
So anyway, the description of Lewis -- tax exile and currency trader -- is surely a familiar job description to followers of Irish politics. Because it's the same job description as Geneva-based J.P. McManus. Lo and behold, from a 9 year old profile of Lewis --
Traders have linked Mr. Lewis to a trading cabal made up of Kerry Packer (RIP), the Australian media giant; Sir James Goldsmith, the late corporate raider, and an Irish trio comprised of Dermot Desmond, a property magnate and stockbroker; J. P. McManus, a kingpin of the legal bookmaking business, and John Magnier, a horse breeder. But Mr. Lewis said that he had traded only for his own account. He acknowledges, though, that Messrs. Desmond, McManus, and Magnier are his friends.
But wait, there's more:
In 1991, investigators for the Irish Government began looking into the circumstances surrounding the sale of land to Telecomm (sic) Eireann, the state-owned telecommunications concern. The investigation was prompted by concerns that the land -- jointly owned by Mr. Lewis, the three Irishmen and others -- was sold at a vastly inflated price, a result of the group's influence with the administration of Charles Haughey, then the Prime Minister.
None of the men was ever charged with any wrongdoing in the matter, although a report issued in 1993 by John Glackin, a special investigator for the Irish Government, was highly critical of almost all those involved. The report included a series of rancorous letters between Mr. Glackin and Mr. Lewis's lawyer, regarding Mr. Lewis's unwillingness to provide information about his role in the affair. Mr. Lewis declined to comment about his involvement in the land deal.
This was the infamous Ballsbridge site that Dermot Desmond bought and then acted as an intermediary on its sale to the then state-owned phone company, and it was one of the seemingly endless series of financial scandals -- many linked to offshore entities -- that buffeted the late stages of Charlie Haughey's government in 1991.
All the principals from these scandals except Haughey (RIP) are still around.1 Private Eye has documented Dermot Desmond's increasing influence in the Labour Party via some large donations, and as they explain he's been linked to some poor quality government contractors (Venson) as well. So this is something that has radiated outwards from Ireland.
Of course just because it radiated out from Ireland doesn't mean that it left Ireland. The nexus, Fianna Fail, is still there. And if there's a lot of head-scratching as to why exactly Bertie Ahern might have been dealing in large amounts of foreign currency in the early 1990s, or might have had grateful friends so doing -- it's less mysterious when you look at Bertie's job description during that period and the not very hard to find links between him and the Lewis circle.
UPDATE 14 MARCH 2008: Given recent events at Bear Stearns, Lewis risks losing his entire investment.
1Magnier, McManus, and Desmond trade together, inter alia, as private equity group Lydian Capital Partners.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
2003, again
One of the points of the interest in the Aznar-Bush conversation from February 2003, the record of which the White House has not disputed, is the role of Saudi Arabia in general and Prince Bandar in particular as an enabler of the war. Bush was sanguine about any disruption in oil supplies --
"the Saudis would help us and put all the oil necessary into the market,"
which might come as news to the current King Abdullah, who is not especially keen on the invasion. Furthermore, as the same Reuters news article points out, someone from within the Arab world leadership seems to have squelched a proposal from the UAE that would have eased Saddam out of office without a war.
That Saddam and his sons leave Iraq, unconditionally, was the final demand of George Bush before the outbreak of hostilities. Incidentally, Bush's full address from that evening when he issued the ultimatum is useful reading for a variety of reasons, not least because it anchors the purpose of the war solely in WMD. None of the other later goals of the war are mentioned.
Bush's defenders like to go back to his speeches from the pre-war period and find evidence that other goals like democracy promotion and Middle East peace were mentioned. But the core legal basis for the war was WMD. The other goals were an ex post graft that, for instance, did not figure in the British legal basis for going to war in the first place.
"the Saudis would help us and put all the oil necessary into the market,"
which might come as news to the current King Abdullah, who is not especially keen on the invasion. Furthermore, as the same Reuters news article points out, someone from within the Arab world leadership seems to have squelched a proposal from the UAE that would have eased Saddam out of office without a war.
That Saddam and his sons leave Iraq, unconditionally, was the final demand of George Bush before the outbreak of hostilities. Incidentally, Bush's full address from that evening when he issued the ultimatum is useful reading for a variety of reasons, not least because it anchors the purpose of the war solely in WMD. None of the other later goals of the war are mentioned.
Bush's defenders like to go back to his speeches from the pre-war period and find evidence that other goals like democracy promotion and Middle East peace were mentioned. But the core legal basis for the war was WMD. The other goals were an ex post graft that, for instance, did not figure in the British legal basis for going to war in the first place.
Pining for the woods
Afghan president Hamid Karzai, meeting with George Bush today at the UN, doesn't sound too psyched about his current job --
PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thanks very much, Mr. President. As always, thank you for the great hospitality that you have always given the Afghan people, and in person, to my delegation. Camp David was a lovely place -- I wish one could stay there longer sometime in the future. (Laughter.)
His comments also reveal one reason why he got his current job -- he fulfills Bush's desire for gratitude --
So there is an endless list for which we have to be grateful to you. And most important of all, Mr. President, something that we tend to forget from time to time: the liberation of Afghanistan, such an important thing for the Afghan people. I don't know if you feel it in the United States, but we feel it so immensely in Afghanistan that we are now, once again, a free country, liberated from the grips of terrorism and al Qaeda and their associates. And we love our flag flying around the world -- I love to see it in this room, by the way. (Laughter.) Thank you very much.
PRESIDENT KARZAI: Thanks very much, Mr. President. As always, thank you for the great hospitality that you have always given the Afghan people, and in person, to my delegation. Camp David was a lovely place -- I wish one could stay there longer sometime in the future. (Laughter.)
His comments also reveal one reason why he got his current job -- he fulfills Bush's desire for gratitude --
So there is an endless list for which we have to be grateful to you. And most important of all, Mr. President, something that we tend to forget from time to time: the liberation of Afghanistan, such an important thing for the Afghan people. I don't know if you feel it in the United States, but we feel it so immensely in Afghanistan that we are now, once again, a free country, liberated from the grips of terrorism and al Qaeda and their associates. And we love our flag flying around the world -- I love to see it in this room, by the way. (Laughter.) Thank you very much.
Poor Essex
It's the only county that's both a Foot and Mouth disease risk area and a Bluetongue control area.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Diabolically Brilliant
photo from BBC
More from that Condi interview with Fox News:
SECRETARY RICE: ... what really ultimately cost al-Qaida in Anbar is they were clearly foreigners and they have tried - they almost succeeded -- they have tried to make al-Qaida Iraq - Iraqis. You know, we're trying to turn over security responsibility to Iraqis by training Iraqis; well, they have similar plans. They were going to turn al-Qaida operations over to Iraqis because they must have sensed that the - that their "foreignness" was starting to be a liability.
But this is a place - I can't prove it to you, but I think when the history of this is written, I think the loss of [Abu Musab al-Zarqawi] was really part of the start of this.
QUESTION: Really?
SECRETARY RICE: He was diabolically brilliant. I think he was an outstanding organizer, I think he had a kind of strategic sense, and I don't think the follow-on leadership has been quite as good. So when you hear people say, "You know, well, if you kill one of them, they'll just replace him with another leader," remember that that's like saying, you know, if you take out Robert E. Lee or Ulysses S. Grant, well, they'll just replace them with another leader. It's - there are people who are better at this than others and I think the loss of Zarqawi, they - they started to make more mistakes.
QUESTION: Diabolically brilliant?
SECRETARY RICE: He was diabolically brilliant. The idea to try to set Sunni against Shia in the way that they did, you know, with the Samara bombing and all of that was really (inaudible).
So leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq are now being compared to American civil war generals, and no one could have foreseen that Iraq's sectarian divide could be a basis for stirring up a war until Zarqawi came along. Brilliance is truly in the eye of the beholder.
She knows from drunks
Since yesterday was Insult Iran Day, if it's Tuesday it must be Syria. Condi Rice did a sit down with one of the few media audiences she can get these days -- the Fox News editorial board. Here's the discussion of why Syria is being invited to the proposed Middle East peace conference --
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Syrians are members of the Arab Follow-on Committee, the committee that the Arab League put together to have follow-on discussions about their peace initiative. And this initiative will be one of the pillars for the discussions in the meeting because we really would like to see not just a Palestinian-Israeli track but really the Arabs need to get accustomed to the idea that Israeli is going to be there, too. And so we faced a choice: Did you try and exclude a member of this committee, causing untold difficulty for others in trying to figure out whether or not they could then come and so forth; or did you just say the entire committee is invited and, by the way, if you come to this meeting you are in a sense accepting a certain responsibility that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is going to be resolved peacefully and a two-state solution and so forth? We decided on the latter, not one of the easier decisions we've ever had to make.
QUESTION: So it's like having to invite your uncle, the drunk, to Thanksgiving, right? (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RICE: No comment.
The "no comment", doubtless said with a grin, doesn't excuse her for having sat down with the Fox goons in the first place.
SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Syrians are members of the Arab Follow-on Committee, the committee that the Arab League put together to have follow-on discussions about their peace initiative. And this initiative will be one of the pillars for the discussions in the meeting because we really would like to see not just a Palestinian-Israeli track but really the Arabs need to get accustomed to the idea that Israeli is going to be there, too. And so we faced a choice: Did you try and exclude a member of this committee, causing untold difficulty for others in trying to figure out whether or not they could then come and so forth; or did you just say the entire committee is invited and, by the way, if you come to this meeting you are in a sense accepting a certain responsibility that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is going to be resolved peacefully and a two-state solution and so forth? We decided on the latter, not one of the easier decisions we've ever had to make.
QUESTION: So it's like having to invite your uncle, the drunk, to Thanksgiving, right? (Laughter.)
SECRETARY RICE: No comment.
The "no comment", doubtless said with a grin, doesn't excuse her for having sat down with the Fox goons in the first place.
Next they'll say that "Animal House" caused al Qaeda
So apparently Neville Chamberlain, all purpose symbol for anyone who disagrees with George Bush, didn't cause World War II after all. It was the Oxford Union. This claim has surfaced in the latest portentous 1930s analogy -- dug up for Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad's visit to Columbia University yesterday. Arthur Herman in the NY Post writes --
"Abject, squalid, shameless" is how Winston Churchill described the resolution passed by Oxford University's prestigious Debating Union in 1933 - the year Adolf Hitler came to power - that "this House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country."
And Columbia's event, like the 1933 Oxford resolution, sent (to quote Churchill again) a "very disquieting and disgusting message" to friends and enemies alike.
Many American's won't see that; their blindness goes to the heart of the "red-blue" divide in our country - much like the one in '30s Britain that split men like Churchill from the exponents of appeasing Europe's dictators.
It's a strange argument, that Hitler would base his entire war strategy on one debate by the Dirty Fu**ing Hippies of the 1930s, apparently unaware that college students even in those days tended to say silly things. So of all the events of the 1930s, including Britain's actual policies from 1933-39, this was the one that stuck in Hitler's mind? And what made him invade the USSR?
"Abject, squalid, shameless" is how Winston Churchill described the resolution passed by Oxford University's prestigious Debating Union in 1933 - the year Adolf Hitler came to power - that "this House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country."
And Columbia's event, like the 1933 Oxford resolution, sent (to quote Churchill again) a "very disquieting and disgusting message" to friends and enemies alike.
Many American's won't see that; their blindness goes to the heart of the "red-blue" divide in our country - much like the one in '30s Britain that split men like Churchill from the exponents of appeasing Europe's dictators.
It's a strange argument, that Hitler would base his entire war strategy on one debate by the Dirty Fu**ing Hippies of the 1930s, apparently unaware that college students even in those days tended to say silly things. So of all the events of the 1930s, including Britain's actual policies from 1933-39, this was the one that stuck in Hitler's mind? And what made him invade the USSR?
Monday, September 24, 2007
Acting for Mother Russia
Amongst the many angles in the business career of Alisher Usmanov, scourge of bloggers, is that his most recent transaction seems to have required a favour from the Kremlin. This little detail appears in the Wall Street Journal news wire version (subs. req'd) of an AP story which we can't find anywhere else --
Alisher Usmanov said Friday on Ekho Moskvy radio that he paid $72.6 million [for art collection of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich] on the eve of an auction by Sotheby's that was to begin Tuesday in London, forcing the auction house to cancel it.
"I paid the maximum price along with a bonus," Mr. Usmanov said, adding that he had paid a commission to Sotheby's. He said the collection would be brought to Russia next month, and he would hand it over to the state ...
[Russian] Federal Culture Agency chief Mikhail Shvydkoi has said the government agency presented Sotheby's with guarantees that "the transaction would be in the interest of the Russian Federation."
It would be nice if Sotheby's explained why exactly they needed such a letter, and what other information they took into account in evaluating its weight in what was presumably an embarrassing decision to call off an auction a few days before it was due to happen.
Alisher Usmanov said Friday on Ekho Moskvy radio that he paid $72.6 million [for art collection of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich] on the eve of an auction by Sotheby's that was to begin Tuesday in London, forcing the auction house to cancel it.
"I paid the maximum price along with a bonus," Mr. Usmanov said, adding that he had paid a commission to Sotheby's. He said the collection would be brought to Russia next month, and he would hand it over to the state ...
[Russian] Federal Culture Agency chief Mikhail Shvydkoi has said the government agency presented Sotheby's with guarantees that "the transaction would be in the interest of the Russian Federation."
It would be nice if Sotheby's explained why exactly they needed such a letter, and what other information they took into account in evaluating its weight in what was presumably an embarrassing decision to call off an auction a few days before it was due to happen.
Manhattan's other roaming visitor
One little detail strangely omitted from the New York Times interview with French president Nicolas Sarkozy is that he intends to go jogging in Central Park this week. The revelation was offered in answer to the final question for which the NYT only gives the part that was actually an answer to the question (about sanctions on Iran) --
Et, je vais vous dire une dernière chose, je suis bien heureux de venir vous voir et bien heureux d'aller courir à Central Park.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad may note the apparent double standard from the NYPD regarding off-UN campus presidents.
Et, je vais vous dire une dernière chose, je suis bien heureux de venir vous voir et bien heureux d'aller courir à Central Park.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad may note the apparent double standard from the NYPD regarding off-UN campus presidents.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The Irish Volunteer Force
It's truly amazing what the emerging Fred Thompson personality cult will do to people. Like converting National Review blogger David Freddoso to being a rapid Irish nationalist. The context is Fred Thompson's preposterously jingoistic assertion that --
This country has shed more blood for the liberty of other countries than all other countries put together.
It's easy to debunk. The USSR. And yes, even if they didn't free eastern Europe, the freedom of western Europe couldn't have been won without tens of millions of dead Russians. And then there's the question of the British Empire or Commonwealth, as it was emerging in the 20th century. But Thompson still must be defended so Freddoso has his answer --
So ANZAC and Indian soldiers — and even soldiers stolen by force from occupied Ireland — are to be counted as British? Well, that's interesting.
"Interesting" is one word for it. Whatever the British did in Ireland, they didn't "steal by force" soldiers for either WW1 or WW2. They explicitly avoided conscription for as much of WW1 as possible knowing how badly it would play with nationalist politics, but hundreds of thousands of men signed up anyway. When it was finally imposed in 1918, it backfired, inspiring the kind of rhetoric about illegitimate wars begun by major powers that Freddoso presumably wouldn't want to hear about the lovely war in Iraq.
And in WW2 the Free State was neutral but tens of thousands volunteered, which would get added to those from Northern Ireland. It's probably pointless to pursue whatever logic he has in mind for the claim, but he should know something is up when Mark Steyn is attacking him.
This country has shed more blood for the liberty of other countries than all other countries put together.
It's easy to debunk. The USSR. And yes, even if they didn't free eastern Europe, the freedom of western Europe couldn't have been won without tens of millions of dead Russians. And then there's the question of the British Empire or Commonwealth, as it was emerging in the 20th century. But Thompson still must be defended so Freddoso has his answer --
So ANZAC and Indian soldiers — and even soldiers stolen by force from occupied Ireland — are to be counted as British? Well, that's interesting.
"Interesting" is one word for it. Whatever the British did in Ireland, they didn't "steal by force" soldiers for either WW1 or WW2. They explicitly avoided conscription for as much of WW1 as possible knowing how badly it would play with nationalist politics, but hundreds of thousands of men signed up anyway. When it was finally imposed in 1918, it backfired, inspiring the kind of rhetoric about illegitimate wars begun by major powers that Freddoso presumably wouldn't want to hear about the lovely war in Iraq.
And in WW2 the Free State was neutral but tens of thousands volunteered, which would get added to those from Northern Ireland. It's probably pointless to pursue whatever logic he has in mind for the claim, but he should know something is up when Mark Steyn is attacking him.
Whingeing and Winning
It's doubtful that there'll be a more definitive Alex Ferguson moment than at the end of the 1st half against Chelsea today, having just gotten the extra seconds past the expiration of added time that allowed Man Utd to score, then immediately looking at his watch and barking at the ref to end the half. A "what have you done for me lately" attitude to ref. Who obliged again in the 2nd half.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Global War of Terror
The latest Iraq fiasco: George Bush invades the country with too few troops. So he needs a bunch of mercenaries such as Blackwater to help out. They get to ship weapons under Iraq -- which "rogue" operatives then sell to the Kurdish terrorist group the PKK, which are used to commit crimes in Turkey.
And this revelation at a time when Republicans seem to feel that they've stablised the political ship through a combination of celebrity distractions and the perpetual motion "outrage" machine (Iranian president visit, Moveon.org etc). One question is whether the punditocracy will buy this narrative rather than see the never-ending Blackwater tentacles as a big deal.
And this revelation at a time when Republicans seem to feel that they've stablised the political ship through a combination of celebrity distractions and the perpetual motion "outrage" machine (Iranian president visit, Moveon.org etc). One question is whether the punditocracy will buy this narrative rather than see the never-ending Blackwater tentacles as a big deal.
Friday, September 21, 2007
From le coq hardi to le coq sportif
photo from RTE
The decades change but the story remains the same: Fianna Fail leaders getting special shirts in Paris while the country gets fleeced.
[more Bertie-Sarko pictures]
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Saddam forgot one
During the bizarre moment in today's George Bush press conference when he seemed to be announcing the death of Nelson Mandela, he said --
Part of the reason why there is not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein's brutal rule. I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, where's Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.
Yet didn't Tom "Moustache of Understanding" Friedman, who's been the key peddler of this no Mandela idea, tell us in 2005 that --
In many ways, Mr. Sistani has played the role for President George W. Bush that Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev played for his father, President George H. W. Bush. It was Mr. Mandela's instincts and leadership - in keeping the transition to black rule in South Africa nonviolent - that helped the Bush I administration and its allies bring that process in for a soft landing ... The process of democratizing the Arab world is going to be long and bumpy. But the chances for success are immeasurably improved when we have partners from within the region who are legitimate, but have progressive instincts. That is Mr. Sistani. Lady Luck has shined on us by keeping alive this 75-year-old ayatollah, who resides in a small house in a narrow alley in Najaf and almost never goes out the door. How someone with his instincts and wisdom could have emerged from the train wreck that was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, I will never know. All I have to say is: May he live to be 120 - and give that man a Nobel Prize.
Prompting again the question that one often has to ask about Bush policy in Iraq -- Wha' Happened?
Part of the reason why there is not this instant democracy in Iraq is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein's brutal rule. I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, I heard somebody say, where's Mandela? Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas.
Yet didn't Tom "Moustache of Understanding" Friedman, who's been the key peddler of this no Mandela idea, tell us in 2005 that --
In many ways, Mr. Sistani has played the role for President George W. Bush that Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev played for his father, President George H. W. Bush. It was Mr. Mandela's instincts and leadership - in keeping the transition to black rule in South Africa nonviolent - that helped the Bush I administration and its allies bring that process in for a soft landing ... The process of democratizing the Arab world is going to be long and bumpy. But the chances for success are immeasurably improved when we have partners from within the region who are legitimate, but have progressive instincts. That is Mr. Sistani. Lady Luck has shined on us by keeping alive this 75-year-old ayatollah, who resides in a small house in a narrow alley in Najaf and almost never goes out the door. How someone with his instincts and wisdom could have emerged from the train wreck that was Saddam Hussein's Iraq, I will never know. All I have to say is: May he live to be 120 - and give that man a Nobel Prize.
Prompting again the question that one often has to ask about Bush policy in Iraq -- Wha' Happened?
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The new "Abort/Retry/Ignore/Fail"
is Gmail's little red "Loading" message in the top right hand corner of the screen. At least when one is attempting to read Gmail on a dodgy Internet connection. It symbolises a frozen browser screen that eventually has to be crashed, resuming a painful login process all over again. Something about the way that Gmail encrypts login information while trying to access multiple servers (to set up links with all the services it now owns) interacts badly with less-then-optimal Internet service. There's a market opportunity there for somebody.
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