Whatever the future holds, we need to understand that the economic collapse is not the main crisis which engulfs Europe. More significantly, we see the EU developing into the ever-tighter totalitarianism which was envisaged from its inception. The founding fathers of the EU never foresaw a democratic union. The founders of the project, such as Coundenhove-Kalergi and Jean Monnet, always assumed there would be government not by elected statesmen but by technocrats. This is indeed what we have seen recently in the appointment of such men to supreme power in Greece and Italy.
Of course, that's also why Greece and Italy are in trouble: the technocrats have been running those countries for the last few decades hand in hand with the political hacks, socialists and generals.
Our crisis is a spiritual crisis, a crisis of identity. The mistake of the secularists and the bien pensants who now control every aspect of our lives is to imagine that we can throw off our Christian identity and yet all the political liberties and other good social consequences we derive from that identity will remain in place.
But this creeping totalitarianism is not the root of our problem. Our crisis is a spiritual crisis, a crisis of identity. As the philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate, Professor Marcello Pera said, "Christianity is so consubstantial with the West, that any surrender on its part would have devastating consequences."
But all references to Europe's Christian character have been expunged by the EU bureaucrats. Europe is now officially secular. Pope Benedict XVI identified our real crisis with terrifying clarity:
"The EU is godless. But then it is unthinkable that the EU could build a common European house while ignoring Europe's identity. Europe is a historical, cultural and moral identity before it is a geographic, economic or political reality. It is an identity built on a set of values which Christianity played a part in moulding."
A church in every village. A cathedral in every city. The glorious traditions of European music and literature. The political freedoms of which we are rightly proud. All these were products of Christian civilisation.
The mistake of the secularists and the bien pensants who now control every aspect of our lives is to imagine that we can throw off our Christian identity and yet all the political liberties and other good social consequences we derive from that identity will remain in place.
#3
1631: "We killed God at Magdeburg" - apocryphal quote from the Thirty Years War, appeared in the movie "The Last Valley". It went from bad to worse after that.
Europe gave up the ghost by 1918.
#5
Such pessimism. Why not just stretch your necks out over the chopping block and get it over with?
Silly me. I'd rather go to church. Try it some time. You might like it. You meet nice people there. You hear good music. You see colorful stained glass windows. You hear interesting Bible stories. In some churches you might even smell incense. It's not so bad, you know. Remember when you were a kid and your mother took you there? OK. Maybe you didn't like the little suit she made you wear. They're a little more relaxed these days. Drop a few bucks in the plate when it comes around. You can spare it. And there will still be time after church to watch football.
h/t Instapundit
At the beginning of the year, I wrote that the coming changes to our workforce and the demise of the blue social model would strike at the heart of the Black middle class. One year later, it is clear that 2011 was a calamitous year for the Black middle class, and more is to come.
#2
Democrats created this mess. Johnson and his great society really pushed it along. Democrats pushed this false economy and were nearly 100% supported with the black vote. Welfare and workfare. This has also hit hard others in our middle class. Now with the Fed supporting Europe our savings values are lost. To realize how much is lost to recover value our market while at 12000 should be at 30000. Then in 1932 what would a dollar purchase in gold compared to today.(I believe a cent or less today towards purchase of gold). I forget where I saw this but with this last move by the fed a $10000. investment just lost over one hundred dollars.
#3
2011 was a calamitous year for the Black middle class For the White middle class too. What ought to be more of a concern is the rapid disappearance of the middle class along with our jobs to China, Mexico, India, and various other places. I swear our politicians are morons and we are too for allowing them to be morons.
#4
for now the Fed is essentially just buying euros (using dollars).
they have done this many times previously and then unwound the position later
they did this to avoid precipitous decline in the euro (such a decline harms US exporters and US companies with overseas subsidiaries)- in the past this has always worked and probably ended with a net 'profit' for the fed
Of course this time the problem is not a declining euro; it is euro that needs to be either abolished or retreated from Greece-Italy-Spain-Portugal.
So we have functions with a discontinuity - the analytic nightmare.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/01/2011 7:08 Comments ||
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#5
Just more reason for the EUroweenies to hate us.
Yes, but when Brussels arm twists Germany to pick up the tab, Brussels dictates to Greece et al how to run their countries. How, about we get to do the same to Brussels? Of course not. How silly to assume power goes with the process.
#9
How, about we get to do the same to Brussels?
Been thinking the same thing. It's probably what the Euro leaders were thinking when they visited Obama last week.Their soft soap seems to have worked.
Another point, the Bernank stated in 2002: The Fed can inject money into the economy in still other ways. For example, the Fed has the authority to buy foreign government debt, as well as domestic government debt. Potentially, this class of assets offers huge scope for Fed operations, as the quantity of foreign assets eligible for purchase by the Fed is several times the stock of U.S. government debt.16
If you check footnote 16 it says: 16. The Fed has committed to the Congress that it will not use this power to "bail out" foreign governments; hence in practice it would purchase only highly rated foreign government debt.
Lokks like a bit of mission creep going on here.
#4
Havel wasn't too bad. He did two things that meant a lot. The first was to not contest the divorce with Slovakia, which everyone wanted, yet were amazed happened without a fight.
The second was to realize how very raped and ruined Czechoslovakia had been left by the communists, and figured the only way they had to make money was through entertainment, so he made them a very going concern and business friendly.
It will still be 200 years before they have recovered. Their magnificent forests were almost wiped out, their infrastructure collapsed and decayed, their people exhausted and sickly from the communist exploitation and pollution.
#5
"Their magnificent forests were almost wiped out, their infrastructure collapsed and decayed, their people exhausted and sickly from the communist exploitation and pollution."
Standard leavings for Marxism/communism - but let's give 'em another chance!
/sarc
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 15:12 Comments ||
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#6
Or like a certain Austrian landscape painter, TW?
He became chancellor of Germany, g(r)omgoru, acquiring Austria by Anschluss. Even then Austria was so unimportant that there was no point in going for it directly.
You are quite right, Beavis, it was indeed Jesse (Ventura, yes?) I meant. Thank you.
Anonymoose, the Slovak politicians did not actually want the divorce, because rural Slovakia survived on funds transferred from the industrialized Czech province. They were shocked and appalled when Prime Minister Havel called their bluff and sent them on their way, instead of paying them more to remain in the union. Mr. Wife was working in the area at the time, and I also had a series of lovely, bright Czech au pairs, so I got all the news as it happened. Also, it wasn't just entertainment, but all sorts of business that PM Havel encouraged -- Mr. Wife's company was allowed to paint an advertisement on the side of his apartment building (he refused to move into the traditional executive's palace as a cost saving effort) as a reward for being one of the first Western companies to start up a factory and management office there. ;-)
[Dawn] ON the day after the rather one-sided border clash that, at a stroke, undid all the fence-mending in which Pakistain and the US have lately been engaged, US Senator Richard Durbin sought to put the disastrous incident in perspective.
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
Chances are that disproportionate military retaliation, in one shape or another, would swiftly have followed, regardless of the consequences.
The repercussions of possible future 'unintended tragedies' of this variety are, of course, unpredictable. For the moment, Pakistain has decided it won't play ball. It has been suggest that the closure of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... 's supply routes via Torkham and Chaman is permanent, although that is unlikely.
The closure of the US airbase at Shamsi has been sought before, but even if it were to be achieved this time around, it would be little more than a gesture, given that its use as a secondary base for drone flights reportedly ceased in April.
(Somewhat greater transparency about the status of the base would, meanwhile, be welcome -- although, even if it previously served primarily as a private airstrip for members of Gulf ruling families who periodically descend on Pakistain to shoot protected species, its secret hand-over to the US was presumably at Islamabad's, rather than Abu Dhabi's, behest.)
Given the level of national indignation, it is inevitable that calls for a more robust response will be heard. However, a hangover is the wrath of grapes... there isn't a great deal more Pakistain can reasonably be expected to do. Ceasing all cooperation with the US and NATO may not be an utterly unviable option, but its possible consequences need to be thought through. Were the alliance to be ruptured, how would Pakistain react thereafter to border incursions? Would the hostilities be reciprocated? Does all-out war even bear contemplation?
The situation is a monumental mess, and Pakistain cannot deny a key role in creating it, going back to the 1980s. Of course, nor can the US. Or, for that matter, Soddy Arabia and various other parties. Not to mention the former Soviet Union.
But Pakistain, more than any other state, cannot walk away from the mess because of its geographical proximity to Afghanistan -- the porous, colonial-era Durand Line, whose ill-defined nature has repeatedly been cited in recent days as a possible mitigating factor for NATO's 'error'.
It would probably have also been wiser not to boycott next week's Bonn conference on Afghanistan -- even though there is plenty of scepticism about its potential utility.
The region abounds in ironies, and one of these is that while Pakistain is valued as a participant in such discussions because of its presumed influence over crucial Taliban factions, it has never been completely trusted as an ally for precisely the same reason.
Washington's twin-track Afghan strategy -- war-war complemented by the occasional jaw-jaw -- relies to a certain extent on Pakistain in both contexts.
Another notable irony is that on the day before NATO aircraft attacked two Pak border posts, the American commanding general in Kabul, John Allen, was holding talks with The Mighty Pak Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... on -- what else? -- border cooperation.
The two sides have different tales on exactly what occurred in the early hours of Saturday, with Afghan and NATO sources saying air support was summoned after they came under fire from the direction of the posts, while the Pakistain Army has dismissed this as nonsense and described the attack as unprovoked -- adding, for good measure, that the relevant terrain has been Taliban-free for some time, and that NATO was aware of the coordinates of the military posts.
What's more, the attack went on even after the Pak military had conveyed its alarm and angst to NATO.
One of the maimed Pak soldiers has been quoted as saying that he and his comrades initially assumed they were under attack by the Taliban. It's the same story, apparently, on the other side of the border. Although, as the Pakistain Army has pointed out, it is unsupported by any reports of casualties.
The competing narratives seem irreconcilable, but NATO has promised a thorough investigation and invited Pakistain to participate. It would be fatuous to turn down the offer. There can obviously be no guarantee that the inquiry will reach a mutually acceptable conclusion. But there is certainly no harm in trying.
Despite everything, it is hard to believe that NATO forces would gratuitously attack military posts inside Pak territory.
The troops that claim to have taken fire were mainly Afghan. It is not inconceivable that the air cover could have been summoned on the basis of misinformation -- possibly of the malicious variety. Whatever the case, an inquiry could potentially get to the bottom of it.
As for recalibrating Pakistain's relations with the US, that is something that has been required for decades. The Truman administration was not overly keen about the idea of embracing the incipient state as a client when Liaquat Ali Khan threw open his arms and ran towards Uncle Sam, but since those days it has exploited the relationship to its advantage, and the incumbent nephew has generally gone along without asking too many questions.
This year has been particularly testing for Pakistain, what with the sordid Raymond Davis affair, followed by the extended (albeit not particularly surprising) violation of national illusory sovereignty in the successful hunt for the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be but now ain't... . And now this, following hot on the heels of the memogate scandal
Pakistain certainly needs to wriggle free from Uncle Sam's grasp. But that's not all. It also needs to wriggle free of the army's choke-hold, which has rarely been eased since 1977. And of the self-serving politicians who pretend to guide its destiny. And of the obscurantist mentality that is another of Ziaul Haq's odious legacies.
Perhaps Occupy Islamabad wouldn't be a bad idea, provided it isn't put into action by the Americans. Or, worse still, the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
#4
"Imagine how we would feel," the Democrat from Illinois said on Fox News, "if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pak forces at this moment."
#5
It is not inconceivable that the air cover could have been summoned on the basis of misinformation -- possibly of the malicious variety.
Or even on the basis of correct information. Pakistani troops have attacked NATO and native troops -- and even shelled Afghan villages-- before. But the Pakistanis much prefer faulting the infidels. That is their truth whatever the actual facts.
[Dawn] LATE last week, hundreds of protesters came out onto the streets of Lahore and Muzaffarabad to protest Pakistain's intention to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India. The participants were largely members of right-wing parties and bad turban groups. But Pakistain has been considering granting MFN status to India for some time, and it has been weeks since the cabinet's intention to do so was made public. And while Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... did hold protests across the country earlier this month, the demonstrations on Thursday and Friday consisted of a broader group of right-wing organizations, including JI, Jamaatud Dawa, and, according to some reports, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... and Jaish-i-Mohammad. Both the timing of the protests, and the presence of groups that are either banned or are known to be associated with banned outfits, raise questions about who instigated them, and to what end.
The most significant impact of the MFN decision will be on the business community, which has, by all accounts, been supportive of it, recognising the enormous economic benefits that can result from opening up trade with India. The commerce ministry has been taking industry stakeholders into account to help shape the regime and address the concerns of those who might feel threatened by an influx of Indian goods. Why, then, the need for these self-styled defenders of Pakistain to get involved? While the protesting groups -- at least those that are not banned -- have the right to demonstrate, their agenda is clearly ideological, not economic. Their rhetoric took full advantage of the misleading MFN label, which in reality simply means treating India at par with other trading partners. Much of the language in these gatherings also centred on Kashmire, betraying the old unwillingness to improve relations with India in any sphere without a favourable resolution of that issue.
The entire thrust of the current dialogue with India, however, is that all issues should finally be on the table without preconditions. A one-track approach to the relationship was not working and has rightly been abandoned. Those backing the demonstrations that took place last week need to embrace the new way forward.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/01/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I have to give Obumbles credit where it's due concerning McChrystal - the actual reason for relieving him aside, it was a good call to get rid of somebody who doesn't think bringing bad guys to room temperature is an Unqualified Good Thing.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/01/2011 10:11 Comments ||
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#2
General, celebration is an individual thing like freedom of speech and religion. You claim we violated Pakistain's sovereignty. Well, what about the violation of our sovereignty on 911. What about the continued violation of our sovereignty? Good riddance, the world is rid of a mass murderer.
Xavier Cugat's Tea For Two, "The ultimate white person dance music."
He is wearing slacks and a sweater, with a pipe in the corner his mouth and Hush Puppies loafers, and she is wearing a white puffy dress with a doily in her hair, flats and too much makeup. They are both stiff, have no rhythm, and are dancing an abbreviated form of "The Twist".
#5
McCrystal has brought more of our enemies to room temp than most. This is not his point. Everyone is glad UBL is dead and gone, there can be no doubt. As we nook across history we do not celebrate Hitler or any other tyrants death. Instead we celebrate the victory of the war, the freeing of the oppressed, etc...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/01/2011 12:41 Comments ||
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#6
Because there are plenty more where he came from?
#7
"As we nook across history we do not celebrate Hitler or any other tyrants death. Instead we celebrate the victory of the war, the freeing of the oppressed, etc..."
In this era, we're still waiting for some of that to happen, Pan. :-(
So I'll take my jollies wherever I can.
Posted by: Barbara ||
12/01/2011 15:10 Comments ||
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#8
I'm with you on that one!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/01/2011 17:24 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
