World Politics

[Captain_Cavman]

Pension funds are in debt?

They may have a borowing facility, yes. The underlying almost certainly will.

What do you mean by "... debt which is purely there as a gamble on finance and asset markets"?

 

[Captain_Cavman]

And finally, today's big news. All of Europe understands the need for urgent and collective action in the face of the ongoing 'Euro-crisis'. All except the Brits, who once again savor their historic role as the odd man out - this time, because they need to 'protect' the UK's financial services industry, "The City". The Brits appear to be isolated, and to be perfectly honest, I'm so p!ssed off with their constant insistance on special, different, and favorable treatment, that I really would love to see the rest of the EU set them an ultimatum: - in or out, no more fence sitting. I hope that they and their pound will now gradually sink into historical insignificance. I've had it with the Brits, **** 'em.

I'll just post some headlines, there are in depth stories about the Euro summit all over the web.

“The UK is as isolated as somebody who refused to join the Titanic just before it sailed “

David Cameron makes his euro stand, in splendid isolation

Don’t blame UK for eurozone’s failure

Europe's blithering idiots and a flim-flam treaty

EU Treaty: new EU plan 'abuses power', say lawyers

Day PM put Britain first: Defiant Cameron stands up to Euro bullies

New treaty is probably not enough to get through to Christmas

BRITAIN STANDS ALONE: CAMERON SAYS NO TO EU TREATY AS OTHERS BUCKLE

Who do you think EU are? Cameron blasts union as UK rejects treaty

Bravo Now Dave must hold his nerve

A day for Britain to salute Mr Cameron

We may well sink, but we're in a life raft and you're in the Titanic and I know where I'd rather be.

 

[Ferminal]

They may have a borowing facility, yes. The underlying almost certainly will.

What do you mean by "... debt which is purely there as a gamble on finance and asset markets"?

Borrowing to invest in shares or other highly fluctuating financial instruments, or property which is grossly overpriced relative to its income generating capacity. Perhaps the worst case of this is households leveraging against their (overvalued) homes and going into the financial markets... double whammy.

The underlying problem with debt regardless of where it originates, is that it can be bad in the economy if it's not being used as an investment in the future. Hoping that share and house markets will go up and putting (borrowed) money behind it is not increasing the underlying capacity of the economy. When the proverbial faeces hit the fan, the bubble bursts, you're unable to repay your debts because the markets have collapsed. You didn't invest the money in your education, expanding or creating your business - so your income generating capacity hasn't increased at all but your debt burden is much greater (which is a burden on society, not just the individual).

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

We may well sink, but we're in a life raft and you're in the Titanic and I know where I'd rather be.

You are aware that those few kilometers between the so called continent and Britain don't seperate you from Europe in reality?
So even if you are on the life raft, and the rest of Europe is the Titanic, you're still on the bloody ship, not in free water!

What has Britain gained? Protection for the City? What's that good for?
Noone can feed on virtual money.

 

[python]

You are aware that those few kilometers between the so called continent and Britain don't seperate you from Europe in reality? ........
What has Britain gained? Protection for the City? What's that good for?
Noone can feed on virtual money.

sadly, you have a point

i am a convinced euro sceptic and in theory should understand the uk position but, quite honestly, i don’t. no matter how I look at cameron’s arguments i feel he had shown complete lack of imagination and diplomacy.

the Uk’s veto has not protected british interests in the slightest, rather, made it almost inevitable that the uk will either exit the European union very soon or will be forced to succumb to franco-german domination on the continent which historically was always britain’s worst fear.

leaving the eu may satisfy some domestic sentiments for sure. but it will imo undermine london’s status as the financial capital of the world... british economy isn’t likely to benefit either and, most importantly, london’s foreign policy, already uk-centric, will set new record in self absorption.

the futility (and stupidity) of cameron’s position is in the fact that if other members decided to harmonise/centralise europe's banking system (which is inevitable and is certain to run into stiff uk opposition) or pass any other disagreeable measure, britain will be completely powerless to prevent it.

without friends, it will be easily outvoted and humiliated. even such nordic sympathisers as denmark, sweden, the netherlands and poland are tired of cameron’s stupidity and intransigence.

what happened to good old british common sense ?

 

[Amsterhammer]

A bunch of typically jingoistic English press headlines trying to put a brave face on yet another diplomatic miscalculation/disaster.

We may well sink, but we're in a life raft and you're in the Titanic and I know where I'd rather be.

Here's some more....

Germany

Der Spiegel

The man who said no to Europe

"British Prime minister David Cameron has completely isolated his country on the European stage – and many in his country applaud him for it. But he will soon have to prove that London still has clout in the UK and that his no to fiscal union wasn't just a bone thrown to Eurosceptics."

Inside, a comment piece by Roland Nelles says: "The UK is standing petulantly alone, no longer wanting to play."

Die Welt

The end of Britain's EU membership

"Beginning of the end of Britain's EU membership" is the headline on its main online story. It quotes the president elect of the European parliament, Martin Schulz, saying: "I doubt whether Britain stays in the long term in the EU. Britain has never been isolated in the EU sun." He believes Eurosceptics will now seize it as an opportunity to force the UK out of the EU.

France

Le Monde

Great Britain isolated like never before

"Let's be fair: The British are nothing to do with the crisis of the euro. They bear no responsibility for the inability of the leaders of the area to solve their problems of sovereign debt. But there is a sense that the British are well away from a movement towards greater economic integration and budget. They are not. They do not believe in the European idea. They are unrelated to this project now well becalmed, but yet it seems more essential than ever to forge a singular entity that can exist as such among the other centres of power of the 21st century."

Spain

El Pais

The cracking of Cameron gives wins to the Eurosceptics

"The crisis serves to weaken a prime minister who does not have the full support of his own party due to the rise of Eurosceptic sentiment and the perception that pragmatism has led Cameron to change the sidewalk. The fiasco of yesterday may mark his career. In the short term has become a hero in your party. A retreat would make him lose that halo."

Ireland

The Irish Times

Cameron miscalculated

"In the end, Cameron miscalculated", writes the paper's London correspondent Mark Hennessy. "Angela Merkel did not make the concessions he believed she would. But without a guarantee the financial transaction tax would be killed off. Cameron could not have come home - so he had no choice but to say no to the deal."

UK

The Daily Telegraph

Cameron stands as long man of Europe

The Daily Mail

The Day he Put Britain First

The Sun

Up Eurs – Bulldog PM sticks up for Britain ... but risks backlash

Daily Express

Britain close to EU exit

The Financial Times

Britain opts for the empty chair

"Forcing the eurozone to set up its own parallel union will not protect the City ... By precipitately wielding his veto, Mr Cameron may well have hastened the formation of such a bloc, to the detriment of British interests."

 

[Tank Engine]

Nick Clegg and the veto

Nick Clegg, the leader of the pro-European Liberals, is putting out very mixed signals regarding the use of the veto. Yesterday morning he defended the use of the veto, saying that the UK tactics had been agreed on with Cameron.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/09/clegg-cameron-veto-eu-summit?intcmp=239

However, later it "leaked" out that he was furious with the way in which Cameron negotiated.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/10/nick-clegg-david-cameron-europe-veto

While it may be that Clegg only wanted to use the threat of a veto as a negotiating tool, Cameron was very much prepared to go ahead and use it.
Europe is a divisive issue for the coalition which has already been tested with regard to education fees and defence policy. This may well come to a head in parliament next week.

There is a lot of talking about sovereignty and its loss. It is true that the European parliament seems distant, unaccountable and bullying (we'll repeat the referendum until we get the right result). However, the UK government seems to have isolated themselves from most of the neighbouring countries and the sovereignty they talk about (in particular the Tories) appears to be that of their sponsors rather than of the country as a whole.

 

[craig1985]

Trust Bill Shorten to become Minister for Industrial Relations:

http://www.news.com.au/national/cab...-star-performers/story-e6frfkvr-1226219965237

 

[VeloCity]

**** FoxNews:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/12/387668/fox-chart-unemployment-fail/

Anyone think this wasn't deliberate?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

**** FoxNews:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/12/387668/fox-chart-unemployment-fail/

Anyone think this wasn't deliberate?

Thanks for the FoxNews update.

That was probably just an honest Excel Spreadsheet error for that graph!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Some interesting news coming out of Australia. John Howard (2nd longest serving Aus PM) has launched geologists Professor Ian Plimer's book aimed for school children regarding how anthropogenic global warming is a scam. Coincidentally Howard actually supported an ETS during 2007 when he was facing defeat.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-13/howard-lends-support-to-anti-climate-change-book/3727650

With only recently coming out of the Australian secondary system I would definetly say that often there is a certain level of techings in subjects such as English or Science that leans towards left wing parties but that is not overly surprising considering that most teachers are Labor or Greens supporters.

 

[Amsterhammer]

**** FoxNews:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/12/387668/fox-chart-unemployment-fail/

Anyone think this wasn't deliberate?

Either this was deliberate, in which case they're merely confirming our worst suspicions about attempted news manipulation, or they are unbelievably stupid. Either way works for me.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Texas license plates are again drawing national scrutiny.

Last week, the board of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles voted to approve the "Calvary Hill" specialty license plate that reads "One State Under God" and features three crosses.

Motorists who choose to buy the plate pay a surcharge, which is divided between the state and the sponsoring group -- in the case of Calvary Hill, a Christian-based youth anti-gang ministry in the east Texas city of Nacogdoches.

The board, all appointees of Gov. Rick Perry, voted 4 to 3 to approve the plate the same week he unveiled a television ad in Iowa in which he vowed to end President Obama's "attacks on religion."

The Republican presidential hopeful has avoided commenting about the Calvary Hill plate, saying the DMV board acted alone.

Critics said the governor should condemn the plate as religious discrimination.

“Texas is getting a reputation for being unwelcoming to all faiths. The decision by the DMV simply reemphasizes that problem," Kathy Miller, president of the liberal Texas Freedom Network, an Austin-based watchdog group, told The Times. "This is the danger of government playing favorites with faith: It can lead to folks having their faith questioned or diminished by government bodies, and that’s wrong.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/12/texas-calvary-hill-license-plate-crosses.html

People in the rest of the world see stuff like this and just shake their heads in astonished disbelief. Truly, only in America......

 

[Amsterhammer]

The Drone saga, cont'd......

Obama appeals to Iran to return downed US spy drone

President says US has requested the return of the drone – but declines to say if loss could compromise national security


The US has asked Iran to return a surveillance drone downed earlier this month, Barack Obama disclosed on Monday.

Obama was asked about the missing drone during a joint press conference with the Iraqi president Nouri al-Maliki to mark the withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of the month.

"We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said but ended with a smirk, an acknowledgement that Iranian co-operation was highly unlikely.

It is the first time that the US has formally acknowledged that Iran has the drone.

Obama declined to answer a question about whether US national security had been undermined by the loss of the drone to Iran. "With respect to the drone inside of Iran, I'm not going to comment on intelligence matters that are classified," he said.

Tehran said on Sunday it had reverse engineered the drone in order to extract important technical information about how it is put together.

The US insists the drone malfunctioned and was not shot down.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/12/obama-iran-downed-us-spy-drone


So they say 'no', which they already have done. We say nothing, since we know exactly where they've stashed the thing and are just awaiting a suitable opportunity to send in the killer attack drones to dispose of the remains. The central questions of, how did they get the thing down in one piece if it "malfucntioned", and how much sensitive information has been 'lost', will probably never be answered.

 

[Ferminal]

With only recently coming out of the Australian secondary system I would definetly say that often there is a certain level of techings in subjects such as English or Science that leans towards left wing parties but that is not overly surprising considering that most teachers are Labor or Greens supporters.

How can English be politicised? In the selection of works which are covered? The idea is for objective analysis, so politicising it doesn't make sense.

I guess in science there would be evil left-wing schemes like actually accepting the laws of motion and thermodynamics. Science after all, is a left-wing conspiracy that should be treated with suspicion.

 

[craig1985]

I wanted to go school as a kid and learn about creationism rather than the theory of evolution.

 

[Rouetheday]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/12/texas-calvary-hill-license-plate-crosses.html

People in the rest of the world see stuff like this and just shake their heads in astonished disbelief. Truly, only in America......

A victims' rights group held a vigil in my town last week to honor recent victims of violent crime. Our sheriff was the main speaker and helpfully reminded folks not to worry, if The Lord Jesus Christ was their personal savior they would see their dear departed again in heaven. Sorry, Middle Eastern and Vietnamese families, I guess y'all are SOL.

 

[auscyclefan94]

How can English be politicised? In the selection of works which are covered? The idea is for objective analysis, so politicising it doesn't make sense.

I guess in science there would be evil left-wing schemes like actually accepting the laws of motion and thermodynamics. Science after all, is a left-wing conspiracy that should be treated with suspicion.

Look at the current curriculum in the VCE. The texts that are covered. The general topics that are discussed in the Creating & Presenting and the Language analysis sections. Much of the activities and texts are very political and what the teachers tell their students is totally misleading considering they only provide their opinions. It is suppose to be objective but it certainly isn't in reality. There is a lot of discussion about social issues in the media which often gets politicised. Are you really going to tell me Ferminal that at least some teachers don't proclaim their political views on their students? If you don't think it happens then you are living in lala land. It is more evident lower year levels with the left wing brainwash. I just think politics should be left out of school entirely. School is about how to think and not what to think.

There is definetly a very one sided view of Global Warming inside schools as well. The science mis-information doesn't really lead to either side of politics although I think there are actually plenty of students who come out of school with incorrect information. Hearing statements such "We need to stop climate change" or "it is the consensus so it must be true". The you hear Gillard saying "climate change is happening". *facepalm*

I could tell you plenty of stories where political views get in the way of teaching students.

 

[Ferminal]

Look at the current curriculum in the VCE. The texts that are covered. The general topics that are discussed in the Creating & Presenting and the Language analysis sections. Much of the activities and texts are very political and what the teachers tell their students is totally misleading considering they only provide their opinions. It is suppose to be objective but it certainly isn't in reality. There is a lot of discussion about social issues in the media which often gets politicised. Are you really going to tell me Ferminal that at least some teachers don't proclaim their political views on their students? If you don't think it happens then you are living in lala land. It is more evident lower year levels with the left wing brainwash. I just think politics should be left out of school entirely. School is about how to think and not what to think.

There is definetly a very one sided view of Global Warming inside schools as well. The science mis-information doesn't really lead to either side of politics although I think there are actually plenty of students who come out of school with incorrect information. Hearing statements such "We need to stop climate change" or "it is the consensus so it must be true". The you hear Gillard saying "climate change is happening". *facepalm*

I could tell you plenty of stories where political views get in the way of teaching students.

Well I can only speak from my experience, none of the subject matter was politicised, and the only teacher I had who offered their political opinion was a history teacher (although even then it was more for entertainment than brainwashing). Every state/school/teacher is going to be different though so it's silly to suggest it's something systematic one way or the other.

re: Global Warming, a text-book form of WGI taught in science would probably be good as a basic outline. WGII is more an S&E (or whatever it's called these days) topic but I would think that it should only be taught (if at all) as part of a wider look at human impacts on the environment. WGIII shouldn't be mentioned at all.

 

[blutto]

Well I can only speak from my experience, none of the subject matter was politicised, and the only teacher I had who offered their political opinion was a history teacher (although even then it was more for entertainment than brainwashing). Every state/school/teacher is going to be different though so it's silly to suggest it's something systematic one way or the other.

re: Global Warming, a text-book form of WGI taught in science would probably be good as a basic outline. WGII is more an S&E (or whatever it's called these days) topic but I would think that it should only be taught (if at all) as part of a wider look at human impacts on the environment. WGIII shouldn't be mentioned at all.

...the other issue is the stuff that teachers base their teaching on, that is, facts, have according to leading GOP thinkers an inherent liberal bias...

...so the whole teaching undertaking is predisposed to present a view that is colured by the facts that those views are based on.......hence left leaning...

Cheers

blutto

 

[auscyclefan94]

Well I can only speak from my experience, none of the subject matter was politicised, and the only teacher I had who offered their political opinion was a history teacher (although even then it was more for entertainment than brainwashing). Every state/school/teacher is going to be different though so it's silly to suggest it's something systematic one way or the other.

re: Global Warming, a text-book form of WGI taught in science would probably be good as a basic outline. WGII is more an S&E (or whatever it's called these days) topic but I would think that it should only be taught (if at all) as part of a wider look at human impacts on the environment. WGIII shouldn't be mentioned at all.

In my experiences it has often been views on social justice issues, anti America views and environmental issues that teachers I have seen have often been bias. I understand that teachers are in general supporters of the left wing parties (due to their connections with the unions) but I don't agree with some of the ways teachers force their own views down students 'throats'.

 

[ramjambunath]

10 years ago, on this day, the most brazen attacks in India took place with militants staging a shootout in the Parliament premises which took the lives of 12 people including 5 militants. The attacks could have been much more severe as around a hundred parliamentarians were in the premises at the time.

 

[python]

what I don’t understand is what compels, what is the benefit for any american official publicly acknowledging the loss of the spy drone ?

publicly asking for its return by an implacable enemy by no less than a president (after committing an act of war against that enemy !) is either unreal or a peace of comedy or a poorly conceived ruse.

something does not add up in the entire story we’re fed by either side…

 

[ramjambunath]

I don't think anyone can demand the return of a vehicle after an airspace violation, though it's common practice to do so. It is up to the descretion of the Iran authorities to return it and a lot of this discretion will have to do with the magnitude of the violation. There was a case in October of an Indian helicopter violating Pakistani airspace (not huge but definitely 25km into PoK) but to the credit of the Pakistani authorities, they returned the helicopter even though there is no rule compelling them to do so. Thinking sensibly, Iran may not be so considerate considering the fact that trade between the countries may not be overly affected.

 

[ramjambunath]

I don't think anyone can demand the return of a vehicle after an airspace violation, though it's common practice to do so. It is up to the descretion of the Iran authorities to return it and a lot of this discretion will have to do with the magnitude of the violation. There was a case in October of an Indian helicopter violating Pakistani airspace (not huge but definitely 25km into PoK) but to the credit of the Pakistani authorities, they returned the helicopter even though there is no rule compelling them to do so. Thinking sensibly, Iran may not be so considerate considering the fact that trade between the countries may not be overly affected.