Blogging from the Bog

   On Sunday the Swedish Pirate Party boarded the EU super-ship the S.S. Brussels by winning a seat in Parliament with 7 percent of the popular vote.  According to founder Rick Falkvinge, the platform of: reform to copywrite law, reform of the patent system, and respect for online privacy has struck a chord with the file-share generation and those concerned with keeping internet communications secure.

   The Piratpartiet was begun as recently as January of 2006 by Falkvinge, et al, and has been warmly received, especially by new voters, becoming the third most popular political party in Sweden.  Several other chapters have sprung up in the last couple of years with less success; but, the win in Europe is sure to add wind to the sails of these brazen buccaneers of byte-booty. 

    You can read Rick’s blog here.

   Who wouldn’t want to throw a shoe at George Bush?  The President and Commander in Chief of the country that embodies capitalism and free enterprise shows his leadership abilities and understanding of the situation during this time of financial difficulty by saying, "I’ve abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."  This is about the same as saying that, "We will be taking away your inalienable rights to protect our free society."  What a gobshite…

   These bailouts for badly run financial institutions, car manufacturers, and semi-state home mortgage bodies is the worst course of action to take and will only insure deeper economic miseries over a longer period of time.  The open market system should be allowed to operate and weed out the mismanaged and incompetant companies by take overs, distribution of assets, and bankruptcies just as any other industry.

   It may bring you a little holiday humour to have your very own chance to fling a shoe at George Dubya for whatever reasons that might occur to you so click on this link and have a go!  You’ll be glad you did!

 Throw a shoe at this fool!

   Radovan Karadzic was arrested for war crimes by the Serbian security forces Monday after eluding his pursuers for over 10 years.  He is being incarcerated in Belgrade today to face the War Crimes Court on several charges including genocide.

   Karadzic, as leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1991-95 war, is to be prosecuted for a 1995 incident in which 8,000 men and boys were slaughtered in the town of Srebrenica.  More criminal charges are to be brought against him for extermination, persecution, and inhumane acts, among others.

   Stojan Zupljanin, head of the Bosnian police at the time, was arrested last month for similar crimes.  General Mladic, another indicted criminal, is still being sought by authorities.

   EU Observer coverage here.

 Radovan Karadzic

   Sensitive top level negotiations, back-door channels, and clandestine meetings are all common phrases used in describing how governments and their representatives conduct themselves while pursuing the aims and ambitions concerned with the national interest.  It is not of course in the national interest for anyone who voted in these governments to have any knowledge of these secret arrangements, let alone question them.  By the time the deal is done, the spin prepared, and the project put into motion it is too late for the citizen to halt the momentum.

   The European Union’s Commission and its’ Parliament conduct themselves no differently; but, by exploring their actions we can uncover their aims.  What started out as a cultural and economic association of diverse countries with unique social histories may be heading down a dangerous path. 

   As a whole the European nations are net importers of, and heavily dependent upon, oil and natural gas from the Middle East and Russia.  In a bid to harness some of these reserves Nicolas Sarkozy, acting as temporary President of Europe, will host a summit on Sunday concerning the future of his pet project The Barcelona Process, also called the Mediterranean Union or simply Club Med.  The intention of this Union is to bring the Middle East and North Africa into the sphere of European influence.  This concept has been on the drawing board for years but Sarkozy hopes to champion this cause and has made it one of his priorities.

   The European Army has several thousand troops stationed in the former French protectorate of Chad, and are there under a UN mandate, to conduct peacekeeping operations for the protection of refugees.  Most of these refugees are from Sudan where they were under constant threat from their own government forces and Sudanese rebels who are funded by these same leaders.  In a proposal that can only be described as ludicrous, if not treasonous, Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Developement and Humanitarian Aid, has promised €400 million to the very government who created the refugee catastrophe in the first place.  Despite the fact that his counterpart in the Sudanese government, Ahman Harun, is a fugitive from justice and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity this project is being pushed through.  Isn’t this counterproductive to the UN mission?

   Ambitious programs that would have been given a green light once the Lisbon Treaty was brought into force on its’ projected date of January 1, 2009 are not necessarily doomed just because the referendum was rejected by the Irish.  Plans for European Embassies to be managed by a new diplomatic corps, a new unaccountable Interior Ministry, and an elite military force headed up by France may still see the light of day.  Why all the duplicity, secrecy, and covert activity?

   The countries of the world, both great and small, are arming themselves with new alliances, agreements, and treaties in preparation for the Resource Race.  There is a concerted effort by these countries to align favourably with other nations for protection, prosperity, and provisions for the coming days.  If the European Union goes ahead with it’s military, expansionist, and protectionist policies this resource race will only escalate as the arms race did.  We need to find equitable solutions for the coming time when there will be less natural resources to go around before the nations get to a point of armed conflict.

 Louis Michel

   Former SAS officer, Eton school graduate, and heir to a brewing empire, Simon Mann was sentenced today to 34 years at the infamous Black Beach prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.

   During the trial, which lasted just over two weeks, the defendant confessed to his part in the military operation in hopes of securing a reduced sentence.  Mann, who looked slight and frail, appeared in court wearing gray prison garments, his wrist chains and leg irons temporarily removed.  He apologized in open court to the President and government officials of Equatorial Guinea for his role in the attempted coup while implicating the governments of Spain and South Africa in the plot.

   Mann also accused Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and a Lebanese businessman of being the lead conspirators and "bosses" of the failed operation. 

   The Attorney General of Equatorial Guinea, Jose Oboso, announced that legal proceedings will be filed against Mark Thatcher tomorrow and that he will use all means necessary to bring Thatcher back to Equatorial Guinea for trial.

 Simon Mann

   What started out as school project a few years ago has grown into an international effort of creativity, forward thinking, and co-operation among individuals and groups with a view to the future.  Not satisfied with the rhetoric of government, big business, or doomsday theorists these visionaries are proactively making a concerted effort to prepare their communities for the inevitable.  They are not passing judgement, they are not getting entangled in spurious debates or mudslinging, and they are not promising miracles.  They are creating Transition Towns.

   In 2005 Rob Hopkins was teaching a class in the world’s first two-year program of permaculture at a college in Kinsale, County Cork a seaside community on the southern coast of Ireland.  Permaculture, in theory and practice, is the idea of sustainable living and as part of his lecture series Hopkins showed the movie The End of Suburbia to his class.  At a time when the price of oil was still around the $35 per barrel stage the implications of peak oil were not lost on the students and a proposal was drafted designing the Transition Town concept.  The cleaner, greener, community based initiative was adopted by the Kinsale Town Council as proposed by student Louise Rooney and the project was underway.

   The Transition Town concept is becoming more and more relavent, as the price of oil is now $135 a barrel, and deals with how communities will adapt, adjust, and flourish despite being faced with declining natural resources, rising fuel and energy prices or shortages, and climate change.  There are currently 50 towns actively participating in this project and hundreds of others contemplating the idea of getting involved.  Is your town or city considering the prospect?  Check this list of communities around the globe.

   A quote from Rob Hopkins’ website reads, "We are communities, a society, a world in transition, and to do that we need a culture of transition, but also we need the tools for manifesting it."  Indeed we do Rob, indeed we do.

Rob

   On Friday the European Union instructed member countries to tighten border security.  The new policies will include fingerprinting and screening of all visitors, including North Americans, Africans and others coming to European countries and will cost several billion dollars.

   Nicolas Sarkozy will take over the leadership position of the EU on the first of July and is making "border management" and immigration policies some of his top priorities.  Other items on Sarkozy’s plan for Europe include boosting Europe’s military defences and energy security.  The Lisbon Treaty may be dead but the agenda behind it is not.

   Satellite tracking will be used to monitor "illegal immigrants" and many believe privacy and human rights abuses could result.  Will this have any effect on tourism?  Will our visitors appreciate the Cead Mille Failte after they are photographed, fingerprinted, and processed?

   Spencer Tunick was at it again this week in Ireland.  A few days ago an installation, photo-shoot, was organised on the grounds of Blarney Castle in Cork and today one is being done at the Dublin docks.  Tunick, famous for his photographs of large groups of naked volunteers, made his Irish debut Wednesday at the castle with 1200 enthusiastic participants.

   Braving the chill early morning Irish mists the models were asked to strip off and follow instructions for four different scenes around the castle including clutching roses, standing in the cold water holding gold coins, and "mooning" the camera. 

   Usually public displays of nudity are against the law here in Ireland but the members of the Cork Midsummer Festival were granted special permission to hold the event to coincide with the celebrations.

   This video shows the crowd following Tunick’s direction, notice the big coats and wooly hats in the beginning! Brave souls indeed, all in the name of art!

   The character and integrity of the Irish and European politicians will be on display next week as they meet in Brussels to explore the ramifications of Ireland’s rejection of the referendum.  The Treaty of Lisbon had to be approved by every member country to come into force on January, 1st, 2009.  At least that is what we were told initially, it now seems there may be yet another democratic deficit within the Uber Union.

   As previously agreed, by all nations concerned, the rule was set that if one country rejected the Treaty that it was dead.  Will the politicians of Europe stand by this decision or will the rule be changed?  Will the Irish election results be ignored?  It seems so as the remaining eight countries are being encouraged to continue the ratification process.  In the coming weeks and months Ireland’s "NO" vote will do more than just send a message to Brussels, it will shine a democratic light on the institution itself in a way that a "YES" vote could never have done.

   Our own fledgling leader, Brian Cowen, who asked us to rubber-stamp this referendum without bothering to read it himself, will be facing his European counterparts next week with a democratic dilemma.  Will he respect the people of his nation and declare to the Union that the Treaty of Lisbon is a non-runner?  Or will he conspire with them to circumvent due process?  Barroso, Merkel, and Sarkozy are in denial.   Sarkozy, who will ascend to the EU Presidency on July 1st, is going full steam ahead with his plans for a European navy!  Do you think they are going to let a simple thing like the Irish democratic process get in their way?

 Tell ‘em Brian!

   The European Union has promised to give the corrupt government of Sudan €400 million for "humanitarian aid".  It was only a year ago that Sudan’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Ahman Muhammed Harun, was indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity for funding and arming the Janjaweed militia who in turn brutalised Sudanese citizens in Darfur.  Harun is currently a fugitive from justice as the Sudanese government refuses to act on the ICC warrants for arrest.  Yeah Europe, keep sending them money!

   Two days later a rebel group, the JEM, attacked government forces in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, in a bid to overthrow the despots.  What the hell is the European Union doing, in our name, propping up this corrupt and criminal gang who have caused all the trouble in Darfur that the EUFOR Army is risking their lives to control?

   I can’t wait til June so I can vote yes for more of this feckin’ nonsense!

 Harun