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.

   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!

   We talked before on this blog, back in March, about the money machine in a five part series of how currency, wealth, and values have changed.  Not much has happened in the financial or political circles since then that has convinced me that the Irish government would be doing anything proactive or constructive to remedy our own situation.  The mismanagement of the public finances over the past 15 years has put us in an extremely bad position to weather out this economic perfect storm. 

   David "indigestion" McWilliams is grasping at optimistic straws in his article in the Sunday Business Post today; but, if it’s cheerleading you think you should be doing David, then go for it…just remember cheerleaders don’t win the games…it’s the players who have to make the points, and our side has forgotten who they are playing for.  A quote from the article reads, "House prices and accomodation costs in general will collapse, unemployment will force wage rates down, transport prices will get lower and, more to the point, Science Foundation Ireland will spend €7 billion on education and training in the years ahead."  The Science Foundation?  That’s a joke right?  And the funding for the "brutal infrastructure"? is to be paid for…by whom? the entrepreneurs we hope to "suck in" from all over Europe?

   The only ones that will be getting sucked-in is us the taxpayers, the home owners, the skilled work force and the students, apart from that I cannot see anyone contributing to the black hole the politicians have made of Irish fiscal policy.  Oh wait!  How many billions will be promised if we get it right next time on the Lisbon Treaty referendum? 

   You can read David’s blog here.

   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

   Jay Shafer is a former art teacher who has been invited to speaking engagements in the United States and Canada to promote his ideas on "tiny houses".  For ten years he has been residing comfortably in a succession of homes that were all less than 100 square feet in size.  This man is not "living large" though he is getting large receptions wherever he speaks to enthusiastic audiences who are concerned with the environment, reducing overhead expenses, and looking for something suitable to their changing needs.

   Not all is rosy however in this Lilliputian land of little houses.  Many local residents are outspoken and concerned that these miniatures, built in their neighbourhoods, will cause housing prices to drop even further. 

   *  Here is a YouTube link for a tour of his house.

   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

   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

   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

   Amid all the controversy with global warming, fuel prices, and a slumping world economy the French wine growers, Irish truckers, UK and Scottish fisherman, and others around Europe are reacting to rising costs, EU controls and dwindling profits by holding strikes, slow downs and riots.  Is this a sign of the times and a preview of what is to come?  Or, will we take a pro-active stance, adapt as humans are capable of, and rise to the challenges we face as we approach peak oil?

   In late July a ship will quietly leave a dock in France bound for Irish shores, it’s hold will contain 12,000 bottles of wine for the thirsty Irish market, and it will be using free fuel.  A three-masted schooner, the Kathleen & May, is scheduled to deliver her cargo to the Dublin port on the 25th of July.  Over one hundred years old, the sailing vessel is one of many operated by the Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile, and according to company executives will save nearly 5 ounces of carbon emissions per bottle. 

   Will we again see horse drawn wagons and a return of the canal barges in Dublin?  We can only hope! 

   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?