Twiga has now returned from winter and assosciated other miseries avoidance measures and is again able to stretch the neck and survey the world high in the expectation that it will have moved on, got a grip on things, solved some problems and be looking forward to a golden spring and summer. What then do we see? Have out political minnows grown larger, more attractive, more dynamic or even more human? Has Nick smiled, Ed stopped the sanctimonious whinging or Dave got his act toegther to do a few things now rather than in 2016/20/30? Surely some things must have cheered up and got better?
Sadly , despite the neck rotating 360 degrees there are few hopeful signs. We will continue to look though.
Meanwhile what's on the radar screens at home and around the globe?
First up in the UK is today's nonsense in the House of Commons where the forces of illiberalism, Labour and the LibDems , have hijacked the aftermath of the ill-advised Leveson enquiry to try to achieve potentially the most restrictive press regime in the western world. By positioning themselves as champions of press "victims" ("We are all victims " is part of the staple diet of the left) they have been pushing for draconian measures which, especially if misused in the future, could restrict essential press freedoms. Cameron has been making "We shall fight them on the beaches "sorts of noises but everyone knows that these really mean "We shall talk to them on the beaches" and that doesn't have quite the same impact in negotiations. Indeed it indicates a willingness to actually surrender and hand over salvaging any credibilty to the spin people to achieve. What we look like getting is therefore more of less what Ed and Nick wanted with a dollop of "No it doesn't really mean that" from Dave.
If we think we have problems with politicians in the UK, spare a thought for the Italians after their recent election. Mr. Monti, the man who was trying to get their finances back on track,- and wasn't doing a bad job,- got the boot with just 10%, while the comedian Bepe Grille came 3rd with 25% , beaten by the other comedian , Berlusconi , who has brought Italy , and not only the country, to its knees who was rewarded with 30%. The winner Pier Luigi Bersani has to cobble together some sort of coalition to overcome his problem of having a minority in the lower house. The overall winner is economic uncertainty and Italy continues to look like a dodgy Euro runner . That isn't exactly a magnet to investment.
In Syria the impossible and life consuming impasse continues. Britain and one or two others want to arm the rebels but where do all the arms go once the present conflict is resolved? Iran and Russia act true to form and back Assad ,as they do most people who repress their people, and the EU goes round in circles feeling it should do something but having no cohesive idea about what. The only thing any of the parties , other than maybe Iran and Russia, have is a desire that they wake up tomorrow and find the problem has gone way. It won't have. Who wins or should win is an ongoing argument but the real immediate issue is how to protect the millions of citizens caught unwillingly in the crossfire.
Further east, the truly weird , dangerous inexperienced leadership of North Korea has been rattling its nukes at the world and threatening all manner of discomfort to any enemy troops it might come across. Even its closest friend and erstwhile mentor, China, does not seem to be able to control its more excessive pronouncements. South Korea in particular looks at the scene with some nervousness. The betting is that the north will not actually do anything other than posture aggressively but even that doesn't make for very comfortable nights. Nor does the feeling that the war weary US President Obama wants to hoist the temperature by making reciprocal statements.
South Africa is a bit frisky too. It navigates the racial issue in particular with great skill but there are many in the ANC and elsewhere who wish it didn't. Afrikaaner farmers and their families in particular continue to be killed in payment for old or new grievances about land ownership and the way they have treated black workers in the past. The numbers hit 1,000 some time ago and are said to be over 1,500 now. The country desparately needs new inward investment from overseas but underlying concern about tensions and militant unions driving up wage costs makes the country less attractive than many Asian alternatives although many of their wage rates and general conditions are improving /increasing in cost.
To cap all the gloom there has been this weekend's European Central Bank insistance that the Cyprus government does a smash and grab raid on savers, nationals and foreigners alike,- or at least those who stash their money in banks rather than under or in their mattresses. There is a high risk that savers in other weak parts of the Eurozone such as Spain, Portugal and Italy take fright and withdraw their funds from their banks just to be sure.That would put new pressures on these institutions which, without even greater government support, aka bailout, could go under and thereby bring the whole credibility of the European/Eurozone banking system crashing down.
This one doesn't look to have been a sensible move. Amongst other things, it breaks all previous EU banking guarantees so are any worth the paper they are written on? It could prove to be a disaster. At best it is extremely high risk.
Happy new week,- it's good to be back!
Sadly , despite the neck rotating 360 degrees there are few hopeful signs. We will continue to look though.
Meanwhile what's on the radar screens at home and around the globe?
First up in the UK is today's nonsense in the House of Commons where the forces of illiberalism, Labour and the LibDems , have hijacked the aftermath of the ill-advised Leveson enquiry to try to achieve potentially the most restrictive press regime in the western world. By positioning themselves as champions of press "victims" ("We are all victims " is part of the staple diet of the left) they have been pushing for draconian measures which, especially if misused in the future, could restrict essential press freedoms. Cameron has been making "We shall fight them on the beaches "sorts of noises but everyone knows that these really mean "We shall talk to them on the beaches" and that doesn't have quite the same impact in negotiations. Indeed it indicates a willingness to actually surrender and hand over salvaging any credibilty to the spin people to achieve. What we look like getting is therefore more of less what Ed and Nick wanted with a dollop of "No it doesn't really mean that" from Dave.
If we think we have problems with politicians in the UK, spare a thought for the Italians after their recent election. Mr. Monti, the man who was trying to get their finances back on track,- and wasn't doing a bad job,- got the boot with just 10%, while the comedian Bepe Grille came 3rd with 25% , beaten by the other comedian , Berlusconi , who has brought Italy , and not only the country, to its knees who was rewarded with 30%. The winner Pier Luigi Bersani has to cobble together some sort of coalition to overcome his problem of having a minority in the lower house. The overall winner is economic uncertainty and Italy continues to look like a dodgy Euro runner . That isn't exactly a magnet to investment.
In Syria the impossible and life consuming impasse continues. Britain and one or two others want to arm the rebels but where do all the arms go once the present conflict is resolved? Iran and Russia act true to form and back Assad ,as they do most people who repress their people, and the EU goes round in circles feeling it should do something but having no cohesive idea about what. The only thing any of the parties , other than maybe Iran and Russia, have is a desire that they wake up tomorrow and find the problem has gone way. It won't have. Who wins or should win is an ongoing argument but the real immediate issue is how to protect the millions of citizens caught unwillingly in the crossfire.
Further east, the truly weird , dangerous inexperienced leadership of North Korea has been rattling its nukes at the world and threatening all manner of discomfort to any enemy troops it might come across. Even its closest friend and erstwhile mentor, China, does not seem to be able to control its more excessive pronouncements. South Korea in particular looks at the scene with some nervousness. The betting is that the north will not actually do anything other than posture aggressively but even that doesn't make for very comfortable nights. Nor does the feeling that the war weary US President Obama wants to hoist the temperature by making reciprocal statements.
South Africa is a bit frisky too. It navigates the racial issue in particular with great skill but there are many in the ANC and elsewhere who wish it didn't. Afrikaaner farmers and their families in particular continue to be killed in payment for old or new grievances about land ownership and the way they have treated black workers in the past. The numbers hit 1,000 some time ago and are said to be over 1,500 now. The country desparately needs new inward investment from overseas but underlying concern about tensions and militant unions driving up wage costs makes the country less attractive than many Asian alternatives although many of their wage rates and general conditions are improving /increasing in cost.
To cap all the gloom there has been this weekend's European Central Bank insistance that the Cyprus government does a smash and grab raid on savers, nationals and foreigners alike,- or at least those who stash their money in banks rather than under or in their mattresses. There is a high risk that savers in other weak parts of the Eurozone such as Spain, Portugal and Italy take fright and withdraw their funds from their banks just to be sure.That would put new pressures on these institutions which, without even greater government support, aka bailout, could go under and thereby bring the whole credibility of the European/Eurozone banking system crashing down.
This one doesn't look to have been a sensible move. Amongst other things, it breaks all previous EU banking guarantees so are any worth the paper they are written on? It could prove to be a disaster. At best it is extremely high risk.
Happy new week,- it's good to be back!
