The rubbish weapon - by Richard... Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The rubbish weapon - by Richard... Tuesday, October 26, 2010

To admit to anything other than savage delight at the incontinence of the Kermits would make me a liar – not that one has anything against the breed. But as long as we are locked into the EU, with their government able to influence and direct ours, we wish them nothing but harm. If the situation was different and we were independent nations, my attitude would be very different.

But what is fascinating about the turmoil – apart from the huge costs of the strikes, at €400m (£355m) each day, – is the use of the rubbish weapon. Workers – or non-workers, to be more accurate - are blocking waste incinerators as a tactic to maximise pressure on the government.

Thus, almost 9,000 tonnes of rotting piles of rubbish are becoming a health hazard in Marseilles, which has been hit hard on land and at sea. Striking dockers at France's largest port are also intermittently blocking ships trying to unload fuel and, although that part of the protest appears to be weakening, the rubbish strike is holding.

Non-workers at a Paris waste incineration plant, in their fifth day of a strike, were catching up with colleagues who have let rubbish pile up in Marseilles, France's second-largest city, giving the capital a more than usually intense bouquet. It now smells more like its government.

pp

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Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

That, it seems, is what is behind the rubbish crisis in Naples - as the video explains. Local politicians and other rent-seekers, have been using the issue as a weapon with which to attack Berlusconi and embarrass him – caring little for the local environment or the needs of the much put-upon people.

None of these problems could arise, however, if systems were kept on a small scale and maintained locally. It is the gigantism, encouraged by the EU and its legislation, which is the root of the problem. But an even bigger problem is that people for too long have relied on others to take charge of their affairs. It is time they – all of us – took back control.

COMMENT THREAD

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Open thread - by Richard... Monday, October 25, 2010

Now that the forum is much more active (and has some very welcome new members), it makes sense to widen out the opportunity for comment on the issues of the day - what think you of this, for instance? A new newspaper for 20p! Above is a facsimile of the front page - seen at 13:30hrs. Are blogs now due for extinction? Can we stand the competition?

And how about this? With 2,170 foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan since the 2001, how much longer are we going to tolerate sacrificing our youth to the religion of peace? Or do we all need a shot of "spiritual morphine" like this person (nearly called it a lady)? And what on earth is going on here? Cranmer looks askance. Perhaps we should follow the lead of Croydon, or should taxpayers' money be spent on 14-year-old unaccompanied asylum seekers, seeing as though we have such a lot to spare?

On the other hand, are the bullshit detectors working, with this story? Look at the headline and then look at the NHS spokesman's comment at the end. Is this a non-story, or just a non-story?

And more on that EU budget question. The Irish Times weighs in, noting how the Meppies "have demonstrated their acute political insensitivities by backing a European Commission proposal to increase the EU’s budget in 2011 by 6 percent."

Conscious of domestic pressures on direct revenue streams the commission predictably suggests, but with appalling timing, a shift to direct EU taxes. These might include a combination of options: a share of a financial transaction or activities tax, auctioning greenhouse gas emission allowances, an air transport tax, setting a separate value-added tax rate, taking a share of an energy tax or, horror of horrors, even of a corporate income tax.

We are going to allow this to happen? Don't ask.

Meanwhile, the Irish Independent has been suggesting (yesterday) that, "Leaving the euro might well be our 'least bad' option". The "conversation" has started.

But, if you really want to weep, note that in Spain some are questioning whether Chacon, Spain's first woman defense minister (pictured above), should be able to take the state-mandated 16 weeks of paid maternity leave, given the importance of her job. Some others might be asking why this child is defence minister, but there you go.

Another little snippet: a Telespazio SpA and Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. joint venture backed by Deutsche Telekom AG will sign a contract to operate the European Galileo satellite navigation system in Brussels tonight, Handelsblatt says, citing an unidentified DLR spokesman. It is, of course, a complete coincidence that Deutsche Telekom is working on road charging systems.

And upon the euro-road travel the immigrants. So here comes the EU immigration force. It's called FRONTEX. We no longer have national borders - we have European borders.

So goes the experiment, an occasional "open thread" covering diverse subjects. It's more of a news roundup, building through the day. If it works - and it won't necessarily, but it's worth a try - I'll make it a regular feature. If you want to register on the forum, let me know by e-mail - the automated systems have been dismantled because of the huge spam load.