Ourselves alone - by Richard... Friday, November 26, 2010

Ourselves alone - by Richard... Friday, November 26, 2010

The final tally of votes cast in the Donegal South West by-election showed Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty with a significant lead - the man who would burn bondholders. The Belfast Telegraph early in the afternoon thought it was all but in the bag, and it was not wrong.

Fianna Fail conceded defeat after Doherty clinched almost 40 percent of first tally votes for the seat vacated by MEP Pat The Cope Gallagher. Doherty said the message for Taoiseach Brian Cowen from the people of Donegal South West was "get out of office".

Reuters then confirmed that it was over. Doherty says he is headed to Dublin to vote against the government's budget on December 7 and try to force an election. "I will try and bring down this government and make sure all of the parties get to go to the people," he adds. This is sort of like Labour winning Witney. Sort of ... don't get too excited.

What is doubly fascinating though is that even the traditional opposition seems to have been stuffed. Fine Gael and Labour have polled below expectations. "Analysts" are telling us not to read too much into it - a remote "former" Fianna Fail stronghold near the border with the north where Sinn Féin's nationalist politics might have more appeal than elsewhere. After all, one might say, Sinn Fein has been doing so well of late.

As to the broader crisis ... I do like the sound of the death rattle in the morning, when even (or especially) sterling does a wobbly and the Huns are getting restless - Ambrose has spoken. Mind you, this one you could not make up. By the way, have you heard the new song? Sung to the tune of "Irish eyes", the first line is: As Irish banks get downgraded ....

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Taking us for fools - again - by Richard...

The EU Commission has unveiled its new budget proposals - sticking to a 2.9 percent increase as demanded by EU ministers. But the commission has also added a "contingency fund" of up to €3.5 billion to be spent in the event of "unforeseen circumstances" – a sum which does not figure in the slated annual increase.

This means that the headline figure to be approved remains at 2.9 percent above last year, while the actual sum spent by the end of the year will be close (or even above) the six percent increase demanded by MEPs. As an exercise in having it both ways, this is quite creative, as long as we the people don't mind being taken for fools.

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Portugal next - by Richard...

"I can tell you that it's absolutely false, completely false," says José Manuel Barroso, flatly denyingthat a financial aid plan is in the works for Portugal. That's Portugal domed then. Bruno does an update, telling us that the euro is sliding "as Portugal bailout pressure builds".

It struck me the other day that, not only do the eursoslime and warmists share an agenda, they very often share the same language – the same assertive, unpleasant demeanour that brooks no debate and refuses to accept that there is any valid alternative point of view.

The warmists have "the science is settled" but the euroslime had the doctrine of inevitability – it was going to happen, whether you liked it or not ... it was the only game in town, etc., etc. Now, both factions are stuffed, the latter finding that the only inevitability is their impending demise.

Meanwhile, as the FTSE dives into the red, the race to collective suicide goes on. These people really are tired of living.

Still, there is always the expert view to keep us entertained. Kathleen Brooks, research director with foreign exchange service Forex, says it is was unclear where the crisis would spread. She adds: "Whereas the Greek crisis and the start of the Irish crisis were concerned with individual sovereigns and their problems, the current chapter of Europe's sovereign woes has turned into a periphery-wide issue where no one is safe."

You don't say!

UPDATE: And now that's Spain buggered as well.

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Talking the usual garbage - by Richard...

" ... while the UK is currently experiencing a cold snap and last year had the harshest winter for 30 years, the scientists said the evidence for man-made global warming had grown even stronger in the past year." Thus does Vicky Pope of the Met Office say that for global warming it was important to look at the global picture - which last year saw many parts of the world experience very warm temperatures even while the UK was gripped by snow and ice.

And she said: "We are starting to see changes in the climate even in the UK which we can link to global warming. We're seeing more heatwaves and seeing fewer of these cold winters."

The year 1940 saw the start of the "little cooling". That year and the subsequent period was marked by dreadful winters and, in some areas, fierce heatwaves (see above, column on the left - click to expand). On 20 July 1940, the Daily Express had reported that 160 Americans had died in two days because of the heat - as opposed to the 168 who had died in two weeks of air raids in Britain. "Global warming worse than Hitler, shock!" writes the Louise Gray of 1940?

Pope and the rest of the warmists see what they want to see – and fix the "evidence" accordingly. They do so because it is in their financial interests and because they are supported by institutions which stand to profit or extend their power, or both, by exploiting scares. The print and broadcast media will continue to promulgate such tosh because they are in the business of filling space and time with material from "approved" sources. They are a waste of both space and time.

It would thus be better if Johann Hari heeded his own words. He writes:

Why are the world's governments bothering? Why are they jetting to Cancun next week to discuss what to do now about global warming? The vogue has passed. The fad has faded. Global warming is yesterday's apocalypse.

He thinks he is being ironic. But, even if unwittingly, he tells the truth. How interesting it is that the only way a warmist can tell the truth is by accident.

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Toasted Cowen - by Richard...

With Cowen holding on for grim death, Bruno is predicting a blood bath for Fianna Fail in the Donegal south west by-election. Perhaps this is the the way forward.

And the "colleagues" don't need any more money, honest guv.

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The Lean machine - by Richard...

It is a totally reliable guide. When a climate summit is in the offing, the bullshit index goes off the scale. This time, it is the turn of Geoffrey Lean, who gets hammered in the comments.

His newspaper surely must have realised by now that Lean is detested by the readership, does not represent their values and is a liability to the paper. Yet, as with Louise Gray, they persevere, ignoring their readers. To that extent, they are like the politicians they serve – having completely lost touch with the real world and oblivious to the sentiment of their own constituencies.

That this should be happening with politicians is understandable, but less so with newspapers, which are reliant on their commercial base. Why they should be so keen to commit suicide is difficult to explain. However, continuing to employ the Lean machine it as clear a statement as you are going to get that the paper does not give a toss about what its readers think.

I think we owe it to the newspaper to react accordingly.

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