Digest – June 20 2010

Who knows how it goes?

HOME

New online-only news site, Dublin Observer. Early days but good to see.

McWilliams in the Sunday Business Post…

This fundamental economic truth seems to evade our politicians. They don’t seem to realise that the more blank cheques they write to shore up the European banking system, the more they are burdening us with future taxes. This tax burden causes the economies to contract more. Writing cheques to bail out Europe’s banks won’t help anyone, apart from the creditors of the banks – who should suffer anyway. This is how capitalism works.

The lender is as culpable in a crisis. Was that not the capitalism you learned too?

Constantin Gurdgiev on the extension of the bank guarantee.

Gerard Cunningham walks along the canal with his camera.

Telegraph photoshops the border into NASA image. Ye’wah? Via Skin Flicks.

Letter to the editor in the Irish Independent from a Declan Doyle.

Words like nepotism, largesse and cronyism are employed by polite and civilised society to convey its discomfiture with immoral conduct.

But the times in which we live demand that we develop a language and attitude more fitting to both describe and challenge the enemy Ireland faces today.

Very simply, public life has been criminalised.

We need to ‘man up’ as a nation and admit this…

Political editor of BBC Northern Ireland blogs on the release of the Saville Report.

WORLD

Renowned BBC journalist Adam Curtis blogs on BP’s history in the US. Always producing something interesting, that Curtis fella.

Interactive timeline of the US presence in Afghanistan from influential think-tank, the Council for Foreign Relations.

Oil industry lobbyists ramp up the money and munch to politicians after the BP spill disaster.

Infographic: how the average American spends their time online.

Somali pirate cook saves the lives of hostages then is refused refuge by third-party nations, then disappears, presumably returning to Somali where he would be killed.

US ties to Ex-Kyrgyz regime questioned…

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan—Weeks before ethnic clashes killed hundreds of people in this Central Asian republic, an audio recording was posted on YouTube that presaged the mayhem.

“We need to find 500 b—ds…and keep [the country] in a constant mess,” said a voice that government officials here say was that of Maksim Bakiyev, the 32-year-old son of the ousted president. “Somebody needs to kick up a fuss.”

The recording of the phone call sparked fresh intrigue. From exile in Minsk, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev denied any connection to the unrest in Kyrgyzstan; the head of Kyrgyzstan’s new interim government says it shows the former regime is seeking to return to power. The younger Mr. Bakiyev was detained in the U.K. Monday on charges by Kyrgyz authorities that include abuse of office and misuse of state funds.

Econbrowser on IMF and the PIGS. Via Constantin Gurgiev.

So, what are the implications for a future EU/IMF bailout of Spain (or Portugal, or Ireland)? Despite the heated rhetoric by Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy, and others about the need for the PIGS to put their own house in order by imposing staunch austerity measures, we are quite likely to see even stronger support for Spain (and Ireland), given its importance for the profitability and solvency of French and German banks. Portugal, in contrast, is likely to fare worse than Greece, given its limited importance for the major eurozone (and G-5) banking sectors.

Audio: Glenn Greenwald; “the strange and consequential case of Bradley Manning, Adrian Lamo and WikiLeaks”. Bradley Manning is the US Army private who claimed to Wired editor, Adrian Lamo – himself a former black hat hacker – that he leaked the Iraq helicopter attack video to Wikileaks. Lamo then told US authorities about Manning. There are reports he may also have told Manning he could provide protection under journalist shield laws.

Michael Yon’s first thorough dispatch on his time spent in Thailand during the recent red-shirt up-rising.

Politically, the closer one looks the more complicated it becomes.  Words are confusing while actions speak clearly.  So for now, let’s step back and look at the punches that are being thrown, and not why they are being thrown.  The fist leads back to the arm and the arm leads to the motivation…

OTHER

“Don’t delay, get down to Whelan and Dealin’ today… it’s an Easter extravagaaaannzzzzaaa…”