BY STEPHEN PAX LEONARD Erik the Red famously named Greenland as such in the 10th century in order to persuade people to settle there. Greenland is one big sheet of ice, and the only thing green about it is the colour of the vast meltwater lakes that sit on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet during the summer months. But, don’t take it from me. … Continue reading All that Glitters is not Green
BY TOM GALLAGHER Portugal is already a year into lavish anniversary commemorations of a revolution that occurred unexpectedly in 1974-75. Perhaps its culminating point was in March 1975 when sweeping nationalisations of industry and banking, as well as land, occurred. It was the most radical advance of state power into the private economic realm seen anywhere in Western Europe since 1945 and, arguably, the Portuguese … Continue reading How Portugal Became Inoculated Against 21st Century Revolution
BY ALEX STORY Sometimes distance brings clarity. In a note to investors, former Hedge Fund manager, current martial arts expert and forever Kiwi, Derek Wallis wrote: “The EU abandoned the defence necessary for their sovereignty to finance welfare states, which they destroyed with mass immigration”. He added that they now “have infinite migrants, bankrupt social programs, and a complete lack of security” Indeed, the EU’s … Continue reading Lessons Never Learned
BY ALEX STORY Starmer went to Washington to kiss Trump’s golden ring just as a provincial would have a Roman Emperor’s. The UK press thought the humiliating spectacle went well. As a synopsis, on the Chagos Islands and Ukraine, our Prime Minister sought the backing of a foreign power in pursuit of his own foreign policy objectives. Giving Chagos to Mauritius, to which they never … Continue reading Not a Serious Country
BY MARK TAC Yesterday the French voted in the first round of the parliamentary elections unexpectedly called by Macron after his party’s dismal performance in the European Parliamentary elections. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) came out way ahead of all the other parties in those Europeans and polls were right to suggest the RN would achieve a majority in the parliamentary elections. So, … Continue reading Some Thoughts on French Elections
BY MARK TAC Some of my thoughts on the war in Ukraine… The Ukrainians have been busy attacking Russian early warning radars with drones, a long way from the front. On 23rd May, a radar was attacked by drones at Baronowski, 600 km from the Ukraine-Russian front, near Armavir (east of Stavropol), in the region of Krasnodar. Five days later, on 28th May, another radar … Continue reading Ukraine Update
BY ED ANDERSON As protests continue in Spain against Agenda2030 and EU regulations, Edward Anderson asks what the humble strawberry tells us about Spain´s farming conundrum. Last Sunday (17th March), farmers from across Spain once again descended on Madrid and took their protest to the very gates of the Ministry of Agriculture across the road from Atocha station. It was a wall of tractors, noise … Continue reading Strawberry Wars
BY ANTONIA FILMER The newly released book Cold War 2.0 completes the author’s 2023 trilogy, all three are connected by his take on foreign policy. Prof Nalapat is India’s first professor of geopolitics, since 1999 he has been the UNESCO Peace Chair at Manipal University, and has concentrated much of his effort at keeping peace between states in conflict. This last book is a feast … Continue reading Cold War 2.0
BY NIALL McCRAE Products are made in factories, but brands are processed in the mind. A remarkable feat of the government’s Covid-19 response in March 2020 was the readily produced slogans (such as ‘hands, face, space’) and other messaging. Initially the colours were red and yellow, signifying an emergency, but later the colour scheme changed. The constant barrage of marketing for the booster injections in … Continue reading Blue & Yellow
BY ALEX STORY European Union gross domestic product (GDP) halved since 1980 to less than 15% in 2023 as a proportion of the world economy. EU GDP is set for another spectacular fall to 9% of the global economic activity pie by 2050, according to PwC, one of the big four global professional services firms. The plan, as formulated by the European Council in 2001 … Continue reading Progressives are the Real Reactionaries
BY MARK TAC As ever with La Belle France, nothing is really as it seems. The unpalatable truth for the French is they have never recovered from their Revolution which was a bloody disaster for the country as was the fact that Napoleon grabbed power, wrecked Europe, and left France exhausted. All they could do was give a Gallic shrug and carry on. Five years … Continue reading Notes from France
BY ALEX STORY The sirens are calling us to surrender territory for peace. The Windsor Framework rips the United Kingdom apart and robs us of our sovereign dignity. Northern Ireland is to be thrown to the European Union wolves and subjected to rule by diktat. The United Kingdom will have to consult the European Union if it wishes to pass a law that might lead … Continue reading The Constant Lie
BY ALEX STORY Eating bugs used to be the preserve of small children. Whilst not officially on any recommended menu, the practice was part and parcel of a toddler’s journey to adulthood. What looked eminently edible to the untrained eye of an infant as it crawled around playgrounds or gardens was sometimes, at best, an insect. Sometimes, in parks frequented by busy dog walkers, it … Continue reading A Question of Taste
BY EFFIE DEANS Everybody including me got everything wrong about the war in Ukraine. The Germans and the French thought it wasn’t going to happen right up until the moment that it did. The British and the Americans thought that the Ukrainians would be defeated within a week or so. The fear was that the Russians would then threaten Lithuania and Poland and that NATO … Continue reading Mother Russia Calls in Vain
BY JIM WEBSTER I’ve worked with sheep, but I’d never call myself a shepherd. I’ve not got that level of expertise. But one of the things about shepherds is that they tend not to be centre stage. Historically they were always looked down upon. Even more so than the rest of us involved in agriculture, shepherds were shunned. (Even now ‘peasant’ is an insult in … Continue reading Shepherds Forgotten Again
BY JIM WEBSTER The thing about farming is that yields fluctuate. You can plant the same acreage in two successive years. Sow the same variety, put on the same sprays and inputs, and see what happens. One year, because the rain came at the wrong time, the sun just scorched what was left. Next year everything fell just right. So, one year you didn’t even … Continue reading Windfalls, No Cider
BY EFFIE DEANS It is expected that soon Nicola Sturgeon will announce her latest attempt to have a second independence referendum. Lots will be written about this, but it is not the most important issue facing Scotland. The most important issue is demographics, but almost nothing will be written about that. Alastair Allan SNP MSP for the Western Isles has admitted the importance of demographics. … Continue reading Voting with Our Feet
BY STEWART SLATER Find someone who loves you as much as The Economist loves Emmanuel Macron. The house journal of the technocracy told readers of its daily email to “Sigh with relief” for the recently re-elected Emmanuel Macron had been an “unusually good leader for France.” Well, up to a point Lord Copper. And, it turns out, that point is 41.5%, the proportion of voters … Continue reading Are the French Toast?
BY ALEX STORY The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revealed a great deal. The West can bark but lost, seemingly, much of its teeth. The alliance, whatever that means, is strong on words but feeble in deeds. And it is, as the Good Book reminds us, “by their deeds” that “you shall know them”. We have wagged our finger at the Russian Bear with gusto, … Continue reading By Their Actions
BY EFFIE DEANS There is a moment in the Godfather when Vito Corleone tells his rather dense son Sonny “Never tell anybody outside the family what you’re thinking again.” He was right. The fact that Sonny revealed his opinion leads directly to an assassination attempt on Don Corleone and indirectly to Sonny’s death. I was reminded of this when Nicola Sturgeon chose to reveal her … Continue reading Having a Mayor
