EU Federalism Undergoes Radical Soul Searching As Reality Dawns Clear

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso gave his state of the Union address 11 September 2013. Besides the expected cheer for his waning Federalist cause he hints at a new normal for the European project.

 “Let me say this to all those who rejoice in Europe's difficulties and who want to roll back our integration and go back to isolation: the pre-integrated Europe of the divisions, the war, the trenches, is not what people desire and deserve.

Does everyone still remember just how much Europe has suffered from its wars during the last century, and how European integration was the valid answer?

Does anyone seriously believe that, if the euro had collapsed, we or our Member States would still have any credibility left internationally?

I recognize: as any human endeavour, the EU is not perfect. Let's make no mistake: there is no way back to business as usual. Some people believe that after this everything will come back as it was before. They are wrong, this crisis is different. This is not a cyclical crisis, but a structural one. We will not come back to the old normal. We have to shape a new normal. We are in a transformative period of history.”

Is Europe turning the corner away from crisis and the Federalist agenda. Winds of change are 
upon us says Commission president Manuel Barroso. Its time for a New Normal.
Image from Martin Nangle series Dutch Landscapes 2009 -2011

The political maze, that is Europe’s character, has left Chancellor Angela “Mutti” Merkel and the new Germany as the undisputed champion of European economic and political thinking.

Results to date from the existentialist financial crisis have spoken. Germany is back to where it was before the crisis began in 2008 while the rest struggle to keep up.

In peace, prepare for war. In war prepare for peace.  In this case war and peace is boom and bust.

So where we are now just days before Merkel is ushered into a third term as German Chancellor and de facto guru for the European Union.

We are divided as ever. For some, economic reforms are working and in a short few years we’ll reap their benefits. For others we are merely papering over the cracks and as the financial juggernaut resurfaces from the policies of quantitative easing a second coming is foretold:

The darkness drops again but now I know
 That twenty centuries of stony sleep
 Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
 And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
 Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?    

If the Federalist movement accepts the need for a new normal, then exciting times are indeed ahead. 

 Surely some revelation is at hand;
 Surely the Second Coming is at hand.  W. B. Yeats

U.S. and French Attack on Syria Linked to Turf War over Supplying Natural Gas to Europe.

Extraordinary claims that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are pitched in a proxy war against Iran, Russia and Syria to control whose gas is sold to Europe reminisces of Mafia and gangland turf spats.

It seems one bunch of thugs is clipping the other over lucrative European energy markets addicted to cheap fixes and that the excuse to up the ante is the use of chemical weapons. The most recent incident left over 1400 innocent Damascus civilians dead.    

While not serious enough at the moment to start a full blown war, if such a scenario was to happen the entire Middle East could ignite into total chaos dragging the world with it.

Russia has the largest reserves of natural gas followed by Iran. Qatar with a population of just 800,000 is third with 15% of the world’s reserves. That’s some clout for a country the size of Jacksonville Florida.

A recent discovery of major gas fields off Cyprus and Syria adds to the dimension.

The fact that a delivery route, dubbed “The Islamic Pipeline” is a signed agreement (2011) to take Iranian gas through Iraq to the Syrian Mediterranean port at Lattakia unsettled the Gulf Arabs and are now he main sponsors of the Syrian rebels. Controlling Syria checks Iranian aspirations.

"War of the Gas-Masks." Syrian conflict is linked to controlling flow of
natural  gas to Europe.  Opponents Iran and Qatar are number 2 & 3
 after Russia for world gas reserves. Images; the 1st Gulf War 1991 

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also allies with the US in the War on Terror. This is looking increasingly like a “War of the Gas-Masks.” Some they say get rich in wartime.

In all do we care who the supplier of what we need is. Well to some degree it should matter if innocents are getting killed and hypocrisy is the sermon of the day.

Some are claiming it was mis-handled Saudi Chemical Weapons supplied to the Rebels which cause the slaughter if the innocents in Damascus. While others in Allied West are “convinced” Assad is to blame.

Either way it’s a sign we are on course for war in the coming years. The weapons used will be brutal and devastating.

E.U. Crisis: Debate on Europe #2. Freedom or Money, Which one makes the world go round.

Without freedom there is no money and without money there is no freedom.

City fund manager Helena Morrissey whose firm has almost £55bn under management, said she was “not afraid that all will be lost” if Britain leaves the single market.

“I am convinced that the tide of influence is moving away from the top down, command and control, one-size-fits-all approach to business and politics.”

She describes the European Union a “flawed model of the past.”  Several experiences have left her “disillusioned about the EU’s approach to effecting change” she said, citing poor decision making and lack of evidence or understanding to back up views as main reasons.

“Lack of flexibility and accountability within the Eurozone has left a whole generation of young people paying a very painful price for this imperial, large-scale, flawed political agenda,” she added.

Writing on walls is no longer just for anarchists. Participants at the summer Graffiti Jam in
Derry-Londonderry UK city of culture 2013.  

Her most scathing comments are addressed for Euro leaders’ mind-sets. “Eurozone politicians are determined to defend the monetary union whatever the social cost in Greece, Portugal and Spain. Their desire to be proven right may well outweigh their motivation to do the right thing.”

This mind-set seems to be defining the structures and differences growing between Eurocrats and national politicians. Which philosophy to follow …..”No we can’t” or “Yes we can.” 

Business leader Sir Richard Branson warns of dangers in putting “politics before economics.” He claims Britain’s EU membership is worth almost £92bn a year and even closer EU integration could add a further £110bn.

 “The debate on Europe is not going away anytime soon, and it’s vital that those arguing the case for staying in the EU, and those pressing for an exit, come up with clear, evidence-led visions for the UK,” says current director of the Confederation of British industry.

“We must consider what an alternative for the UK would look like, based on hard facts, not emotion or hollow rhetoric.”

However there is increasing political support for an “out” vote in Mr Cameron’s proposed 2017 referendum. As those who once ruled through Empire know very well once one country leaves the fold others will follow.

Departure from Empire is often the result of suppression, discrimination or national rebirth for greater glory.  At present there are just too many fundamental flaws inside the E.U. Failure to listen and implement calls for EU reform will be an act of folly precipitating a UK reaction into an action for secession. 

Why Ed Snowden Matters: Self-Imposing Psychological Weapons and the Surveillance Society:

“Always remember you have nothing to fear if you are a good citizen not doing anything wrong. Don’t criticise the State unnecessarily because the State is your friend. Like your father and your mother it provides. Terrorists, traitors, subversives and rebels are everywhere. They can be in your street, in your family and sometimes in your mind. Are you a Rebel? Only your state of mind can identify and bring subversives to justice. Honour those who watch over you for they are guardians of your freedom and civil liberties.

V for Vendetta. Can we believe anyone or anything. Can we trust our children,
our neighbours, ourselves. Vote yes if you have faith in government.
Vote yes if you do not have faith in government.
  

Sleep well at night knowing you have done no wrong this day.  You need us. You cannot survive without us. You will submerge under impure thoughts from those who think different to freedom. Don’t read or write. Be beautifully silent, listen, and enjoy, obedient consent.”  

------------------------------------------

Outcome from the Ed Snowden affair is drawing lines through western society.  The question is simple.

Is Edward Snowden… traitor or hero! The answer defines your state of mind. Some will say citizens should not be afraid of their governments. But they are because governments constantly behave badly. Others will say it a price to pay for protection from ……well whatever….you never know what’s out there. Look at recent history.

For these citizens control is about the other persons, those who are a nuisance, rock the boat, but never me, because I give obedient consent to state protection.

Those who criticise government, or to give them their proper status, those selected for targeting, say society is a consent battlefield for control of information.  Who controls information controls the truth.

Both sides say the freedom and equality you expect and cherish so much does not exist, only in your dreams. Both sides say sorry if I fight for the greater cause of freedom- it’s a family tradition.

Danger arising from obsessive control is well documented. Our reaction to today’s mass surveillance programmes will shape tomorrow’s society and the state of your mind.

Too Big to Fail, Too big to Jail; The Anglo Gang Remains At Large

Vying for notoriety. Can the Irish Anglo Gang
upstage some of the greatest Bank Robbers of time. 

In the intriguing case of the Anglo-Irish Banking scandal it seems state and citizens were marks for daylight robbery and ridicule.

Questions over why the bank guarantee went ahead in 2008 under fierce doubt and criticism is now being linked to the “Golden Circle,” a network of political influence and the wider financial spectrum.  The Anglo tapes allow us an insight into an absurd banking culture but it also highlights contempt the sector has for the integrity of nation states and its citizens.

If the Anglo gang behaved the way it did then so does all other similar financial intuitions. Such is the nature of a dog eat dog culture, comparable to the nature of any criminal stratum which cares less about anything beyond self-gratification and perseverance.

It is no surprise to hear accusations this conspiracy and treachery involves the ECB, Euro guardians and the Troika. It will be no surprise if they were/are involved in orchestrating this biggest robbery of recent times. Conspiracies do happen. Anglo is proof of guilt but justice will never be served. Why, because, this conspiracy didn’t lose the battle.  It walked away in a giggle with 60 billion of Irish people’s money.   While the conspirators are alive and at large there will be no culpa or retribution.  Golden Circles are just that, they are too big to fail and too big to jail.

Until shock is surpassed by anger and until anger is tempered by resolve, the best citizens can hope for is token revenge. No doubt that will be served on those who have passed away or some unfortunate expendables of no tangible threat to the “Golden Circles.”

A Perfect Spy is in the Cold

We all knew we were being spied on. But the scale of operations is just staggering. Has Obama forfeited his claim to be a people’s president, some claim he is worse than Richard Nixon.

Ed Snowden, a former systems administrator at the NSA (national security agency) gave a startling interview to the Guardian Newspaper from his June 2013 position in Hong Kong. He is now on the run and has given encoded files containing NSA secrets to several trusted friends. If anything happens to Snowden, the files will be unlocked and publicised.

Extracts from the interview sums up the world we can look forward to if the Prism programme continues on present course.

Snowden: Intro

“Sitting at my desk I certainly had the authority to wiretap anyone right up to the president who has a personal e-mail…. I think the public is owed an explanation of the motivations behind the people who make these disclosures that are outside of the democratic model.

When you are subverting the power of government - that is a fundamental dangerous thing to democracy….. And it (Surveillance society) is going to get worse with the next generation and the next generation who extend the capabilities of this type of architecture of repression

I could be rendered by the CIA, I could have people come after me and they could even pay off the Triads. That’s a fear I will have to live under the rest of my life for however long that happens to be….. If they want to get you they will get you in time.”

Guardian:  Why should people care about surveillance?

PRISM/US-984XN much of the world’s information flows through the USA.
 Prism targets phone calls, e-mail or chat to take the cheapest path….

It has already 97 billion pieces of intelligence from networks worldwide. 

“You can’t come forward against the world most powerful intelligence agencies

 and be completely free from risk, no one can meaningfully oppose them”  Ed Snowden.

“Because even if you are not doing anything wrong you are being watched and recorded….to the point where you don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody even by a wrong call….

Then they can use the system to go back in time and scrutinise every decision you have ever made, every friend you have ever discussed something with and attack you on that basis…..  to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer.

The greatest fear I have regarding the outcome for America from these disclosures is, that nothing will change….people will know the lengths government is going to grant themselves power to create greater control over American society and global society……. but they will not take the risk to stand up and fight to change things.

And, the months ahead and the years ahead it is only going to get worse until eventually there will be a time where a new leader will be elected, they will flip the switch and say that because of a crisis or the dangers we face in the world…we need more authority we need more power and there will be nothing the people can do at that point to oppose it and it will be turnkey tyranny”…..ends.

Typical of people who relish control, some politicians rushed to call for retribution, including Southern Baptist Republican Lindsey Graham who said;   

"I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there will be consequences if they harbour this guy."

Wasn't the Cold War about ending communist state repression and advancing civil liberties & democracy???

Snowden is in the Cold. But because of him, the government’s prying Prism feels the Heat.

EU Crisis: Battle to Control our Connected Planet, Enter the Gladiators.

Troika leaders bungled as they tried to save their Euro baby at the expense of the Greek economy. According to an IMF report the Greek bailout was designed to protect the vulnerable currency from potentially catastrophic effects to the global economy.

If Greece is part of the Eurozone then a question; is any member expendable, is there any that aren't!

This and other developments, the challenge to privacy, increased powers for Brussels, the demonisation of opposition and the rise of the snooping state, is becoming issues for pending elections and referendums about United Europe’s (US) future. These ballots will determine style and nature around how we seemingly permit ourselves to be governed in the coming decades. Hot players for the power seats include Banks, Corporations, new Security Governments, revivalist religion and the Open Society mainstream classes. An arena where all’s fair in love and war?

A recent experience with security employees from the ECB (European Central Bank) in Frankfurt resulted in the all too common response to citizen reaction following an invasion of privacy in a public place. “Everyone is a terrorist suspect.” 

A Bible for the War! New game same rules. All's fair if your are the
winner. Power struggles for the global order will involve many more
players on the field. Image, A Croat soldier reads his bible during a lull
on the front line in the last European conflict. Bosnia 1993  

Does this courtesy extend to the growing number of Accusers in Frankfurt, Washington, London, Beijing or Moscow!

What makes their desire for control more legal than those who cherish privacy?

What makes their use of the snooping state more legal than those who expose its workings?

“There is no such thing as a Terrorist! The combatant style of asymmetrical warfare is commonly referred to as Terrorism, Rebellion or Insurgency.  Often this is amended to freedom fighters, resistance movements or revolution; should combatants be successful in their efforts to take power.”

Troika belligerents such as Brussels Commission’s Olli Rhen and ECB’s Mario Draghi will never be reprimanded for any failure or wrongdoing to the Greek people or their economy. They are beyond the reach of accountability. They continue to engage in grey politics, duck issues and play their wild cards when it suits. Their corner is political victory by financial methods; the Federalist strategy.

In response to the IMF scathing report Rhen commented: "Latvia's desire to adopt the euro is a sign of confidence in our common currency. It is further evidence that those who predicted a disintegration of the euro, were indeed behind the curve and simply wrong,"

And he might even be right about that. “Lead on Mac Rhen”

EU Crisis: Debating Europe’s Future #1, The UK Forum

The UK debate on its future role with the EU is begun in earnest. The motion is declared:  "National self-determination better serves UK citizens than further EU supra-nationality and integration.”   Outcomes are judged on the clarity of argument and whether those not already decided are won over.

The following extracts show the trends for this national debate, which in reality is the hothouse focus for a motion affecting the future shape and rule of the EU. This debate is set in the UK for the rest of Europe to decide who the winner will be.

As in most organised debates the speakers present sets of arguments to support their position.

Original article: Daily Telegraph http://tinyurl.com/kdua7a6

First speaker for the motion: (Skeptics) Lord Kalms, Business for Britain. Life president of Dixons plc 

Speakers Corner Hyde Park, London. A place of debate since 1872.

When I joined my father in our first Dixons store in 1948, we would have welcomed with open arms anything that would keep the nations of Europe from fighting. In the short term, the EU and its predecessors achieved just that. Now the European Union is no longer fit for purpose.

The British people deserve a referendum on our continued relationship with Brussels and, the way the politics is going on this issue, we should get one.

Like London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, I’d like to see the EU taken back to a trading relationship that promotes rather than inhibits commerce with the rest of the world.

At this crucial juncture the Eurozone is still in crisis. EU institutions are publishing new plans for further integration. There is no better time for the Prime Minister to put his vision for Britain’s relationship with the EU.

Those on the wrong side of this debate would have you believe that the main change needed is to deepen the single market, thereby boosting the competitiveness of Britain and Europe as a whole. That this should be their only means of achieving that end is narrow-minded and unimaginative.

  

Brussels is seeking more “one size fits all” approach to regulation. This is doing so much to prolong the economic crisis. This approach is just another example of the EU sticking fingers in its ears in the pursuit of an outdated philosophy.

It’s time Brussels acknowledged that “ever closer union” is not in the interest of all EU member states.

The make-up of business and industry varies hugely across member states. There must be a more effective mechanism for governments to stand up for national interests in a particular sector affected by EU regulations.

Equally, national parliaments – which are naturally better placed to represent the concerns of their home-grown industries – need to be far closer to EU decision-making, rather than handing the reins of power to unelected civil servants and to MEPs.

If there are laws written in Strasbourg that harm the UK, then Government should have a red card (veto) so that the UK can stay well clear!

In Britain, what Business for Britain is doing for the debate on the EU – as it was on the euro – is push authentic business voices to the fore and let people hear the real problems that the EU is responsible for. The majority of the business community is no longer content to sit on the sidelines while the EU today is the cause of more unrest and infighting than it solves.

It is time for change; either Brussels makes it, or we do.     

Original article: Daily Telegraph http://tinyurl.com/lwytdjd

First speaker against the motion: (Europhiles) Sir Andrew Cahn. World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Europe. Vice-chairman, Nomura. 

Jim (Big Jim) Larkin, trade unionist, speaks in Dublin 1913.
"The great appear great because we are on our knees: Let us rise."
100 years on Revolutia Continua. To be EU or not to be EU. 

We are often told that it is inconceivable that European countries would fight among themselves. Indeed, those who disparage the EU tend to take its peace for granted, or say it has little to do with the EU.

My father left Germany hastily in 1933 to becoming  a refugee overnight. His family went to Spain and was subsumed by its civil war. He left for London, but was on the move again just as the Blitz was starting, his future wife sent to Canada for her own safety.

Because of the volatility of my parents’ lives, I grew up aware that peace, stability and a secure society are not givens, nor can they be assumed – or even expected. They have to be worked for and won in every generation.

The Balkan states experienced the unpredictability that characterised the 1930s and 1940s.

That is why they want to join the EU, a supranational authority, with a culture of interchange of peoples and goods and values. The EU is a guarantor of peace more than any number of politicians assuring us that they have peaceful intentions. Britain is safer because of the EU.

Nationalism and Populism is increasing in many European Union countries. They talk about a dislike of foreigners in their country, glorifying the nation state and how its history is better and bolder. These are the things which can lead nations into war.

Not only is EU peace taken for granted, but also the prosperity it has generated.

Britain has not found it easy to penetrate emerging markets. We will not suddenly find that their doors open to us just because we have left the EU. The illusion is to think that splendid isolation in a global world is actually a workable strategy. We live in an interconnected world where Little England or Imperial Britain has no place.

The City of London changed from being an airless, old boys’ club to being a global powerhouse because foreigners flooded in with new energy, new ideas and a new openness.

If you can eat well in London, if you can find world-beating music, dance, design and film, it is in part because young Europeans full of vitality, ideas and talent come to our country to make a living and do something exciting.

The EU provided the framework which changed our society (United Kingdom) beyond all recognition over the past 50 years.

The flow of people, capital, opinions and energy from our EU partners has helped to make us cosmopolitan, sophisticated and competitive in a global marketplace. An isolated Britain did not make this happen.

Closing our doors, our shores and our minds to the Continent’s efforts to design the future will marginalise us. The final benefit of the EU with the UK is a political structure which involves us in designing the future of our region.

Britain has been a leader in Europe for centuries. We should not relegate ourselves to camp follower. It is the sceptics who lack ambition for Britain.

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The speaker for the motion clearly focuses on some benefits of direct action in business decisions which affect the country and, ultimately its citizens. He asserts correctly the mood of the audience as unsure of Brussels strategies.

The Speaker against the motion has concentrated on the terrible past and the fear factor of rising dissent and isolation. This merits the question is fear the main component holding his argument.

As one who was a correspondent during the Balkan wars I remember it was the UK & Americans who stopped the War, not the EU.

So is the EU the solution or the problem as the first speaker suggests. It is clear from this part of the debate the EU is both as the second speaker points out.

Verdict: All square

EU Crisis: Europe’s Great Reformations, Art of Superstate Looks Directly at a New Metamorphosis.

It doesn't take a survey to tell a person which way the wind blows when on the street facing a biting gust.

Support for the European Union is falling. Distrust is growing. Damage is accelerating. Europe is in disarray. “The Union is over!”  Well not quite really over.

The great reformist of 1517 Martin Luther is honoured in Dresden city centre. Germany leads
again a new reformation in changing political and economic destiny for Europe. Image 2013 

In a few recent short years, half a century of sterling work by our fore-fathers to create a United Europe is being completely re-assessed. “The Union is dead!” “Long live the Union!” Great cities are once again committing to European destiny.

Chancellor Angela Merkel steps in behind a “Keep UK in the EU” campaign. Her government’s support for the campaign is seen in Berlin as vital to reshaping the Project beyond its present form.

Most observers know Europe will look a different structure by 2017 if not before.

Political leaders have few options to explore the way forward.  At the forefront is a northern block led by Germany and preferred ally the UK. In tandem, and implementing necessary reforms, France, Italy and Spain should head-up a formidable southern team. The peripheral will play ball to join either league being relegated and promoted on performance.   

The muddle in the middle of this concept is of course the fated currency problem. It’s one for the technocrats and bankers to sort out. But, regardless of ECB bravado, the Euro’s position is becoming increasingly untenable as a universal currency.

Recognising that Europe is still in a fast mid-stream River of Change is the single most important realisation Europeans can make. There is no easy voluntary political concept that marries a continental peoples so diverse, distributed and strongly independent. There are only visionary concepts, which in due time run their course before a necessary metamorphosis is undertaken once again. 

EU Crisis: The Freaks Are Out: Fruitcakes Make Stinky Cheese Election in England

Conservative education secretary Michael Gove said people supported The British Euroskeptic party Ukip (UK independence party) because they were suffering economically and were fed up with politicians.

He compared UK political elites to an after dinner cheeseboard, in this case the dinner being the English local elections, and described the situation as;

“There exists a sense of exasperation with the political classes. We (the three main political parties) do sometimes seem like pasteurised cheese on the cheeseboard and then Ukip is the rich, ripe, stinky alternative and people think: ‘Don’t mind having a slice of that.”

Described as fruitcakes and clowns, Ukip is promising a political earthquake in the forthcoming EU elections

Nom Nom Nom!  The flavour of stinky French cheese on British Europskeptic palettes, washed down with Spanish or Italian wine is enough to rally voters to any freak show.

Populist! Populist!  Populist! I hear a very gentle sound from the Place De Luxembourg. “We will convince the people” whispers Brussels. But convince it must and without further delay. An acid test will be one year from now as European citizens respond to Austerity and its leadership in EU elections. Ukip is promising a “political earthquake.”  

The fabled Mary Celeste may have lost its crew and direction, but with whom this ghost ship now personifies? UK or E.U, this is a decision for the voters.    

EU Crisis: Lets Sound Different; An Hallucination or a Real Denial Of Service Attack.

What a way to get a point across. You apologise, retract it and then strike it home. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be hurtful, but”!!!

In the case of French Socialists they make the point, retract it and then apologise. So, what’s the point then! The point is, “People can do things differently and get similar results.”

For those who travel a lot and politicians do quite a bit of hacking around Europe, Modi Operandi among peoples adjust to clear and often obvious factors.

I mean, do Eskimos eat salad. Do Swedes siesta the summer afternoon. And why do Russian ladies wear fur coats in Cyprus!  

 "Stick with it kid" as they say in the movies. " France is becoming unsure if it is all worthwhile.
 Germany is becoming fixed on exporting  an oversized fitness regime for its reluctant clients.
Meantime politicians do agree everyone is to  blame for the wrong decisions. Image 2013 CDU & PS

A one size fits all “Austerity” policy might work in cool Hamburg, but it sure needs a nap in blistering Athens.

Yes we are all different. The big Five, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are the engines driving Europe. Strange the Troika hasn't accepted these engines are not all made in Bavaria’s Motor Werkhouse. Or that they have different break horsepower.  

Look at their history, different as they all are they've still managed to shape the world, culturally and economically. They get there, in the end.

The problem with Brussels style Federalism is it assumes it is the only way forward and not an option to be studied. “Get in there” their supporters shout from the stadium terraces.

It is also becoming clear responsibility and accountability is not on anyone’s agenda for policy failure. I mean it’s a shared responsibility according to Europe’s politicians as everyone is involved in the wrong decision making.  

”What has Austerity ever done for me” I hear the bloke on the Appreciate Austerity Crucifixion Cross (AACC) mumble to the Praetorian Guard below. “Ask Pilate, he put you there” is the reply. “But there are so many governors called Pontius Pilate in Europe today. Who do I blame for my slow and agonising death,” bemoans the dying bloke.

“Simple, he who washes his hands of your crime you did not commit is the real Pontius Pilate.” 

EU Crisis: Confusion at the Top. A Cat Takes A Nap

“And you tell me, over and over and over again my friend, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of re-construction.”

Brussels commission president Barroso warned Europe’s austerity programme has reached its “political and social” limits and the “Dream” was now under threat.  European Council president Herman Van Rompuy has claimed there is a "renewed sense of urgency"

Loose monetary policy risks sparking credit bubbles which threaten to tip the world back into financial crisis. Many banks in the euro area periphery remain challenged, the IMF warned April 2013.

A confused cat takes a nap where a human once lay.
 The E.U. crisis is sleepwalking the Europe project
towards its final  dream before morphing into an
organic awakening. Image Rotterdam 2012

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said “Serious reform is necessary; we are in a serious depression.” In Berlin chancellor Angela Merkel announced “European Nations needed to yield some sovereignty to ensure Europe’s survival.

We seem to find common solutions when we are staring over the abyss, but as soon as the pressure eases, people want to go their own way.”

The chancellor was concerned European leaders will lose their commitment to a closer Europe when the crisis ebbs away. 

The reality is different. Confidence in the EU is now at an all-time low. Euroskepticism is spreading across the continent. It is the people’s commitment to EU leaders which is ebbing away.  Europe is still a great ambition but using the crisis to push for Federalism is an arm twisting tactic that's bound to failure.

Europe’s future is secured in an organic progress. For a modern democratic society, it is all about confidence, progress & security.  Future Europe will look so new and so characteristic we will be astounded. This new society is not to be shaped by traditional political reform, horse trading over who gets what, but born from the knowledge society and its cutting edge - technology. People only need to reach down and pick up the power of universal knowledge. 

Armed with communication and knowledge, society will evolve into a Babylon of groups switching to and fro to defend their interest and self-determination. None can predict the shapes and forms of the groups, but change is assured from this EU crisis of rudderless and confused leadership.  

With Denis and Margaret Thatcher in a Corridor of Power.

As assignments go this one in the IRA stronghold of South Armagh was a little different. I was with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and husband Denis while they waited for a taxi to arrive. The taxi was a British army helicopter with orders to whisk them back to Belfast castle, while the waiting room was a makeshift barracks corridor, dark, narrow and uninviting. It was also a spectacular target for the real power in the area. Luckily for all “Mum” had been the word about the flash visit.

It’s a strange thing to make an assessment of one such as Maggie Thatcher. All the rumours, backbiting, back stabbing skulduggery, that mars political life was just not present on the crisp morning she visited the front line troops. It was not an easy place to secure for such a high profile figure. The IRA’s very successful 2^nd Battalion dominated the area and the killing tally. They eventually scored over 160 security officers to a loss of four of their own in active combat service. 

Mrs Thatcher would need to be very calm and very cool to for her and Denis to feel OK in the camp.

The Iron Lady. Margaret of Finchley.
To trust or not to Trust that is the question.
Image extracted from the Sunday Times
by artist Michael Leonard. April 2013

And that’s how it was for the 10 minutes we shared in the corridor. I was pleasantly surprised how much she and Denis relaxed with us to make small talk and present her cultured manner. I suppose behind very strong front person is just another human, just like the rest of us.

Just another day.P.M. Margaret Thatcher, Husband Denis
with the troops and Martin Nangle in the IRA's South
Armagh stronghold. The exit corridor in rear view.
Image 1980's  

Hard to take in that here was the leader of “the British occupation in Ireland,”  the Iron Lady herself having a bit of banter with a couple of media people deep in IRA territory while a late helicopter ride made its way over the rolling hills for a pick-up.

Denis joked and was genuinely funny. Mrs Thatcher shuffled through her handbag for a tissue. We Patricks just tried to the Irish thing. Express restrained recognition for celebrity status. I mean she's just a Prime Minister, right!

Light information was exchanged about the things everyone does at home, the office, or the pub, or in this case, a narrow corridor of power locked at both ends. They soon said goodbye, using first names. Just another day in the Irish/UK Ulster conflict.