Climate Realpolitik
While activists contribute their tears to the rise in ocean levels, Russia is taking a more pragmatic approach. About 20% of its territory is inside the arctic circle, where an estimated 10% of Earth’s oil and natural gas reserves are also located. Arctic shipping is already a reality, but is currently limited to about nine months a year. With the climate crowd bemoaning the potential for a reduction in sea ice, Russia isn’t waiting to see if the temperature changes or not. Their fleet of heavy duty icebreakers is expanding. Liquid natural gas ships are under construction to supplement the nuclear powered giants already in service. The goal is year round shipping by 2022 or 2023. Hydrocarbons are the primary cargo. This fancy word encompasses butane, propane, and a number of other compounds derived from oil, coal, and natural gas that are essential in the production of gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt and wood preservatives. Maybe Greta will chain herself to an iceberg and make them stop…
How Brexit Really Isn’t Over
One of the touchiest issues in the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union is making headlines again. The Northern Ireland protocols, which derailed all early attempts to get Brexit through parliament, have proven unsatisfactory in practice. The agreed solution was keeping the UK province of Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU. This allowed it to have an open border, free of customs checks, with EU member state Ireland. Both the UK province Northern Ireland and the country Ireland are on the physical island of Ireland, which technically creates an international border between the UK and Ireland on the island. This can be confusing for those unfamiliar with the matter. Theresa May’s Brexit attempts failed to pass Parliament because this solution was unacceptable to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from Northern Ireland, on whose votes her government relied. The election that brought Boris Johnson to power ended this dependence and the deal was adopted despite DUP protests.
This border being open was a large part of the solution to decades of terrorism and violence ended by the Good Friday Agreement in the late 1990’s. Brexit negotiations attempted to bypass the issue but in doing so put an international border, with customs checks, between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. While geographically logical due to their separation by the Irish Sea it has significantly complicated trade and other internal affairs. So much so that Northern Irish businesses have been minimizing UK reliance in favor of EU based suppliers. This reality is untenable for the UK and Unionist parties in Northern Ireland. It has led to a re-opening of the whole can of worms with the EU. A solution agreeable to all parties involved has proved elusive as of yet. The fear is that a serious diplomatic break would result in a hard border in Ireland and occasion a return to bloodshed.
Deutsch Muezzin
Germans are preparing to hear the Muslim call to prayer. The city of Cologne has given the go ahead to its 35 Mosques to broadcast the call over loudspeakers, a phenomenon common in Arabic countries. The Muezzin recites the Adhan, which includes the phrases, “Allah is greater,” “I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah,” “I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah,” “Hasten to the prayer,” “Prayer is better than sleep,” “Allah is greater,” “There is no deity but Allah.” Each is repeated two to eight times depending on the sect of Islam. Cologne is home to Germany’s largest Mosque which was designed to host up to 4,000 devotees. Its construction was highly controversial and included concerns over whether or not the call to prayer would be broadcast. Its grand opening featured a speech by Turkish President Erdogan. While the call will be limited to Fridays between noon and 3pm instead of the customary five times daily, that it is being allowed at all is a victory for Islam. The mayor of Cologne described it as a “sign of respect.” It is estimated that almost 5 million Muslims live in Germany.
California Scheming
The reliably ludicrous land of fruits and nuts has just unleashed this corker. Large retailers are now required to include “gender neutral” sections for children. Clothing is unaffected, but everything from diapers to toys to toenail clippers falls under the legislation. Stores can keep their traditional boys and girls displays provided they add a neutral section that meets certain dimensional requirements. According to the state legislator, the pressure to conform imposed by distinct sections was just too much for their fragile psyches. How the little darlings make it through bath time with their wits intact remains a mystery.
Building an identity around clothing and accouterments is a house of cards. Don’t all children enjoy Nerf guns? Aren’t action figures really dolls after all? Can’t men enjoy cooking and women woodworking? None of it changes one thing about the reality of your reproductive organs or the hormones your body naturally produces. Nor do any of the medical horrors individuals visit upon themselves allow them to “be who they really are,” quite the opposite. If the legislators who pushed this through cared about their citizens a fraction as much as their radical agenda they would leave the kids alone! Too much pressure? How about letting them buy a toy without being subjected to life altering propaganda?
Privilege and Power
A report by the Financial Times indicates that British spy agencies have made a deal with Amazon. The tech giant will host unimaginable amounts of data and utilize Artificial Intelligence to analyze it on behalf of the government. This is reminiscent of the deal between Facebook and the USA for use of their facial recognition software. It helps explain the privileged status many of the largest tech firms enjoy. While these tools may help identify threats and neutralize criminals or terrorists, they can be used for far more than that. Privacy, far beyond just what you choose to put online, is at stake in many instances. Rather than defend it, governments seem eager to breach it, combating threats “in the public’s interest.” Misinformation is considered one of their main concerns.
Look Out! He’s Got…
Sometimes teenagers make poor decisions. One 15 year old German boy found this out the hard way as he was surrounded by police officers and arrested. His crime? Making his Lego creations a little too realistic. Having constructed a very convincing replica rifle from the beloved bricks, he took his creation outside to show off and no doubt to play, as kids are prone to do. To complete the effect he also dressed up in camouflage. Thus equipped and attired, he ran up and down a busy street with zeal that could understandably be mistaken for something more than childlike. Germany has extremely strict gun laws. Alarmed patrons and shopkeepers called the authorities who descended in force. Hopefully the punishment won’t be any more serious than the crime. Incidents like this have occurred many times before all over the world.
Blackmail and Greenmail
Poland’s troubles with the EU continue. Funds for Poland are being withheld over judicial issues, including their stance on LGBTQ rights. Migrants are piling up at the border with Belarus as tensions escalate. Poland finds itself in a similar situation to Greece or Turkey, crucial to the efforts to restrain the massive influx and expecting to be compensated accordingly. A new wrinkle now colors the Polish/EU standoff. Poland relies primarily on coal to generate their electricity. Reducing reliance on this particular resource is key to the EU meeting a number of its self-inflicted climate and emissions goals. Polish reluctance has the potential to put the scheme in jeopardy and they know it. The Polish Prime Minister has already publicly stated that unless they get the money, it may be impossible to achieve their climate goals. A classic case of you twist my arm, I’ll twist yours.
