outsidein

• Bailout Plan rejection

  September 30, 2008 @ 9:00 am | by Bryan

   US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters

  In an unexpected turn of events yesterday, the US House of Representatives rejected the proposed bailout plan. The immediate results were not good. The US stock-market saw its highest points drop in history. The fact that Fortis and Bradford & Bingley’s were nationalised, and that Citigroup bought Wachovia, did not make for a pretty backdrop.

  The big question is what happens now? The rejection of the bailout plan reminds me of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. Both political parties called on their members to vote for the plan. The President consistently supported it, as did both presidential candidates. And yet, it was rejected.

  Some Republicans have blamed Nancy Pelosi’s speech for the outcome, but I don’t think that argument holds water. First of all, only 60% of democrats voted for the plan. I hardly think that the 40% who went the other way were offended by an ‘anti-Bush policy’ speech. As for the Republicans, I think Barney Frank put it best: the suggestion that some people voted against the best interests of the country because Pelosi hurt their feelings is ridiculous.

  So what happens now? Probably the same thing that will likely happen to the Lisbon Treaty. The bill may get tweaked, but it will ultimately be passed. It will be sold as the only way to keep the country afloat, and alternatives will not be entertained. Both parties will try and accuse the other of having hampered progress and themselves as the champions of the people. And assuming Wall Street reacts strongly enough (I’m sure they will), they will get their way.

  Is this bailout the best way to deal with the credit crunch? I have strong reservations. But I must concede, I would rather see it go through than have absolutely no action taken.

  Comments (6)

• Andorra

  September 29, 2008 @ 7:15 am | by Bryan

  There is a lot happening in the world. The headline topic is the credit crisis, which has led to a crisis of confidence in the global financial system. While it looks like a bailout plan for Wall Street is going to be agreed on, the UK bank Bradford & Bingley’s has failed and will either be taken over or nationalised. There is also some worry about Ireland’s financial health.

  Seemingly oblivious to the prevailing financial difficulties, the Chinese have successfully completed their first spacewalk and are pouring money into their space program. Somali pirates stole a Ukrainian ship - who knew things like that happen anywhere other than in Johhny Depp films? Bombs are still going off in Baghdad and Afghanistan is still unstable. The religious violence in some Indian states looks like it will continue at least until the elections are held. I’m sure there are good things that are happening too, only I can’t think of too many at the moment.

  With that in mind, I feel it is my responsibility to distract and entertain you, if only for a couple of minutes. Enjoy.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q_iqrvnC_4&rel=0

  Comments (6)

• The first US Presidential Debate

  September 27, 2008 @ 3:33 pm | by Bryan

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOTLlExqvwc&rel=0

   

  You can watch the entire debate here.

  Thoughts?

  Comments (8)

• Picture of the week

  @ 10:30 am | by Bryan

  

  Patrick Murray from Roscommon competes in the senior horse class at the Irish National Ploughing Championships at Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny September 24.Photo: Eric Luke/Irish Times

  Comments (0)

• The Economy

  September 26, 2008 @ 9:15 am | by Bryan

  Henry Paulson, US Treasury Secretary. 

  I’m confused. I thought Ireland’s recession started on a Tuesday, months ago, when an ESRI report was released. But according to some news reports, we are now officially in a recession. And, Ireland gets the dubious distinction of being the first EU state to officially be in recession. However, earlier this month, the European Commission predicted that the UK, Germany and Spain would be in the same boat by the end of the year.

  Guess who the Germans and French are blaming for the state of the world’s economy? The Americans! According to Germany’s Finance Minister (Peer Steinbrueck) in an address to the German Parliament:

  The United States will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world financial system will become more multi-polar…The financial crisis is above all an American problem. The other G7 financial ministers in continental Europe share this opinion…This system, which is to a large degree insufficiently regulated, is now collapsing - with far-reaching consequences for the US financial market and considerable contagion effects for the rest of the world…

  Not to be outdone, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, had his own contribution to make on matters. Speaking at a rally in France, Mr Sarkozy said:

  A certain idea of globalisation is drawing to a close with the end of a financial capitalism that had imposed its logic on the whole economy and contributed to perverting it…The idea of the absolute power of the markets that should not be constrained by any rule, by any political intervention, was a mad idea. The idea that markets are always right was a mad idea…

  If nothing else, these are interesting times.

  Comments (6)

• Country first?

  September 25, 2008 @ 12:37 pm | by Bryan

  

  A great difficulty in interpreting events, comes from the fact that we all see life through the lens of our own beliefs and prior experiences. Because our paradigms are very difficult to shift, two people can know the same facts and interpret them totally differently.

  Yesterday, John McCain announced that he would be suspending his campaign in order to focus on the economy. He also called on Barack Obama to agree to postpone the first presidential debate, which was scheduled for tomorrow. The two men have so far issued a joint statement on the need for party politics to be put on hold for the greater good. They still disagree on the issue of the debate. Obama has said that a president must be able to deal with more than one thing at a time and that Americans want to know where both men stand on issues related to the economy.

  I personally think that John McCain is pulling a political stunt, for political gain. I think he doesn’t want to be under the spotlight while the economy is in turmoil since he has consistently backed the policies that have brought the economy to this point. That whole ‘country first’ slogan is, in my opinion, just that. And frankly, I’m surprised that all the news commentators haven’t come out and blatantly made that charge.

  But maybe that’s just because I view politicians in a certain way. Maybe I have an inherent bias towards Obama. Maybe, in the same way that I think those who believe McCain are letting their view of him, and of Obama, cloud their judgement, my judgement is just as clouded. But I doubt that.

  I can’t wait to see how all this plays out.

  Comments (12)

• More to Mbeki’s legacy than Aids folly

  September 24, 2008 @ 12:55 pm | by Bryan

  I FEEL FOR retiring president of South Africa Thabo Mbeki. He is in danger of being remembered for all the wrong reasons. The biggest blot on his career is the stance he took on Aids. Mbeki, for reasons best known to himself, chose to endorse the views of some dissident scientists who claimed the primary cause of the disease was not viral. To make matters worse his government’s health policy on Aids was based on that thinking…

  Read the rest of this opinion piece.

  Comments (9)

• Ireland’s Political Stability

  @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  British foreign secretary David Miliband gives his keynote speech yesterday to delegates on the third day of the Labour party conference in Manchester. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

  I am a little surprised. Gordon Brown is fighting for political survival. It looks all but certain that his party will lose the next general election. But even within his own party, David Milliband seems to be a very real threat. In the US, President Bush has the worst approval rating for a sitting president since that data began to be collected. Every-time the economy takes centre stage, John McCain loses ground to Barack Obama.

  How come the Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, is so secure in his post?

  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any problems with the Taioseach. I have no party preferences. I just find it curious that Ireland’s political world is so subdued. The explanation cannot be that Irish people are just naturally trusting of their leaders - just look at the Lisbon treaty referendum. So why do so many have so much faith in the government at a time of economic uncertainty?

  Why is the opposition here not making the kinds of gains that the Conservatives are making in Britain? Why is there so much of what looks like party loyalty within the ruling party? How can the political weather be so different across the water?

  Comments (8)

• Financial Crisis

  September 23, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  The Bush administration’s $700 billion bailout for US financial system is fascinating.It’s hilarious watching a ‘government intervention is bad’ president fighting tooth and nail to do some serious intervention in the financial system.

  It’s great to see that Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have got approval from the Federal Reserve to become commercial banks so that they can raise money from their investors. I’m all for taking care of the ‘productive sector’ of the economy - the people who provide jobs.

  I’m also for looking after ordinary people. And it seems a little curious to me that the American government is happy to spend huge sums of money on private institutions, but nowhere near that amount of money on ordinary people. When the subprime mess rose to the surface, there was no rush to bail out individuals. Had some program been implemented then, had those people been able to keep their homes and pay their mortgages with government assistance, who knows? This mess may have never got this far. And it probably wouldn’t have cost $700 billion to fix.

  It’s okay to help out businesses because they are too important to fail. People though, aren’t as important? I come from a place with the world’s highest rate of inflation. I don’t know much about how to run a functioning economy. But I’m pretty sure that treating institutions better than individuals isn’t a great idea.

  This debate on the financial crisis is worth watching.

  Comments (25)

• A thought

  September 22, 2008 @ 9:00 am | by Bryan

  A lot seems to be happening in the world at the moment. America’s financial system looks like it is in trouble. And as the saying goes, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. But it’s not just that. The heads of government in South Africa and Israel resigned at more or less the same time, both under dubious circumstances. The suicide bombing in Pakistan is thought to have been orchestrated by al Qaeda. And there have been religiously motivated attacks in some Indian provinces.

  What do these events have in common? The world has shrunk, and while it is tempting to ignore all but the most local occurrences, even things that happen far away affect us all. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in his address, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on 31 March 1968:

  Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood. But somehow, and in some way, we have got to do this. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools. We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured.

  Comments (7)

• Picture of the week

  September 20, 2008 @ 9:00 am | by Bryan

  

   

  Anti-government protester walks past an illustration of former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej during a demonstration at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, September 13. Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom/REUTERS

  Comments (0)

• End of the Road for Mbeki?

  September 19, 2008 @ 12:38 pm | by Bryan

  CAPE TOWN/SOUTH AFRICA, 4JUN08 - Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, captured during the Opening Plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa, June 4, 2008.Copyright World Economic Forum/Eric Miller

  It looks as if Thabo Mbeki’s reign is coming to an end. I wonder, will history treat him fairly?

  The name Thabo Mbeki has come to be associated with the doctrine of quiet diplomacy - which in itself is seen by most as a euphemism for appeasement. He is also known for his skepticism over the conventional scientific view that AIDS results from HIV, a retrovirus. Equally unflattering is the perception of an aloof, elitist intellectual, an arrogant man and a poor successor to Mandela.

  Believe it or not, I think Mbeki gets a raw deal from the press. He has got a lot wrong. He is a deeply flawed leader, but which serving leader isn’t? I think that in spite of the disastrous mistakes he has made, Thabo Mbeki deserves to go down as a great leader.

  Much of my thinking on Mbeki has been influenced by Mark Gevisser’s biography, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred. A fantastic book which is well worth reading.

  Mbeki has worked tirelessly for the good of his country. He has never really got the credit he deserves for keeping South Africa from falling into chaos when people began to realize that democracy does not equate to jobs, better housing and the end of struggling. The social mess that was South Africa at independence was still there when Mandela left office, and Mbeki has received a lot of criticism from myself and many others for not doing more. But, he gets very little praise for the heroic levels of social investment, and attempts to redress social imbalance by his government, while working to increase that governments capacity.

  But, like Shakespeare said, “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”

  Comments (15)

• Pay Deal

  September 18, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  Turlough OSullivan, director general of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation

  It looks like a wage agreement has finally been reached. From what I can tell, it’s a reasonable agreement. It takes into account inflation and the effect that has had on people’s buying power and standard of living. At the same time, I think there has been an acceptance of the fact that these are difficult times for the global economy and a certain level of frugality is required.

  Some groups are happier about the deal than others, but that’s probably a good sign. The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) are particularly unhappy about the concessions made in the draft. They have used phrses like ‘beyond comprehension’, ‘outrage’ and ‘wholesale redundencies’ to make their point. Most other groups may not be crazy about the it, but they seem to find the deal on the table more or less palatable.

  Now that some sort of consensus has been reached, we can all let that part of us that likes to worry focus on the banking sector.

  Comments (30)

• Access to higher learning

  September 17, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  The ongoing debate on university fees has taken on new meaning for me. I recently started my post graduate studies on a full time basis. I could do that because I have the best wife in the world and the Credit Union is a fantastic organisation. I also have an incredibly supportive network of friends who I can lean on. All of that means that I can pay my way through school – international fees and all.

  I had an interesting conversation, a couple of days ago, with one of my new classmates. He is from county Galway and describes his background as being poor. As far as he is concerned, there are already a lot of barriers to third level education for less well off people. Even wihout having to pay university fees, the cost of going to college everyday, eating there and having to buy stationary and reading material is prohibitive. In his opinion, more financial support is needed to enable the people who most need higher education to get it. If that doesn’t happen, he feels that people like himself are likely to be trapped in a cycle of poverty.

  I understand that the proposal to abolish fees is meant to affect only the well of, but there is a real, and I think justified fear, that over time what began as fees for the rich will turn into fees for everyone but the very poor. But there is more to this issue than just fees.

  When you live in a place like Zimbabwe, you naively think that places like Ireland don’t have any poor people. You certainly don’t imagine that someone in Ireland could think of themselves as being poor, and that the system works against them. It’s a pity that this debate has not focused on access, rather than just fees.

  Comments (4)

• Zimbabwe deal is cause for cautious optimism

  @ 8:38 am | by Bryan

  IT IS difficult to know what to make of the agreement between Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The deal that the two men have struck is very far from being perfect, but who knows? It may help restore sanity to Zimbabwe’s social, economic and political scene.

  Read the rest of this opinion piece.

  Comments (4)

• A marriage of convenience

  September 16, 2008 @ 8:25 am | by Bryan

   Robert Mugabe, centre, flanked by Morgan Tsvangirai, left, and Arthur Mutambara

  A friend asked me today what I thought of the power-sharing deal that was signed by Zimbabwe’s political leaders yesterday. I told her that I was cautiously optimistic.

  On one hand, the fact that power no longer lies in the hands of one man is both historic and long overdue. If there is a change in the constitution to ensure that it is never again possible for a dictator to arise in Zimbabwe, so much the better. Best of all, the politically motivated violence which has rocked the country will end and Zimbabwe can start picking up the pieces.

  I am only cautiously optimistic though, mainly because Robert Mugabe still has a lot of influence. Even at the signing ceremony, he couldn’t help but go on a tirade about British and American interference. The expression on Tsvangirai’s face said it all - cabinet is going to be one seriously dysfunctional family. And the possibility of Mugabe deciding that sharing isn’t for him and throwing Tsvangirai out of his government is not beyond the realms of possibility.

  But this agreement is, potentially, a positive step. One can only hope that the peace holds and that a horrible chapter in Zimbabwe’s history is finally over.

  Comments (9)

• On the fringe

  @ 7:00 am | by Bryan

  This is a week late (I can’t really account for last week - don’t ask), but we have a new blog! If you haven’t already done so, please pass by Fiona McCann’s blog, On the fringe, and say hello.

  Comments (0)

• Implicit association?

  September 15, 2008 @ 9:00 am | by Bryan

  Fr John Achebe

  I first came across the Implicit Association Test (IAT) in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. In very simple terms, it is an online test that is being run by a research department at Harvard that can measure things like how you view race, sex and other things. The test is based on the premise that people associate certain charecteristics with particular ideas. So on the race association test, for exmple, you are challenged on how strongly you associate words like ‘bad’ with black or white people.

  I was reminded of the IAT when I came across this story. A Nigerian priest who was trying to enter Ireland to visit a relative was denied entry because immigration officials became suspicious of his reason for entering the state. He was strip searched and put in prison, and was only released when the Nigerian Ambassador intervened.

  It’s impossible to know exactly how the officials who arrested this Catholic priests made their decision. I wonder though how much of it was down to a stereotype of Nigerians. I wonder if at some level, there was not a beleif that this Nigerian priest was less trustworthy than an American, Brazillian or South African one.

  What bothers me most is thinking about the outrage and protest there would be were an Irish Catholic priest arrested by Nigerian immigration officials, stripped in font of four prisoners in a jail cell, and left there overnight. It frustrates me that the rules are completely different depending on which part of the world you were born. Irish priests can go to Nigeria without the fear of being unduly suspected of criminality but the reverse is not true?

  The frightening thing is that this happened to a respected, well connected person. How many such incidents happen to people who are not a phone call away from an ambassador?

  Comments (28)

• Picture of the week

  September 13, 2008 @ 5:32 pm | by Bryan

  

  A union member of Italian airline Alitalia holds a noose around his neck during a protest outside the labour ministry in Rome September 11. Photo: Tony Gentile/REUTERS

  Comments (2)

• Chris Matthews on ‘Lipstick on a pig’

  September 12, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDsoG7hGfY&rel=0

  This whole issue demonstrates the pathetic state of modern party politics. But you’ve got to love Chris Matthews. My favourite Matthews video is this one:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK0d8ENS__c&rel=0

   

   Which brings me back to the point. Something has to be wrong when a senior political news commentator is one of the most ‘entertaining’ guys around. Either the commentator or the politics have gone wrong. I don’t think Chris Matthews is the problem.

  Comments (5)

• Citizenship

  September 11, 2008 @ 9:45 am | by Bryan

  Dan (comment #14 on Lenihan v Varadkar) suggested that the whole issue of citizenship in Ireland needs to be addressed. I agree. Not only is there not a clear process by which migrants can work towards acquiring Irish citizenship, the whole concept of what Irish citizenship is has not really been debated meaningfully.

  What makes someone an Irish citizen? If your parents were born and grew up in Cork, as did their parents, grandparents and great grandparents, you are obviously Irish. What if your grandparents left Sligo for America? Are you Irish? And what if your parents were born in Dublin and then moved to Australia?

  How about if you are originally from Malaysia, have worked and paid taxes here for the last 15 years and were naturalised 5 years ago? You are legally a citizen of Ireland, but are you Irish? Will you ever be Irish? Or take my cousin, who pays her taxes dutifully and has never claimed a state benefit. She is in no rush to apply for Irish citizenship. Is she, a law abiding doctor, any less valuable to the state than my Irish mate in Wexford on the dole? Doesn’t she deserve to be treated at least as well as he by the state and society for her contribution to both? And my niece, her daughter, who was born in Limerick - how should she be viewed?

  Not every migrant contributes meaningfully to this country. The honest truth is that Ireland would be better off if the less savoury migrants left. But Ireland would also be better off if some Irish people also left. But when the economy goes through a rough patch, no-one suggests that Irish criminals leave the country. It is assumed that they belong.
   
  At what stage does a migrant belong?
   

  Comments (15)

• Thursday Book Club

  @ 8:30 am | by Bryan

  

  I cannot recommend Fishing in Utopia highly enough. It is the best written autobiography I think I have ever read. It is also one of the best books I have read this year. It is a beautiful, thought provoking memoir. By the time you get to the end of the book, you will probably really like Andrew Brown, and you might be a little sad if you didn’t visit Sweden a generation ago.

  And then there is the book club. It hasn’t gone as well as I would have liked. I personally gained an awful lot from being able to discuss the book with its author. But maybe a blog is not the best medium for conducting a book club. Maybe there are not that many people who follow and participate in this blog who are into that sort of thing.

  In any case, I have decided to put the book club on hold for a while. I am very grateful to everyone who followed or participated in it.

  Thank you.

  Comments (2)

• Afghanistan

  September 10, 2008 @ 9:30 am | by Bryan

  You may not have noticed this, but I happen to admire Barack Obama quite a bit. I think he is a sensible man and I tend to agree with his view of the world as stated in his Berlin address. But I strongly disagree with his proposal to send more troops to Afghanistan.

  Most people now agree that the US invasion of Iraq was ill advised. Why then, is it not as clear that occupying Afghanistan won’t solve America’s security problems? Unless I am mistaken, the notion of a pre-emptive war was hatched up by the Bush administration. Although there has not been another 9/11, many would argue that Iraq has made the United States less, rather than more secure, in the long run. Instead of committing more troops to Afghanistan, America’s standing in the world and long term security might be better served by leaving the region altogether, and partnering with Muslim nations to bring stability there.

  There’s an old saying about people who live by the sword. It is a reminder that violence only begets more violence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a pacifist. America and the EU have to terrorism and that will at times require the use of force. But if force becomes the main tool in what is an ideological battle as much as anything else, the side that leans too heavily on its guns will struggle.

  I really hope that the next US administration comes up with something a little more constructive than ‘pre-emptive war’.

  Comments (12)

• African Democracy

  September 9, 2008 @ 8:30 am | by Bryan

  I was part of an interesting discussion yesterday that touched on democracy in Africa. At one point, the question of whether contemporary Western democracy works in Africa was raised. It’s an important question that deserves serious attention.

  I get tense when the subject comes up. I’m not as concerned with the conclusions people come to as I am with the thinking that leads to those conclusions. A large part of me wants Africans to be judged on the same basis as everyone else. The continent of Africa is part of a larger world and has to learn to play by the same rules as everyone else. That said, that set of rules has only recently been applied to the continent and there needs to be some recognition of that fact when evaluating her progress.

  So, should contemporary Western democracy be applied to African nations? Richard Dowden is probably right in suggesting that what Africans need is an African form of democracy. The sad thing is that there has not been enough thought and debate around what that may look like in different countries. Because most countries south of the Sahara spend most of their resources trying to stay afloat, the prevailing mentality is that it is enough to copy what others are doing.

  The greatest tragedy that has befallen much of Africa in recent times is the refusal of the ‘liberation movement’ generation to gracefully relinquish power. The result has been that in terms of ideas, the continent has been stuck at ‘how do we get control of our countries and resources’. This kind of thinking stops at the attainment of power, and goes no further.

  Hopefully, the next generation of leaders will ask better questions, like ‘how do we structure our power such that we are accountable to our people?’

  Comments (2)

• Lenihan v Varadkar

  September 8, 2008 @ 9:00 am | by Bryan

  Leo Varadkar

   Fine Gael enterprise and employment spokesman Leo Varadkar sparked some controversy last week. He asked about the feasibility of foreign unemployed workers in Ireland being given a lump-sum benefit payment if they agreed to return home.

  I had the pleasure of catching the TD and Conor Lenihan, Minister of state for integration, go at it on radio. Unfortunately I only caught a short snippet of the debate, but it was very interesting. From the little I heard, it seems that the minister feels that Fine Gael is trying to stir up anti-immigrant feelings for their own political ends. Mr Varadkar on the other hand was basically saying that any suggestion the opposition makes to do with immigration is branded as racism. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

  On one hand, I think the word ‘racism’ is thrown around too loosely here. The problem with using it in any but the most obvious cases is that it loses its power, and when it is used correctly, the phrase ‘playing the race card’ gains unwarranted credibility. Worse still, the fear of being labelled a racist is probably a one of the biggest reasons that more politicians do not openly discuss immigration related issues.

  On the other hand, there have been some ‘clumsy’ statements on immigrant issues from Fine Gail lawmakers recently. The word ‘segregation’ comes to mind. Call me a cynic, but I doubt there is a politician out there who is unaware of the publicity that comes from making such a statement. It then makes it difficult to tell the innocent gaffe from something more sinister.

  As the next election cycle approaches, especially if the economy doesn’t improve, I’m sure that there are going to be a lot more immigration related controversies. Society needs a scapegoat.

  Comments (28)

• Picture of the week

  September 6, 2008 @ 8:51 am | by Bryan

  

  6year old Fatini Lazri pictured at the opning of the New Educate Together School in Lucan Co. Dublin , Ireland, September 2. The School was opened by Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keefe. Photo: Aidan Crawley/The Irish Times

  Comments (6)

• Red, White and Blue

  September 5, 2008 @ 10:33 am | by Bryan

  

  US Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain appears on stage to introduce his vice-presidential running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

  A phrase Barack Obama has used in a couple of speeches is, “There’s not a red America and a blue America. There’s the United States of America.” Having watched the Democratic and then the Republican Party Convention, I’m not sure that’s true.

  John McCain definitely kept the presidential race interesting when he picked Sarah Palin as his running-mate. The tone and tenor, even the look of the audience at the Republican convention was very different to that at the Democrats’. And yet both sides seem to have really energised their bases.

  I’m not into melodrama, but I think this election will play a disproportionately large role in determining what a future America will look like. John McCain is running on a theme of reform, while Obama wants to change things – I believe both of them are sincere. McCain, maverick as he may be, still represents America as it has been till now.

  The reason this election is so close, in spite of the unpopularity of the current president, is that most people are risk averse. As exciting as Obama is, he is very different. He probably reminds a lot of people of the changing demographics and values in the United States. That kind of change frightens some people. John McCain, and even more so Sarah Palin, represent to some, the best of the past, just done better.

  I think the election result will depend on whether blue America has grown larger than red America. At the end of the day, I don’t think many will pay much attention to real issues. Most people will decide which candidates represent the way they want the country to look and vote for that person.

  Comments (11)

• How to write about Africa

  September 4, 2008 @ 9:15 am | by Bryan

  A friend recently reminded me of an essay written by Binyavanga Wainaina. How to write about Africa is one of those works you read and wonder why you can’t write like that. It is both hilarious and brilliant.

  Always use the word ‘Africa or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans.

  Read the rest of the essay here.

  Comments (9)

• Thursday Book Club: Fishing in Utopia (Chpts 25-the end)

  @ 8:05 am | by Bryan

  

  I’m really sad that I’ve come to the end of this book. Andrew Brown’s voice has grown very familiar, and I’m not ready to have us part ways. I’ll wrap up the whole book next week.

  For now, I think Ireland has a lot to learn from Sweden’s immigration experiences. To quote Mr Brown:

  The great change in the last thirty years is that Swedishness doesn’t look like Swedishness any more… In the past, the most visible thing about Swedes to the outside world was always that they were blond… Only when I came to London would I notice people who were black, brown, yellow or fat.

  …The change happened gradually, and largely unremarked by the rest of Sweden, partly because the areas of heavy immigrant settlement were satellite towns, which are out of site for the rest of the country…

  … Because of the generally undemonstrative nature of Swedish public life, in which good manners demand that everyone ignore everyone else, it is easy to miss the degree to which olive-shinned immigrants are specially ignored – and easy for them, too, to overestimate it.

  … Still, the idea that Sweden should be a multifarious society is an odd one… The great distinguishing characteristic of the society as I knew it was its narrowness… and I can’t believe that anything has happened to change that.

  … It is one of the known unspeakables of Swedish life that the crime rate among immigrants and their descendants is at least double that in the native population.

  …Zanyar Adami was optimistic about integration when I talked to him. But he certainly didn’t think it was an inevitable development…

  You can draw your own parallels and conclusions.

  Comments (0)

• King and Obama

  September 3, 2008 @ 11:48 am | by Bryan

  AARON McGRUDER’s The Boondocks is an animated TV series which takes a satirical look at American culture and race relations from the perspective of an African-American family. In a controversial episode titled Return of the King , Martin Luther King Jr does not die after the assassination attempt in Memphis, but falls into a long coma. He then wakes up in modern-day America and is disgusted by what he sees.

  Read the rest of this opinion piece.

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• Georgia, Russia and the EU

  @ 8:30 am | by Bryan

  

  A Russian armoured vehicle is driven past a housing block in Tskhinvali, the main city in breakaway South Ossetia, Georgia, September 2. Russia praised the European Union on Tuesday for taking a “responsible approach” to its conflict with Georgia by refusing to impose sanctions on Moscow but said the EU had failed to understand it reasons for intervening. Photo: Sergei Karpukhin/REUTERS

  In his book The Post-American World, Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria argues that America’s influence is subsiding as other nations rise. A few commentators have suggested in recent times that the world is changing from a unipolar state to a multipolar one.

  The Russia – Georgia conflict brings this turn of events to light quite dramatically. It really got going in earnest on the day of the Beijing 2008 opening ceremony. The Olympics came and went, we were all duly impressed by China, but this thing has dragged on. Russia has insisted on proving that it deserves the same kind of attention that China has been getting. And in case anyone was wondering how tough the Russians are, pictures of the Prime Minister taking on a tiger have been circulated far and wide.

  I can see what America’s role will be in the future. Should oil and gas prices remain high, or, should Russia find a way of diversifying its economy, I can just about make out their future place in the world. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture China in an important geo-political role. And it is conceivable that countries like Brazil, Australia, South Africa and India will have pretty strong voices in the years to come. What is much less certain for me is where Europe fits in.

  Europe has been pretty impotent, in my view, with respect to Georgia. The fact that the continent is beholden to Russian fossil fuels is no secret. The extent to which the EU will go to protect that source of fuel has been a little surprising. At least there was a little posturing from the Americans. Brussels has gone out of its way to keep on Mr. Putin’s good side. But then, he does have a gun, and he isn’t afraid to use it.
   

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• Own a Home

  September 2, 2008 @ 10:41 am | by Bryan

  Stormont Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie, has launched an interesting pilot scheme in County Armagh known as “Own a Home”. Under the scheme, Barclays Bank is offering a 100% mortgage to first time buyers for half the value of the house. The other half of the house is split into two and owned by the property developer and a housing association. The aim is to help people get onto the property ladder. In time, the home owner can buy up the rest of the property.

  It’s a very interesting proposal. I think it’s a dignified way of making housing affordable and more widely available to those who would otherwise be unable to buy a house. It also limits the bank’s risk since they are only providing funds for half the value of the house. And unlike systems whereby people get rent allowance or a placed in houses they do not own, there is a big incentive under this plan to both take care of the property and to work hard towards owning it completely.

  With a large vacancy rate and a housing market that has seen better days, I wonder if the government here will consider doing something similar. I am sure there are property developers with houses they are dying to get rid off who would be more than happy to come to a similar agreement.

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• Understanding Lisbon

  September 1, 2008 @ 8:00 am | by Bryan

  I had breakfast with a group of friends over the weekend. One of the things that came up during the gathering was the Lisbon Treaty. Deaglán has a really good post on it at the Politics blog.

  I have to say, I was a little surprised that people voted against the treaty. But what has surprised me even more than that is the fact that even in the face of global recession, there is still an awful lot of animosity towards both the treaty, and Europe as a whole. I would have thought that most people would see being at the centre of all things Europe as the best form of economic insulation from what may lie ahead.

  The question I have is this: does the animosity towards the Lisbon Treaty have anything to do with that document per se? I know there are polls and studies being conducted to find out why people voted ‘No’, but I think this country sometimes conducts these polls and studies when just asking people would do the job just as well, and for less. So why did people reject Lisbon?

  One of the theories at the breakfast table was that there is just a huge level of distrust of officialdom in Ireland. Another interesting one was that the timing was bad. Had the treaty been up for ratification at the height of the boom, some of my friends were convinced that it would have faced little opposition.

  The interesting thing is that none of the guys thought the issue was the content of the treaty itself. None of us really knew what was in the document, but we were fairly confident that at least 80% of the country was in the same boat.

  If most people don’t even know what’s in the treaty, why the opposition?

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