David Pryce-Jones: It is common knowledge that Putin has stolen an immense fortune

David Pryce-Jones´s take on Russia´s de facto dictator is worth reading:

The demonstrations in Moscow illuminate a dark sky like a flash of lightning. A storm might be on its way. Vladimir Putin has corrupted the country and thousands of outraged Russians are prepared to take to the streets in protest. More than just a reactionary, Putin is a throwback who in a process as inexorable as it is tragic has built what can only be called the post-modern version of Communism. In the manner of the old Soviet Central Committee, he and his cronies have made sure to monopolize power and wealth, those two engines of the Kremlin.
It is common knowledge that Putin has stolen an immense fortune, and has the state building him palaces and amassing collections of art for him. He has cut down freedom of speech to the point where it is virtually non-existent. It is taken for granted that he authorised the murder of anyone standing in his way, many of them journalists like Anna Politkovskaya or dissident exiles like Alexander Litvinenko. The way he bankrupted, imprisoned and arbitrarily extended the massive sentence of the oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky is perhaps the greatest running scandal anywhere on the continent. Press-ganged, the judiciary has no independence. Grigory Yavlinsky, a possible future democratic leader, comments bleakly about these demonstrations that in Russia, “There is no rule of law.”

Read the entire article here

The "Great Power" speaks

A German journalist, writing in Der Spiegel, spells it out:

The euro crisis has exposed a kind of creative momentum that is in the process of creating something new. A new Europe. It is an entity which Chancellor Angela Merkel calls a "fiscal union." But in reality, Europe is on the path toward becoming a federal country. Germany and France would lead, as became clear on Thursday night in Brussels.

What Herr Nellas really means, is that Germany will lead (France is mentioned as "co-leader" only to make it look that Germany is not the sole leader).

And looking at the world from the viewpoint of the new and mighty "great power", there is not much room for minor countries like the UK:

Europe, though, can work fine without the British. But what kind of future does Great Britain have without the Continent and without the euro? Will it, in the future, focus exclusively on its alliance with the United States? Will the Commonwealth become a greater priority? What is this small country's role in a world made up great powers such as China, Russia, Europe and the US?

Of course it would be nice if the peoples of the EU membes states would be given a chance to say whether they want to be part of this new "great power". But that is apparently not part of of the script.

It no surprise that Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies, Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow and Honorary Chair of the European Studies Centre at Oxford, welcomes a Europe led by Germany:

Welcome to a German Europe. In return, there are more funds for bailouts and at least a hint that the European Central Bank (ECB) will intervene more actively in the markets. Germany picks up the tab. On paper, that adds up to a big step towards a fiscal and transfer union for the current members of the eurozone, and eight others committed to join it in future. It's a step from the confederal towards the federal.

Consequently, the professor thinks that Cameron´s decision is bad for Britain:

Cameron's "no" is not just a fateful moment for these islands. It's a bad moment for Europe.

PS

Yes, another - more wellknown - German shared Herr Nellas´s view on small states:

"The day of small States is past. . .

The world according to EU´s Connie Hedegaard

The European Union is apparantly too small for its überwarmist, former Danish journalist Connie Hedegaard. Now she thinks that she speaks for the entire world:

China, the US and India are the three remaining major economies that have yet to make clear signals on the EU proposal, which is a roadmap to begin negotiations on a new legally binding treaty on global warming that would kick in from 2020.
Hedegaard told the conference: "We need to get them on board today – we don't have many hours left. The world is waiting for them."

A tribute to the High Representatives of the European Union

Today this blog pays tribute to the tireless High Representatives of the European Union, who - shoulder to shoulder with democratically elected political leaders - once again have saved the euro, and indeed the future of the entire Union.

There are many of you who should be thanked for your unselfish daily toil, sacrificing quality time with families and friends in order to bring all of us stability, success and peace of mind.

Today, may the President of the European Union, Mr. Herman van Rompuy symbolise all of you:

Durban COP 17: A fake "road map leading nowhere" in the making?

The warmists at the Durban COP 17 are desperately trying to agree some kind of a fake "road map" which is then branded a "great success":

The European Union said it was encouraged its "road map" to legally binding commitments by 2015 to cut greenhouse gas emissions was gaining traction at the talks, which are due to wrap up in the South African port of Durban on Friday.

However an "EU source, speaking on condition of anonymity" was prepared to tell the truth about the US negotiators:

"They can agree to a road map leading nowhere but not a road map leading to a legally binding deal, which is what the EU wants"

The EU source of course knows that the US Congress will oppose any kind of binding deal.

Former maoist Barroso again lectures democratically elected leaders

One of the European Union´s two - soon to be three - unelected "presidents", former Portuguese maoist José Barroso today once again showed his arrogance and utter contempt for democratically elected leaders:

PS

Barroso, who once called the EU an empire, appears to think that he is some kind of a mini-emperor with the right to rebuke democratically elected heads of state and government. It is hight time that somebody finally tells him to shut up.

Quote of the week

"Corporations don't exist without people and without the planet."

Beatriz Perez, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, The Coca-Cola Company

 

(At COP 17 side event in Durban)