Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Ghost of Hamilton haunts Iceland? International potpourri

I'm at the point of making a clean break from the past, in terms of my heavy reliance on the BBC first for international news; today, France 24 beat the pants off of 'em, while the UK indulges in deep navel-gazing spawned by the latest Tory Party/Labour Party row. The Queen getting directly involved, now?  Here's a reminder to Yankees that the UK isn't the democratic dream y'all thought it might be as a constitutional monarchy, but because the upper house is almost entirely Anglican thanks to that same monarchy, it's actually an Anglican theocratic monarchy that King James Stuart the First had in mind when he had the Bible overhauled...but I digress from the news from Iceland as reported by France 24.

Another round in the Tory/Labour row--The Guardian

Iceland was a major fall guy when Lehman Brothers bit the dust and although our own system's too rigged for much of anything by way of reform with teeth in it, Iceland may very well position itself to force our own reform--they're not fond of the U.S. bosses of the IMF, either. #AIIB

In short, Iceland's about to overhaul its monetary system with the power to create cash solely in the power of a single bank, citing Iceland's hopping from crisis to crisis since 1875. Yup, sure sounds Hamiltonian.  Anyhoo, France 24 also reported on the important election in Nigeria, the one that Good Luck Jonathan lost to Muhammadu Buhari, and I suspect that the Boco Haram kidnappings with Jonathan's failure to lift a pinkie to do anything about it played a large role in that, but I also have to wonder if Nigeria didn't jump from the frying pan into the fire, so to speak.  Worth keeping an eye on if you're also concerned with ISIS and similar ilk.  My interest in this stems from Nigeria's neighbor, Cameroon, which Boco Haram has also targeted and it's growing.

U.S. base in Okinawa is once again in dispute as if China isn't breathing down Japan's neck enough.  But speaking of banking, China's taking an initiative for the Asian neighborhood which is sort of a cross between what Iceland has in mind and its own version of a central bank for the region which *might* include TPP nations, if the TPP could ever get off the ground; ASEAN nations definitely targeted. Yet Israel has applied for membership in this AIIB
see also #AIIB #AAIB  #ADB

I just heard an interesting take on the Iran negotiations, now going into overtime, and that's about how the people who are against these talks taking place also have big investments in big oil and once Iranian oil starts flowing onto the global market, the price for a barrel of light sweet crude (benchmark barrel price) is going to plummet still further with projections being around $30 per barrel.  So, Bibi Netanyahu--you thought you actually had friends, didn't you. You're just a congressional patsy, and you've been played, sucker.

Yeah, the Indiana backlash is a big deal and in the world's spotlight, not just here Stateside, and there's a truckload more to get to, so I'm gonna have to take it a piece at a time.

Wednesday UPDATE, Special City Meeting Edition: For all the poo-poohing I got  about the industrial/recreational lake in the beginning, the City is coming around to my way of thinking on that as of this evening, when a series of engineering firms presented their ideas for the Kaw Pipeline project and two of them said that a reservoir was also recommended in addition.  Vindication is mine!  I shall commence to be insufferably smug and a half for the rest of the day!

High wind outside and a garage across the street just went up in big flames. O_O
At first it looks small, but the wind whipped it up big in a hurry.  When it was put out, turns out it wasn"t a garage, but a detached shed unit. Yes, it's behind a fence, which didn't last long by the time the fire was put out.






Thursday UPDATE: This blog is in mourning for the passage of Dr. Robert Schuller, mega-televangelist, and I know this will sound quite odd to my regular readers, as I generally express disdain for clerics as a rule, with the exception of that dear Dubliner, Padre Dave.  Unlike other preachers, Dr. Schuller made a lot of practical sense, and one favorite memory of this man is his book, "Tough Times Never Last; Tough People Do".  I liked it so much I bought one.  R.I.P., Doctor.

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