[devolution] in which my take is taken to task

Toque commented on my post decrying the tit-for-tat between Scotland and England: I disagree, the sure sign of a disintegrating nation would be if we weren't having the debate. The fact is that asymmetric devolution is unfair and is having a destablising effect on the Union. Maybe it would have been better if devolution had never happened, or a dual-mandate solution had been proposed, but that is in the past now. At the moment the three main parties are doing nothing, allowing the acrimony to build: Labour has its head in the sand; Lib Dems make conciliatory noises but still hanker after regional assemblies, as do some in the Labour Party, and; the Tories, worst of all, have absolutely no answer. For the past three General Elections English Votes on English Matters has been in the Tory manifesto despite the fact that everyone that has considered it [including me] has described it as unworkable. My thrust [not made clear] was that it should never have happened in the first place and now is the time to reverse it.

[working lunch] canadian take on euro-wines

European wines have a dizzying number of classifications, many designated by whether the grape is grown on the left or right bank of a river, or to the east or west of a particular estate. But wine drinkers in Europe are turning up their noses at Pauillacs and Pomerols in favour of American, South African and Australian wines with simple, easy-to-understand labels. Experts predict that if current trends persist, Europe will soon become a net importer of wine. “The consumer decides what is taken down the shelves in the supermarkets. The consumer wants simple, clear labeling.” Have a lovely working lunch today, everyone – mine goes for three hours in two different cafes! It’s the truth.

[russia] volodya meets the people

Putin’s regular ‘meet the people’ apparently went well. Beginning from 11 a.m. yesterday, Russians gathered at sites around Russia to ask questions to the President. Citizens could call the president or send by SMS or a special website. Nearly 2 million questions, the most sensitive to be studied thoroughly by the cabinet of ministers, included ecology, nuclear tests in North Korea, flight safety, decrease in coniferous timber, support for the machine-building industry and so on. One man asked: “What will become of us and of Russia [after 2008]?” Volodya replied: “I’ll manage to save the most valuable thing for a politician - that is your trust. And using it, we’ll be able to influence what is going on.” Sure he will. Now it's time for Tony and George.

[third rant] clearly it’s the weather today or something in the water

Still on Vox: It's amazing how similar the goals of the US military [in Iraq] are to those of the old Soviets and Western feminists. Their objectives - always so simple and attainable; all they require is to completely change something that hasn't changed in millennia. There are few things more lethal than a sincere Utopian. Er … how about ‘sincere political correctness’ and ‘enforced equal opportunity’? Actually, how about ‘enforced’ anything?

[north america] foi request puts 1,000 new pages online

About 1,000 documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America show the White House is engaging in collaborative relations with Mexico and Canada outside the U.S. Constitution, says WND columnist and author Jerome Corsi. "The documents give clear evidence that the Bush administration has created a 'shadow government,'" Corsi said. The documents can be viewed here, on a special website set up by the Minuteman Project. Read more here. [Source: Vox Day]

[britain] this is the thin edge of the wedge

Oh how I wish Doughty Street was accessible over here - I wanted to see the devolution and English Parliament debate. First off, of course Scots voting on English issues [but not the reverse] is right out. What is very worrying is the tit-for-tat being seen and all the old grievances being aired again. It's like a time warp and is the sign of a disintegrating nation. By the time the Scots wake up that it was better united and the English stop moaning about carrying them [hasn't every great nation done so with its 'smaller brothers'], a very different issue will be upon us [this post and the next]. Rant continues here.

[presidency] cheney says hillary could do it

Dick Cheney will soon have to meet his Maker to explain all he has done but one thing no one doubts is his shrewdness as a political operator. When he said on Tuesday he thought Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could win the White House in 2008 and that a potential Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, was too inexperienced, he was quite appreciative of his enemies, a dangerous trait. And after all, he is in the Club which pre-decides such things. "I think she could win. I hope she doesn't. I disagree with her on nearly all the issues, but nobody should underestimate her. She's a very serious candidate for president." Cheney himself wasn’t interested. "I made my decision a long time ago, and it's firm, final, fixed, irrevocable". Natch. He has other pots to stir.

[google] and the rich get richer

Google is to allow web publishers and bloggers to put custom searches on their sites, in a move that could make searches more relevant to consumers and allow the company to charge more for advertising. The new Google Custom Search Engine relies on the same underlying database but allows individual users to set up personalised online searches. The words ‘allow the company to charge more’ seem relevant here.

[britain] rule britannia, not rule anglia

James Cleverly was to speak last evening about an English Parliament and so on and yesterday, on his blog, I left this comment: The problem with an English parliament is dissolution of the union. Apart from the clear disadvantages for Scotland and the other home countries, there would be a 'to hell with the English' attitude more so than now. LBJ said of Hoover, 'Better to have the bastard inside, pissing out than outside pissing in.' This is how all great empires have gone – fragmenting the more the centre has had to carry the fringes, heavy influx of population from the colonies, softening of the national resolve. Britannia became an Empire as a whole empire, not with just one part of it. The culture which arose is heavily English but not completely.

[politics] on the fuzzying of border zones

There are two prolific commenters, dsquared and dearieme, who roam cyberspace, dropping their pearls of wisdom and the latter, yesterday, dropped a particular pearl of wisdom on Chris Dillow’s blog: 'Equality of opportunity': why must the left always talk in extreme, often belligerent, terms? Why must we have equality, why must this be maximised, that eliminated and t'other never happen again? How about just trying to move in a desired direction, with this improved, that ameliorated and t'other reduced in frequency? What a wonderful basis for an international stance, one can't help thinking. National borders could be deliberately fuzzy - sort of mixed zones, as it were, hardening slowly as they move towards their own centres, local culture emphasized. I really think these are my politics.