Comment Archives for Greenflag
Moderate Irish nationalist . Humanist , atheist , centre left politically but no ideologue . Despite present crisis favours Euro longer term as in best interest of all. Not anti British or anti American but definitely anti trickle down economics and anti the ruinous Afghan and Iraqi wars . Presently trying to look beyond the anarchic capitalism of the present to a better future. Fears that what we call 'democracy' has now become an oligarchy of ruling international financial interests who have the world's elected leaders at their beck and call.
Neither for or against a UI but against any violence used by those to achieve or prevent it . Favours closer and better relations with UK in education , defence and health and practical cross border cooperation with NI.
Comment on Let’s praise David Cameron for creating a brilliant showcase
on 19 June 2013 at 8:31 pm
And herself (Mrs Obama and the daughters ) got to visit Glendalough , Trinity College and saw Riverdance . Well done all round I’d say and can only help NI’s image across the globe.
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Comment on The fate of peace: President Obama in Northern Ireland
on 19 June 2013 at 8:25 pm
Well said young Hannah and well said President Obama . It’s all there in Jesus’s ‘Sermon from the Mount ‘
‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you ‘
Even a hardened ‘atheist ‘ such as GF can see the ultimate common sense in those words for both individiuals and society at large . Alas too many ‘Christians’ of all denominations in NI and too many of the neo con destructionists in western societies including the corrupt financial elite , usurious creditors and the right wing warmongerers have adopted the motto of doing others before they do you
Hanging’s too good for them .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 6:03 pm
@ Seamuscamp ,
‘Your problem is that you are just looking at facts;’
Guilty as charged Seamus -a personal failing in which I take a little pride but am not averse to being corrected when my facts are found to be erroneous
If It’s a problem for some I assure you it’s not a problem for me . Good post btw above at 5:36 pm.
‘I’m not an apologist for Germany; I simply say the blame isn’t Germany’s alone.’
Quite so . This is the point that our esteemed Harry for whatever reason finds difficult to accept .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 5:52 pm
Malcolm Redfellow ‘
‘A fine example of “what goes around, comes around”.’
Or as that sagacious observer of humanity Shakespeare put it
“that which being but taught returns to plague the teacher ‘
For some Alsatians both French and German speaking the Franco Prussian and to a lesser extent WW1 were personal ‘catch 22′s ‘ Enlisted or conscripted as French soldiers -german speaking soldiers found themselves being accused of treason when captured unless they immediately joined the German Army and there was I believe one notorious case where one individual found himself as a result of being taken as a POW twice having to do the ‘switchover ‘ twice or face a firing squad :
Fortuna can be a bitch re the matter of ‘location ‘ and particularly so in the tangled borderlands that is/was Europe .At least in the EU these kind of issues have been much ameliorated -mind you the Germans and the Austrians are much less ‘tolerant ‘ of their citizens adopting more than one nationality . Much more black and white than Britain or Ireland and much more thorough at ferreting out those who may aspire to more than one passport:(
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Comment on #G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…
on 19 June 2013 at 4:01 pm
@ SDLP supporter .
Good post above @ 18 June 2013 at 7:46 pm.
‘As the Archbishop of York, John Sentanu rightly said “they’re all at it”.’
I don’t often congratulate Archbishops of any denomination for speaking truth but in this case I’ll make an exception:)
He might have added that not only are they (the politicians all at it ‘ but he could have added that in many cases their ‘re-election possibilities depend on it
MInd you people have only themselves to blame as many won’t even bother to vote the ‘bought ‘politicians out of office .
Sammy Wilson’s comment is just the latest manifestation of the man’s atavistic and
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 3:51 pm
@ Harry Flashman
‘The colonial troops later brought in from the overseas empires after the war started played no hand, act nor part in determining the start of the war in the summer of 1914 by the continental European powers.’
I did’nt say they did . I said colonialism was a factor in World War 1 and not just British colonialism .
And back to the thread topic
‘If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies’
I don’t see why not . Those who died in WW1 were all the victims of European imperialism , aristocratic degeneracy , lack of democracy and human rights and malgovernance from the Tsar to the Hapsburgs etc .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 3:40 pm
@ malcolm redfellow
‘The French took the former option.’
True but they later got Belfort back anyway .
From Wiki
Despite Bismarck’s objections, Moltke and his generals insisted that the territory was necessary as a defensive barrier. Bismarck opposed the annexation because he did not wish to make Germany a permanent enemy of France. The portion annexed of Alsace-Lorraine was later reduced at the Treaty of Frankfurt, allowing France to retain the Territory of Belfort.
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 3:36 pm
@ harry flashman ,
‘is only ever brought up by Irish Nationalists rushing to defend their “gallant allies” the Germans.’
Not at all Harry . The vast majority of Irish nationalists of the time rushed to defend the British Empire just like Unionists . I believe some 150,000 Irish (North & South ) plus uncounted Irish resident in Britain at the time volunteered or were conscripted . Some 50,000 plus were killed and more maimed for life.
It was only a minority of Irish Republicans some 3,000 or so who spoke of the ‘gallant allies in Europe ‘ and who originated the “We serve neither King nor Kaiser”
Sir Roger Casement tried to persuade Irish prisoners of war in camps in Germany .Despite having 2,000 or so Irish POWs brought to listen to his ‘recruitment speech ‘for a German Irish Brigade he could only get 20 volunteers . After the war one of those volunteers remained in Germany and as a Bavarian policeman had an opportunity with a colleague to look aside while a Communist mob attempted to kick a then little known Hitler to death . Alas like all good ‘policemen ‘ everywhere he did his duty and saved the bastard’s life . Such is life .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 1:00 pm
@ Harry Flashman ,
‘The First World War was first and foremost a war between continental European powers ‘
True .
‘”and would have started even if Britain hadn’t carved out chunks of Asia and Africa over the past century or so.’
Might rather than would . So many factors contributed to the outbreak of WW1 from the Archduke’s assassination to diplomatic miscommunications to harvest weather and aristocratic bumbling that perhaps the last word on the subject could be left to Captain Blackadder’s ‘It was just too much trouble not to have a war ‘
I’ll see what McMeekin comes up with and pass it on if it reveals anything ‘new’.
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 12:41 pm
@ mister joe ,
‘But all of the colonial powers were a sleazy lot usually picking a minority group to do their dirty work for them and leaving them in control when they eventually skedalled. ‘
True but this was not too dissimilar from how they ‘ruled ‘ in own home countries .
Re Iraq I believe the diagonal border which bisects the Kurdish nation was drawn up one night in the desert by two supposedly inebriated junior British diplomats . Syria has been ruled by a religious minority the Alawites who make up about 10% of the population.
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 19 June 2013 at 12:32 pm
Harry Flashman’,
Have I made myself clear?.
Not as clear as Seamuscamp above .Colonialism did play a role . Just look at the number of Africans and Indians that were ‘recruited’ into the colonial /imperialist powers armies . Your whole point seems to have been just an anti German rant which would have been fair enough if you had limited it to World War 2 .
But as Seamuscamp states above and it’s worth quoting again
‘Colonialism had a role and Britain was the greatest colonialist of its time. Trade had a major role. Germany, France, Russia, Britain, and their client nations, were all aggressive, all expansionist; all treated the lesser breeds as disposable assets. All were in effect oligarchies uncontrollable by the ordinary people of these lands. Democracy was unknown – or defined in terms which excluded most citizens.’
What is also omitted from the above is the 42 year peace in Europe between 1871 and 1914 and that was a period when there was widespread cooperation , scientific and political, between many of the major powers of the time .It was the the first age of globalisation .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 18 June 2013 at 4:12 pm
@ Harry Flash ,
‘You conveniently choose to ignore the punitive terms proposed for Belgium and France by Germany had she been victorious in 1914?
Harry , how can I ignore something that never happened ?
BTW I’m not a German apologist and don’t believe anybody else commenting is either . Just the facts Harry you can leave the jingoistic bits where you found them ,
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 18 June 2013 at 4:04 pm
@ Mister Joe ,
The Nazis actually were on the wane in 1928 when their vote had actually reduced from 6% in the previous election to just over 2 % . In retrospect once could blame the Wall St Crash of 1929 for helping the Nazis to get just 30% in the 1930 election .
While the USA suffered from 25% unemployment following the Wall St crash the German economy had been on the rebound from the mid 1920′s when it too collapsed in 1929 throwing some 10 million out of work and destroying the German middle and in particular the lower middle classes. In the 1930 election the electorate roughly divided 30% for the Nazis , 30% for the Communists and 40% for the old established Socialist and Conservative parties . Not surprisingly those voters who had supported Hindenburg in 1932 turned to Hitler in 1934 as being a safer bet than the Communists . The established parties had lost all credibility given their demonstrated failures to deal with the massive unemployment and economic problems .
For comparison look at the USA today where the established parties in Congress command 10% of the electorates confidence -the lowest in the USA’s history as a democracy .
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 18 June 2013 at 3:53 pm
@ malcolm redfellow ,
‘Most of the populace were German-dialect speakers — the main exception was around Belfort.’
True and Belfort was returned to France . Otherwise your post is factual .
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Comment on #G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…
on 18 June 2013 at 3:43 pm
@ future physicist ,
The leverage arguement is ridiculous that somehow Northern Ireland would reap the rewards if corporation tax in the Republic go up, in that regard FDI will simply move to the Netherlands and Luxembourg, ‘
Eh no . Luxembourg is too expensive and has virtual full emplyment and the Netherlands is almost as good . Poland , Slovenia , Slovakia or Hungary are more liklely destinations .
‘you never hear this “bottom shifting” argument from a Unionist politician ‘
Do you ever hear anything from Unionist politicians on the NI economy other than pleas for Westminster to keep sending the dosh and more please
To be fair they are between a rock and Whitehall which is also on the rocks ).
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Comment on #G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…
on 18 June 2013 at 3:34 pm
@ Mick ,
It’s not just a dilemma for Ireland or a would be salve for Northern Ireland’s lack of FDI it’s a worldwide problem for nations trying to develop their economies in the absence of significant natural resources and access to capital . The strategy worked very well for the Republic up to the present and will continue to so for the immediate future .Beyond that much will depend on what is ‘regulated ‘ by the major financial powers re ‘tax havens ‘ , Crown colonies , Switzerland etc .
Nissan succeeded in the UK North East -How could it not given that the area had been turned into an industrial wasteland during the Thatcher years .The real question to ask here is what happened to the British car industry overall ? and it’s shipbuilding and engineering during the 1980′s and 90′s . By comparison the German auto industry has never been stronger or bigger than it is today .
‘Japanese corporate culture is more committed to people and place and their UK counterparts, so a downturn in profits are dealt within a developmental cycle of 10-15 years, not over three or four quarters’
Not as much as formerly Mick .I’ve lived and worked in Japan and have seen their corporate and industrial culture at work .At a time when it would have taken Harland & Wolf two years and 10,000 employees to build a 500,000 ton Oil tanker the Japanese Chita Shipyards were producing the same size tanker on an assembly line a mile and a half in length. in six months with a workforce of 1,760 . One of my colleagues at the time an NI man who had H&W connections paled visibly when he saw the operation in progress.
But Japan 2013 is not the Japan of the 1980′s .The ‘guaranteed’ lifetime employment in return for absolute loyalty to the Kaisha (Company) has been on the wane . Now some 50% of new Japanese entrants to the workforce are ‘temporary ‘ -no guarantees -no automatic annual increases etc etc .
‘The real question is what does Ireland do now, before the climate changes? ‘
Much will depend on how the major financial powers ‘reform ‘ the international currency system and the associated off shore tax avoidance business not excluding the very much onshore Delaware incentives for US based corporations .
I have strong doubts that much of the political palaver and hype surrounding the ‘tax haven ‘ industry . will end upo being more than that.What got the subject on the agenda was of course the world wide financial chaos starting back in 2007 and that has still yet not worked it’s way back to ‘normality ‘ Just look at interest rates ffs .
And what will it (and NI, if anything?) lose as a result of such changes?.
Just as NI benefited when the Celtic tiger roared then it can expect to lose if the Republic ‘loses ‘ The ‘economy’ relationship between the Republic and NI is much like what used to be the situation between the UK and the Republic in the 1960′s and 1970′s .
One thing is certain and that is that economic policy will need to favour small and medium sized Irish and other owned businesses much more so than in the past couple of decades if we are to get the economic growth needed to maintain and grow prosperity . The days of depending on manna from the Googles of the Earth are on the wane . But then nobody expected them to last forever either .Nothing does.
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Comment on Obama’s Speech in Belfast…
on 18 June 2013 at 12:08 pm
@mister joe ,
Sorry to hear that Joe . Your son could have a point were he living in Mumbai or Calcutta or Shanghai or London but Canada ?
? and /or leave everything to the RSPCA or it’s Canadian equivalent .
The country’s virtually empty . Tell him to get a move on or you’ll disinherit him
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Comment on Obama’s Speech in Belfast…
on 18 June 2013 at 12:02 pm
@ Cynic sorry to disillusion you but there is zero evidence to support the outlandish claims for it. .
Polar Ice caps melting , Greenlanders growing potatoes , CO2 levels have been on the rise for a century not to mention ozone depletion.
I guess the scientists are all wrong then ?
‘Your point on species extinction rates is valid only in that when that happens is often because a new species evolves that fills the gap left. ‘
The gap between the last period when one species ‘dominated the planet i.e the dinosaurs and the present period with man as the dominant species is give or take a 100,000 years about 65 million years .
‘So far we are that species and there is no sign of a competitor (except some microbes or robots) in the near future’
There was no sign of any competitor when the game ended for the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago .And where it not for fortuitous tectonic plate movements and ensuing climate change humanity would not have evolved . Recent discoveries by biologists and paleontologists tell us that in fact humanity came very close to extinction about 75 ,000 years ago resulting from volcanic eruptions .
Don’t worry the Earth can do very nicely without humanity .We were not destined to be . Unlike the dinosaurs man is quite capable of self extinction and may not even have to wait for climate change to do the job.
Anyway seriously off topic here .
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Comment on #G8: Taxation should remain focused on capital and employees not where sales are generated…
on 18 June 2013 at 11:27 am
What is Sammy on about ? The Government of which he is a member gets not a loan but a £7.5 billion subvention every year so that living standards in Northern Ireland can remain at roughly 60% of those in the the South East of England .
The problem for Ireland and Northern Ireland and indeed all those countries /states which want to attract FDI is that when every country becomes a low tax haven for multinational corporations then a race to the bottom ensues with revenue consequences which inevitably lead to cuts in basic services and an undermining of the social contract which many of us forget underpins what we call democracy.
In the USA the Southern States have adopted similar low tax strategies . The evidence so far is that this kind of beggar my neighbour (state) has done nothing to improve educational standards or reduce the income gap between the minority who have taken most of the productivity gains of the last 20 years and the majority who have had no real benefit other than to see their ‘share’ of the real economy decline .
Ireland (Republic ) was lucky to be among the first to see benefit from low corporation tax policies but 2013 is not the 1960′s ,
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Comment on If Ireland north and south can commemorate the First World War together, so should the Germans alongside the wartime Allies
on 18 June 2013 at 10:57 am
There is no argument about who started the Franco Prussian war . The fact is it was the French . Not that it did’nt suit Bismarck’s political objective of uniting Germany at the time.
Your ‘fact’ re the terms of the 1919 Versailles Treaty is NOT a fact -it’s a myth- probably hyped up by the imperialist jingoists of the WW1 era – The 1871 Versailles Treaty left the French Empire ‘intact ‘ and the loss of territory to the Germans was later reduced . Bismarck was not interested in making France a permanent enemy . The Versailles Treaty of 1919 helped lay the foundation for World War 2 , weaken the emergent German social democracy and along with the 1929 Wall St crash enabled Hitler’s rise to power .
I agree that Hitler’s ‘terms ‘ such that there were any for defeated nations and indeed his own countrymen were much harsher than those of either 1871 or 1919 and were in a different league altogether .
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