brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: North America as the new EU?
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2005/12/north-america-as-new-eu_12.html
Monday, December 12, 2005. North America as the new EU? Could the U.S.-Canadian border and the U.S.-Mexican border disappear, to be replaced by more strict border controls at the edges of the continent? I say it's quite unlikely, at least in the next 20 years or so. In the Dec. 1 issue of the Economist, an article called "Living with number one" discusses Canada's relationship with the United States. (You can pay. And the like up in arms. It's been discussed on WorldNet Daily. Everyone loves globalizatio...
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: Old Army Buddies?
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2009/05/old-army-buddies.html
Sunday, May 24, 2009. The Washington Post has a piece by some (non-veteran) guy who looks back with nostalgia about the days when everyone was drafted, his dad included. The "Old Army Buddy". Bonds are tight, the author reports. But the author seems to be the Exhibit A piece of evidence of the military-civilian divide. Why didn't he serve? What does he know? Is the purpose of the article just to throw a bone to peacetime vets? Anyway, semper fi and happy Memorial Day. Labels: military civilian divide.
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: Democracy as the panacea?
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2005/08/democracy-as-panacea.html
Friday, August 19, 2005. Democracy as the panacea? F Gregory Gause has an interesting article in the September/October Foreign Affairs. And an abridged version appeared in several newspapers, including here. He argues that democracy is not. The solution to terrorism, and points out that terrorism is far more common in democracies than in totalitarian states. He compares India and China, for example. In the countries that do have elections. Problem we've had with totalitarian states. It's only when terror...
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: This headline is the bomb
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2006/02/this-headline-is-bomb.html
Sunday, February 19, 2006. This headline is the bomb. The Scotsman is a good paper, but probably could have found a better way to say this:. Israel drops huge financial bombshell on Palestinians. I was thinking the copy editor who wrote the headline had an isolated case of the sillies, but apparently the writer has it, too. Here's the first sentence:. Israel yesterday fired the opening salvo in an economic war. Posted by bp at 11:35 PM. Is the Scotsman a private newspaper, or state-run? A Fistful of Euros.
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: Veterans Day: Dan Daley
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2005/11/veterans-day-dan-daley.html
Friday, November 11, 2005. Veterans Day: Dan Daley. Today is Veterans Day, but also the birthday of the late Dan Daley, one of 19 Americans ever to be awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor. He was 5'6" and 132 pounds - a newsboy before enlisting - but has been called one of the greatest Marines in history. This is part of the USMC lore that keeps his name on the lips of drill instructors at Parris Island:. Happy birthday and semper fi. Posted by bp at 8:55 AM. On gaining weight and losing weight.
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: Coup in Honduras
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2009/06/coup-in-honduras.html
Monday, June 29, 2009. So the Honduran military asked the U.S. for help with the coup, and the U.S. said no? That's at least what Zelaya thinks, and he apparently believed there would be no coup after hearing that. Spanish newspaper El Pais reported. Sunday morning - as Zelaya was being kidnapped - that Zelaya said a coup was thwarted because the U.S. wasn't involved. That leaves two possible situations:. 2 The U.S. changed its mind and gave at least tacit authorization. Will Chávez send troops in? The S...
berlinsprouts.blogspot.com
Berlin Sprouts: Germany: Elections in Key State
http://berlinsprouts.blogspot.com/2005/05/germany-elections-in-key-state.html
Comments, analyses, and off-shoots on European politics and culture. Sunday, May 22, 2005. Germany: Elections in Key State. Voters go to the polls today. In Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state. It is expected that the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - possibly together with the Liberals (FDP) - will replace the Social Democrats (SPD) and their Green allies. The SPD's only remaining hope to win the vote is to mobilize some 40 percent of undecided. It's not clear whether Glot...
brianjphillips.blogspot.com
brianjphillips: Book: Of Power and Paradise
http://brianjphillips.blogspot.com/2005/10/book-of-power-and-paradise.html
Monday, October 03, 2005. Book: Of Power and Paradise. This book came out in 2003, so it's not new. But I just read it, so it's new to me. This is what I think. It's "Of Power and Paradise: America and Europe in the New World Order. Kagan's argument is that Europe isn't attempting to balance against U.S. hegemony, as traditional balance of power theory suggests, but that Europe has given up the military power struggle altogether. Kagan's take is interesting, but balance of power still plays a role. Back ...
european-democracy.org
Reflections on European Democracy » 2008 » June
http://www.european-democracy.org/archives/2008/06
Reflections on European Democracy. Archive for June, 2008. After the Irish no – where to now? As I said yesterday. The current system of institutional reform in the EU is unreasonable and unfair because it makes decision-making impossible. So let’s ditch it. Before attempting to reform the Treaties again, we need to agree on a new procedure to ratify Treaty changes first. Of all voters and at least. Of the voters in at least. Of the Member States should vote in favour, with. At 50 or more. The irony of c...
