Cyprus?....

I am a confessed Europhile.  I spend a disproportionate amount of online media time checking-up on the Old World.  I don't know why.  But at least it's a harmless hobby.

By and large I resist the temptation to bore my blog readers with my musings regarding the current state of European affairs.  Still, there are times when one simply cannot resist.

Cyprus.  A small island in the eastern Mediterranean.  Sadly, the island is currently partitioned between the Greek speaking south and the Turkish north. But that is another story...

The current news regards the Greek speaking bit of the island which amazingly enough is a sovereign member state of the European Union and also a member of the currency union. The currency of Cyprus, the Euro, is the same as the currency of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and twelve other European nation states.

Cyprus is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to a huge faltering banking sector.  It turns out that the bankers in Cyprus have proved themselves to be just as incompetent, crooked and greedy as bankers on Wall Street and elsewhere in the West.  Cypriot banks have been tippling heavily on Greek sovereign debt - and the recent European Union settlement with Greece included a big haircut (loss) on Greek bonds held by the Cypriot banks.

More interestingly, about 40% of the deposits in Cypriot banks are owned by foreigners.  Lots and lots of Russians - klepto capitalists and pals of President Putin - have taken advantage of the less than stringent Cypriot banking regulations to stash the cash they trousered from various endeavors in Russia.  Most economists seem to assume that a majority of these Russian deposits represent money looted from Russian business if not from the Russian government itself.

For a couple of days it sounded like the Russian government might offer the Cypriots a loan.  Of course.  Use Russian government loans to help keep the billions in loot held by Russians in Cyprus from disappearing in a Cypriot bank collapse.  It was a natural - but oddly enough it didn't happen.

As of this evening Cypriot government officials are in Brussels for urgent meetings to avoid a collapse of the Cypriot banking system which will likely occur the moment the banks open on Tuesday morning without support from the European Central Bank.

And if the financial system collapses in Cyprus what will happen?  Well, errr, gee, hmmmm - seems nobody knows.  Maybe nothing.  Or maybe the contagion will immediately spread to Italy and Spain.  And then....

My guess is that the Cypriot drama will end with a whimper one way or another.  On the other hand, World War I began in the obscure middle-European city of Sarajevo.  The current crop of European statesmen from countries both big and small do not inspire confidence.

In other news, a fairly busy and quite enjoyable week.  Hosting supper on Tuesday for Amanda, Kira and Enrique was quite fun.

On Saturday night, I joined Laura, Alison, and Doug for supper at the Island Pub.  Afterward we went to Perseverance Theater to see 'Seminar' - very enjoyable and starring my house guest Mr. Bravo.  Enrique has got some talent.  Here's the review from the Juneau Empire.

Tonight I hosted mom and auntie for a halibut supper.  They were in good spirits and seemed to enjoy themselves.

And the cold spell broke today!

UPDATE:  Hit the "publish" button and five minutes later the latest BBC news.  Sounds like Cyprus has been granted a stay of execution.  But stay tuned...the European drama WILL continue!

Cirque de CPAC

I wish I could take credit for the title of this blog entry; but I cannot.  I saw it on TV somewhere in the past couple of days although I do not remember where...

Still, unknown origins notwithstanding, it captures pretty well the festivities at the premier gathering of people who like to call themselves conservatives in this most peculiar era.  That whirring sound you hear I strongly suspect is Bill Buckley, Barry Goldwater and many others who considered themselves conservatives in a more traditional sense of the word spinning in their graves at very high speed.

I confess I am an assiduous reader and observer of all things CPAC for the simple reason that it is one-stop-shopping to get a finger on the pulse of the right-wing.  And this year's shindig did not disappoint.  I will not bore you with my blow-by-blow take on the event...but will content myself with a link to one of the more amusing summaries I have read - from The Daily Kos. 

And for those of you who have been wondering what happened to our former Governor Ms. Palin, a link to a You Tube video of her speech at the convention.  The crowd went wild.

Meanwhile, here on my little plot of planet Earth, life continues pretty much as usual.  No black helicopters.  No UN troops.  No Sharia law.  Just a disturbing cold spell that is predicted to include six inches of snow in the next day or so.  BOOOOOOO!   WE WANT SPRING!  WE WANT SPRING!

Tomorrow evening I will be hosting Manda, her friend Kira, and Enrique for supper.  I have already completed the Key Lime Pie.  And the Carrot Dill Soup is gently simmering as I type.  After soup I am thinking a berry salad with chevre dressing for a course.  And the main course will feature scallops in maple cream, filets of boef, parsleyed rice, and asparagus with some sort of vinegrette.  Followed, of course, by the aforementioned Key Lime Pie.

I am in a good mood.

Sixty Years Young

A splendid evening.  Alison's 60th birthday party.  Many good friends and some mighty tasty victuals.

 

Happy Birthday Alison!

Alison's husband, Doug, produced a 30 minute video tribute to Ms. Elgee.  It was a combination of video testimonials from significant persons in Alison's life and many still photos of her life to date.  I must say, it brought a tear to my eye...despite the fact that many of the persons making the tributes were politicians.  The video lasted approximately 30 minutes and I think it is safe to say that all present enjoyed every moment.  Well done Dougie!  Extraordinarily well done, in fact.

I first met Ms. Elgee when we were colleagues at the Division of Legislative Finance  - the legislature's budget shop.  Two of my best-loved friends from that time are Mr. Barker and Ms. Brown.  They were both present this evening.  They really enjoyed looking at the ol' Legislative Finance - Ho Ho File.

Ohhhh....Ain't that cute they say after looking at page 1...

Who else has a copy of this they say after looking at page 10

 Hah! 

It was a really fun party.

Barbara, Mi'va and Chris

John, Marla and Christine

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON!

In other news, the week long sunshine spell came to an end yesterday.  But I got my fill of outdoor activities with two of my best pals.

Amanda, Nikki and I did lots of hoofin'

Cards tomorrow at Stu's crib.  Life is good.

I Knew it was Going to Happen; But I'm Pissed-Off Anyway

A beautiful day...and more to come...through Thursday...  Wow!

Today was quite busy.  The usual elder check-in.  Mom doing what she does.  And took some pastries up to Auntie who I had not seen in ten days or so...

Auntie's daughter was in town for a week...my cousin got the house squared-away pretty well.  Sadly, my cousin was not successful in convincing auntie to get a housekeeper and, when I asked auntie today if I could help, the answer was not positive.  I just don't get it.

After visiting auntie, I had a workout.  And after the workout a message from daughter Amanda suggesting a walk.  Bravo!  We did the dike trail under glorious sunshine and yakked it up the whole time.  Doesn't get much better than that as far as I'm concerned...

Amanda on the dike trail

I took Amanda home and then went to a fundraiser for our Democratic U.S. Senator who will be up for re-election next year.  I'm sure it will be a tough race although his opponent it not yet obvious.  Could be our current featherweight Governor (see below).

After the fundraiser it was on to the annual Democratic dinner at Centennial Hall where I was the guest of Ralph and Julia Kibby.  I found it very inspiring...because I got to give my annual hug to Katie Hurley...the Secretary of the Alaska Constitutional Convention and piano player at my parents' wedding.  Katie was one of the speakers at tonight's supper - and sadly it was clear she's fading a bit; but her smile and warmth are undiminished.  In her brief speech she mentioned Alma Olson as one of her mentors - a teacher she had in school here in Juneau in the 1920's.  Miss Olson was a dear friend of my Grandma Newman, a regular at the holiday dinner table, and I remember her quite well.  Brought a tear to my eye.

Sadly, current political affairs in Alaska are not so swell.

Our featherweight Governor made it official.  No Medicaid expansion for Alaska.  He was at the National Governor's Association last week and he concluded the federal government was so dysfunctional that he could not count on them to deliver the promised federal swag.

Huh?  That's your entire rationale for giving up hundreds of millions of federal dollars.  That's it?  The very best you can do? 

To my knowledge there has not been one credible shred of analysis provided by Governor Parnell suggesting either that Medicaid expansion is a good idea or a bad idea for Alaska.  Does any such analysis exist?  One would think so...  I know there are competent analysts in the Department of Health and Social Services.  One would presume the Governor bothered to ask for such analysis and one would presume his Commissioner of the Department of Health and Social Services was competent enough to have one produced.

But...with one party government we may never know.  The legislative leadership does not care.  No Medicaid expansion bill would likely even get an honest hearing with this crowd.  So perhaps there will be no requirement on the Administration to provide any meaningful analysis.

In the meantime, of course, our Governor is hell bent to give away many times more the TOTAL cost of Medicaid expansion to the oil industry.  It's the ol' lower taxes and they'll invest mantra.  Trickle down.

And with the demise of the Republican/Democratic coalition in the Senate, the misogynist caucus is alive and well. Senator John Coghill - Deacon Coghill according to past biographies - is leading the charge to define what "medical necessity" means relative to a woman exercising her constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy.

Sigh...

Holy Bull

The incumbent of the Holy See has never been someone I have respected.  Under John Paul II, he headed the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.  Oops.  Sorry.  That's the Saudi/Wahhabi equivalent.  The Roman version is the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the historical Roman Inquisition. Liberals (and some admiring conservatives) called the current Pope "God's Rottweiler" while he served John Paul II as head of the Inquisition.

Like John Paul II, his successor Benedict XVI, is a staunch conservative on matters both spiritual and secular and he has demonstrated his conservatism by the promotion of radical conservatives to the church leadership.  The United States Council of Bishops has become nearly indistinguishable from its yahoo cousins in the right-wing Republican evangelical establishment.

Given the honorable history of the many Catholic affiliated social institutions in this country - educational and health related in particular - it saddens me to see these institutions fall under the oppressive yoke of ecclesiastical tyranny.  How can any Catholic hospital provide 21st century care if it is subject to the arbitrary decrees of clerics living in the middle ages?  Well, they can't - as demonstrated in Germany this past month.  Although I believe it was a bit of a fudge in the end on the German case...

But I digress...

We can now put a fork into the reign of Benedict XVI.  And to his credit he did resign.  And even more to his credit one might infer that his resignation might maybe, possibly, conceivably be due to a recognition of just how dysfunctional the church has become.

Today Benedict XVI gave the bum's rush to Cardinal O'Brien of Scotland - the only cardinal from the United Kingdom who was eligible to vote for a new pope in the upcoming conclave.  Allegations have been filed against the Prince of the Church from Scotland by several priests under his direct supervision through Vatican ambassadors suggesting that the cardinal made inappropriate advances upon them.

I found the article on this subject today from The Guardian most compelling:

If the allegations are correct, you would need a heart of flint not to feel some sympathy for the cardinal as well as for his victims. Celibacy is difficult and sometimes lonely for anyone. The traditional remedy for loneliness, in Scots and Irish Catholicism, involved medication with whiskey and manly bonding. If your inclination is in any case towards men this is not going to be very helpful. Getting drunk in an atmosphere of sentimental affection with the object of desire is a tough test in self-control. We should not be surprised if some men sometimes fail it.

Journalists and Guardian readers who never get drunk and have regrettable sexual episodes are entitled to completely unalloyed joy at the spectacle of a moralist revealed as a hypocrite. The rest of us should temper our delight.

Of course, the real problem is that the Roman Catholic church expects an entirely unrealistic standard of continence from its priesthood. Some priests can manage celibacy. The evidence from all around the world is that most can't. They certainly can't always. In the developing world the problem is largely one of priests having unofficial heterosexual families, as Cardinal Tagle of the Philippines – an outside candidate for the papacy – pointed out last week. In countries where that isn't an available alternative, the priesthood becomes a refuge for gay men – especially in societies where homophobia is the public norm.

This fact adds irony to O'Brien's denunciations of gay marriage. You can't really expect better from a church that still hasn't come to terms properly with heterosexual marriage, as its position on artificial contraception shows. There are many great Catholic feminists, some of them nuns. But you would never guess this from the official doctrine, which still proceeds as if marriage were something in which a man took the initiative, rather than a partnership of equals. And a church that can't treat women as equals is certainly not going to be realistic about marriage between two men.

Couldn't have put it better myself.  And in my tribute to creatures with red hats, I offer the following:  Common Redpolls.

 Da Boyz in da hood.  The conclave.

You f***'n with me?  Don't you be f***'n with me!

Bring it on....

Hah!  Ain't life grand!

When your heart stops beating; you'll keep on tweeting

When I wake-up these days, I reach over and fire up the TV to the local public radio station, KTOO.  I listen to the national, state and local news before I roll-out.  A couple of days ago I was taken by a story of a new app. for Twitter that allows you to tweet even after you have firmly planted your second foot in the grave.  A twitter add-on for the ages. This is not a concept I personally find appealing.  But...for those of you who just refuse to let go, I suppose it might have an attraction...

It's been a dreadful week.  Not that anything bad happened.  Just wet, cold and unpleasant.  My windy promontory has been - well, windy.  And rainy and slushy to boot.  Ugh.

I did transplant about 30 dahlia seedlings to their own little potlets.  About 10 look like they're not going to make it.  But 20 seedlings will be plenty.  About  30 of 100 bell flower seedlings have hatched.  They are TINY seedlings and thus far no secondary leaves so the jury is out.  Time will tell.  I have yet to plant the painted daisy, columbine, and foxglove seeds.  So lots of seedling stuff to enjoy.

I have been vastly amused by texts and pics received from my friend Martha.  She spent a few days in Seattle with a mutual friend, Wendy, at the garden show in Seattle.  Ms. Stewart and Ms. Redman were accompanied by Martha's hound, Bailey, and they all took-up residence at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Seattle - a doggy friendly establishment.  All hands are now safely home after a wonderful time and when I queried Martha about Bailey's doggie day care experience she replied as follows:

"Perfect.  Came back after 5 hours to find Bailey working the hotel front desk.  She was having the best time there, welcoming the guests.  They'd walked her every hour, played with her toy, etc.  She was happy to see me but was ever so happy when we aimed back down to the lobby and she got to see them again."

Woof!

In other news, Amanda is making excellent progress in her quest to open a food establishment this summer.  A couple of interesting (and encouraging) twists and turns.  But I am sworn to secrecy for the moment...

The elders soldier on...  Mom has a doctor's appointment next week and auntie's daughter arrived today for a week.  I will be hosting a family supper early next week.

All is well...

Bang!

Like most Americans, I was appalled - though certainly not surprised- by the recent  massacre at Newtown.  Why should anyone be shocked when a military-style assault weapon is used effectively for the exact purpose for which it was designed - to spray deadly lead over a wide area in a very short period of time?  And why should anyone be astonished that a mentally unstable person would commit an act of violence?

I ask these questions rhetorically, of course, as I recognize that the mutilated bodies of five and six year old school children is something that even our violence soaked culture cannot easily accept.

Still, the simple fact of the matter remains that the slaughter at the schoolhouse in Newtown will be repeated in one variation or other - over and over again - so long as the nation remains awash in guns.

I take little comfort in the most recent gun control proposals.  Not that they are bad.  They should be passed by Congress and signed into law. There is no doubt they would save lives.  But with tens of thousands of gun deaths a year the carnage will continue largely unabated even if ALL the mooted measures are adopted - and they won't be.

The best my own Democratic Senator could do was mumble something about the mentally ill on his Facebook page.  He's up for reelection next year and scared to death of the NRA, of course.

Indeed, there is a chance that at the end of the day the mentally ill could be the big losers in this so-called debate.  Some may well lose their liberty in a very real sense - an irony that I'm confident would be lost on those who cannot count beyond "two" as far as the Bill of Rights are concerned.

And speaking of mental illness, there was an interesting article in Salon this morning, 'Religious states are also the unhappiest', which notes that in 2006 approximately 14% of my fellow Americans were prescribed anti-depressants.  One would presume that only a small fraction of these sad citizens are truly a danger to themselves or others; but it does point out the absurdity of the suggestion that the solution to gun violence is to simply keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.

Just exactly who might that be?

What about alcohol?  You show me a man (or woman) with a snoot-full of a six-pack of Miller Genuine Draft and a couple of shots of Wild Turkey and I will show you a man (or woman) who should not be in possession of a gun. 

Guns ARE the problem, kids.