Ally

Although the sale of 24 F16's to Pakistan dominated the news, Tom Donnelly of the Weekly Standard believes that the State Department briefing last Friday is much more significant than the sale of a few fighter planes.

From the briefing:

The first Bush Administration did a lot to spotlight the significance of the relationship to India, building on some work that had been done in the Clinton Administration. And that culminated in some things like, in 2004, the announcement of the next steps and strategic partnership, export controls, high-tech cooperation. This year the Administration made a judgment that the next steps and strategic partnership, though very important, wasn't broad enough to really encompass the kind of things we needed to do to take this relationship where it needed to go, and so the President and the Secretary developed the outline for a decisively broader strategic relationship.

Secretary Rice presented that outline last week to Prime Minister Singh. Its goal is to help India become a major world power in the 21st century. We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement.

This sounds like the F16's were a sop to keep the Pakistanis happy while the US was courting their big neighbor/rival.

Donnelly claims that the a "U.S.-India strategic partnership, if fully developed, would be the single most important step toward an alliance capable of meeting the 21st century's principal challenges: radical Islam and rising China".

Well, momentous stuff. If this came to pass, then India would become the US's most important ally. Not Britain. Not the EU. Not Canada. Not Japan.

Today's Christian Science Monitor describes it as a bold, but not risk-free move.

'Profit before People'

"Profit before people" is the verdict of Bishop Ray Field on the Bank of Ireland's decision to cut 2,100 jobs. Does that mean that there are no people who are shareholders of the bank? Are there no people who have pensions invested in the bank's shares? Are there no people who are customers of the bank?

What the Bishop really means is that the claims of the people who work for the bank are greater than those who own or are customers of the bank. That just doesn't sound as good, though, does it?

Now, don't get me wrong. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who loses their job. I know that anyone who has worked for the bank for a long time will find it hard to get a new job. It's horrendous for anyone who ends up in this situation and I'd be quite happy to pray for such people if the Bishop asked me to.

But, the Bishop is doing more than that. He's indirectly prescribing what actions the bank should take. This attitude - protect jobs at all costs - increases costs on the consumer and shareholder and kills innovation.

That attitude was a big part of the reason the Irish economy was so dire until the late 1980s. It's a big factor in the economic problems in France & Germany today.

Ireland has a small, open economy, which means it's a competitive place to do business. Competition demands innovation and strict cost control. Competition in banking has been slower coming (banking is essentially a licensed cartel), but it now seems to be heading our way.

This move by the Bank of Ireland is (I hope) an indication that the grossly expensive costs of banking here are about to come down. That will benefit consumers (even the poor, Your Grace) and help small Irish businesses compete, which should mean more jobs (even for the poor, Your Grace).

Road bowling

Yesterday's Washington Post has a long article on the growth of Irish road bowling in the US. Most of the article is about competition in West Virginia, but the writer notes that the game is already popular in Boston and New York.

Road bowling is a game (sport?) that I've always wanted to try.

Dumb and Dumber

Incredible. It's bad enough to have the teachers' unions complaining about ratemyteachers.ie, but now the Minister for Education has joined the unions in stupidity.

Mary Hanafin said that when teachers rate their pupils' performance it is done in private.

She said it is entirely inappropriate that teachers' performances should be rated on a website in such a public way.

Is she kidding me? How about a ratemygovernmentministers.ie? I have a few things to say about the current Minister for Education. She'd get a big fat :-( from me.

She should be fired right now. It's nonsense like this that convinces me that we don't need a Department of Education or a Minister for Education.

Hey Mary Hanafin, what about the bathroom in the Bray DART station? I saw some disparaging remarks about a teacher at a local school written on a wall near the urinals once. That was public.

Here we have big labor and big government competing with one another to see who's the dumbest. It's only ironic because they're both supposed to be interested in the education that our children receive.

School on Holy Days

The Bishops have decided to allow Catholic schools to open on Holy Days if they wish. I think it's a sensible decision.

I don't know why any Catholic school should be so keen to be open on a Holy Day, but I presume that Mass will be a feature of the school day. I think that this is actually better for faith-building than simply having a day off.

However, if Mass is not part of the school day on Holy Days, then my kids will be missing an hour or so of school on those days.

Ireland beats Israel handily

No, they didn't replay last Saturday's game. That's still 1-1. Today's Ha'aretz has a column comparing Israel with Ireland in terms of economics. Fourteen years ago they were level, but today Ireland is way ahead. Today "a draw with Ireland in soccer is one of the few comforts we have", says columnist Guy Rolnik.

U2's tour

The New York Times liked U2's world tour opener.

This was an intensely satisfying performance by a band that has figured out what it does best and seems content to do it. Some bands get swallowed up by big arenas, but U2 was built for them: the Edge's echoey guitar lines are only improved when they bounce off concrete walls, and Bono's lyrics are best when they're delivered by tens of thousands of fans.

Don't do it, David

David Brooks is contemplating changing his baseball allegiance from the Mets to the new Washington Nationals. He's making a big mistake.

Your baseball team is not a casual romance. It's part of you. A man and his team are like a married couple. Divorce is always messy.

David enjoy baseball with the Nationals, but you'll never be able to feel the same passion for this team that you feel for the Mets.

One of my favorite t.v. lines of all time was one I picked up from a British sit-com, Man About the House, which used to be on Channel 9 in NY. One of the two women was asking the guy why, seeing as he had moved from Southampton to London he didn't root for one of the London clubs. His response was great: "Just because a man changes his address doesn't mean he has to change his religion".

Painted eggs

Chris, writing about Easter, mentions that a Polish co-worker is fascinated by the big Chocolate eggs that are part of Ireland's Easter tradition. He's used to painting hard-boiled eggs.

Polish pal, you're on the edge of Europe now. Practically in the arms of America. Why have a hard boiled egg when you can eat chocolate!

Actually, Chris, we used to paint our eggs too. The Chocolate eggs were just as much a fascination for me as they are for your Polish colleague. We had chocolate bunnies and jelly beans.

So Chris, you can't invite him to change his traditions simply because he's "practically in the arms of America" because if he were actually in America he'd have his painted, hard-boiled eggs.

Ratemyteachers

Sometimes I just wonder about the teachers' unions. They're up in arms - again - about ratemyteachers.ie. The unions are "seeking legal advice" as to what they can do about this web site.

Teachers with one year, full-time service are untouchable. They can't be fired, nobody reviews how they do their jobs, and promotions, etc. are essentially made on the basis of seniority. This is the first little ray of light that has been allowed to shine on the work of individual teachers.

What I find really odd is that for the most part the comments at ratemyteachers.ie are positive. All those teachers who make a big effort, who are committed to teaching our children should be heartened by this development. For the first time they're not being lumped in with the lazy, contemptuous minority who hate their jobs and make no effort to educate those who sit in front of them.

The unions' complaints are so asinine that they have me agreeing with Oisin O'Reilly, vice-president of the Union of Secondary Students. And, believe me when I tell you that I have a long history of never agreeing with student leaders.

Irish signs

From today road-side signs in the Gaeltacht will only display the Irish language version of the placenames. I honestly don't think this is a huge issue for tourists or anyone else so long as maps correspond.

However, I do hope that warning signs will be in both Irish and English. I can remember back in the early 90s my wife and I were driving around Donegal and we came across a sign warning us of an "accident black spot" entirely in Irish. It didn't even have the black circle, which I'd come to recognize as a warning. {Fortunately, my wife did a quick translation for me and convinced me to reduce my speed. Otherwise this blog might never have happened and what a tragic loss to you that would have been.}

Warning signs should be bilingual or based on standard visual symbols. There is nothing to gain in confusing tourists with signs that a driver might not have come across once in a week's worth of driving around Ireland.

Green invasion

Irish soccer fans in Israel for today's game were definitely being welcomed.

From yesterday's Ha'aretz:

Irish flags lining the streets, a huge party at Hayarkon Park and hundreds of kegs of extra beer in the pubs are ready for what municipality spokesman Kobby Barda described as the largest number of foreign football fans ever to travel to Israel for a match.

"We've never had anything like it in the history of Israeli football and we saw this as an opportunity to target a new market," said Barda, who is also spokesman of the Tel Aviv Tourism Association.

Extra beer in the pubs yesterday? Surely all those Irish fans will have shunned the pubs seeing as it was Good Friday. Okay, apparently not.

Another school shooting

Anytime one of these types of shootings occurs, you can guarantee that there'll be a lot of articles in the press here (and in Britain and in the US) about America's 'gun culture' and 'love of guns'. As Jon noted, the Irish Times's Conor O'Clery made that very point in his report on the shooting in Minnesota.

However, I think focusing on guns is wrong. I know it's a cliche to say "guns don't kill people, people do", but there's a lot of sense in that. What society should be asking is, "Why these kids do what they do?". Why are they so disenchanted and disaffected that they carry out what are clearly self-destructive killings?

I think the problems that these kids have that lead them down this path of killing and self-destruction are mirrored in Europe by the lure of jihad among Muslim boys/young men. That the killers in the US are not from an easily identifiable social group makes labeling them more difficult (and more difficult for law enforcement to identify and track), but in both the US and Europe those attracted to killing and self-destruction seem to experience a great sense of alienation from the cultural mainstream.

We may not be able to do anything about it, but we should at least know what the motivation is. We should try to pinpoint the source of it. Focusing on the means of killing and not the motivation is pointless.

What's up with Barry Bonds?

In one of the most bizarre press conferences I've ever seen, Barry Bonds hinted that he might be done for the year after undergoing two arthroscopic knee surgeries since the season ended in October.

Any normal player in this situation would be understandably down, but he would not say anything along the lines of these quotes, which Bonds uttered yesterday: "You guys wanted to hurt me bad enough, you finally got me". Or "I'm mentally drained. I'm tired of my kids crying". Or "You wanted me to jump off a bridge, I finally did".

Huh? Did the media step on Bonds's bad knee? Are his children that shocked at seeing their father on crutches? And, who exactly asked him to "jump off a bridge" and why did he do it?

No, this is clearly about more than a bad knee. There a few of possibilities here:

• Bonds is so drained by the steroid et al allegations that he can't play baseball for the foreseeable future.
• Bonds's system is so dirty that he needs a year off to clear out because he won't be able to get by the more stringent drugs testing regime (remember: we were never and will never be told the result of his ONE drugs test last year)
• Bonds's assault on Henry Aaron's record of 755 career homers was such an embarrassment to Major League Baseball given recent testimony, etc. that the powers that be leaned heavily on him not to play this year.
• Bonds may actually be in more trouble due to possible tax evasion, a possibility mentioned by the NY Times this morning.

Whatever the explanation, and I'm leaning towards a combination of the last two, this is a very sad moment for baseball. Barry Bonds has dominated the game as no one has since Babe Ruth left the game in the mid 1930s. He's possibly the greatest player ever, but now, given all we know, his legacy is tarnished, if not destroyed, and the interest fans would have had in watching him pursue Aaron has been replaced by a fervent desire to see him fail in this quest.

Israeli soccer

Both Twenty Major (in his inimitable style - language is a bit earthy) and the Freedom Institute have taken the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Group to task for their recommendation that Irish people boycott the Israel vs Ireland game on Saturday.

Of course, they're right and the IPSG's campaign is a joke, but all is not sweetness and light in the world of Israeli soccer.

Jason Clarke

I caught part of a discussion (call-in) about the Schiavo case on Newstalk 106. One caller brought up a case I had heard about before, but had forgotten. Jason Clarke, son of Simply Painting's Frank Clarke, was in a "permanently vegetative state" for a number of years. His doctors had told his parents that there was no hope.

However, the parents didn't give up and they tried some alternative, Chinese remedy and Jason came out of his vegetative state. Apparently he's essentially the same today as he was before he was injured (I believe that's what happened). The caller's message was basically, "Where there's life, there's hope". {I couldn't find anything about this online.}

Michael Schiavo

I'm still thinking about the Schiavo case. I'm going to dismiss some of the more lurid rumors I've heard/read about Terri Schiavo's husband and cut him some slack. I don't think he's really a murderer or at least not in the same way that someone who bludgeons his wife to death is.

In this case, I think Schiavo is probably doing what he thinks is right. This is my problem with this whole thing. If our society didn't countenance such acts, someone like Michael Schiavo would probably never consider pulling his wife's feeding tube. The "Culture of Death" that the Pope has referred to has provided Schiavo with the cover he needs to consider such an option.

"She's one of us"

Tom DeLay, speaking last night during the debate in the debate on the Terri Schiavo bill. Simply and perfectly put.

And, yes, I know DeLay has issues surrounding him, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of putting his finger on the essence of why starving and dehydrating Terry Schiavo to death is so, so wrong.

Didn't pay your TV License?

Don't be embarrassed if you meet me.

Three times in a span of 40 minutes I heard ads on RTE radio about the dangers of not paying your television license. These ads carry both a soft and a hard message. The soft message is that anyone who is convicted for not paying their television license fee should be embarrassed and brings shame on themselves and all who are connected with them. The hard message is that failure to comply will result in a court appearance and a stiff fine.

Conviction for non-payment of a television licence (first offence) is a fine of €634.

If you are convicted a second time for not paying your television licence, you will be fined €1,269 and your television and signal equipment will be confiscated.

Well, I can't help you with the court appearance and the fine (or loss of equipment), but really, I won't bat an eye if you tell me you were busted for this offense. In fact, if you refused to pay the license fee because you're sick of funding RTE's political agenda, I'll give you a pat on the back.

{Full disclosure: On the 25th of February I angrily, but meekly, handed over €152 to pay for my license for another year.}

Landing in Shannon

An article in yesterday's Chicago Tribune about the travels of the Boston Red Sox's Gulfstream Jet will definitely be of interest to Irish anti-war protesters.