Le monde diplomatique
July 29th, 2008
The German edition of Le monde diplomatique underwent a complete overhaul not too long ago. Unlike the main French edition of Le monde diplo, which exhibits the exact style of a French newspaper of mediocre design circa 1996, the German edition now exudes a certain calm and composed modernity. The redesign is the work of the German typographer and designer Erik Spiekermann, whom the Royal Society have named a Royal Designer for Industry (entitling him to an HonRDI after his name; only “hon” because he is not a British subject). Mr. Spiekermann was responsible for the much-lauded redesign of The Economist, the magazine you read when the airport lounge doesn’t have a copy of The Spectator.
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Plumbing Cusackian Depths?
July 29th, 2008
Robert Harrington recently insisted on interviewing me, taking many of his questions from a previous interview years ago which had been available at andrewcusack.com but which has since inexplicably disappeared into the ether. (Such are the mysterious ways of the internet). Mr. Harrington unconvincingly insists that the previous interview provided an interesting insight into the mind of Cusack, and no doubt he hoped to gain further useless insights with this period of interrogation. We will leave it to the reader to judge. What follows is an only barely edited version.
You’re known as an architecture fan. What’s your favourite city?
Edinburgh. Finest city in the British Empire.
Finer than London?
Oh, I’d say so. London has a great deal going for it — better clubs, for example — but it’s become incredibly vulgar. And foreign. Edinburgh is ten times as beautiful. What is more beautiful than an Edinburgh sunset, with the waning light reflecting off the stone buildings and the various spires and towers? The topography of the city is its saving grace, but can also be an incredible hassle. If you want to walk along George Street or Princes Street or the Royal Mile, you’re fine. But any perpindicular perambulation becomes a matter of climbing hills and stairs and such. Yet it makes the city all the more worthwhile somehow. It’s very striking.
Your favourite building though, the old Irish Parliament (now the Bank of Ireland) is in Dublin.
Dublin also has a great number of brilliant edifices, great buildings. Not just the Bank of Ireland but Trinity College, the Castle, the Four Courts, the Custom House, the King’s Inns and Henrietta Street and all those Georgian buildings. And two medieval cathedrals! But no, Edinburgh is still finer, and unsullied by republicanism.
But the ugly Scottish Parliament building is in Edinburgh.
True, true. A recent goiter upon an old friend though. Surgery can remove such things, if the patient is willing and a surgeon can be found.
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High Drama in Argentina’s Halls of Power
July 28th, 2008
IT IS AN age-old question: what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? The force in question is the farming community of Argentina, once among the agricultural powerhouses of the world, and the object is the country’s slippery presidential couple, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her husband (and predecessor in the top job) Néstor Kirchner. From all the way back in March, the Kirchners have been locked in a bitter dispute with the farming sector of the country since the presidential couple unilaterally imposed a massive tax on soy exports.
The Kirchners deride the farmers as “oligarchs” and claim that the exorbitant tax on one of Argentina’s most successful commercial sectors will be redistributed to the poor. Of course it would be irresponsible to simply take from the haves and give to the have-nots; the money raised would only go to the deserving poor, namely those who happen to support the Kirchner regime. Along the way, every cog in the machine will take his fair share, with a respectable amount left over to fatten the calves (metaphorically speaking) of the Kirchnerite street operators who quite openly buy votes during election time and pay union members to show up at pro-government rallies in between.
Argentine farmers protesting the Kirchner soy tax.
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Revolution’s loss is counter-revolution’s gain
July 27th, 2008
As Christian de Lisle reports in the latest Catholic Herald, Chase Hilgenbrinck, the 26-year-old defense player for the New England Revolution, is leaving the world of professional soccer to pursue a vocation to the priesthood. “Playing professional soccer has been my passion for a long time,” Hilgenbrinck told the press, “and I feel blessed to have successfully lived out this dream. My passion now is to do the will of God, which is wanting only what He wants for me. Though I will miss the game of soccer, I know that I am moving on to something much greater.”
Earlier, Hilgenbrinck, who had a four-year career in Chile before returning this year to play professionally in the States, considered waiting until the end of his soccer-playing days. “Delayed obedience is disobedience,” he told the Associated Press. “We are all called to do something. I feel like my specific call is to the priesthood. So, no, it was not possible to continue with soccer. It’s absolutely inevitable.”
Hilgenbrinck will enter the seminary at Mount St. Mary’s University, one of the oldest Catholic institutions in the United States.
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Amidst pickelhaubes resplendent
July 27th, 2008
The Chancellor of Germany is seen here worriedly admiring the pickelhaubed cavalry on her state visit to Colombia. Such elements of tradition, widespread in South America, are unofficially but totally banned in Germany.
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Humiliating Defeat in the Heart of Labour
July 24th, 2008
Well, it looks like they’ve done it: the SNP have slashed a Labour majority of over 13,000 to win the parliamentary seat of Glasgow East with a new Nationalist majority of just 365 votes. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats came third and fourth, but with 1,693 and 915 votes respectively, this was very much a two-pony race between Labour’s Margaret Curran (above, left) and the SNP’s John Mason (above, right).
While Glasgow East is deep in the heart of Labour territory, pundits were saying this was going to be a close one. The defection of Catholics is likely to have played a significant role in Labour’s defeat. In the past year, Labour have legalized the creation of animal-human hybrids as well as siblings designed solely for the harvesting of their organs, and this campaign has been vociferously opposed by Catholics around the Union. Mr. Mason made sure to thank those who had prayed for him in his victory speech.
“This is an absolutely remarkable result,” said Angus Robertson, SNP leader at Westminster, “it’s Labour’s third-safest seat — rock-solid territory. Now it’s over. People have had enough and Gordon Brown had better listen because at the next Westminster election the SNP is coming.”
This is the second “safe” Labour seat lost in a by-election in just three months.
Catholic backlash sinks Labour in Glasgow East
Cranmer:
SNP victory in Glasgow East - the Christians won it
the Daily Telegraph:
Labour suffers humiliating defeat as SNP celebrates
the Times:
Nightmare result for Gordon Brown as SNP triumph over Labour in Glasgow East
the Guardian:
Glasgow East byelection victory adds remarkable new chapter to SNP history
Google News:
Glasgow East
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The Pope at Government House
July 24th, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI reviews the guard after being received by Maj. Gen. Jeffery, the Governor-General of Australia.
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Teamdesertaxi
July 21st, 2008
Teamdesertaxi is awa’, but you can keep track of them through their occasional updates on the website:
Stopping in Salzburg for lunch. 2 broken door hinges, 1 broken indicator, 1 broken electric window. 795 miles. …
A navigational error led to a brief sojourn in Slovakia. …
Both the charities they are supporting, MercyCorps Mongolia and Help for Heroes, get the Cusack two-thumbs-up, so perhaps you might think of making a little donation? Every bit counts.
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Norumbega No. 8
July 20th, 2008
Have a look at the latest issue of Norumbega: Knights of Malta, Hungarian intellectuals, and a trip to Ulaanbaatar by London cab!
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The Holy Saints of Russia
July 18th, 2008
Russia remembers the murdered Tsar St. Nicholas II & his family
Christians in Russia yesterday solemnly remembered the brutal killing of the country’s Imperial Family by the Bolshevik revolutionaries 90 years earlier. Tsar Nicholas II, the Tsarina Alexandra, their daughters the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, and the Tsarevich Alexei have all been added to the canon of saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Imperial Family were first officially recognized as saints by the Russian Orthodox Church outside the Soviet Union in 1981, and the Moscow patriarchate extended the same recognition in 2000.
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Ingrid Betancourt Goes to Lourdes
July 17th, 2008
Ex-hostage gives thanks at Marian shrine during its 150th year
Ingrid Betancourt has travelled to the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin at Lourdes in France to give thanks for her liberation from years of captivity as a hostage of the FARC. Alongside her mother, son, and daughter, Ms. Betancourt also offered prayers on behalf of those prisoners who are still held hostage by the FARC guerrillas.
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Uribe for the White House?
July 17th, 2008
Daniel Hannan, the best MEP blogger there is, thinks that Álvaro Uribe should take over the reins of the United States when he finishes his second term as President of Colombia. As Mr. Hannan points out, Uribe “has a better record on defeating terrorism than anyone else in the world, he’s a successful free marketer, and he’s the most pro-US leader in the Western Hemisphere.” Sadly, being pro-US is usually a bad sign in world leaders these days, but President Uribe is the exception that tests the rule.
President Uribe currently enjoys a 90% approval rating; President Bush hovers around 30%, while the United States Congress has reached a whopping 9% approval rating.
