So the EU and Greece
have (as expected) drawn back from the brink and reached a last-minute agreement. Possibly. If so, let's hope it lasts longer than the last
EU deal - with Russia over the Ukraine.
Stepping back from the detail
for a minute . . . Could anyone have predicted this Greek crisis 20
years ago? Or 13 years ago, when the euro was introduced? Or only 5
years ago, when the EU was having its own existential crisis? Probably
not. But, then again, there were those 20 years ago - in Britain and
elsewhere - who warned that a one-currency-fits-all policy would
prove unworkable, as it was a political not an economic project. More
accurately an experiment. And one that ignored the differing natures
of the various national economies. And then there's the fact that
absolutely everyone now agrees that Greece lied about its stats and
that everyone else knew this at the time. So, the country should never have
been allowed to join the eurozone. All of which means the current
debacle was possibly rather more predictable than we might think.
I was wondering
yesterday whether some supreme authority in Islam (Sunni and/or
Shiite) might do the world a bit of good by excommunicating Islamic
terrorists such as those of ISIL, as it seems to be called this week.
I suspected there might be a problem arising from the fact that
neither sector of Islam appears to have a Pope-like figure of
universal authority. And so it turns out to be. Here's the
disappointing Wiki entry on this: "Excommunication does not exist in
Islam. The nearest approximation is takfir, a declaration that an
individual or group is kafir, a non-believer. This does not prevent
an individual from taking part in any Islamic rite or ritual, and
since the matter of whether a person is kafir is rather subjective, a
declaration of takfir is generally considered null and void if the
target refutes it or if the Islamic community in which he or she
lives refuses to accept it. . . . Takfir is a highly contentious
issue in Islam, primarily because there is no universally accepted
authority in Islamic law. Indeed, according to classical
commentators, the reverse seems to hold true, in that Muhammad
reportedly equated the act of declaring someone a kafir itself to
blasphemy if the accused individual maintained that he was a Muslim". So that door seems firmly shut.
Twenty years ago a
well-known British journalist suggested that news programs should
report good news as well as the traditional bad news. For this he was
pilloried - and almost crucified - by his (cynical?) colleagues. The
public, they said, is only interested in disasters and good news is
no news. And we serve the public. Well, in the intervening years,
attempts have been made (e. g. here and here) to provide news which
which will give us a warm glow rather than a cold fear of imminent
armageddon. And even The Huffington Post now has a Good News section.
Perhaps it's all a reaction to the depressing impact of the ubiquitous 24 hour
rolling-news channels. The 7th circle of Hell. Whatever the stimulus,
it has to be a positive development.
The judge investigating
the ex-Treasurer of the governing PP Party around illegal party
financing and black payments to several key members of the Spanish
government has lost come key files. Which should delay things rather.
And possibly take us past the deadline for trying the (alleged)
offences. Not that the Spanish courts seem to need above-normal
reasons for slowing things down. But what a pleasant surprise this
must have been for Sr Rajoy and his colleagues.
Pontevedra's procession
of Carnaval floats was postponed for a second time yesterday -
because of rain, of course - and might just take place tonight. And
the immolation of Ravachol has been moved to tomorrow night. However
good these events turn out to be, they'll be as naught compared to
the Valencian Fallas of March. My friend David has sent me this video
of the staggering celebrations, when (he says) the ground quakes
beneath your feet. It's in English, by the way, but the translations
sounds pretty literal to me.
Finally . . . And then it dawned on me . . . I am a camera:-
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