Why Would Anyone, Anywhere Think The EU Is Remotely Good Idea?

From the same minds that brought us the Euro, and insist it live, and freedom die:

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact (that water consumption prevents dehydration).

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

OS asks his British cousins: Why do you not absolutely make your MP's life a living perdition until such time as Parliament votes to withdraw from the EU--immediately?

Why did your parents' and grandparents' (and great-grandparents') generation make such frightful sacrifices?

For this? Life under the thumb of Brussels and the banksters?

Really?

Why OS Misses Margaret Thatcher, In Less Than Ninety Seconds

This gem from PMQ's--in which The Iron Lady slays Labour--declaring 'they have no competence on money', and battling against any encroachment of the EU upon British sovereignity.

Her words were prophetic. Had she been heeded, we would not be witnessing Europe coming apart at the economic seams.

Where is her successor? Cameron is a failure and a fraud, and we need a strong Great Britain as never before.

Daniel Hannan, step forward. Please.

Number 438 (Daniel Hannan) Gives Voice To What The EU Refuses To Hear--'You're About To Find Out'

Need to create a football cheer here, ya'll:

Gimme a big 4! FOOOUR!

Gimme a big 3! THREEEEE!

Gimme a big 8! EEEEIIIIIGGGHHHHT!

Wha'duz'THAT spell?

TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH!




Go, Dan! Go, Dan! Go, Dan!

Iceland Stands Tall--Banks And Depositors Must Bear Risks, Not The Taxpayers

Good for them!

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

REYKJAVIK, Iceland -- Icelandic voters appeared Sunday to have rejected a government-approved deal to repay Britain and the Netherlands $5 billion for their citizens' deposits in the failed online bank Icesave.

Partial results of a national referendum suggested the "no" side had gained more than half the votes -- a reflection of enduring anger over the economic havoc wrought by Iceland's risk-taking bankers.

Full results were not due until later Sunday. With partial results in from all six of Iceland's constituencies, the no side had almost 57 percent of the votes and the yes camp just over 43 percent.

"This is of course a disappointing result," said Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir.

'...a disappointing result...'--but for whom?

The day is long overdue when the idea of 'risk' should be reintroduced to bankers, depositors, and borrowers. There is always the possibility that things might go wrong, since Murphy and his law are alive and well.

There is also the idea of 'moral hazard'. Lay the risk off to third parties, and an individual is allowed to behave recklessly. (Sound familiar?)

Here's a more formal definition:

Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

In this case, British and Dutch savers had lost money when IceSave bank collapsed. Their own governments made them whole (because?), and attempted to stick the Icelandic taxpayer with the bill, threatening retaliation via the EU. Given the chaos created by the Euro, exclusion from that clown circus should be a blessing.

Next on the task list: Send the Prime Minister packing, along with the geniuses who put the country through the referendum in the first place. A few prosecutions of the bankers responsible might also prove invigorating for the health of the economy in general. It's good for everyone, top to bottom, to understand the concept of risk and the dangers of moral hazard.

Here's hoping the Irish take heart, and demand their bailout terms and EU participation be put to a vote.

OS likes fish. He'll be shopping for Icelandic cod this week...

The Irish Banks Report Is Released

OS is no economist, but even his feeble brain knows that this is ugly.

From today's Irish Times:

Ireland’s beleaguered banking sector will require a further €24 billion recapitalisation, pushing the total cost of bailing out the banks to €70 billion.

The figure was determined by the Central Bank’s long-awaited stress tests on Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Irish Life and Permanent and the EBS.

This will be the fifth attempt to draw a line under the banking crisis, which have so far cost the State €46 billion, and will bring the entire banking sector under Government control.

It also means the State will require substantially more of the €35 billion earmarked for the banks under the EU/IMF bailout deal than previously envisaged.

The recapitalisation will coincide with a major restructuring of the sector, the details of which are being outlined by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in the Dail.

For a simple soul like OS, the figures, breathtaking as they are, matter less than the opening line of the third paragraph above--'This will be the fifth attempt...'

Remember, ya'll? The Irish electorate said 'NO' to entry into the Eurozone in '08, so the Utopians kept at it, essentially saying 'We're just keep holding referendums until you dumb Irish get it right, and surrender your hard-won independence to Brussels'. So in 2009...they did. After all that struggle and blood spilled, they voted for life in the EU.

Wonder if they want their sovereignty back yet? And their currency? And their culture? And their freedom?

More than the bank balance sheets eroded here, ya'll. There has been an erosion of the essential trust that holds things together...which is why the balance sheets melted down.

It can happen here, in the US. It doesn't have to, but it can. We are not out of the woods, by a long shot.

The Best Business Model Ever Invented: European Arms Sales To Libya

(Sound of hand slapping forehead...'Damn, why didn't I think of that!')

It's ingenious, really! Sell all sorts of military hardware to mad despots, wait for the serfs to rebel, watch him use his toys to murder the citizenry, then in a fit of righteous indignation (with UN approval of course of course of course), go blow all that stuff to kingdom come.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

From Deutsche Welle-just a sample of the tale:

Could European-made arms technology have been used by authoritarian regimes to silence their own citizens? Analysts say that's hard to prove but reports that governments both in Bahrain and Libya may have done just that have sparked angry debates and accusations of double standards in some European countries.

In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron this week revoked licenses for arms sales to Libya and Bahrain after fears surfaced that British tear gas or riot equipment may have been used against political demonstrators.

In Belgium, YouTube footage showing alleged semi-automatic FN 303 anti-riot guns recently seized by anti-Gadhafi protesters has sparked a political controversy. Belgian defense company FN Herstal is said to have sold Libya arms worth 11.5 million euros. That included rifles, pistols, rifle grenades and ammunition cartridges.

In Germany, there are worries that its electronic exports to Libya could have possibly been used by the regime to jam internet and GPS services.

Of course, the good news is: If somehow Gadhafi and his homeboyz are sent on their way, then the tribal despots that succeed him will need new toys. And building materials and architects and engineers to rebuild all those cities blown up the last time around.

(Sound of hand slapping forehead...'Damn, why didn't I think of that!')

HT Miller-McCune