European Union
January 3, 2022 — John Hinderaker
The European Union has led the way in transitioning from fossil fuels to “green” energy, i.e. wind and solar. But that effort has hit a snag: wind and solar don’t work, and energy costs in the EU are skyrocketing. Now a Reuters report suggests that the EU may be thinking about jumping ship: The European Union has drawn up plans to label some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as
»
July 20, 2021 — Steven Hayward
I am quickly learning why the New York Times and the left (but I repeat myself) are so spun up about Hungary : the government here actually wants to defend Western civilization—and religion—from its enemies. Whether they are doing this well or badly I cannot fully judge yet, but that they mean to do it seriously is clear. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find out that my visit
»
February 3, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Most Americans probably don’t know it, but the European Union rollout of covid vaccines has been a fiasco. Now that a Democrat is safely in the White House, the story of how much better the U.S. has performed can be told. Watch for it, coming soon to the New York Times. This is from Steve’s post immediately below: Equally interesting, however, is what has happened within Europe. At the Telegraph,
»
December 28, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
The United Kingdom and European Union have reached a post-Brexit trade agreement after many months of negotiations. The no-deal Brexit that many expected and some feared has been avoided. I lack the knowledge to evaluate either the deal or a no-deal scenario. Instead, I’ll present for consideration the views of the estimable Melanie Phillips. She’s delighted, above all, that the UK is finally free of the EU. I know enough
»
November 13, 2020 — Steven Hayward
The renewable energy fanatics like to point out that the cost of solar power has been falling dramatically over the past decade, the result of technological and manufacturing improvements. This is true, but raises the question: why does the solar industry continue to demand subsidies then? The Financial Times ran an unintentionally hilarious and illuminating story on this point yesterday: French solar investors up in arms over threat to renege on
»
April 24, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
One of my favorite moments in all of the channel surfing I’ve done while sheltering in place occurred when Christiane Amanpour asked Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó why Hungary’s parliament was closed. The foreign minister replied that he had just spoken five times in parliament that very week. Amanpour could only respond, “OK, that’s news to us.” Amanpour wasn’t the only liberal media type to serve up fake news about
»
February 1, 2020 — Scott Johnson
Hail Brittania! As of midnight, out of the European Union and free at last. Nigel Farage made himself a key player in the uprising against Britain’s membership in the European Union as a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and past leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party. In the video below he takes us on an entertaining tour of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on his last there
»
January 29, 2020 — Steven Hayward
We’re less than 48 hours away from Britain’s exit from the European Union (oh happy day!), and today at the EU Parliament in Strasbourg the irrepressible Nigel Farage took a well deserved victory lap. Very much worth watching the whole five minutes here, especially for the cheeky violation of EU Parliament rules against displaying national flags at the end. Watch all the way through to the churlish chairlady, who has
»
October 28, 2019 — Scott Johnson
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is bad in so many ways it can warm your heart just to see him laughed at. That is the inference I draw from the video that I found on Twitter (below) and thought was current. Dating from 2016, it is still making the rounds because it remains relevant and entertaining. Wake up. Watch this again and again and happiness today is guaranteed. “
»
June 13, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
During an interview last year, President Trump and Tucker Carlson had this exchange: CARLSON: Membership in NATO obligates the members to defend any other member who has been attacked. So let’s say Montenegro, which joined last year, is attacked: Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack? Why is that? TRUMP: I understand what you’re saying. . .but that’s the way it was set up. .
»
May 28, 2019 — Scott Johnson
I haven’t found exactly what I’ve been looking for in the way of analysis of the European Parliament election results in the United Kingdom. The Telegraph’s weekly newsletter summary put it this way yesterday: The Conservatives have been decimated in the European elections and recorded their worst result in history, as Nigel Farage’s six-week-old Brexit party triumphed. The European elections, which were never supposed to happen, proved disastrous for both
»
May 26, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that “Europeans [have] dealt a blow to the continent’s traditional center-left and center-right politicians in elections for the European Parliament. . .depriving them of a majority for the first time.” It was a high-turnout election, with the highest participation level in 25 years. The Post says that voters used the elections to “take a shot at the parties that have steered Europe’s consensus-driven policies for decades.”
»
May 25, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post is probably the leading American defender of “the Europe of Brussels,” the antithesis of “the Europe of Nations.” She’s also one of President Trump’s harshest critics. That makes sense. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks the truth when he says that “President Trump has helped put the world back on track to a nation-first trajectory.” In her latest column, Applebaum describes a lunch meeting
»
May 24, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
John Fonte is probably the leading American critic of what he calls “the Europe of Brussels.” Thus, his is a voice worth listening to in connection with the European parliamentary elections now being held. John discusses what’s at stake in these elections in an article for “American Greatness” called “The Virtues of Patriotism.” The election, says John, represents a “war of ideas between the ‘Europe of Nations’ and the ‘Europe
»
May 24, 2019 — Steven Hayward
Just in time for the start of your Memorial Day weekend, an early edition of our podcast. I’ve decided that “populism” is when the wrong person or party wins a democratic election. Certainly the way the media and liberal elites have reacted to the Liberal Party’s upset win in Australia bears this out (keep in mind that the Liberal Party in Australia is the conservative party, but what do you
»
May 23, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Voting in the European Parliament elections begins today. It will continue into the weekend. As I understand it, different countries vote on different days. The “populist” parties are expected to make their best-ever showing. I wrote about this development here. In that post, I suggested that if the populists make the gains they are expected to, they will fall far short of making up a majority in Parliament, but will
»
May 19, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
European parliamentary elections will take place on May 26. I’m old enough to remember the early elections in which my wife’s socialist cousin refused to vote on the grounds that the EU had no power and the elections didn’t matter. Ah, the good old days. Nowadays, the EU has vast power, so the elections are not so easily dismissed. However, it’s possible that the results of this election might cause
»
