A short review of some of the lesser known absurdities of 2020.
The “Are You Serious?” Awards: Looking Back on 2020
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Ireland
Ireland’s Election — and Brexit — Put Reunification Back on the Table
Prospects for unification will have less to do with ancient hatreds than with health care, schools, housing, and jobs.
Goodbye to All That: The UK after Brexit
Brexit could see the UK eventually lose Scotland, Northern Ireland, and a great deal of its prosperity.
Ireland’s Taking $380 Million Out of Fossil Fuels. Where Should It Go?
This summer, Ireland pledged to become the world’s first country to divest from fossil fuels. Should the divestment bill pass the Irish Senate in the fall, which it is expected to do, Ireland will sell off its nearly $380 million in investments in the fossil fuel...
Britain Faces a Brave New World After Brexit
As the clock ticks down on Britain’s exit from the European Union, one could not go far wrong casting British Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as the hopeful Miranda in Shakespeare’s Tempest: "How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in’t." And...
What Ireland Can Teach Europe
The tiny Irish village of Ballingarry, in the heart of County Limerick, with its narrow streets and multiple churches, seems untouched by time and untroubled by the economic and political cross currents tearing away at the European Union (EU). But Ireland can be a...
The Long Term Threat to Europe Isn’t Le Pen. It’s Capitalism.
The good news out of Europe is that Marine Le Pen’s neo-Nazi National Front took a beating in the May 7 French presidential election. The bad news is that the program of the winner, Emmanuel Macron, might put Le Pen back in the running six years from now. Macron...
Is Europe Headed for a ‘Lexit’?
When European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg this past September, he told them the organization was facing an "existential crisis." In part, he blamed "national governments so weakened by the forces of populism"...
How Washington Turned Ireland Into an International Scofflaw
"We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible." So declared the Irish partisans of the Easter Rising against British rule 100 years ago. Controlling their...
To Stop Climate Change, Don’t Just Cut Carbon. Redistribute Wealth.
This year's Democratic platform has the fingerprints of progressive movements all over it. A $15 minimum wage, a pathway to cannabis legalization, improvements to Social Security, police accountability, and financial reforms — including a tax on speculation — all make...