Bakker Bugle Blog » usa

SOPA/PIPA blackout today

Will — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:42:38 +0000

We shy away from politics here at the Bugle Blog, although our editors are quite politically active. Today, we must speak out here, because too many members of the US Congress want to give control of the internet to copyright lawyers and those who stand against free speech.

This boring, little, family-friendly blog has been harassed, repeatedly, under the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998. Big copyright-holders like Viacom and FOX have issued unilateral takedown notices against our homespun videos. For example, the Bugle is forever considered suspect by YouTube due to our legally legitimate use of a snippet of TV coverage of the 2008 Olympics, simply because the IOC issued an indiscriminate legal action against tens of thousands of ordinary people.

We have also had our content — photos and text — stolen by businesses that made money from our work. (Yes, we have a hard time believing it, too.) Illegitimate use of copyrighted material is a problem for some people who earn their daily bread by creating things that are easily duplicated. Those people make some wonderful things, and we should do what we can to protect their hard work.

But there are two bills in the US Congress (SOPA and PIPA, in the House and Senate respectively) that are, as The Oatmeal puts it, “like dealing with a lion that escaped from the zoo by blasting some kittens with a flamethrower.” These bills take the most abused aspects of the DMCA and enlarge them a thousand-fold. The impact of these bills are astonishingly broad. For more information, we recommend:

A great summary of the issues from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Another summary, in video form, from Fight for the Future.
A more academic account from Marvin Ammori
A much less academic take, in animated form, from The Oatmeal.

So today we join the Strike against SOPA. We will resume our usual tripe tomorrow.

Oh, American Press, bless your heart

Anita — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:57:47 +0000

The US State Department released a broad travel advisory for Europe on Sunday. It cautioned Americans who are traveling to Europe to be extra vigilant. As one would expect, some of our loved ones in the US expressed concern over our safety. Suffice it to say, I have felt safe and continue to feel safe in Luxembourg. In fact, I cannot imagine a safer place to be.

But feeling safe and actually being safe are two different things. So, in the interest of learning as much as possible, I checked my usual online newspapers on Monday. The most prominent piece was in the Wall Street Journal. The article was reasonable in its tone, but the photo and video captions made be laugh. Not a “ha-ha” laugh: I was laughing at you, American newsmedia. You amuse me.

A screen grab of the article:

The first video caption reads “With armed soldiers patrolling under the Eiffel Tower in Paris, tourists seemed undeterred by the warning…..” Of course the tourists are undeterred — those soldiers are there EVERY DAY, all the time! I think their primary job is running off guys that are peddling the cheap Eiffel Tower statues. In fairness, the Journal did capture that aspect of the situation.

Still, to me, the picture with the Eiffel Tower statues is entirely unrealistic. First, the guy pushing the vacation ~~tchotchkes~~ memories would have scooped them up and gone running before the soldiers arrived. That shot was totally set up by the photographer.

For a more realistic view, here are our photos around the Eiffel Tower from September 2009. (Please keep in mind that we weren’t trying to capture soldiers in the original photos. They were so common that they were just included in the frame of some of the photos we took last year.) Click on the photos for full-size versions.

Soldier on patrol underneath the Eiffel Tower; Champs de Mars in the background

Peddlers underneath the Eiffel Tower

Why are they running?

I mean “soldier” in the broadest sense. There are many different police forces in France, almost all with militarized components.

Peddlers relax at “home base” just across the street from the Tower — on this day, it really looked like a half-hearted game of tag.

But wait! There’s more! The Eiffel Tower isn’t the only Paris landmark that the Journal dug up.

To anyone that spends time in Paris, the caption is totally misleading: “French soldiers patrol around the Louvre museum in Paris, Sunday.” Guess what, WSJ? The soldiers patrol around the Louvre EVERY DAY. We were just in Paris in September and we were at the Louvre a bunch. And we saw those guys all the time. Those soldiers may be patrolling on Sunday, but not due to any new alert from the US.

Voilà: our photos from early September of this year. Pretty much the same patrol.

But the part about the whole thing that I really appreciate is the fact that the State Department is warning travelers. Tuesday’s WSJ:

The knowledge that, on average, some 100,000 Americans are traveling in Europe at any one time also factored into U.S. decision-making, said the counterterrorism official.

What about those of us living here? Are we not a concern? At least the Canadians care about us:

I mean, there are only 1.2 million of us over here. Perhaps we should focus on that, along with the 100,000 that are traveling? However, not one article that I have read in our beloved American press has thought to point that little nugget.

I suppose the American press is focusing on those who are reading their newspapers and watching their television shows. That would make perfect sense — except I pulled all the WSJ information above from the European edition. Thanks for caring, my English-language “local” press.

Census Sadness

Anita — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:50:40 +0000

Both of us read a lot of US news, even while following the local Luxembourg headlines. So I am well aware of the upcoming US census (http://www.census.gov/), from the anger over the Super Bowl commercial , to the return rates, to the questions on the form and whether they are reasonable.

But what I didn’t realize until about a week ago: we will not be counted in the census. Intellectually, I understand the reasoning. We don’t live in the US. Why should we be counted in the US numbers? But emotionally – I don’t want to be left out!

The fact that we will miss being in a census count could be important – not today or tomorrow, but 50 or 100 years from now. Recently, we have been working on a genealogy project for both sides of the family. (Mostly Will’s work.) The census data from the early 1900s was a treasure trove of information. My heart is a little sad to know that, for 2010, I will not exist from a US perspective.

Perhaps I’m being over maudlin from the long winter and I just need spring to come. For all our friends and family in the US, please remember that the census is important. Take it seriously and return those forms — the due date is this week!

Sneak Peek: Comparative Timeline

Will — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:26:50 +0000

The Bugle staff have been working on an exciting new project that will give you a new way of looking at the world.

Our guests in Ireland would sometimes visit, in the same day or two, three important Irish sites: Kilmainham Gaol (1796-1923 CE), Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne (3500-3200 BCE), and the Guinness Storehouse (2000-present).

Even the most historically aware tourists had trouble grasping the time periods involved: what was going on other places, how long monuments were originally used, and how long it took civilizations to change.

To help visualize the things we talk about on this blog (and in person at the B&B), we are proud to announce the beta version of our timeline.

It has some unusual technical requirements, so it lives on its own page. You can find it at http://bakkerbugle.com/timeline/timelineParallels.html.

Comments are warmly welcomed, and we’ll be tweaking it over the next few weeks. Also, we’d really appreciate a snappy name for the thing.

My husband gave me the world for Christmas (twice)

Anita — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:55:52 +0000

Two years ago, one of my Christmas presents from Will was a globe. After spending more than a decade with me, he knew better than to actually buy the globe. (I tend to be a bit fussy.) Instead, he gave me an awesome paper globe he hand-constructed to stand in for my real globe. In the next month, I was to shop in Ireland to find the perfect globe.

As it often happens with these things, the actual purchase of the globe was constantly delayed. The globe store had limited hours; I didn’t like the colors that I saw; and so on. Globes are expensive so I wanted my globe to be perfect.

Christmas 2009 arrived and I had not yet gotten around to buying a globe. Will was fed up with my antics and decided to take matters into his own hands. He reached into the interweb and, once again, found something to hold me until I find that perfect globe.

So I am now the proud owner of a Ravensburger Puzzleball. What he didn’t know was I had nearly bought the same thing a few weeks earlier! I saw it in a store in Luxembourg, but they only had the Puzzleball in German or French — and English names is one of my (many) requirements.

We opened it last night and started it. We had fun looking at the pieces, testing our geographic knowledge. (We don’t know much about islands and oceans.) We also found:

Chicago

Luxembourg (Look carefully!)

Ireland (and some of the British Isles)

I envisioned a quiet evening after work that would end with a nice little globe. I’ll admit that I didn’t realize how time-consuming the Puzzleball may turn out to be. There is a lot of ocean out there, kids.

We plan to keep you informed of our progress. I managed most of South America last night, but now we need to tackle the ocean around Antarctica before we can go any farther. Personally, I can’t wait to get to Russia as it will cover a lot of ground!

(Insert obligatory “I can see Russia from my house” joke here.)

Preview: How big is Luxembourg?

Will — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:54:23 +0000

The most enduring attraction of this blog appears to be one of our early posts, the one about the size of Ireland. (I suspect that it is particularly popular with young students looking to borrow some ideas for a school report.)

The Bugle staff are working on a sequel to that post, with the working title, Luxembourg: Put It in Your Pocket and Take It with You. Today, we offer you an early look at our contribution to the fascinating world of comparative geography.

We chose to compare Luxembourg with Cook County Illinois, since they are very close in total area:

2240 square kilometers: Cook County
2586 square kilometers: Luxembourg

After experimenting with some alternative illustrations, we think a simple overlay works best. (Click on any image in this post to see a larger version.)

Residents of northeastern Illinois might find the following illustration helpful, too. It’s what the Chicagoland highway system would look like, superimposed on Luxembourg. We’re neglecting the hills and valleys of Luxembourg, of course, but this might give you a rough idea of the size of the country.

For cartophiles — Luxembourg City would be around Alsip, along I-294 northwest of its crossing with I-57. Also, the top of the image corresponds the Wisconsin border (roughly, as always).

We’re not finished with this project, so if you have any requests or ideas regarding the size of Luxembourg, please feel free to comment — all (positive) suggestions are welcome!

White House Diplomacy and the American Idea

Will — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:46:29 +0000

No, this isn’t a very late endorsement for Barack Obama. (Will and Anita made personal endorsements during the 2008 campaign. Like The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Bugle’s noble influence will not be tainted by political endorsements.) This is about Gordon Brown’s visit to the White House last week.

As usual, some background first. PM Brown brought a sublimely thoughtful gift to Obama. It is no exaggeration to say that it approaches the ideal gift. President Obama gave Brown a box set of DVDs. A box set especially created by the American Film Institute for such occasions, but it still seems perfunctory.

We heard the American media’s ridicule of Obama’s gift way across the Pond. The British tabloids hyperventilated, of course. (See this American overview.) The Guardian had a more sober take. The Irish press had an article or two — not much more than its usual coverage of American diplomacy.

While Brown addressed the US Congress, I was catching up on American magazines. Serendipity handed me the November 2007 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, with a cover story entitled “The Future of the American Idea”. And lo, Tom Wolfe’s contribution gave me a sudden insight — the kind that makes thinking about history delightful at times (at least in the hands of a master like Wolfe). Here’s the first paragraph:

Since you asked … the American idea was born at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday, December 2, 1803, the moment Thomas Jefferson sprang the so-called pell-mell on the new British ambassador, Anthony Merry, at dinner in the White House. Oh, this was no inadvertent faux pas. This was faux pas aforethought. Jefferson obviously loved the prospect of dumbfounding the great Brit and leaving him speechless, furious, seething, so burned up that smoke would start coming out of his ears. And all that the pell-mell did.

It gets much more comical from there, but I don’t want to spoil it. I recommend that you read the whole story, for free, online. (Thank you, The Atlantic.) I hope that it enriches your perspective on American diplomacy. At the very least, I’m sure that you’ll think it’s a good yarn.

As for whether Obama was pulling a T.J. — well, I’ll leave that to the comments.

Friday’s Inauguration

Will — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:57:06 +0000

I know, I know, the title is a weaker pun than even Bugle readers should expect.

We partied with friends at TGI Friday’s on St Stephen’s Green. It’s the most American drinking establishment around here, and they did the place up for Tuesday night.

An article in The Irish Times that got me thinking: “Irish catalyst in Obama’s journey” by Patrick Cosgrave (who reports on the work of historians and the observations of Obama’s friends).

Barack Obama owes a whole lot more to Ireland than an ancestor or two. His journey of change and his central vision were born 150 years ago because of Ireland. … Who inspired Barack Obama? One figure appears to stand above all others: Frederick Douglass.
…
In a letter from Ireland to William Llyod [sic] Garrison, one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, Douglass wrote: “I seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life.” He went on to add that, “instead of the bright, blue sky of America, I am covered with the soft, gray fog of the Emerald Isle. I breathe, and lo! the chattel becomes a man! I gaze around in vain for one who will question my equal humanity, claim me as a slave, or offer me an insult.” Prof Patricia Ferreira, of Norwich University, concludes that “although from a young age Douglass possessed the inclination to be a leader, Ireland was the site where this trait blossomed”.
…
Douglass, it seems, inspired Obama more than any other individual … because it was Douglass, “transformed by Ireland”, who first articulated change in a way America has never forgotten and in a way to which Obama has given a new meaning. “Behold the change!” Douglass wrote from Ireland. Behold Obama!

A selection of Irish articles on the inauguration:

Time for Obama to be as good as his eloquent word – Irish Independent: This week, the first black American president will move into the White House — a residence that was partly constructed by black slave labour. And, although Barack Obama is not himself descended from slaves, his wife (and thus his children) are. Whatever President Obama achieves, or fails to achieve in office, the extraordinarily moving fact of his election will dominate history’s view of him. … So why do I think that there is anything dubious about Obama’s gift for words? Because the miraculous effect of them cannot be a substitute for action.
Moneygall, you’ve got competition – Irish Independent: A second Irish village is laying claim to be the ancestral home of Barack Obama. The tiny village of Moneygall raised American flags and tricolours side by side yesterday. The excitement started early in the morning in the Offaly village when an Obama bus pulled up outside of Ollie Hayes’s pub. But in the nearby village of Shinrone, Co Offaly, it was a more low-key affair, as they have only recently discovered links to Barack Obama.
It’s Obamarama time! – Irish Times: The American Ireland Fund is hosting a daytime event for supporters at a building on Pennsylvania Avenue, with excellent views of the parade. On Tuesday night, the leading lights of Irish-American society will don black tie and ball gowns at the Phoenix Park Hotel near Union Station for the first ever Irish inaugural ball. Irish Ambassador to the US Michael Collins and former taoiseach and EU ambassador John Bruton are among the guests of honour at the event, which is hosted by Irish-American Democrats, a political action committee that raises money for Democratic candidates who take an interest in Irish causes. … The Irish event is the biggest of the ethnic balls…
Illegal Irish “need Obama’s help” – Irish Times: An Irish MEP has written to US President-elect Barack Obama to highlight that up to 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants living in the US need his “political assistance now more than ever.” Seán Ó Neachtain, Fianna Fáil MEP for Ireland North and West, urged Mr Obama to consider introducing measures to allow undocumented and illegal Irish to remain in the US legally.

One request regarding Blago

Will — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:39:29 +0000

Our Illinois friends and family asked us: “Did you hear about the Governor?” The short answer is “Yes.” I’d like your help in getting the long answer just right.

It’s no surprise that Ireland’s news-media pays more attention to world events than the big media of the USA. What occasionally surprises Anita and me is how much attention Irish news outlets pay specifically to US political news. For example:this spring, during the debate regarding the delegates from Michigan’s Democratic primary, the standard three-minute news update on an Irish pop radio station included a detailed explanation of how the primary system worked (and didn’t work in this case).

Illinois Governor Blagojevich wasn’t mentioned by name at first (and who could blame the announcers). Neither was Patrick Fitzgerald: we simply heard that the Governor of the State of Illinois was arrested by federal authorities. The newspapers went into more detail, and later radio reports did too. I haven’t yet noticed any analysis or editorial comments (beyond inane radio-personality chatter).

So here’s my request regarding Blagojevich: Can you help me find the right word to describe what I feel?

About six years ago, I embarked on a search for a word that described the attitude of politicians that engage in a certain style of corruption, blithe ignorance, and conceit. I arrived at “gall”, a word closely related to “temerity” and “effrontery”. (The built-in MacOS dictionary application — which appears to be the New American Oxford Dictionary — has a nice discussion of this family of words. Here’s a page that appears to be lifted from that application.)

When one hasn’t paid attention to a corrupt politician, one can be surprised by that politician’s gall. One may, thus, react with disgust or disillusionment. (If one has some temerity oneself, one may react with self-righteousness or superciliousness.)

But what about when you know that such a politician is corrupt, ignorant, and/or conceited? Sometimes, the only surprising thing about a federal case is the depth of the politician’s gall.

Here’s what I have in mind. Everyone who (a) talked with me, and (b) took any interesting in state-level politics — everyone knew that Blagojevich had plenty of insolence and temerity. So I wasn’t quite surprised by the news of his arrest. But I was still amazed by just how reckless and flagrant his actions were.

Well, not quite amazed. Not exactly astonished, either. There is an element of disgust or contempt that isn’t conveyed by those words. “Flabbergasted” and “astounded” make it sound like I was incapacitated in some way, and that’s not true. “Boggled” is just silly.

I’m looking a word to describe the reaction that I feel when confronted (but not surprised) by another person’s gall. It’s something that I feel with increasing frequency, alas, and I believe that others feel the same way. I believe that I’ve had conversations where everyone struggled to articulate a common feeling.

So, help me out here. Surely there’s a good word — or maybe an apt phrase. Maybe I need to borrow a word from another language — as with schadenfreude or agitprop. I’d be delighted to discuss all of this with y’all in the comments. Do you ever feel this way yourself?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60 years

Will — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:17:00 +0000

I hope that your news source of choice has a piece on the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This statement is almost certainly the most important text of the 20th Century.

The Irish Times brought together a remarkable group of writers to reflect on the UDHR, so I recommend the web version of their project.

One welcome aspect of living in Ireland is the amount of attention paid to the big questions facing the whole world. It is now the International Year of Human Rights Learning, and so Ireland’s institutions have programmes that actually affect people. In the US, if such declarations are noted at all, it is usually either co-opted as a partisan rallying cry, or treated as political frivolity, like Particle Accelerator Day or Uno the Beagle Day. Some circles do take it seriously, but did you hear about the UDHR’s anniversay until just now?

I humbly suggest that you take interest in your humanity today, for 10-15 minutes. If you’ve never read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, do it today. If you have, take a look at that Irish Times website, or for an American perspective, read (or listen to) Eleanor Roosevelt’s speech from sixty years ago. (The inspiring stuff starts about one-third in, but the political context is interesting too.)

And you’re welcome, as always, to add your own reflections here.

Kenosha and Dublin: financially bound

Will — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:48:07 +0000

I started listening to NPR’s Planet Money podcast to understand why The Reserve money market fund broke the buck. I’d read several recommendations for the Planet Money’s analysis, but the financial crisis didn’t shock me until a major money market fund failed to meet my lowest expectations.

My second shock came when I heard a collaborative investigation by NPR and the New York Times that focused entirely on one link in the world’s economic mesh: between Kenosha and Dublin. The story was compelling and illuminating, aside from its personal relevance. It was also riveting to hear how millions of dollars (on paper) moved in 2007, along with me, from the northernmost suburbs of Chicago to the city of Dublin.

CAUTION: Check with your physician before listening to Planet Money and/or listening to and/or reading any in-depth analysis of the current financial crisis. If you have more than 30% of your net worth invested in stocks, bonds, or other financial instruments, you may experience the following symptoms: faintness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and/or post-nasal drip. If you experience any of those symptoms, contact your mommy, because your broker ain't gonna answer the phone. Use common sense and do not learn about financial markets when you are coping with a long commute, a misbehaving rugrat, or other distressing matters.

Here’s a short summary: Several school boards in southern Wisconsin bought complex financial instruments from uninformed agents who assured them that the financial deals were relatively risk-free. Those school boards invested with Depfa Bank, a rapidly expanding entity which recently moved from Germany to Ireland for the tax advantage.

Depfa and the Wisconsin school boards were each liable, in different ways, to cover corporate bonds if they lost a great deal of value. That just wasn’t supposed to happen, according to the school boards’ advisors and Depfa’s business model. A huge German bank, Hypo Real Estate bought Depfa just before it did. Now the German government is wondering whether Hypo is “too big to fail” as Depfa drags it down. And Wisconsin school boards have much, much less expertise to draw on as they contemplate the future.

I recommend Planet Money’s podcast as a way of getting your mind around the enormity of this financial crisis. Here are two links to get you started. The first is to the page where you can download the podcast or listen to it online. The second is to one of the companion pieces in the New York Times.

Planet Money: A Tale of Intertwined Misery
NYT: From Midwest to M.T.A., Pain From Global Gamble

There are links from each of those two pages to even more articles and audio broadcasts, if you really want to hear the gory details. As for myself, all I can offer are some photos of the Depfa offices in Dublin. (Apparently, neither news organization had the wherewithal to hire a photographer here.) They are what you’d expect from a company that exists mostly on paper.

The Depfa Building sits atop a parking garage, the darker structure in the foreground. The offices have a spectacular view (at least until the buildings to the east are complete). Short-term thinking, right?

Hypo Real Estate lists this building as its official address, but there are no signs mentioning the company. The men in the lobby didn’t look inviting, and I wasn’t in a Bugle P.I. kind of mood.

The day Obama was elected president, a friend called to say, “It’s safe to come back now!” I’m not so sure. Then again, when it comes to high finance, there’s no place to hide.

Give thanks for your butter

Anita — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:36:15 +0000

There are many things that I love about living in Ireland. There are a few things that annoy or trouble me. But there is one thing that I clearly hate — the fact that butter comes in a single chunk of butter — 454 grams, to be precise. Why is it 454 grams, you ask? Because that is as close to one pound of butter as you can get in metric terms.

I could deal with a big block of butter if only there were measurements on the wrapping.

The wonder that is American butter comes in a package of four sticks to a pound, with tablespoons and other measurements clearly marked on the wrapping. Irish butter, by contrast, arrives unadorned. It comes in the same kind of waxed-paper wrapping as American butter, but no useful scales or handy particulars mar its gleaming gold packaging.

A poor cook is left to either (1) guess or (2) calmly force the butter into a measuring cup, making sure that all the air pockets are gone.

You may have noticed, by my tone, that this drives me crazy. As many of you know, I love to bake. But between the tiny oven and the butter, I’ve been driven to distraction.

So, for all those American cooks out there, preparing for their Thanksgiving feast, please take a moment to appreciate the lowly American stick of butter. Pause for a moment and reflect that if you need six tablespoons, it is easy as can be. Take heart that American ingenuity has again triumphed over old-world “complacency”. Love your butter and give thanks for its genius – it’s the best there is.

Well… American butter’s taste may not be that great, but it’s darn easy to measure!

Memo to North American tourists in Europe

Will — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 15:57:43 +0000

Through a FOIA request submitted this summer, it has come to the Bugle’s attention that all American tourists travelling to Europe received the following instructions:

From: North American Tourist Authority
To: US and Canadian Citizens bound for Europe
Date: [redacted]

Dear US and/or Canadian citizens bound for Europe,

Tourists from North America have always been drawn together by the sound of their non-British accents. For decades, the Standard Greeting among these travelers was, “Where are you from?” or “Where ya from?” or some variation thereof.

As of [redacted], 2008, the new Standard Greeting is “So, what about this election, huh?” Please use this Greeting when encountering any person with a non-British accents in Foreign Countries.

An image of the letter, as received by the Bugle in response to our FOIA request, is available in PDF form.

The Bugle already sent a letter to the President of NATA with the following message:

We respectfully request that American expatriates receive timely notice of any future changes in the Standard Greeting. NATA should be aware that expatriates with American accents may be disoriented when visiting tourist sites around Europe without having prepared a Suitable Response to a new Greeting.

That is all.

Recommended Listening: Looking at the US

Will — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:40:31 +0000

Ordinary Dubliners want to talk about the coming election for the US Presidency, given any excuse. In fact, the Europeans we meet want to talk about the coming election, given any excuse.

And everybody talks about the American economy, but especially Americans.

All that is by way of introduction to two podcast episodes that I found fascinating and accurate in representing the mainstream of English-speaking European thought about the US.

Open Source: “As Others See Us” (direct link to mp3): An Open Source podcast episode, produced by Brown University (in the US), featuring Godfrey Hodgson from Oxford. Within the theme of Nixon’s campaign in 1968, Hodgson articulates a dominant, moderate, intellectual view of US politics from Ireland, the UK, and most of the Continent.
BBC Radio Ulster: Everyday Ethics, 21 Sept 2008 (direct link to mp3): An episode of Everyday Ethics, a podcast from BBC Radio Ulster that is far broader than its title suggests. The episode contains three stories, and the first and third are interesting perspectives on current American issues. The first story is a panel discussion of the root causes of the international credit crisis. In the third story, the BBC’s North America editor “makes the case for giving America a second chance.” The second story is about near-death experiences. It’s nice enough, but not relevant to the theme of this post.

Bugle Bit: What all parents should do

Will — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:30:50 +0000

In case you missed Tina Fey’s acceptance at the Emmy Awards, for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, 30 Rock (video link):

I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate with my looks and abilities. Well done, that is what all parents should do.

The Bugle Staff agree, unanimously.

Constitution Day already?

Will — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:28:51 +0000

It seems like just a few months ago that we celebrated Constitution Day 2007. Today, it’s Constitution Day again for the United States of America, commemorating the signing of the new country’s constitution, 221 years ago, by the members of the Constitutional Convention.

Other countries also commemorate their constitutions — on appropriate dates, naturally. In the US, Constitution Day ranks well below most other patriotic holidays. (Unlike Norway!)

If you’ve been reading our posts on recent Irish history, you won’t be surprised to learn that the Republic of Ireland has a hesitant relationship with its constitution. The problems start with the contested progression from the UK-imposed Constitution of the Free State, which more or less initiated a civil war, to the current Constitution of 1937, which was more or less written by Éamon de Valera, and formally declared the independent Republic of Ireland. And don’t forget that Ireland’s constitution is the sole reason why the Irish electorate was allowed to vote on the Lisbon Treaty!

Ireland’s constitution sets it apart from the British tradition of common law — and much closer to the American commitment to a supreme founding document. It took decades for the British-trained lawyers of Ireland to develop their own idea of judicial review, but like the US, Ireland still struggles to apply a constitutional ideal of the rule of law.

Ireland’s recent constitutional history diverges from the United States on the matter of amendments. There are relatively few amendments to the US Constitution compared to other national constitutions from the last two centuries. For example, Ireland saw twenty-one amendments added to its constitution since 1972. (Five referenda to amend the Constitution of Ireland failed since that year.)

I don’t remember the passage of the twenty-seventh amendment in 1992. Maybe that is because it was trivial; here’s the entire text:

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Hopefully what passed for reform in the early 1990s won’t satisfy my generation. Wait — that’s a contentious statement, isn’t it? Does the US really need more constitutional amendments?

The meaningful American proposals in recent history were the Equal Rights Amendment and the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment. Those failed to attain the approval of enough states. Meanwhile, American politicians introduce hundreds of amendments each year as a form of political speech. In the past few years, the US media paid attention to proposals regarding the definition of marriage, the requirement of balanced budgets, and the prohibition of flag desecration.

If there were a serious way for you to propose an amendment to your constitution, what would you put forth?

By the way, the State of Illinois may hold a constitutional convention in the near future. More on that later…

Message to the USA: Register to Vote!

Will — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:08:58 +0000

Our absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 election in the US arrived today. Happy Day!

The Bugle would like to use this occasion to remind you that we are approaching the registration deadlines for most localities. (Illinois is Tues, Oct. 7; Missouri is Wed, Oct. 8; New York is Fri, Oct. 10; Iowa is Fri, Oct. 24; and in Wisconsin you can register on Election Day.)

If you’re not registered to vote at your current address, right now is the best time to do it. There are several organizations that will to help you register with online resources. Here are three; pick any one — just do it today!

Obama’s Voter Registration Tools
McCain’s Voter Registration Tools
The venerable League of Women Voters are the best at it

I believe that the election of the US President is sometimes not the most important one, because your local authorities affect your day-to-day life more immediately. They often determine the policies of zoning, development, traffic, and policing that make your community what it will be tomorrow. If you’re tired of hearing about Obama, McCain, Palin and Biden, look into the issues at stake in your local elections.

Links, 16 July 2008

Will — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:18:21 +0000

Links to peruse at your leisure, presented in no particular order.

French Prez Sarkozy will visit Dublin Monday: After the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland, Sarkozy has been downright intimidating about Ireland’s role in the EU. His visit to Dublin to meet with government officials (and possibly representatives of the opposition to Lisbon) should make my neighbourhood fairly exciting on Monday.
Don’t miss this tourism survey: This report is essential reading. Its findings are substantiated by BBB&B’s own data.
Rumours flying that Obama will visit Ireland: Anita heard, on the radio, that Obama would/could/might visit Ireland during his European trip. I can’t find any solid information on this, except that some political grandstanding may have started the buzz.
Our recession can beat up your recession: Do the following news reports sound familiar? A credit crunch is contributing to crashing home values. Massive numbers going unemployed. A civil service that seems unprepared for any of it. There is little confidence in the current government’s ability to handle the economic crisis.
Oxegen festival a great success: Dublin was dead quiet this past weekend — most people between the ages of 18 and 30 were at the Oxegen festival. The lineup was so amazing that Anita and I were tempted to camp with the young’uns — but only tempted. Good news in the aftermath, too: young folks know better than to drive home drunk.
Oregon cop causes outrage in Ireland: A young Irish man was killed by a police officer in Oregon on 30 June. His mother, living in Dublin, can’t get information about the shooting. This is causing some outrage in Ireland, especially after the officer was charged with child sex abuse as well. As far as I know, neither national government has taken notice yet.
Immigration laws create extraordinary problems for families: I visit the US embassy a lot, and I see many families trying to work out visas, passports, etc, for their children or themselves. A Galway family had a particularly hard time of it, since it took a complex lawsuit to move back home.
Independent: Americans still not visiting: “The number of wealthy US tourists travelling to Ireland has dropped by almost 15pc — and those who do travel are spending less.” Come on! What will it take to get you to enjoy our glorious Irish summer?
Can’t get enough Lisbon Treaty?: Look into the anguish of a thoughtful Irish voter just before the vote. Observe the contempt engendered by the campaigns. Nod sagely as Germany’s Spiegel analyzes the vote.
Another Irish lawyer on the run: Is it that these cases don’t make the papers in the US, or is it something about this time and place? First Michael Lynn and now this Thomas Byrne guy — up millions of euros, and on the lam.

Happy Fourth of July

Will — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:15:42 +0000

Today is not a holiday in Ireland, of course. Still, there are plenty of celebrations of Independence Day here in Dublin. Anita will attend a party at one of A-Company’s offices, organised by Irish workers. Our local, The Pembroke, is decorated with a big poster of the Stars and Stripes, and red-white-and-blue bunting and balloons all over. The pub is advertising free hot dogs with the purchase of American beer. (Coors Light is all they have on tap; it’s embarrassing.) I’m curious to hear what the DJ plays during happy hour.

Dubliners, at least, always have a great interest in the US — more its politics than its economics. Over the past year, the general Irish attitude about America was still wary, but it shifted toward positivity, mostly due to the success of the 3% Irish presidential candidate, Barack Obama. He is seen as a spiritual successor to JFK, and Kennedy is still revered and adored all over Ireland. The dominant mood, as I sense it, is that the US can inspire hope and energy abroad once again.

Finally, let us not forget the close bond between America and the rebellions of Ireland after the Declaration of Independence. The success of American independence from Great Britain was an inspiration for the Rising of 1798:

John Cladwell described how “..on the news of the battle of Bunker Hill, my nurse Ann Orr led me to the top of a mount on midsummer eve, where the young and the aged were assembled before a blazing bonfire to celebrate what they considered the triumph of America over British despotism.”

Many of the United Irishmen, the intellectual leaders of that rebellion, looked across the Atlantic. They would continue to look west through the subsequent risings as well. And Irish immigrants to the US would play decisive roles for both nations.

While Wolfe Tone, one of the heroes of the 1798 rebellion, did not admire the Americans he met in Pennsylvania, his “Declaration of the United Irishmen” echoes the “Declaration of Independence” that we celebrate today:

In the present great era of reform, when unjust Governments are falling in every quarter of Europe; when religious persecution is compelled to abjure her tyranny over conscience; when the rights of man are ascertained in theory, and that theory substantiated by practice; when antiquity can no longer defend absurd and oppressive forms against the common sense and common interests of mankind; when all Government is acknowledged to originate from the people, and to be so far only obligatory as it protects their rights and promotes their welfare; we think it our duty, as Irishmen, to come forward, and state what we feel to be our heavy grievance, and what we know to be its effectual remedy. We have no national Government— we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength is the weakness of Ireland; and these men have the whole of the power and patronage of the country as means to seduce and subdue the honesty and spirit of her representatives in the legislature.

And the United Irish catechism makes the connection absolutely clear:

What is that in your hand? It is a branch.
Of what? Of the Tree of Liberty.
Where did it first grow? In America.
Where does it bloom? In France.
Where did the seeds fall? In Ireland.

The spirit of the Fourth of July is not about the United States of America (a country which came in being well after 1776). It is the spirit of Liberty that continues to inspire so many today.