A journal of political, social, and other important, possibly even somewhat related affairs, including but not limited to: Central European Society, The European Union, HC Kometa Brno, American Politics, Film, and Beer.

30 April 2010

From "The Globalization Chronicles"

Hooters, after years of struggle, is coming to Prague. It will be interesting to see how successful this is. There's no doubt that Czech Republic is a more liberal country than the US is, though, as the Prague Post points out, it is a question whether or not Czechs will visit the chicken-wing paradise when they can see women with much less on in many places throughout the city. It's probably quite clear that British "stag parties" will be happy to go and sample things from Hooters' menu, but not so clear whether there will be a regular clientele outside of this. Your correspondent once visited an ersatz Hooters called "Rooster" in Kraków, Poland, however, and business there seemed to be bustling (and busty). On the other hand, Czech society is quite different its Polish counterpart in this department, and so perhaps the comparison is inapt.

This brings up the interesting topic of what American exports survive in Czech Republic. McDonald's and KFC are fixtures, particularly in downtown parts of the cities, and the first Burger King recently opened at Prague's main train station. TGI Friday's, for reasons completely foreign to me, has two locations in Prague, both undoubtedly as awful in Czech Republic as they are in America, and Subway has a shop in Malá strana. Tragically, Little Caesar's closed the last of its outlets last year, and Dunkin' Donuts, which once graced Václavské náměstí in Prague, seems to be gone as well. So who can say?

Of course, Hooters is a bit different than these other eateries, so whatever makes or breaks Hooters, it is doubtful that the food will be the top concern. Given its location on Vodičkova Street, foreigners will have little trouble finding it, and it's likely that there will be little problem with "casting" and hiring waitresses. We shall see. In the meantime, those of you who want a birthday party to remember now have a Prague option.

24 April 2010

More British Politics

This BBC site has a handy-dandy super-techno seat calculator, factoring in Labour's districting advantage. (See an interesting article on this phenomenon here.) It doesn't explain how exactly Labour gets such a seat advantage, but it does show how the seats should shake out based on the polls. Moreover, it shows the possibility of a "hung" Parliament. Unfortunately, it only shows results for four groups -- Labour, Conservatives (Tories, for those of you who commented earlier -- you know who you are!), Liberal Democrats, and "Other." These "Other" seats, including those from Northern Ireland, may become very important after the vote. For example, the Ulster Unionist Party has agreed to run on the same ticket as the Conservatives. Moreover, due to the first-past-the-post system, the national vote percentages may not reflect the BBC's guide -- it is as though Rasmussen would take a poll in the US showing that nationwide, the GOP received 55% of the 2010 Congressional vote, and therefore would end up with some fixed percentage of Congress (though not 55%. As Labour enjoys the districting advantage, to follow this analogy through, it would be as though the GOP would receive 65% or 45% of the seats.)

In any case, it is a delightfully complicated system, and it will probably be shelved soon in favor of a more PR-like (proportional representation) system, particularly if the Lib Dems do well (The Lib Dems have argued, for their own interests, for a long time about the benefits of PR). In the long term, this change will likely lead to a larger government sector in the UK -- PR systems and coalition-building tend to lead to larger government, due to the required amount of "payoffs" to minority partners on the coalition. It also would represent a further homogenizing of politics in Europe, which would be tragic for anyone who claims to celebrate diversity.

France's "Model Imam"

This article from Der Spiegel is an intriguing read, about an imam in a northern suburb of Paris who supports, among other things, the French "burqa ban." Needless to say, he is very popular with some, and very unpopular with some others.

France is, of course, in some ways a test case for the idea of "European Islam." Its tradition of laïcité combined with its large Muslim population makes Islam a particularly salient aspect of identity in France; moreover, the relatively low level of integration of Muslims in France and the relative poverty of this population undoubtedly contributes to France's suspicion of Islam (though it's questionable whether or not that poverty is a cause or an effect of the lack of integration. Probably a little of both.) Imam Chalghoumi, according to the article, is working on a book dealing with what "a European Islam" should look like.

Indeed, it is probably not just a "European Islam" that M. Chalghoumi is searching for. When we hear about people asking, "Where are the denunciations of the Mullahs? Where is 'moderate' Islam?," these are the reformers that the West and Islam surely need. It is clear that Islam in its more violent forms must and should be defeated; however, this cannot be accomplished solely by boots on the ground and even by building democratic institutions. It is equally clear that Muslims, the vast majority of whom recoil from the idea of their faith as a closed-minded violent ideology, will have to step up and reconcile an individual freedom of conscience with broader Islamic society. In this vein, and while not writing the doctrine, imams and Muslim theologians should at least be afforded state protection and the right to speak, even when -- especially when -- their greatest opponents are their own flock.

Imam Chalghoumi is perhaps not the best spokesman for a "reform" Islam; his own past is rather checkered and unclear (the "birther" types of French Islam are having a field day with his inability to explain his past), but it's a start. He is undoubtedly controversial, but we can at least hope that he has a long future in what he describes as "European" Islam.

20 April 2010

Posted Without Comment

It's good to see him giving back to the community.

19 April 2010

Government vs. Industry

This article from the Telegraph demonstrates the fundamental difference in attitudes of government and business about how to do damage control. European governments (inexplicably waiting for days to organize some sort of conference call, as though transportation secretaries have more important things to deal with) have argued that, as Tessa Jowell, the UK's transportation minister (previously under investigation for corruption because her husband was paid off by Berlusconi) put it, "[We have] been working round the clock, in order to try to make sure that, within the context of safety being the most important consideration, services can be restored to normal as soon as possible. I think everybody would understand that the overriding concern is safety of passengers." As a result, there is a virtual ban on flights throughout most of Europe, even in places where the ash cloud has been relatively minor. Governmental responses (as usual) have been to apply a meat cleaver to a problem that could use a scalpel, (or at least a paring knife). In no case has anybody seemed to consider that the airlines themselves have little interest in flying in conditions that are too dangerous. If the safety of passengers is truly the overriding concern, surely the airlines are also interested in this as well.

As Giovanni Bisignani, Director-General of the International Air Transport Association, put it, "this decision has to be based on facts and supported by risk assessment. We need to replace this blanket approach with a practical approach."

The solution for the UK's government is to put consular officers at the airports, a stunning combination of incompetence and paternalism. "Well, we can't really DO anything for you, but here's a bureaucrat." The solution by the airline industry is to figure out where the cloud is the worst, and reroute planes around it, or at least get a few people where they need to be. No one, including the airlines, wants to fly into dangerous areas, and it would be nice to hear from some of the makers of the planes' engines, which are designed for relatively clean air. (Of course, these same planes manage to fly in and out of LAX without too much of a particulate problem. And heaven knows the engine manufacturers want to avoid any liability problems for their product.) Nevertheless, it appears once again that crash-helmet government is exacerbating the problem, rather than solving it.

17 April 2010

Global Warming

Crazy things are happening on the planet, and the atmosphere in some places is heating up much quicker than originally anticipated. In fact, the atmosphere should even start cooling, but it's not.

On Pluto.

14 April 2010

The British Elections

This piece, from Iain Murray at National Review Online, is a fantastic (though a little long) explanation of the British elections coming up next month, May 7. Murray is, of course, a conservative (this is NRO) cheerleader in most of his columns, but here he manages to walk readers through the ins and outs of British politics adeptly and with very little bias. It manages to explain the British system without being condescending, and avoids boring the reader with the minutiae endemic to any detailed analysis of any political system. In other words, Murray explains this clearly, but avoids oversimplification. His extremely qualified prediction of a squeaker win by the Tories is, as he himself points out, where the "smart money" is, but it is also clear that other, less palatable, options are definitely in the realm of possibility.

Enjoy reading it with a pint of foamless warm beer.

10 April 2010

Kwasniewski's Quote

"It is a damned place. It sends shivers down my spine. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the intellectual elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk airport. This is a wound which will be very difficult to heal."

An Unbelievable Tragedy for Poland

Apparently, after three or four attempts to land in heavy fog, Poland's version of Air Force One has crashed en route to a commemoration of the Katyń massacre in Russia. As I'm sure most of this blog's readers already know, President Lech Kaczyński and his wife, the Army's Chief of Staff, a former President-in-Exile, and dozens of top officials, Members of the Sejm (Poland's Parliament), and advisors have died. Gazeta Wyborcza has a partial list; a total of 96 people are believed to have died. The acting President has called for 6 days of mourning; Lithuania, a millennium-long ally of Poland, has also announced a national day of mourning. Georgia has done the same.

Polish citizens have
taken to the streets in grief, and the whole nation is simply stunned and devastated. Lech Wałęsa dubbed the crash "Katyń nr 2," noting the sad symbolism of such an awful place, until yesterday planned to be a site for Russian-Polish rapprochement after its brutal history as a site emblematic of Russian-Polish mistrust.

As for the political fallout, the Marshal of the Sejm (equivalent to t
he Speaker of the House) now automatically succeeds to the Presidency; he will be installed at 8:30 tonight (Polish time). Interestingly enough, Bronisław Komorowski (of the Civic Platform Party) was scheduled to run against the President Kaczyński for the presidency in a couple months. The Sejm is elected by electoral lists, and so the person that was next on the list in the last election will take over the duties of the members who have died in the tragedy. When the Sejm is completed again, the process of filling in the ranks of the Polish leadership will begin.

It is hard to imagine the degree to which this will affect the upcoming presidential elections -- many top officials in PiS (Law and Justice) have died, yet it will also be difficult for Komorowski to run a typical campaign. And in the months ahead there will be plenty of time for campaigning. Now is probably more appropriately a time of mourning.


R.I.P.

05 April 2010

Green Washington Wants Less-efficient Fuel - Henry Payne - Planet Gore on National Review Online

Green Washington Wants Less-efficient Fuel - Henry Payne - Planet Gore on National Review Online

As Henry Payne notes, you can’t make this stuff up.