In Moscow and Beijing, they still believe foreign policy is about military and economic power, “spheres of influence,” formal alliances, and political control. In Western Europe (and much of this administration), it’s about moral authority, international norms, and other kinds … Continue reading →
When you are born in 1267, as the Czar was, you see Europe a little differently. Europe, circa 2230. Modern Americans tend to see Europe as either a wonderful playground, imperfectly balanced between foolish efficiency and brilliant eccentricity, or as … Continue reading →
Esteemed Operative and Powerful Minion BG writes in with a lament: I used to explain to people why America was different from Europe. It was because our ancestors got fed up and left. They were warned that they knew no … Continue reading →
Oh yeah, they have a solution for you, all right. Here’s a new meme. Or rather, a really old meme being given a new application. As you may have heard, there is a neo-Nazi-like political party in Greece ascending in … Continue reading →
Well, if you happen to need a lot of hooey, you can always grab a handful of the Los Angeles Times. What a jerk. He hates all the good things about Europe, like chronic unemployment, shoddy craftsmanship, and suicidal debt. … Continue reading →
Three musings. Well, it looks like the not-adolescent party won the Greek elections, and some serious reforms are coming along to save Greece, Europe, and even partly American economy, right? Not so fast: there are strong indications that the Left … Continue reading →
CNN asks a question that quite frankly a lot of people around the world are asking: who gives a crap about Greece? Other than the Greeks, naturally. Seriously, though, why not let it collapse and let it rebuild? Author Tim … Continue reading →
Hooray for liberal European governments. Hungary has banned homelessness. Given that Budapest alone has 10,000 homeless due to chronic high Euroweenie unemployment, this could raise a lot of cash. Of course, there hasn’t been much thought about how to collect … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin would like to take a moment to provide an important public service announcement and award the coveted Boot in the Gut™ award. Apparently water does not provide the health benefits that we have all been led to believe … Continue reading →
Imagine something this dumb. Imagine you get a guy who’s seriously in the red—he has about $50 in his pocket, but he owes thousands. He knows he never will pay off what he owes. And he finds another guy pretty … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin almost choked – and it wasn’t on a balloon – when he read this article discussing the new EU toy safety directive being implemented across Europe. As your Mandarin read through the article he had to go back … Continue reading →
Your Mandarin happened upon this article from Reuters regarding former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s call for a “United States of Europe.” Now if your Mandarin recalls correctly, the last time a German Chancellor looked to unify Europe it ended with … Continue reading →
Is it not a strange irony that so many American liberals (a) want to follow Europe’s examples across the board, and (b) attempt to diminish if not redact Ronald Reagan’s responsibility for ending the Cold War peacefully? The irony being … Continue reading →
As regular readers know, ‘Puter and GorT both enjoy high-level European soccer. Last night, Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey, awarded annually in La Liga to the team that wins an elimination tournament. Real Madrid is one of the … Continue reading →
Very nice essay from Borepatch regarding the European rioting that has, sadly, come to England. More particularly, he advocates why America must watch this carefully. After all, the formula is simple: liberal progressivism divided by anarchy = fascism, eventually. Each … Continue reading →
BG provides a status update for a task that the Czar does not remember assigning, but then asks some questions on currency: Great and Terrible Gormogons— As you commanded, I have begun dumping sugar into the gas tanks of the … Continue reading →
Paramount paid $32 million to North Koreafor the movie rights to this poster.True story. Two quick items for you to check out: First, Jonathan “Flava” Last has a fairly brilliant theory for why movie producers seem to think anti-American movies … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s back from his well-deserved vacation on the torrid Delmarva Peninsula. While on vacation, ‘Puter caught most of the World Cup matches. ‘Puter sent congratulations to The Mandarin via carrier wombat for surreptitiously displaying The Gormogons’ influence for all to … Continue reading →
The earth is moving under our feet. In a development that’s rather jaw-dropping in light of historical attitudes, the Russian Orthodox Church is proclaiming itself “no longer a competitor but an ally” of the Roman Catholic Church when it comes … Continue reading →
The crisis question right now is: What’s going to happen about the euro? Serious stuff, kids, and way more interesting—and broader—than a narrow issue of currency valuation. Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. gormogons.com
Continue reading →Just imagine if the progressive whackjobs that ran Europe into the ground decided to get together, and form a Euro-supergroup, a rock band of megastars who would basically do it all over, but this time as one gasping grab at … Continue reading →
The Czar generally does not vacation to happy places. He did once, and was so delighted by what he found that he had the entire housekeeping staff gunned down. The Czar is not sure why he thought to say this, … Continue reading →
Europe in the ’70s, here we come? Congressional leaders and President Obama are ignoring the perils of overspending to which European countries succumbed in the 1970s. The recent actions and proposals of President Obama and Congressional leaders violate both fiscal … Continue reading →
The virtues of the multicultural era were elite virtues. The British sociologist Geoff Dench suspected, with good reason, that favouring elites was a large part of the point of multiculturalism. Conflicts in a striving meritocracy, he noted “can probably be … Continue reading →
Is your Œcumenical Volgi’s prècis of Dorothy Rabinowitz’s WSJ article today. Indeed. One of the first moments when your Volgi recalls having to defend an unpopular political position was in Germany in the 1980s when, in a high school, he … Continue reading →
No, your Œcumenical Volgi’s true identity is not John Bolton, but you couldn’t tell that from this op-ed, could you? Ultimately, what most risks “provoking” Moscow is not Western resolve but Western weakness. This is where the real weight of … Continue reading →
Once again, aggression recedes before the fearsome arsenal of negotiation the EU deploys. And the world is safer for it! Or, wait, did I get that backwards? Check out their effort to “counter” Russia—we’ll have to outbid them to give … Continue reading →
…pushes new security pact with mice.” Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. gormogons.com
Continue reading →The Gormogons would like to extend a honorary membership to former Swedish PM and MFA Carl Bildt (r.), for “speaking truth to power” as the hippies say, and potentially getting declared persona non grata by a Russian government clearly high … Continue reading →
So, what’s up with the медведь today? Breaking the Sarkozy agreement and keeping the Europeans out of South Ossetia, schmoozing the Germans, modernizing their nuclear forces (unlike us), spying on the Czechs, monkeying with their democratic window-dressing, and venerating Stalin. … Continue reading →
So what’s going on in Georgia? Hmm. The poor, oppressed South Ossetians whom the Russians had to save from Great Georgian Imperialism are ethnically cleansing South Ossetia. I’m sure they don’t have Russian permission to do this. Their army must … Continue reading →
So, let’s see what’s going on. Rattling sabres, or just flexing, Russia claims it’s going to build a space-based missile-defense system and upgrade its nuclear submarines. And laughing at the U.S. and defiling the grave of James Monroe, she’s giving … Continue reading →
Well, nationalism and attacking an unbeloved ethnic group is apparently popular in Russia, boding ill for any sort of domestic check on revanchist nationalism and, indeed, likely stoking public anger at the first sign of push-back by the West. Not … Continue reading →
Condi: Georgian invasion leaves Russia isolated. Well, except for Europe. (I mean, a three-month delay is enough for invading a tiny neighbor, right?) Confucius, Œc. Vol.Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu. gormogons.com
Continue reading →Thus writes Ian Buruma (of Occidentalism fame) in the Los Angeles Times. His article is very much worth reading, but your Volgi would take exception to one assertion: The prospect of joining the European Union has strengthened the democracies of … Continue reading →
…but this is lapidary. Here’s a taste, but read it all. We Europeans seem to have forgotten our history. There were other times when we have stood by while a militaristic European power insisted that it had the right to … Continue reading →
Translation of this: “we’re fucking useless”. Not that the U.S. has been better; argubly, we’ve been even worse. Chimpy McHilterburton doesn’t exactly look like a world-despoiling warmongering tyrant now, does he, kids? I mean, there’s an oil pipeline there. Aren’t … Continue reading →
…every problem starts to look like a nail. Europe’s self-mesmerization with “soft power,” encapsulated perfectly: “What would it take,” I asked, “for Europe to stop treating Putin like a democrat? If all opposition parties are banned? Or what if they … Continue reading →
