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European ground shifts beneath supporter’s feet

When all is said and done following the European Union elections, the person who really counts is the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, writes International Affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe. Is Merkel correct in believing that surging support for rightwing parties stems from economic insecurity — and not a fundamental objection to EU powers? Still, EU supporters are treading with care. Excerpt of Manthorpe’s new column: There is no comfort for Europe’s band of supporters of a bigger and more powerful political union that their side won nearly 64 per cent of the vote in last weekend’s election. That victory cannot override the reality that

On Rachel Carson’s birthday

Rachel Carson, the American scientist and environmentalist who wrote the classic Silent Spring, was born 107 years ago today. Charles Mandel, who reported on Carson’s life and the impact she made, writes: I believe if she were still alive, she’d be singularly unimpressed with the progress – or lack thereof. Governments are still wrestling over bans to cosmetic pesticides. When Manitoba enacts a ban in 2015, it will bring to six the number of Canadian provinces shunning the use of such products. It seems like a hard-won, slow process overall. More contentious still is the controversy over pesticide-coated corn and soybean

Flash Boys: Nathan Rothschild redux

Michael Lewis’s latest book, Flash Boys, is the 21st Century version of the story of those British financiers who lost out to Nathan Rothschild in 1814, and of their attempts to figure out how Rothschild did it, writes Jim McNiven in Thoughtlines. Today, semaphores and carrier pigeons have been replaced with fibre optic cables and microwave towers. There is nothing illegal in getting to the market microseconds ahead of the other guy by using up-to-date technology. And yet, in the aftermath of the trauma of the crash of 2008, the unethical and the illegal easily flow together, especially when the risk is

Beijing’s Empire Grows in South China Sea: Manthorpe

At what point will Beijing be challenged on its empire-building campaign? International Affairs analyst Jonathan Manthorpe examines China’s latest moves to claim territory and influence in Southeast Asia. An excerpt of his new column: China’s project to slowly gobble up sovereignty over the South China Sea and, with money and threats to cow the 10 countries of Southeast Asia into subservience, has made dramatic advances. Beijing will be well pleased with the success of the latest strike in its campaign, which started with the moving on May 1 of the massive deep sea oil drilling rig Haiyang 981 into South China

AIDS activist and playwright Larry Kramer on HBO

This Sunday, North American television watchers will at last have a chance to watch American playwright Larry Kramer’s pioneering work on AIDS – an adaptation for Home Box Office of his blistering 1980s play The Normal Heart. When it was first staged the play was a timely and angry indictment of government, the media and the public for failing to recognize the gravity of the unfolding crisis — a j’accuse that could not be ignored. Today, writes critic, author and F&O feature writer Brian Brennan, the work has the air of a documentary – and remains just as relevant. An excerpt of Brennan’s

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