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The relationship between President Trump and Europe
Giancarlo Elia Valori
[yt_dropcap type="square" font="" size="14″ color="#000″ background="#fff" ] T [/yt_dropcap]he relationship between the United States and the European Union is inevitable and vital, regardless of what both partners think of each other. For Donald Trump, who is much less naive or inexperienced than he is portrayed, the European Union is a political landscape in which the main players are distracted by domestic and current issues, such as the elections in France, Germany, and possibly in Italy.
Not to mention elections in Hungary (before or after the spring of 2018), Albania (on June 18, 2017), Bulgaria (on March 27, 2017), as well as the French presidential elections scheduled for April 23 next.
It is also worth recalling that very important elections will be held in Germany on September 24, 2017, as well as in the Netherlands on March 15 next, in Norway on September 11 and in Portugal at the end of September. Presidential elections will be held in Serbia on April 30, 2017 and in Slovenia in December 2017. Furthermore local, but very important elections are scheduled for May 4, 2017 in Great Britain.
Not to mention the elections to be held in smaller, but often equally important countries: in Northern Ireland (on March 2, 2017), in Armenia on April 2 next – a possible thorn in the flesh for Russia – and in the Czech Republic – a fundamental asset in the new risiko between NATO, the United States and Russia – on a date to be decided yet in 2018.
In a EU geopolitical neighbourhood perspective, we must also mention the Iranian presidential election on May 19 next, or the Lebanese one which is likely to be held this year although the date has not been set yet.
Hence none of the global players are observing the EU as it currently is – with its Don Quixote-style fanciful approach – but all are awaiting – and endeavouring, where possible – to monitor elections and possibly make their favourite candidates win them.
Everybody has always done so and there is no point in being squeamish.
Who do you think funded Mussolini and his interventionist "Italian People's Party"? The French intelligence services. Not to mention the October Revolution, set ablaze by Lenin who, in Spiegelgasse 14, Zurich – just a few meters to the famous "Cabaret Voltaire", the birthplace of the Dadaist movement, of which the Russian revolutionary was never aware – was taken by the German Reich intelligence services and brought from the Zurich-Altstetten Station to the Finland Station in St. Petersburg, as told in the marvellous book by Edmund Wilson, "To the Finland Station, a Study on the Acting and Writing of History".
Not to mention the Dreyfus affair, a late operation of the French intelligence services which exposed the pro-German network in their own apparata – a network which, on the contrary, worked perfectly in France's penetration from the North. Finally, we can also mention the extraordinary operation of the Italian Fascist intelligence services in Switzerland that succeeded in fooling the British SOE established in the Canton of Ticino with phantasmagorical and yet credible operations in Genoa.
The "influence operations", the most refined, sophisticated and significant for each intelligence service, are hard to manage but are often very effective. Everybody carry them out without admitting so.
They are the operations which count in the immaterial accounting of intelligence services.
Therefore there are many open political situations and many actions on the field, on both sides.
The poor wretched EU is currently no longer even able to handle a reasonable action in Libya (and I am referring to Italy, in particular) or a rational management of operations in the Gambia, where the Senegalese armed forces intervened – at the end of last January – to support the new Gambian President, Adama Barrow, against the old leader, Yahya Jammeh, who left with a planeload of luxury cars and money.
The Senegalese intervention in the Gambia was supported by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of the 15 West African States, which has no official relations with any Western country, except for its own representative to the United Nations (namely Mr. Tanouu Koné Leon, with residence in New Rochelle) and its liaison officer to the African Union Commission (namely Ms. Rahemat Momodu, in Addis Ababa) and, finally, its representative to the European Union (namely Mr. Jonas Hemou).
The operation was also military supported by Nigeria and Barrow was ousted directly from Botswana, which stated it no longer recognized him as the Head of the Ghanaian State, but once again we fear that the people of Ghana do not really like the change.
And what about the West? No news received.
An African region always guarded and controlled by the French intelligence services is evaporating in a querelle in which the essential aspect is lost: Ghana is the point from which Kenya can be controlled.
No problem for the Europeans: they think that the "sword jihad" can be stopped by shouting in the streets "Charlie c'est moi".
And, indeed, this will tragically happen sooner or later.
Hence if currently we do not think of Europe within a larger region and perspective, we will lose the sense and the meaning of what is happening and of what will inevitably happen in the future.
Strategic encirclement, internal destabilization, chronic inability to cope with external influence operations, from whatever side they come.
In President Trump' strategic thinking, however, the EU is "nothing covered with nothing" – just to paraphrase an old saying by Churchill on Soviet Russia.
In previous years, Barack Obama had noted with some surprise the European policy line during the Ukrainian crisis, with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, which the United States still consider illegal.
In 2015 there was the crisis of migration which, however, has shown an absolute lack of leadership on the part of the European Union.
Not to mention Brexit, a EU real act of strategic and military closure, if strategy and geopolitics ever played a role in Brussels or Strasbourg corridors and meeting rooms.
Just a European economics-oriented half-baked knowledge and beginner's work, similar to what Marx himself called "trivial Marxism" and that the former USSR dissident, Vladimir Bukovsky – a biophysicist released in 1976 after 12 years spent in Soviet prisons – believed to be increasingly similar to what he experienced in the "wooden language" of the Soviet apparata.
By the way, Bukovsky, who collected the most beautiful and extensive archives of the old Soviet intelligence, was accused of having "searched for" paedophile sites on the Internet. Who knows why…
Indecisiveness and lack of determination, however, are always the major original sin in foreign policy and, from this viewpoint, Europe has committed this sin repeatedly.
Reverting to our considerations on the "agents of influence", thank goodness in 1984 NATO, and later Helmut Schmidt himself, were alerted by a Milanese executive of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) – who shall remain nameless – that a senior KGB officer had certified the absolutely offensive use of the Soviet SS-20 missiles which, at the time, had 441 launch bases and were much better than the Pershing II missiles, which were later deployed by the Atlantic Alliance with great political difficulties, as well as demonstrations and riots in the streets. However, as President Trump clearly stated in his interview to the newspaper Bild of January 15 last, in his opinion NATO is "obsolete" and the EU is a "vehicle for Germany" – not to mention the fact that President Trump expects to see another European country soon leaving the European Union.
Although the Atlantic Alliance is obsolete – and in many respects it is really so – the 2017 budget still amounts to 1.29 billion euro, while the civilian budget is worth 234.4 million euro.
The criteria for defining contributions are carefully defined on the basis of tables drafted jointly by all the Member States of the Alliance.
Saying that the United States "pay too much" only means that they are not satisfied with the cost-benefit ratio within NATO, and not that the EU members of the Alliance should pay more for operations which ultimately serve only the US geopolitical interests.
Therefore the problem lies not so much in the financial and accounting cost of the Atlantic Alliance, but in the relationship between this cost and the value of the strategic result we plan to achieve by mutual agreement, which is the NATO geopolitical least common denominator.
EUCOM, namely the US-NATO European Command, covers 51 countries and has two traditional geopolitical goals: the actual separation between the Western Eurasian peninsula, namely Europe, and the Eurasian Heartland and control over the largest economic market of the world, namely Europe's.
As Brzezinski used to say, the US strategic aim in this context is to break the continuity between the Eurasian central mass and the Asian Sino-Slavic centre.
Currently the Atlantic Resolve operation, based in Wroclaw, Poland and in Bulgaria, with 2,800 German tanks and artillery units and some US brigades, shows pressures from the United States – and in different degrees from Germany – on the Russian Federation, in clear correlation with the Russian actions in Crimea and Ukraine.
Furthermore, a few days ago Putin started to facilitate the granting of Russian documents to the citizens of the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
This means that Russia has already lost its patience with Trump and is prepared to raise the level of confrontation – a level that has a visible profile and an invisible profile.
Pressures from Poland and Bulgaria which relate to the US and NATO operations in the Baltic countries, with 4,000 US soldiers and a group of CIA operatives to reassure the new independent countries of the region and close Russia northwards.
Is it a rational strategy? Yes and no. The Russian Federation should know that the expansion of its "influence" is not accepted in the EU, but that Europe intends to negotiate a new multipolar balance with Russia.
And here the issue does not lie in "trivial Marxism", in trade ties disrupted or in export blocks.
If NATO remains the Cold War ghost, we are no longer interested in it.
Conversely if it is turned into a means of military pressure and threat, and even of influence, for dangerous areas (the Greater Middle East, Central and Southern Asia, Northern and Central Africa), it will still be the extraordinary instrument we knew until 1989.
Related Topics:DefenseEuropean UnionFranceGeopoliticsGermanyIntelligenceItalyNATORussiaUSA
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Advisory Board Co-chair Honoris Causa Professor Giancarlo Elia Valori is an eminent Italian economist and businessman. He holds prestigious academic distinctions and national orders. Mr. Valori has lectured on international affairs and economics at the world's leading universities such as Peking University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Yeshiva University in New York. He currently chairs "International World Group", he is also the honorary president of Huawei Italy, economic adviser to the Chinese giant HNA Group. In 1992 he was appointed Officier de la Légion d'Honneur de la République Francaise, with this motivation: "A man who can see across borders to understand the world" and in 2002 he received the title "Honorable" of the Académie des Sciences de l'Institut de France. "
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Neighbours and Crises: New Challenges for Russia
Julia Melnikova
2021 has been rich in negative events for European security: the world has witnessed the collapse of the Open Skies Treaty, American-French discord concerning AUKUS, the termination of the official dialogue between Russia and NATO, and the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border.
Over the past year, the Western countries seem to have been searching for new strategies. Since the end of 2019, NATO has been developing a new concept, and in June 2021 at the summit in Brussels, to the displeasure of sceptics, it was possible to agree on its basis—the transatlantic agenda NATO 2030 (# NATO2030) . While the broad formulations and a direct hierarchy of threats still require clarification, new projects in the field of weapons development, combating climate change, and increasing interoperability have already been declared.
In parallel, since the end of 2020, work has continued on the EU European Parliamentary Research Service project—the Strategic Compass. The dialectic between Atlanticism and Europeanism softened after Joe Biden came to power in the United States, but the European interests and red lines retain their significance for transatlantic relations. In 2022, together with the rotating post of the President of the EU Council, the role of a potential newsmaker in this area has been transferred to Emmanuel Macron, who feels very comfortable in it.
On December 9, the provisions of the Paris programme were published under the motto "Recovery, power, belonging" France, as expected, is reiterating its call for strengthening European sovereignty. The rhetoric of the document and its author is genuine textbook-realism. But now for the entire European Union.
Objectives of the French Presidency, are not articulated directly but are quite visible—making the EU more manageable and accountable to its members, with new general rules to strengthen mobilisation potential, and improve the EU's competitiveness and security in a world of growing challenges.
Paris proposes reforming the Schengen area and tightening immigration legislation—a painful point for the EU since 2015, which has become aggravated again in recent months. This ambitious task has become slightly more realistic since Angela Merkel's retirement in Germany. At least a new crisis response mechanism on this issue can be successful, even if it is not fully implemented.
In addition, the Élysée Palace calls on colleagues to revise the budget deficit ceilings of the Maastricht era to overcome the consequences of the pandemic and finally introduce a carbon tax at the EU borders. The latter allows for a new source of income and provides additional accountability for the implementation of the "green" goals by member countries.
The planned acceleration of the adoption of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), developed by the European Commission at the end of 2020, is also aimed at unifying the general legislation and consolidating the European position in the world. In other words, the French Foreign Ministry quite soberly assesses the priority areas and vulnerabilities of the European Union and focuses on them, but with one exception.
A special priority of the French presidency is to strengthen the defence capabilities of the EU. On the sidelines, the French diplomats note that the adoption of the Strategic Compass in the spring of 2022, as originally planned, is a fundamental task, since otherwise the process may be completely buried. With a high degree of probability, this is so: the first phase of the development of the Compass—the general list of threats—lasted a year, and consisted of dozens of sessions, meetings, round tables with the involvement of leading experts, but the document was never published. If Macron won't do it, then who will?
As the main ideologist and staunchest supporter of the EU's "strategic autonomy", the French president has been trying for five years to mobilise others for self-sufficiency in the security sphere. With his direct participation, not only the Mechanism of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the defence area was launched, where France is the leader in a number of projects, but also the so-far failed European Intervention Initiative. Even without focusing on French foreign policy traditions and ambitions, the country remains a major European arms exporter and a nuclear power, where the military-industrial complex is closely affiliated with the state.
Implementing the 2022 agenda is also a matter of immediate political gain as France enters a new electoral cycle. The EU Summit will take place on March 10-11, 2022, in Paris, a month before the elections, and in any case it will become part of the election campaign and a test for the reputation of the current leader. Macron has not yet officially announced his participation in the presidential race, but he is actively engaged in self-promotion, because right-wing politicians espousing different degrees of radicalism are ready to take advantage of his defeats to purchase extra points.
The search for allies seems to be of key importance for victory at the European level, and the French Foreign Ministry has already begun working on this matter. In 2016–2017 the launch of new initiatives was predetermined by the support of Germany and the Central and East European countries. The change of cabinet in Germany will undoubtedly have an impact on the nation's policy. On the one hand, following the results of the first visit of the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Paris on December 10, the parties announced the closeness of their positions and a common desire to strengthen Europe. On the other hand, the coalition of Social Democrats (SDP) was made up with the Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) who are not at all supporters of excessive involvement in security issues. What "strategic autonomy" means for France, constitutes a more restrained "strategic sovereignty" for Germany Therefore, an intensification of dialogue with Italy and Spain, which are both respected and potentially sympathetic, is likely. The military cooperation agreement concluded in the autumn of 2021 with Greece, an active member of PESCO, can also help Paris.
Gaining support from smaller countries is more challenging. Although the European project is not an alternative to the transatlantic one, the formation of a common list of threats is a primary task and problem for NATO as well. As mentioned above, it is around it that controversy evolves, because the hierarchy determines the distribution of material resources. The countries of Eastern Europe, which assume that it is necessary to confront Russia but lack the resources to do so, will act as natural opponents of the French initiatives in the EU, while Paris, Rome and Madrid will oppose them and the United States in the transatlantic dialogue. The complexity of combining two conversations about the same thing with a slightly different composition of participants raises the bar for Emmanuel Macron. His stakes are high. The mobilisation of the Élysée Palace's foreign policy is one of the most interesting subjects to watch in the year 2022.
Unilateral vs Bilateral Euroisation: Political, technical and practical issues in the curious case of north Cyprus
Prof. Dr. Mete Feridun
The island of Cyprus has been split between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north since 1974. The Turkish Cypriot state declared in the north is recognised only by Turkey, while the Republic of Cyprus in the south is recognised internationally and is a European Union (EU) member since 2004. In 2004, 65 percent of Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the United Nations' Annan Plan for reunification only for Greek Cypriots to reject it. As a result, Cyprus joined the EU as a de facto divided island. Despite joining the EU as a divided island, the whole of Cyprus is considered an EU territory. However, the EU law is suspended in the north until reunification is achieved.
This resulted in the euro being the legal tender only in the southern part of the island. With the recent and continuous depreciation of the Turkish lira, the long-standing question of whether and how the north could switch to the euro has once again intensified. While a bilateral adoption of the euro is not on the cards until a reunification on the island, north Cyprus could technically unilaterally adopt the euro. However this could cause complications in the future as the EU is adamant that unilateral euroisation cannot be used as a mechanism by Member States to circumvent the stages foreseen by the Maastricht Treaty.
Under normal circumstances, "Member States with a derogation", i.e. the Member States that have not yet fulfilled the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro are first required to enter the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) to achieve eurozone membership. This is a "waiting room" where any country aspiring to adopt the euro is required to stay for at least for two years. It is now a well-known fact that the ECB shares the opinion of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), i.e. the meeting of the finance ministers of EU Member States adopted in 2000, that this requirement should not be waived. Assuming the northern part of Cyprus is considered a Member State, the same principle will apply and therefore it would not be welcome to adopt the euro unilaterally, bypassing the convergence process foreseen by the Treaty for the adoption of the euro.
Currently, ERM II comprises the currencies of Bulgaria, Croatia and Denmark. Just like these countries, north Cyprus would be expected to peg its national currency to the euro and, given the consent of the European System of Central Banks, fixe a "central exchange rate" and a "deviation margin" under Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) for a duration of no less than two years. If successful based on its ERM II performance, a final exchange rate would be determined and the redenomination would be done over a transition period.
In the case of north Cyprus, it is understood that the EU might have already agreed to apply a fast track approach where there would be a one-year transition period. However, this has not been confirmed officially by the EU so the EU's stance in practice is not known. After all, even Denmark, a Member State which has negotiated an opt-out arrangement before the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty has been participating in ERM II although it chose not to adopt the euro. So the EU's approach in the case of northern Cyprus would not expected to be too lenient. There is no way to find out unless north Cyprus continues the dialogue with the EU.
In the meantime, a more relevant question is whether a unilateral euroisation could be possible. The short answer is yes. For instance the euro was introduced in Kosovo and Montenegro that did not have a status of a sovereign state at the time. In both cases, the decision was made in 1999. Kosovo, defined the Deutsche Mark as the designated currency, which was replaced by the euro in 2002. Similarly, Montenegro introduced a parallel currency system in 1999, in which the Deutsche Mark was allowed to circulate alongside the then legal tender. In 2001, the Deutsche Mark became the only legal tender and was replaced by the euro in June 2002.
In the case of Montenegro, now an official EU candidate, the adoption of the euro without an agreement with the European Central Bank (ECB) was acknowledged by the European Commission as a measure which had to be taken due to "extraordinary circumstances" present in the country at the time. This could be precedent for north Cyprus. However, it is important to note that the ECB still supports the view that unilateral euroisation is not compatible with the Maastricht Treaty and cannot be a way to bypass the convergence process.
The implications of the Treaty framework for in the case of Montenegro currently remain unknown and are expected to be detailed "by the time of possible future negotiations for accession to the EU". In particular it remains uncertain whether the country would be required to introduce its own currency before it can join ERM II. Should this be the case as Montenegro makes further progress towards EU membership, this would entail substantial operational and changeover costs. Authorities in north Cyprus, should therefore monitor the developments very closely.
Normally, non-euro area Member States are denied the option of unilateral euroization due the principle of equality, i.e. the EU considers bypassing the convergence process incompatible with the EU Treaty and actively discourages it.In particular, the Treaty sets out that there has to be a Community assessment of the fulfilment of these criteria and mutual agreement on the appropriate exchange rates. This means that the ECB does not welcome unilateral euroisation, as such an adoption of the euro outside the Treaty process would run counter to the underlying economic reasoning of European Monetary Union.
However, as north Cyprus is already an EU territory the adoption of the euro could be considered a "common interest of the EU" and therefore an exception could be possible. In fact, the policy of the EU with regard to the Turkish Cypriot community which was set out by the General Affairs Council in 2004 states that "the Council is determined to…facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community". So in the case of north Cyprus, a switch to the euro could be allowed by way of exception although this would obviously imply circumventing the process of multilateral assessment by the EU Member States.
While the EU could give the green light to adoption of the euro by north Cyprus without a successful exchange-rate procedure under ERM II, it would not allow this to undermine the process of convergence prior to the adoption of the euro. In other words, the Convergence criteria outlined in the Maastricht Treaty would still remain relevant and important as the Treaty requires Member States to achieve a high degree of sustainable economic convergence before they can join the euro area.
In other words the economies of Member States with a derogation must be able to keep pace with those already using the euro. Exchange rate stability, for instance, is evaluated by assessing whether the exchange rate of the country's currency has remained within the fluctuation bands provided for by ERM II for at least two years without devaluating against the euro.
Besides exchange rate stability, the convergence criteria also include price stability, sound public finances, and convergence in long-term interest rates. This means, for instance, that a country's long-term interest rate, measured on the basis of long-term government bonds or comparable securities, should not exceed that of the three best-performing Member States in terms of price stability by more than 2 percentage points during the one-year observation period prior to the assessment.
On the other hand, a country is considered to meet the price stability criterion if its average inflation rate does not exceed the inflation rate of the three best-performing EU Member States by more than 1.5 percentage points during a one-year observation period. These criteria are intended to ensure the sustainability of public finances and that the government is able to manage its debts.
Article 140 (1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) requires the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) to report to the Council, at least once every two years, or at the request of a Member State with a derogation on the progress of the country in fulfilling their obligations regarding the achievement of economic and monetary union. In addition to preparing these "Convergence Reports", both the ECB and the Commission regularly monitor progress throughout the year.
A Convergence Report is normally published at least once every two years or at the request of an EU Member State which would like to join the euro area. Both the ECB and the European Commission issue these reports describing the progress made by non-euro area Member States towards achieving the criteria necessary for a country to adopt the euro. According to the latest report, among countries legally committed to adopting the euro, Croatia and Sweden fulfil the price stability criterion, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden fulfil the criterion on public finances, Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Sweden fulfil the long-term interest rate criterion. However none of them meet all the requirements for adoption of the euro. So convergence process is very strict and challenging.
In particular, it should be noted that convergence must be sustainable, meaning that satisfying the economic convergence criteria at one point in time is not enough and they are expected to be met on a lasting basis. A Member State's general financial position is considered sustainable based on two criteria, namely, the government's annual fiscal deficit should not exceed 3% of gross domestic product, and overall government should not exceed 60% of gross domestic product. This is very important for northern Cyprus as it will need to ensure that its economy is resilient.
It is known that the Maastricht Treaty provides some flexibility and the final assessment depends on the ECOFIN Council. Whether and how this would apply in the case of northern Cyprus remains a mystery. While details remain unknown to the public, the one-year transition period envisaged in the case of northern Cyprus could be related this. However, it should be noted that the decision on whether north Cyprus can adopt the euro would ultimately be a political one and would lie with the Council of the European Union. This means that representatives from all EU countries would be required to take a decision based on a proposal by the EC and after consulting the European Parliament.
Given that participation in the ERM II is a precondition for as well as fulfilment of the nominal convergence criteria to join the euro, it is binding and is unlikely to be waived for any country regardless of any special circumstances. This is because ERM II provides the framework to manage the exchange rates between EU currencies, which is necessary for exchange rate stability. As such north Cyprus would be expected to participate in the mechanism without devaluing its central rate against the euro before it can qualify to adopt the euro.
While no provision of the EU Treaty states explicitly that Member States with a derogation must have their own currency, the Treaty is by and large based on this assumption. In addition, the entry into ERM II is decided by mutual agreement of all ERM II parties, which consist of the ministers of the euro area Member States, the President of the ECB and the minister and the central bank governor of Denmark, as the only non-euro area Member State currently participating in the mechanism.
So in the case of north Cyprus adoption of the euro could mean that the country should first introduce its own currency. This could be a more viable alternative and north Cyprus could then peg its currency to the euro as a preparation for an eventual switch to the euro. Indeed, some countries joined ERM II with their preexisting currency pegs. To give a recent example, the currencies of Bulgaria and Croatia were already closely tied to the euro at the time of applying to the ERM II. Bulgaria had a currency board, first with the Deutsche Mark, and subsequently with the euro after 1999. Croatia had a peg first with the Deutsche Mark, and from 1999 to the euro, with a narrow band.
During this process, legal requirements should not also been underestimated. Article 140(1) of TFEU requires the convergence reports to assess the compatibility of national legislation, including the statutes of the national central bank and the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and of the ECB. There could also be additional unprecedented requirements and countries may be required to commit to implementing specific policy measures on a variety of topics. For instance, in the case of Bulgaria and Croatia, such requirements range from the anti-money laundering framework, state-owned enterprises and the insolvency framework, to the non-banking financial sector, corruption and even organised crime. It is highly unlikely that the national legislation in north Cyprus is currently compatible with that of the EU as the latest convergence report suggests that the respective national legislations in none of the seven new EU Member States would be deemed "fully compatible" with the exception of Croatia.
In fact, the former north Cyprus President Mustafa Akıncı himself had confessed that "serious work" would needed to ensure the harmonization of the national institutions with the EU acquis. As can be seen in the case of Croatia and Bulgaria, this has now become a prerequisite not only for joining the EU but also in terms of adopting the euro as a new Member State. For instance, this was the main reason behind the delay in Bulgaria's acceptance to ERM II. Bulgaria was able to get the green light to join ERM II two years after it formally announced its intention to join the mechanism.
The delay was due to the requirement imposed by the Eurozone governments requiring Bulgaria to join ERM II and the Banking Union simultaneously. This prerequisite is known as "the Cooperation Decision" and requires Member States which adopt the euro to also participate in the Banking Union, i.e. the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) and the Single Resolution Fund (SRF). . Therefore, participating in ERM II with a view to later adopting the euro will also involve preparing for joining the Banking Union.
This requirement will now apply to all future candidates including north Cyprus. However, it should also be noted that the procedure for entering the Banking Union is separate from the assessment of the convergence criteria. Joining the Banking Union is irreversible and involves direct powers of the SSM and the SRM over its banking system. This has important implications for the banking sector as banks that will come under the direct supervision of the ECB will also be subject to the direct supervision of the Single Resolution Board (SRB).
To be more specific, this means that, the ECB will become responsible for the direct supervision of the significant credit institutions following the "significance assessment process". This applies to banks considered to meet the "materiality criteria" as set out in the SSM Regulation (Regulation 1024/2013) and the SSM Framework Regulation (Regulation 468/2014). The criteria include "economic importance for the country" so could technically apply to banks in north Cyprus despite their insignificant sizes in comparison to the EU economy. Therefore, for new joiners like north Cyprus the accession process would involve not only the harmonization with the aquis but also the strengthening of their institutions and administrative capacity that will enable them to implement and monitor the enforcement of the harmonized legislation.
Therefore, adoption of the euro by north Cyprus, bilaterally or unilaterally, would not be as easy as it may look. More than anything else, this would require political will, courage and determination. The former President Mustafa Akıncı, a devoted supporter of a federal solution and the EU, had set an ambitious target of the euro going into circulation "from the first day" in the case of a reunification. However with the failure of the last reunification talks in 2017 in Crans Montana, Switzerland, political conditions have changed dramatically. The current President Ersin Tatar who is a very passionate proponent of the two-state solution is wholeheartedly against the EU and the euro. Therefore, the general stance towards the adoption of the euro in the northern part of the island remains fragmented. Given these circumstances, adoption of the euro in north Cyprus seems a distant prospect.
How Red Are the EU's 'Greens'?
Eric Zuesse
Blood-red. But that's a banned fact. (It will be documented in what follows.)
Here are the announced values (the "Guiding Principles") of the European Green Party:
"Freedom through Self-Determination"
"Extending Justice"
"Diversity, an Indispensable Condition"
"To sum it up, Sustainable Development"
This "Charter of the European Greens" fills-in those blanks by stringing together clichés, which 90% of the pubic will like, because they're written so as to avoid (as much as possible) saying anything that's broadly controversial. For example, "Our answer is sustainable development, which integrates environmental, social and economic objectives for the benefit of all." (Oh? And how is that pap to be realized in actual policies? What are the measures, and the precise priority-rankings, when any of those values conflict with one-another, which is often?) The Green Party is simply conning liberals, but what is their reality? What are they actually doing, when in power? Inside their own country, and in the EU? Let's take a very concrete (but broadly representative) case:
Germany, as I recently pointed out, is so corrupt that it has virtually no bans on who or what may donate to politicians. Foreign interests can donate, corporations can donate, even corporations that have government contracts (sell to the government) can donate, donations needn't go through the banking system, donations may be accepted in any amount, anonymous donations are acceptable, etc. It's super-libertarian. It is open-sesame to billionaires and centi-millionaires (the few people who have the most money) to control the Government by means of their 'news'-media persuading the voters, and by means of political campaign donations to present the billionaires' favored candidates' viewpoints in the most favorable way — and their least-favored candidates in the least favorable way. It's control by dollars, instead of control by voters. That's libertarianism.
A March 2015 academic study showed that, of all 28 EU member-nations, the only five that were more corrupt than Germany were Malta, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, and Netherlands. Then, on 10 June 2015, a Pew survey in Germany, Poland, Spain, France, Italy, UK, U.S., and Canada, showed that, among those 8 countries, ONLY Germany (and by a big margin: 57% to 36%) opposed Ukraine joining NATO. However, when German and foreign billionaires s'elected' the new German Government that became installed on 8 December 2021, it appointed as the Germany's new Foreign Minister the Green Party's losing candidate for Chancellor, Annalena Baerbock, whose entire career as a candidate and as an official was the most notable for her strident advocacy for hostility toward Russia, and for Ukraine to be admitted into NATO (the anti-Russian U.S. military alliance). She thus became — though she lost her campaign for the Chancellorship — the most powerful Green Party politician in Europe or anywhere.
Immediately, she reversed Angela Merkel's policies which had allowed the Russian-Swiss-German natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Nord Stream 2, to be constructed to bring into the EU the least expensive of all gas to Germany, which is Russia's pipelined gas. Gas-prices in Germany are now already soaring, and Germans will increasingly freeze, as a result of this 'German democracy' and its obedience to its billionaire masters in America.
However, many European billionaires are also being served by this 'Green' Party. Much like America's Democratic Party (or liberal) billionaires, Europe's liberal billionaires have been investing heavily in 'green' technologies, and are betting against their opposition, conservative billionaires, who are still committed to fossil fuels. So: the 'Green' Party represents liberal billionaires, against conservative billionaires.
On 8 September 2021, "Capital Radar" newsletter bannered "'Most important choice for the next 100 years': 1.25 million euros from the Netherlands for the Greens" (""Wichtigste Wahl der nächsten 100 Jahre": 1,25 Millionen Euro aus den Niederlanden für die Grünen") and reported that:
• A Dutch tech billionaire donates 1.25 million euros to the German Greens.
• It is the largest donation in the party's history.
• In an interview with RND, the major donor explains why Annalena Baerbock should steer the ship of state and why the federal election is so important.
Amsterdam. The Dutch entrepreneur and philanthropist Steven Schuurman [archive.md/ZjwWW] donated 1.25 million euros to the German Greens. It is the largest donation in the party's history. Billionaire Schuurman, born in 1975, is co-founder and ex-head of the data search and analysis company Elastic and co-founder of Atlantis Entertainment. He has already donated millions in the Dutch election campaign.
The Greens have already received large sums of money this year: the pharmaceutical heir Antonis Schwarz [archive.md/COcng] bequeathed them 500,000 euros; the Greifswald Moritz Schmidt, who got rich through Bitcoin deals, one million euros; and Sebastian Schel's net heir, 250,000 euros. The election program for the federal election states: "Party donations should be capped at an annual maximum amount of 100,000 euros per donor." [But Germany has separate laws for candidates, and no limits are placed on donations to them.]
Schuurman was quoted as saying that, of the three candidates for Chancellor, only Baerbock took global warming seriously. He ignored the more pressing and sooner danger of avoiding a nuclear war, on which Baerbock's policy-commitments are rabidly anti-Russian. No U.S.-and-allied billionaires — either liberal or conservative — are opposed to that. But those policies are blood-red, and now.
At the level of the EU itself, the most powerful person over the entire European Union has been a lifelong hater of Russia, the American billionaire George Soros, who controls the Open Society Foundation and other 'non-profits' that have poured billions of dollars over decades (starting in 1993, just two years after his self-declared war against communism in Russia had become no longer an excuse when Russia abandoned communism in 1991) into color-revolutions targeted against Russia. On 5 November 2017, Alex Gorka at Strategic Culture, headlined "The Myth of European Democracy: A Shocking Revelation", and opened:
It's an open secret that the "Soros network" has an extensive sphere of influence in the European Parliament and in other European Union institutions. The list of Soros has been made public recently. The document lists 226 MEPs from all sides of political spectrum, including former President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, former Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt, seven vice-presidents, and a number of committee heads, coordinators, and quaestors. These people promote the ideas of Soros, such as bringing in more migrants, same-sex marriages, integration of Ukraine into the EU, and countering Russia. There are 751 members of the European Parliament. It means that the Soros friends have more than one third of seats.
George Soros, a Hungarian-American investor and the founder and owner of Open Society Foundations NGO, was able to meet with President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker with "no transparent agenda for their closed-door meeting."
Many but not all of his agents at the European Parliament are Greens. U.S.-and-allied billionaires donate to all politicians that are ready, willing, and able, to advance the U.S. empire to encompass the entire world, and don't donate to just to one Party.
Soros was a major funder of the coup-operation that started in the Obama Administration (led by Victoria Nuland under Hillary Clinton) by no later than June 2011 to overthrow Ukraine's democratically elected President, Yanukovych, and replace him by a racist-fascist (or nazi) anti-Russian regime and to seize Russia's largest naval base, which was and is in Crimea, to turn it into a U.S. naval base. (Putin was able to block the latter attempt.) Hillary and Obama had first met with Yanukovych in 2010 and failed to persuade him to push for Ukraine's NATO membership in NATO, but he said no — NATO then was very unpopular among Ukrainians. During 2003-2009, only around 20% of Ukranians wanted NATO membership, while around 55% opposed it. In 2010, Gallup found that whereas 17% of Ukrainians considered NATO to mean "protection of your country," 40% said it's "a threat to your country." Ukrainians predominantly saw NATO as an enemy, not a friend. But after Obama's February 2014 Ukrainian coup, "Ukraine's NATO membership would get 53.4% of the votes, one third of Ukrainians (33.6%) would oppose it." Obama turned Ukraine around — from being a neutral country on Russia's border, to being a nazi anti-Russian country. And Annalena Baerbock is a strong backer of today's nazi Ukraine.
However, the 'Green' Party is green in one way: it follows the dollars, not the voters. Other than that way of being green, it's really only blood-red. Even the 'Green' Party's proposed policies against global warming are futile to prevent global burnout, and they ignore the only policy that, even conceivably, might halt global warming: to outlaw the purchase of stocks and bonds of fossil-fuel-extraction companies. So: they are total fakes. The response of billionaires is to bet either for crackpot business-ventures to halt global warming, or else for extending yet further into the future the use of mainly fossil fuels and ignore even the pretense of caring about the welfare of the generations yet to come. In other words, all billionaires, both liberal and conservative, are really only blood-red, for expanding yet further their empire, in the final analysis.
This doesn't come from what the voters want; it reflects ONLY what the billionaires want. Here are some data showing that despite all the billionaires' propaganda for expanding yet further the U.S.-and-allied empire, a majority in some countries — including Germany — don't want it:
Only Germans "oppose Ukraine joining NATO": 57% to 36%
"Ukraine Joining EU" opposed by Germans 54% to 41%, opposed by French 53% to 46%
"Oppose Supplyiing Ukraine with Arms Against Russia: Germans 77% to 19%, French 59% to 40%, Italians 65% to 22%.
In 2013, the median favorability of Russia in the EU was 37%; by the time of 2015 it had become 26% — 26/37 or 30% less than only two years earlier, which is to say prior to
Obama's having grabbed Ukraine in a very bloody U.S. coup. (Obama was the most successful heir to Hitler since WW II, and was especially successful in jeopardizing the national security of the Russians by grabbing Ukraine on Russia's border and intensifying the anti-Russian military alliance, NATO, whereas Hitler's attempt to conquer Russia had turned out to be an colossal failure.)
So, Baerbock — the most powerful 'Green' politician in Europe, and even anywhere, though she had failed at the ballot-box — gets here hate (against Russia), her warmongering, not from the voters, but from the sheer cravings of U.S.-and-allied billionaires, to expand their U.S.-and-allied empire, to encompass the entire world. That's what she (and many Green Party politicians) push for the most.
The 'Greens" are actually blood-red, for war.


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This post is brought to you by our sponsor Blue Apron.
Happy New Year! I hope the new year has been treating you well! We're 10 days into the year, and I can honestly say 2017 is going to be an awesome year. So far I've been on track for a few of my goals this year, so I'm really excited about that. One goal that sticks out the most for me this year is to cook more home cooked meals. So to make things a little easier on myself, I decided to look into meal kit delivery companies. I did a little research and looked into Blue Apron, since they are pretty much a household name when it comes to meal kit deliveries nowadays.
The set up was so easy and simple that within minutes I was signed up. You pick from a variety of plans based on you're dietary preference, from there you also get to tweak the meal choices to your liking before it ships out. There was a Fish, Seafood and Vegetarian option as well as the usual meat choices. All plans have no commitment; so you can skip a delivery or cancel at any time with one-week's notice. The Blue Apron 2-person plan includes 3 meals per week at $9.99/meal, $59.94/box . The Blue Apron Family Plan includes either 2 or 4 meals a week, at $8.74/meal, $69.92/box.
When I received my box, I got a menu of Spaghetti Squash Marinara, Potato & Artichoke Quiches and Roasted Cauliflower Pitas. I decided to cook two meals in one day, and the 3rd meal the next. All the years of watching the Food Network channel was finally being put to use with these meals. All the recipes required dicing, chopping, mincing and/ or peeling. I also had to make a salad dressing from scratch and the garlic oil for the garlic bread. I honestly felt some of those things could have been sent already done, to cut down on the time. They advertise the meals take about 35 minutes to prep, but each meal took about an hour or more to make. You also need a good knife, cutting board, peeler, baking sheet and a nonstick pan for most of the recipes, along with lots of olive oil, salt and pepper.
What about the taste? I would say the food is pretty good, the pairing of the side dishes really complimented each other in all three meals. I would have to put in a disclaimer though, I spiced up the food to my liking. Most of these recipes rely only on salt and pepper for seasoning. So I used a lot of red pepper flakes and zero salt seasoning whenever I could to spice things up.
Overall, I really enjoyed the meals from Blue Apron. These meals really took me out of my comfort zone, as far as what I'm used to eating and cooking. I actually ended up liking a few of their spices and ingredients and plan to in corporate them somehow into my cooking repertoire. I do wish there were more options to choose from for the pescatarian and vegetarian plan. You're kind of stuck to the 3 veggie meals they have for the week if you're not up for the fish or seafood. But the meals change every week so most weeks are probably better than others. It all depends on your preference and your flexibility.
As a treat, I teamed up with Blue Apron and you too can try out your very own Blue Apron box! Head over to the Blue Apron site and redeem your free 3 meals offer here .


Loans are for Amazon marketplace merchants, by invitation only.
Companies that provide small-business loans to online sellers, like Kabbage and iwoca, may have a new competitor, as Amazon is getting into the lending business.
The new program, called Amazon Lending, is accessible by invitation only. Amazon is telling customers about the lending program through emails to "pre-qualified" sellers, according to news reports.
ChannelAdvisor, an e-commerce solutions company for larger online sellers, posted the email Amazon sent to customers on its blog on Thursday. The message notes that pre-qualified Amazon sellers can log in to their accounts with their Selling on Amazon Primary Account IDs and passwords to request a loan. If they are approved, Amazon will make the funds available within five business days.
Amazon will deduct monthly payments from sellers' accounts automatically, the email states. It also notes that the offer for the loan expires 30 days after the email was received.
According to news reports, interest rates for the loans can be up to 13 percent.
Scott Wingo, ChannelAdvisor's CEO, says Amazon is offering some online sellers loans of up to $800,000. Amazon officials have not said what makes sellers pre-qualified.
Amazon did not respond to press inquiries about its new program by press time.
are you a big seller on amazon? i wonder what kind of volume people have to sell to get an invite.


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February 8, 2012 March 1, 2012 / jasonobryan
The Facts:
Name: Cynar (Chuh-nar)
Catagory: Potable bitters – the "amari" (plural) or "amaro" (singular) in Italian
Proof: 37 (16.5% ABV)
Origin: Italy, made since 1952.
Nose: Molasses; orange sweetness
Taste: sweet front palate; warm earth and orange; vegetal flavors; firm, robust bitter finish
I had Cynar for the first time in 2008 at a place called La Groceria, an Italian restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts that had been around for 37 years. The restaurant was closing down and we were taking stock, and from the depths of the lowest shelf was pulled an fading bottle of Cynar, encased in so much dust we could barely tell there was liquid left in it. No one could remember where it came from. Charlie, the owner, swore it had been there since the late 80s. Of course, the inevitable — "What does it taste like?" his son Matt asked — and we were soon betting each other to try.
At 16.5% alcohol it wasn't immune to the ravaging of time, and the decades had left it with the viscosity and color of used motor oil. I knew nothing whatsoever about it, just that the label featured an artichoke busting into the foreground like a cartoon superhero, and everyone seemed to agree that a small sip would be worth five dollars.
It was then, and remains now, the worst thing I've ever had.
Fortunately, bottles that haven't long ago given way to decay are significantly more palatable. Which is not to say that it is not challenging. Those with no exposure to potable bitters will dislike it the first time they have it, and look at you with a face of wounded betrayal, like a dog when you take it to the vet. A face that says, "I thought we were friends… why are you doing this to me?" While it comes sweet at first, the finish is a distinct and robust bitter mixture of earth and copper, like a mouthful of pennies mixed with topsoil. But in a good way.
Cynar is one of the crucibles of the craft cocktail world, one of those things that cocktail people use to tell other cocktail people because of the inherent hurdles involved with (1) finding a bottle behind a bar, (2) finding a bartender who has the slightest inclination to use it, and (3) overcoming the obvious mental difficulties in purposefully ordering a cocktail featuring an artichoke.
But like most all the Amari, once embraced it can be a delightful liqueur, and one that can give incomparable depth of flavor to cocktails. Its bitterness isn't quite as sharp as Campari's but is much fuller and rounder and more reminiscent of earth than Campari's rust. It also features a nice sweetness that leads the palate to the pronounced bitter finish. Like Campari and Aperol, it's artificially but appropriately colored, with dark orange hues in dark brown base that give a hint of what's to come.
The Uses:
In my experience, it is most successfully mixed with gin as a base, or with some of its Italian brothers. Its role in cocktails is definitely to deepen or enrich. Things that are too sweet or light could do with a small dose of Cynar, or really anything that wants some robust earthy fullness. Sweet vermouth and Cynar (with a pinch of salt) makes a Bitter Giuseppe, and it can be layered with about 5 other bitters to make an Autumn Negroni.
View the full list of cocktails here.
Trivia!: Unlike what I've heard at least one uninformed douche tell someone, "artichoke" in Italian is not Cynar but "carciofo." The name Cynar comes from the Latin genus of the artichoke, Cynara cardunculus.
The label on the left translates to, "Herbal and artichoke leaves – The Original Recipe – Cynar is a product obtained from the mixture of artichoke leaves and other herbs infused according to a unique recipe."
Amaro, Cynar
← Bitter Giuseppe
Barrel-Aged Vieux Carré (a.k.a. Ancien Carré) →


In response to the wildfires occurring in California, several organizations are collecting quilts to be given to those effected by the wildfires. Eternity Quilt Events is collecting quilts to be donated to those impacted by the Camp Fire in Northern California. Sewing Arts Center in Santa Monica is also collecting quilts that will be donated to those impacted by the Camp Fire as well as those impacted in Southern California by the Woolsey Fire.
We will be collecting quilt donations at this Sunday's (11/25) sew-in at Quilt in a Day, as well as at our holiday party on 12/2 that will be sent off to help with these relief efforts. Quilts can be dropped off with Kristyn at these two events and if you have any further questions, please email her at sdmqgcharity@gmail.com.
More information about the Eternity Quilts Effort can be found here.
Our SDMQG member Dori recommends this article.
This article is about a quilt received in a Care package 70 years ago. It meant everything to people who lost everything in WWII. I though it meaningful to share, as we never know how our donations will affect the recipients.


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In Big Budget Push To Green Growth, Ladakh Gets 13 GW Renewable Energy Project
Anti-encroachment drive, BJP's new weapon to persecute J&K people: Mehbooba
Defence budget hiked by 13 pc, modernisation fund sees moderate 6.5 pc uptick
Dry Weather to continue in Kashmir :Met
Ranbireshwar To Amarnath Temple, 5 Hindu Pilgrimages In Jammu And Kashmir
Budget 2023: First-of-its-kind green energy transmission line from Ladakh to Haryana announced
Jammu News
Drone used for attack on Jammu Air Force base, no casualty
New Delhi, June 27
The Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Jammu was attacked using two low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which were allegedly dropped from a drone.
The attack occurred around 1:30 am early on Sunday morning.
The area was sealed by security forces within minutes.
Two low intensity explosions were reported early Sunday morning in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station. One caused minor damage to the roof of a building while the other exploded in an open area.
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) June 27, 2021
"Two low-intensity explosions were reported early Sunday morning in the technical area of Jammu Air Force Station. One caused minor damage to the roof of a building while the other exploded in an open area," the IAF tweeted this morning.
There was no damage to any equipment, and an investigation is in progress along with civil agencies, the Indian Air Force said.
A grenade attack has been ruled out for now as the blasts occurred close to the helicopter hangar, which is far from the perimeter fence.
The Indian Air Force station at Jammu is an important base for helicopters operating along the Western Front and in the Himalayas.
The Jammu airport is a civil airport with the runway and the ATC is under the IAF.
jammunews
In which states and UTs has the petrol price crossed ₹100 per litre mark?
2 blasts rock Indian Air Force's highly secured technical airport in Jammu


Atheist/not-atheist is not a binary function, just like with religious belief there is a spectrum of certainty and intensity.
Also, the American military is weirdly wrapped up with Christianity. I had a marine tell me (and a roomful of people — he didn't even know to be embarrassed about his bigotry) that Buffalo is "going downhill" and as evidence he pointed out that there are mosques and other "non-Christian" houses of worship sprouting up everywhere.
Kinda like how you are not mindful of your anti-Christian bigotry, eh? "Your faith is ludicrous" just popped out in this conversation as a random unconscious irrelevant interjection.
We call that connection 9/11.
How is it bigoted to call someone's beliefs ludicrous?
It is exactly parallel the "doing downhill" remark.
I guess that's your point system then, eh?
Not at all. The "going downhill" remark implies is about people. The "ludicrous" remark is about beliefs. I may find your beliefs ludicrous, but I wouldn't tell people the neighborhood was going downhill if you moved in.
The people you quoted were not citing "people" but beliefs and cultural practices. Just the same as you. Sorry.
You're really stretching. He was talking about the whole city going downhill. I'm just saying the things you believe are ludicrous, not that your residence in a city makes the whole city worse. There's a huge difference.
You're the one stretching. Let's see, you're dependent on and a product of Western European Christian culture … and you call their notions "ludicrous" where as a person noting the loss of the same is "talking about people" and not ideas.
Sorry I don't see it. If he is talking about "people" then so are you. If you are talking about ideas … so is he. If he is a bigot. So are you (and you're not a bigot … but then again, neither is the one whom you call out as such).
"Christian" culture? Give me a break. Christian culture was the Dark Ages. Modern Europe and the U.S. are an outgrowth of the Enlightenment. Giving credit for that to your religion is itself ludicrous.
Sorry I don't see it. If he is talking about "people" then so are you.
Repeating yourself doesn't make it so.
"Dark ages" … gotcha. Did you learn history in preschool? Get with the program. "Dark ages" is a term relegated to the ash heap decades before Pluto became a not-planet.
If you think however, that religion could be easily separated from culture in anything but the most recent modern times, you need to get in line alongside the YEC folk. Hint, have you never heard of the Puritan work ethic?
And "repeating itself doesn't make it so" is true. So, then why do you repeat yourself. Look. You cited the marine as "mocking people" (when he spoke of cutural signals, i.e., ideas). You think your only mocking ideas, which are oddly enough held by a passing majority of people. To suggest you're doing something different doesn't scan.
Nonetheless, I do not suspect JA would say something like "Charlotte NC is going down hill" after visiting it and noting the numerous churches scattered throughout the city.
Ok my Dark Ages comment was a little sophomoric, I admit, but my general point stands. Much of our culture came about despite Christianity, not because of it.
You have a point about the Puritan work ethic, but the Puritan work ethic is not what makes contemporary Western society so different from the societies prior. In fact it's not even relevant outside America, to my knowledge at least. The big leap forward was the Enlightenment, which valued reason and then empiricism over religion, and put forward humanism rather than religion in the moral arena.
Christianity, being the constantly evolving memeplex it is, of course absorbed and claimed as its own many of the developments, but right-wing Christianity has continued to be the enemy of much of enlightenment progress to the current day. In freaking 2011, the Christian right is still fighting for religion over science and for religious values over humanism. All of our progress as a society has happened and continues to happen in spite of traditional Christianity.
The churches are not moving into his area. If, on the other hand, a big influx of relatively poor rural Baptists moved into his neighborhood he would likely say that his neighborhood was going downhill. He'd see them as culturally "lower" when more likely "different" would be a better term.
I think your thesis that the Enlightenment can be separated from Church in an age when the Church had so much importance culturally is weak. The pretense that "right wing" Christianity existed in any meaningful way as right vs left is akin to your "Dark Ages" remark. What does "right wing" vs "left wing" mean in the context of international intellectual European discourse and development in the 12th or 13th centuries. Not so much, I think. Just like the notion that that religious thought and Christianity had nothing to do with the same. Your convenient overlooking Christian intellectual movements is a failing not a feature, e.g., our concept person dependence on Trinitiarian theology (see wiki if you still don't believe me).
He'd see them as culturally "lower" when more likely "different" would be a better term.
I'll thank you to not put bigoted words in my mouth. Funny how you always have to pretend I have said or will say something I haven't and wouldn't.
I think your thesis that the Enlightenment can be separated from Church in an age when the Church had so much importance culturally is weak.
I didn't say there was no relationship, but the Enlightenment was in large part a reaction against Christianity. Even those who remained "Christian" weren't "Christian" like traditional Christians had been.
The pretense that "right wing" Christianity existed in any meaningful way as right vs left is akin to your "Dark Ages" remark.
I was speaking about "right-wing" Christianity in the context of contemporary America. Obviously the term is not applicable a couple hundred years ago, let alone much farther back. One of the difficulties in talking about religions is how it evolves and and divides — it is a hardy memeplex that constantly evolves for survival. Some branches of the tree adapt to keep its members separate, some adapt to have more children, some to get more converts. It fills virtually all niches, from traditionalists who want a simplistic, hierarchical and sexist church and worldview to deists who are for gay marriage and abortion. My point is that the better, more liberal ideas tend to come from outside of Christianity and then some denominations adapt (or are created) to include them. And most of what makes our culture great (to the extent that it is) are the more liberal ideas.
Even a religion like Judaism is hard to talk about as one thing, and two hundred years ago there was only one denomination! There are enough denominations of Christianity that pretty much anything you say about Christianity will be true for some and false for others, but even within a denomination, you can't say much without specifying the time period.
It would seem then that your hypothetical JA wouldn't be bigoted against Christians then…only certain types of Christians (poor Baptists, not ok….Anglicans who wear suits and have a bit of British accent ok).
Under what circumstances in your PC shackled linguistic world do you allow yourself to say out loud that the neighborhood has gone to seed? If that is because a single sub-culture/group has moved in are you allowed to acknowledge that?
I mean if it's suddenly run-down and crime-ridden, you can say so. It's pretty ridiculous to say it just because members of religion or ethnicity X moved in.
It's pretty ridiculous to say it just because members of religion or ethnicity X moved in.
Even if that's what occurred, i.e., the change between the neighborhood then and now was the moving in of a particular sub-culture?
To stretch a point, what if you're living in a relatively stable predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and over a few years a rash of recent German immigrants move in who happen to come from a sector of Berlin who happen to be largely neo-Nazis and are fleeing what they perceive as persecution for their practices in Germany? Why would it be ridiculous to cite the change as due to their race or beliefs?
Because it's a ridiculous (i.e. false) overgeneralization? Note how even in your contrived example, you felt the need to narrow it to "a sector of Berlin." Obviously "Germans" would be far too broad a category to blame.
There are 1.57 BILLION Muslims in the world. Way more than Germans.
So, for umpteen comments here I've called out "subculture" yet when I use an example which adheres the discussion point I'm offering you call me out on that. Odd, being called out for the point you're making. Duh.
I'm sorry, are you complaining that I'm not letting you shift the goalposts? We were talking about somebody saying the neighborhood is going downhill because there are mosques and other "non-Christian" places of worship going up. What does that have to do with subcultures?
No. Why are you complaining now. I've been noting subcultures for the last 10 or so replies. In my last query to you I asked if you can ever talk about the people who move in. You basically said "no." Then I pointed out an example and you shifted the goalposts, i.e., called me on what I was saying all along as if I'd changed my tune.
OK. Riddle me this, yes it may be that certain Islamic subcultures are highly compatible and would be unnoticed moving in w.r.t. to the current practices and mores in the region. So, which one(s) would those be? Identify them. You mock the Marine because he cannot. I'm guessing you can't either.
You used it exactly once (I think) before the comment I complained about, and then it was "sub-culture/group" and I responded by explicitly referring to "religion or ethnicity" to make it clear that I wasn't talking about smaller groups.
That's right. And German skinheads moving into your neighborhood doesn't indicate your neighborhood is going downhill. However, graffiti, open drug use, beating of kids walking home from school are indications and when coupled with the realization of who has moved in allows you to make the comment that race/subgroup is indicative of "going downhill" and the cause. You haven't established that the Marine in question has noted his city going downhill and correlated that with Mosques (rightly or wrongly) or is assuming that Mosques will mean it will go downhill.
It was clear from the context that he was basing his opinion on the mosquez.
And rural Baptists are not a sub-culture from the South?
You cited Mr Hansen as a "bigot" because he noted a particular Hispanic subculture was ignoring property rights. He didn't note signs of the culture and then conclude things were going south, but the reverse.
I don't know the boundaries of the term "sub-culture," but I fail to see your point regardless.
You cited Mr Hansen as a "bigot" because he noted a particular Hispanic subculture was ignoring property rights.
Can you point me to what you're referring? You know I can't trust you to quote me accurately.


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Home > Articles > Programming
Introducing Continuous Integration as a Way to Improve Software Quality and Reduce Risk
By Paul M. Duvall
A Day in the Life of CI
What Is the Value of CI?
What Prevents Teams from Using CI?
How Do I Get to "Continuous" Integration?
When and How Should a Project Implement CI?
The Evolution of Integration
How Does CI Complement Other Development Practices?
How Long Does CI Take to Set Up?
CI and You
Commit Code Frequently
Don't Commit Broken Code
Fix Broken Builds Immediately
Write Automated Developer Tests
All Tests and Inspections Must Pass
Run Private Builds
Avoid Getting Broken Code
When we make assumptions in software development, we waste time and increase risks. Continuous Integration can help reduce assumptions on a project by rebuilding software whenever a change occurs in a version control system. Learn how it works.
Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk
Assumption is the mother of all screw-ups.
—Wethern's Law of Suspended Judgment
Early in my career, I learned that developing good software comes down to consistently carrying out fundamental practices regardless of the particular technology. In my experience, one of the most significant problems in software development is assuming. If you assume a method will be passed the right parameter value, the method will fail. Assume that developers are following coding and design standards and the software will be difficult to maintain. Assume configuration files haven't changed, and you'll spend precious development hours needlessly hunting down problems that don't exist. When we make assumptions in software development, we waste time and increase risks.
Reducing Assumptions
Continuous Integration can help reduce assumptions on a project by rebuilding software whenever a change occurs in a version control system.
We may think that the latest, greatest technology will be the "silver bullet" to solve all of our problems, but it will not. At one company, one of my initial responsibilities was to incorporate good software development practices into the company—by example. Over time, we were able to implement many widely accepted practices for developing good software into the projects. Having worked on many different projects that used different methodologies, I have found that, in general, iterative projects—using the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and eXtreme Programming (XP), in my case—work best, because risks are mitigated all along the way. Developing software requires planning for change, continuously observing the results, and incrementally course-correcting based on the results. This is how CI operates. CI is the embodiment of tactics that gives us, as software developers, the ability to make changes in our code, knowing that if we break software, we'll receive immediate feedback. This immediate feedback gives us time to course-correct and adjust to change more rapidly.
CI is about the fundamentals. It may not be the most glamorous activity in software development, but integrating software is vitally important in today's complex projects. Seldom do the users of the software say to me, "Wow, I really like the way you integrated the software in the last release." And since that doesn't happen, it may seem like it isn't worthwhile to make these efforts behind the scenes. However, anyone who has developed software using a practice such as CI is empowered by a consistent and repeatable build process kicked off when a change occurs to the version control repository.
CI as a Centerpiece for Quality
Some see CI as a process of simply putting software components together. We see CI as the centerpiece of software development, as it ensures the health of software through running a build with every change. Determining the quality of software can be as easy as checking the latest integration build.
Spending some time on the nonglamorous fundamental activities in software development means there is more time to spend on the challenging, thought-provoking activities that make our jobs interesting and fun. If we don't focus on the fundamentals, such as defining the development environment and building the software, we'll be forced to perform low-level tasks later, usually at the most inconvenient times (immediately before software goes to production, for example). This is when mistakes happen as well. The discipline involved in keeping the build "in the green" frees you from worrying about whether everything is still working. It's like exercising—yes, it takes self-discipline; yes, it can be painful work—but it keeps you in shape to play in the big game, when it counts.
This chapter attempts to answer the questions that you may have when making the decision to implement the practices of CI on a project. It provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of CI, and covers how CI complements other software development practices. CI is not a practice that can be handed off to a project's "build master" and forgotten about. It affects every person on the software development team, so we discuss CI in terms of what all team members must practice to implement it.
What's a day of work like using CI? Let's examine Tim's experiences.
As Tim opens the door to his company's suite, he views the wide-screen monitor displaying real-time information for his project. The monitor shows him that the last integration build ran successfully a few minutes ago on the CI server. It shows a list of the latest quality metrics, including coding/design standard adherence, code duplication, and so on. Tim is one of 15 developers on a Java project creating management software for an online brewery. See Figure 2-1 for a visualization of some of the activities in Tim's day.
Figure 2-1 A day in the life
Starting his day, Tim refactors a subsystem that was reported to have too much duplicate code based on the latest reports from the CI server. Prior to committing his changes to Subversion, he runs a private build, which compiles and runs the unit tests against the newest source code. After running this build on his machine, he commits his changes to Subversion. All the while, the CruiseControl CI server is polling the Subversion repository. A few minutes later, the CI server discovers the changes that Tim committed and runs an integration build. This integration build runs automated inspection tools to verify that all code adheres to the coding standard. Tim receives an e-mail about a coding standard violation, quickly makes the changes, and checks the source code back into Subversion. The CI server runs another build and it is successful. By reviewing the Web reports generated by the CI server, Tim finds that his recent code refactoring successfully reduced the amount of duplicate code in his subsystem.
Later in the day, another developer on the project, Lisa, runs into Tim's office.
Lisa: I think the changes you made earlier today broke the last build!
Tim: Hmm…but, I ran the tests.
Lisa: Oh, I didn't have time to write tests.
Tim: Are you following the code coverage metric we have established for the project?
Because of this discussion, they decided to fail the integration build if their code coverage was below 85%. Furthermore, Lisa wrote a test for the defect and fixed the problem she discovered because of her conversation with Tim. The integration build continued to stay "in the green."
automated—A "hands-off" process. Once a fully automated process begins, no user intervention is required. Systems administrators call this a "headless" process.
build—A set of activities performed to generate, test, inspect, and deploy software.
continuous—Technically, continuous means something that, once started, never stops. This would mean the build runs all the time; however, this isn't the case. Continuous, in the context of CI, is more like continual, and in the case of CI servers, a process continually runs, polling for changes to the version control repository. If the CI server discovers changes, it executes a build script.
Continuous Integration—"A software development practice where members of a team integrate their work frequently, usually each person integrates at least daily—leading to multiple integrations per day. Each integration is verified by an automated build (including test) to detect integration errors as quickly as possible. Many teams find that this approach leads to significantly reduced integration problems and allows a team to develop cohesive software more rapidly."1
development environment—The environment in which software is written. This can include the IDE, build scripts, tools, third-party libraries, servers, and configuration files.
inspection—Analysis of source code/bytecode for the internal quality attributes. In the context of this book, we refer to the automated aspects (static and runtime analysis) as software inspection.
integration—The act of combining separate source code artifacts together to determine how they work as a whole.
integration build—An integration build is the act of combining software components (programs and files) into a software system. This build includes multiple components on bigger projects or only low-level compiled source files on smaller projects. In our everyday life, we tend to use the terms build and integration build interchangeably, but for the purposes of this book we make the distinction that an integration build is performed by a separate integration build machine.
private (system) build—Running a build locally on your workstation before committing your changes to the version control repository, to lessen the chances that your recent changes break the integration build.2
quality—The Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing3 defines quality as "an essential and distinguishing attribute of something..." and "superior grade." The term quality is often overused, and some seem to think it is based on perception. In this book, we take the stance that quality is a measurable specification just like any other. This means you can identify specific metrics of quality, such as maintainability, extensibility, security, performance, and readability.
release build—Readies the software for release to users. It may occur at the end of an iteration or some other milestone, and it must include any acceptance tests and may include more extensive performance and load tests.
risk—The potential for a problem to occur. A risk that has been realized is known as a problem. We focus on the higher-priority risks (damage to our interests and goals) that have the highest likelihood of occurring.
testing—The general process of verifying that software works as designed. Furthermore, we define developer tests into multiple categories, such as unit tests, component tests, and system tests, all of which verify that objects, packages, modules, and the software system work as designed. There are many other types of tests, such as functional and load tests, but from a CI perspective, all unit tests written by developers, at a minimum, are executed as a part of a build (although builds may be staged to run fast tests first followed by slower tests).
Zombie Scrum Survival Guide
By Christiaan Verwijs, Johannes Schartau, Barry Overeem
The Agile Leader: Leveraging the Power of Influence
By Zuzana Sochova
Agile Transformation: Using the Integral Agile Transformation Framework to Think and Lead Differently
By Michael K. Spayd, Michele Madore


Kund Lake is located in South Darfur, one of the states of Sudan. Lake depth of 2-3 meters has an area of 1,200 hectares, with heavy rainfall and 100-200 — in the dry season, it is located at an altitude of 460 meters above sea level. In the north-west of Kundu is Sovetam.Ozero Kunda National Park is part of a protected natural reserve area of 2,000 hectares and is classified as an ornithological territory. On its shores inhabited by unique species of birds and animals, among them — Yellow-billed Stork, African holidays Іbіs, bee-eater, and many other species of birds. The lake is inhabited Tilapia and Clarias lazera, that draws on its shore fishing enthusiasts. Lake Kunda and the surrounding area is protected by the state.


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- The Lead: In the 2016 home opener on Saturday afternoon at Rocheleau Field, the Assumption College baseball team earned a split with visiting American International College. The Hounds dropped game one by an 8-6 final before pulling the 8-4 victory over the Yellow Jackets in the second game.
- Assumption got on the board in the second as junior Jake Byrne (Grafton, Mass./Saint John's) scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Hunter Tralli (Berlin, Conn./Northwest Catholic). The Yellow Jackets answered in the next inning with a two-run homer to right by Tyler Geffert for the 2-1 lead. The lead was shortlived though as freshman Kevin Quinlivan (Shrewsbury, Mass./Saint John's) scored in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 2-2 as Byrne laced an RBI double to left center.
- In the top of the sixth, the Yellow Jackets regained the lead for good with a pair of runs to make it 4-2. Assumption got one back in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out rally as senior Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) reached on a double to deep left. After moving to third on a passed ball, Panza came home on a single up the middle from senior Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc Regional).
- AIC answered with a decisive four-run eighth to seize the 8-3 advantage before Byrne scored again after reaching on a deep double to left to cut the lead back to 8-4 heading to the ninth. The Hounds plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth as sophomore Andrew Jaehnig (Quincy, Mass./Boston College) and pinch runner Matthew Abernathy (Frisco, Texas/John Paul II) came home to make it 8-6. That was as close as the Hounds would get though as the Yellow Jackets took game one.
- Panza was 3-for-6 in the leadoff spot in game one, while Byrne was outstanding with a 4-for-5 outing with two runs scored and one run batted in.
- Senior Steve Flynn (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter-Marian) took the loss to fall to 0-4 for the Hounds. He went seven innings while scattering nine hits with four earned runs and five strikeouts.
- Brian Karp picked up the win with a seven-inning effort for AIC as he improved to 2-1 overall. Mike Coyne threw 1.1 innings of relief to earn his first save of the season.
- Assumption jumped on the Yellow Jackets early as Jaehnig's triple to left scored junior Mike Coggeshall (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) with two outs for the 1-0 advantage. In the second, the Hounds put together a five-run inning to seize control at 6-0. Highlighting the frame was a two-RBI double over the first base bag by senior Colin Clancy (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) that scored Tralli and Byrne.
- The Hounds added a single run in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead up to 7-0 as Jaehnig scored on an RBI groundout from Byrne. AIC got on the board in the top of the sixth as Geffert came home on a two-out single by Karl Kapinos to make it 7-1.
- The Yellow Jackets picked up two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, while the Hounds countered with a single run in the eighth to account for the 8-4 final.
- The Hounds pounded out 15 hits in game two, including three each from Jaehnig, Clancy and freshman Alex Richardson (Rehoboth, Mass./Bishop Feehan).
- On the mound, sophomore Tom Horstkotte (Milford, Mass./Saint John's) improved to 2-1 on the season as he went six innings with just three hits allowed and 10 strikeouts. Colin Sledzik took the loss for the Yellow Jackets as he surrendered 10 hits and seven runs in just four innings pitched to drop to 1-2 overall.
- Assumption is back in action on Tuesday, March 22nd as the Hounds host the University of Bridgeport for a non-conference game beginning at 3:30 p.m.


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