Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

The coronavirus crisis hit Northern Ireland properly just as Sir Patrick Coghlin published his report into the RHI scandal. This was an unfortunate coincidence, at a time when people were looking for the parties at Stormont to work effectively together and set aside their differences for the common good. At The Critic , I examined the problems exposed in the report in detail. A malfunctioning civil service, a lack of political expertise, but, most pervasively, a cavalier attitude to public money, so long as it was believed to be coming from Westminster. The Executive has traditionally used devolved government to extract every last penny from the Treasury, then divvy it up, rather than taking on the difficult work of reforming services. As The Dissenter argues on his blog , ministers were busy finding money for their political hobby horses, while much needed ICU units were left unfinished. The rapid spread of Covid-19 has brought a new-found seriousness to the work of most members...

  In the latest Political OD podcast (recorded 16/10/2019), David and I discuss the De Souza campaign's attack on British citizenship in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic's Father Ted economic model, which involves international companies' money resting in Dublin's account. For more on the issues covered, read The Dissenter's piece on the  Phantom Menace of the parasitic Irish economy . And here's my article covering  the De Souza case . Listen above, or: Download at Podbean. Listen on Spotify. Find us on iTunes. Find us on Pocketcasts. If you enjoy our chat, don't forget to subscribe wherever you choose to listen.

If you were a loyal reader of this site, you've probably fallen out of the habit.  I've turned into a very irregular poster.  However, that is going to change and there will be a great deal more content soon. Independent comment about politics in Northern Ireland will resume.  Likewise content about the rest of the UK.  And you'll get news and views on Russia and Eurasia, as well as stuff about football and culture. Soon, I'll be heading to the Caucasus for a short while.  Georgia has suffered floods recently, which caused a number of fatalities, and the media responded by publishing multiple photographs of hippos on the loose in Tbilisi.  In Yerevan, Armenia, protests against a hike in electricity prices have prompted comparisons to the Ukraine and its Maidan 'revolution', helpfully dispelled by Anatoly Karlin . It's an interesting time to visit the region and I'll be writing about it all on the blog. Do please pay me a visit.

I spent a little while over the weekend slimming down the ‘blog roll’ of websites on the right hand side of this page.  The majority of links were either defunct or more or less disused.  It made me think, if the ‘weblog’ is not dying, its best days are certainly behind it.  Of course, my own site has become a fitful affair.  There are times when a visitor might expect to see tumbleweed blow across their screen, rather than a fresh new article, and when I do post, the number of hits is negligible.  I’ve never had an enormous interest in theoretical discussions about blogging as a medium.  Personally, if I hadn’t written blog-posts, I would have written something else.  I would have pitched my material to newspapers, or offered articles to magazines, or squirreled them away in notebooks. I didn’t start a blog because I wanted to be a blogger.  I started a blog because I enjoyed writing. Still, all those dead and dismembered links c...

I was shocked to check the blog A Pint of Unionist Lite this afternoon and discover that O'Neill is shutting down shop .  It's a sad day for the unionist blogosphere.  UL pre-existed this blog and it was one of the first politics sites, after Slugger, which I began to read regularly.  I've also greatly enjoyed collaborating with O'Neill over the years and must thank him for all the help and encouragement.  Let's hope he reconsiders, but if not, goodbye Unionist Lite and thanks for the memories.  A great blog and a great blogger.

Forgive the relative silence over the past few days.  I've taken on some new commitments which are mitigating against frequent posts.  Normal(ish) service will hopefully be resumed sooner rather than later.

In an attempt to update the site's social networking presence a little, I've added a Facebook site for Three Thousand Versts . Previously the link on the right hand side linked to a NetworkedBlogs application, inviting you to follow this blog.  Now the Facebook site stands alone and you just have to 'like' it in order to follow all the latest posts and news. Confused?  Me too - but hopefully it'll all become blindingly obvious with repeated use.  Don't be shy, if you are on Facebook you can click on the link and hit 'like'.

To paraphrase Mark from Peep Show, I'm about to strap on the nose-bag and eat some serious (paid) work.  So the likelihood is that blogging will be slow again today.  Over at culture blog The Dabbler though, I choose my 6 internet distractions for an "endless voyage".  It's a hugely fun to compile, based on an Anthony Burgess short-story and the website runs it as a regular feature.

A new (cunningly named) blog is up and running - Progressive Unionist Voice .  There are a variety of interesting posts up already, including MLA John McCallister's interpretation of 'Progressive Unionism' . I've contributed a guest post too, arguing against unionists who have formed a coalition 'together against the national interest'  with separatists across the UK.  And I highlight an argument from Peter Robinson that is so profoundly anti-unionist that it staggers the mind someone who calls himself a unionist would use it.

This morning it's reported that one Israel Malendez has sold his Twitter feed, @Israel , to the Israeli state for a six figure sum. Could this transaction start a rush of Tweeting squatters I wonder? Speculators have longed snapped up any unused web domain which they calculate could be hot property, particularly if it corresponds to a successful company name or brand.  There are bound to be plenty of available Twitter feeds in the same category.

Postings on Three Thousand Versts have already been regrettably intermittent over the summer.  In my defence, blogs are allowed a silly season too.  With the UUP leadership debate getting underway in earnest in September and political life in general cranking back into gear again service should return to normal.  There will, however, be a short cessation to recharge the batteries.  See you soon!  

It's that time of the year again.  Total politics is compiling its list of top 10 blogs.  There are a number of good new contenders to choose from, as well as all the old favourites.  And any votes for this particular site would of course be appreciated.

You may (or may not) have noticed that 'Three Thousand Versts' has been tweaked in terms of appearance.  I've availed of some of the new design tools on Blogger, in an attempt to provide a slightly cleaner, less cluttered finish.  My question to readers is, does it work or do you prefer the old look?  And are there any reservations or annoyances which you would like ironed out (post content is not on the agenda!)?

We’ve become accustomed to blogging politicians in the UK. Some of their offerings are relatively thoughtful, others are little more than a sequence of press releases, penned by a member of staff. In Russia the President himself keeps a Livejournal blog , comprising mainly video entries, in keeping with his modernising image. A less likely newcomer to Russian political blogging has now emerged from Chechnya . President of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. His first article, entitled, I - Kadyrov , is presumably as thrilling in the original Russian, as it is in translation, judging by the scornful reaction reported in the Moscow Times. Unnervingly the Chechen hardman wants to be friends and describes himself as ‘sociable’. The authorities in Chechnya are clearly delighted with the traffic so far and I would imagine it is inordinately healthy as media outlets pick up the story.

There’s a fine piece  (subs - appropriately enough - required) in Prospect this month, defending the Times’ decision to erect a pay wall around its website.  The author is adamant that hatred for Rupert Murdock should not cloud people’s judgement on the new initiative. It’s a commonplace that newspapers, almost universally, are now struggling to return a profit, simply because people have become so used to receiving content for free, over the internet. Either the media must develop a model which recoups all its costs through advertising, or consumers have to pay a fair price for news, whether it is in a printed newspaper, or on the web.  Otherwise quality journalism will not prove sustainable in the long term. The Times has made its subscription model affordable, and, in the short term, a preview is available to entice potential customers.  It is also rumoured that access will be bundled with other products, such as Sky television packages. I’ve used th...

Time for a reminder that although this blog doesn't have commenting rules at such (I decide what goes up and what doesn't), it does have commenting guidelines. You can always find them here , the link is just below the blog's banner. If your read them, and abide by them, then your contribution is likely to be included. In order to keep the commenting process as simple as possible, and in order to avoid requiring commenters to sign up with some type of I.D., anonymous commenting is enabled on this blog. THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED. Anonymous comments are not moderated with any great care and will appear or not appear at my whim. Particularly because, often, they come from exactly the same IP addresses used by a registered user, or an unregistered user who otherwise comments using a handle. The courteous thing, and what I want to encourage, is to use a handle, or a name, and stick to it. You don't have to have a Google or a Yahoo account....

In order to keep the commenting process as simple as possible, and in order to avoid requiring commenters to sign up with some type of I.D., anonymous commenting is enabled on this blog. THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT ANONYMOUS COMMENTS ARE ENCOURAGED. Anonymous comments are not moderated with any great care and will appear or not appear at my whim. Particularly because, often, they come from exactly the same IP addresses used by a registered user, or an unregistered user who otherwise comments using a handle. The courteous thing, and what I want to encourage, is to use a handle, or a name, and stick to it. You don't have to have a Google or a Yahoo account. Simply use the box provided when you're commenting, or add a signature at the bottom of your post. Of course this system is also open to abuse, but at least it encourages people to make their comments vaguely attributable. The surest way to guarantee your view is put across on Three Thousand Versts is to use a registered ac...

Hold the presses! Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, has held a meeting . Over at Slugger Mick Fealty gets precious about the genesis of this 'story'. Conall McDevitt hails its exposition as a triumph of new media. Let me enter one slight note of dissent. This is far from a triumph of new media. On the contrary, it is a prime example of a non-story which gets picked up by mainstream outlets, between tentative thumb and forefinger, simply because it has been given a mischievous interpretation by a journalist acting in his capacity as a blogger. The thinking, roughly stated, is 'oh maybe this is significant, we'll mention it, leave out the scurrilous insinuations for safety's sake and append some extraneous detail'. It's actually an example of new media perpetuating bad journalism.

At some point, either today or tomorrow, this blog will speculate on the possible shape of Northern Irish politics in 2020. It's likely to be a catch-all of wishful thinking. Still, it's my pitch, it's my ball and I want to have fun! On the Sublime Oblivion blog Anatoly Karlin offers his geopolitical predictions for 2010. They should be taken a little more seriously than my intended post. Anatoly actually got quite a few of his 2009 speculations right! Here's one of the most eye-catching this time round. A new Russia-Georgia war remains a serious possibility, if Saakashvili uses his rapidly rebuilding military forces to make another megalomaniac lunge at reclaiming South Ossetia, or if Russia orchestrates a false flag to give itself the justification to roll in the tanks to Tbilisi and set up a puppet regime. In the latter case, the “new cold war” atmosphere of August 2008 will begin to appear to be distinctly jovial. Likelihood: 10%; Severity: 4. Let's hope t...

I've updated my links and the 'latest' widget to include a new blog by Daphne Trimble. The Ulster Unionist nominee for Lagan Valley opens with a thoughtful critique of the human rights process. The conclusion offers a nicely condensed synopsis of the argument against socio-economic rights. If democracy means anything, it means that government is accountable directly to the electorate. The ‘effective enforcement mechanisms’ that the Consortium proposes would mean that government was accountable in court to the judiciary, at the call of the person bringing the case, who, under the current proposals could be an unaccountable body such as the Consortium. The NIHRC includes at least one sane voice. It is a pity the commission chose to ignore it, when it delivered its final report. Otherwise Northern Ireland might be on the brink of some meaningful rights' legislation.