Too Early to Say | Collusions & Conclusions | Birthright Of The Irish

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”

– Virginia Woolf

Don’t Let The Door Hit Ya: British Prime Minister Theresa May was in Brussels Sunday, where leaders of the European Union’s remaining 27 member nations formally “endorsed” the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future EU-UK relations. Under the deal, the UK will officially leave the EU on March 29, 2019; a 21-month “transition period” will then ensue wherein the UK will remain under EU regulations until the end of 2020. Britain will pay the EU $50 billion upon its exit, and the UK will no longer be required to allow EU citizens to live and work within its borders. Many will need to apply or re-apply for new status under UK law. The withdrawal agreement now heads to the British Parliament for an approval vote in December, where passage will determine if the plan stays intact before the deadline to exit.

The withdrawal agreement took a year and a half to negotiate, yet it faces opposition from all sides. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a statement Sunday that his party would oppose the deal in Parliament. But European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters Sunday: “Those who think that, by rejecting the deal, they would get a better deal, will be disappointed.” And Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: “There is no Plan B.” Which leaves open the question: what happens if British lawmakers reject the Brexit plan next month?

Babbling Babis: In the Czech Republic billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis built a now scandalous business conglomerate, by misusing EU subsidies, entered politics on an ‘I’m too rich to corrupt’ platform, then claimed his children were mentally ill when they wanted to testify against him, and has survived two attempts by lawmakers to end his populist, anti-immigrant, increasingly authoritarian government. (NYT)

Birthright Of The Irish: An interesting contest wages in the Republic of Ireland: it’s between lawmakers and the government over a new Senate proposal to reinstate birthright citizenship, which the public overwhelmingly favors, but which the government opposes because Ireland and Northern Ireland have a special and close-knit relationship, although only Northern Ireland is part of the UK and its people are entitled to both British and Irish citizenship, so what if people living illegally in Britain move to Northern Ireland, have a baby, live there three years to get Irish citizenship for the baby, then use the toddler’s citizenship to obtain residence anywhere in Ireland or the UK, thus giving them extensive mutual residency and travel rights they wouldn’t otherwise have. (NYT)

South Korea’s #UsToo: South Korea has a growing group of women who are challenging the long-accepted attitudes about plastic surgery and cosmetics in one of the world’s most beauty-obsessed societies, that says for too long men have insisted women be beautiful at any cost, and women have had just about enough, so it’s like the #MeToo movement, but it’s called “Escape the Corset”, meaning it’s a campaign to cast off the country’s rigid beauty standards, because frankly, it’s beginning to feel less complimentary and more misogynistic. (NYT)

– “John Allen Chau: Struggle to retrieve body of man killed by tribe” (BBC)

– “Ukraine claims Russia ‘rammed our tugboat’ off Crimea: The “aggressive actions” occurred as three Ukrainian ships sailed from the Black Sea port of Odessa to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, Kiev said.” (BBC)

Taiwan Turned Upside Down: Taiwanese voters went to the polls on Saturday and delivered a major blow to their island’s independence. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost two key mayoral races, while the China-friendly opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party took or retained control of 15 cities and counties; the KMT will control two and a half times that of the DPP. One of the main opposition figures said he will now reach out to Beijing to forge friendlier ties. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, on the outs with Beijing since her election in 2016, took responsibility for her party’s losses and resigned as DPP chairwoman. Beijing has refused to have direct contact with Tsai’s administration, but has received delegations from the KMT. Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have heightened with China conducting military drills around the island and snatching away Taiwan’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies. After Saturday’s election DPP Secretary General Hung Yao-fu was asked whether the China factor had played a role in influencing voters. He reiterated there had been a problem with “fake news”.

Saturday’s voters also rejected two referendums, one calling for the island to join the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Taiwan, rather than Beijing’s preference of “Chinese Taipei,” and another to allow same-sex marriage, a setback to LGBT couples hoping their island will be the first country in Asia to let same-sex couples share child custody and insurance benefits. The latter outcome contradicts a May 2017 constitutional court ruling wherein justices ordered legislators to make same-sex marriage legal by May 2019. Although the ballot is advisory only, it is expected to frustrate lawmakers mindful of public opinion as the court’s deadline looms next spring. Many legislators will stand for re-election in 2020.

Daily Pnut’s publisher’s grandfather fought for the KMT and had to flee China in 1949 when the Communists took over. Now Communist China is perhaps the best practitioner of capitalism, the KMT want stronger ties with China, and there’s a bigger opium problem in the West than in China. Both Mao and my grandfather are likely rolling in their graves at how much has changed. This is why I’m a fan of the following quote where Zhou Enlai (China’s premier under Mao) said the effects of the French Revolution were “too early to say.”

Additional read: Don’t look now, but while the US and China are putting on gloves and squaring off in many parts of the world, Australia and India are quietly holding hands and scratching each other’s back in the corner of their little universe. (NYT)

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Robert Mueller Doesn’t Take A Day Off: President Trump has gone all out to convince the American public that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has spent way too long conducting his “witch hunt”; Trump’s even made “No Collusion” a catch phrase. The truth, according to Anne Milgram, a law professor at New York University and a former prosecutor and attorney general of New Jersey, is that Mueller and his 17 lawyers have done “a terrific job”. “Months have gone by – people think it’s a long time – it is not in criminal justice,” Milgram said. “He has moved incredibly quickly, got a lot of cooperation agreements, charges, done an extraordinary job of running down Russian hacking of the election.” Another former federal prosecutor said: “Complex charges against nearly three dozen people [and] organizations in less than two years is unheard of.

Federal investigations may go on for three or four years before charges are brought against a few defendants. Also despite nearly daily false attacks from the president and his allies, the entire team has just kept its head down and done their work.” We anticipate there will be a film about Mueller’s investigation in the future. There was a film on Spotlight and on All the President’s Men and given the characters involved this feels ripe for Hollywood. (Guardian)

Trump Says No Evidence Of Conclusion: Last week it was reported that the CIA had found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. When asked about the reports, President Trump told reporters in Florida on Thursday: “They didn’t conclude. No, no, they didn’t conclude. I’m sorry. No, they didn’t conclude. They did not come to a conclusion. They have feelings certain ways. I have the report … they have not concluded, I don’t know if anyone’s going to be able to conclude the crown prince did it.” Several top Democrats who have been briefed on the CIA findings said, simply, the president was lying. “The CIA concluded that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was directly involved in the assassination of Khashoggi,” said the senior Democrat on the armed services committee. (Guardian)

– “George Papadopoulos faces prison on Monday after judge rejects delay:Former Trump campaign aide must begin two-week sentence” (Guardian)

– “Mississippi Republican faces new Confederate claims before Trump visit” (Guardian)

– “Hyde-Smith Attended All-White ‘Seg Academy’ to Avoid Integration: U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith attended and graduated from a segregation academy that was set up so that white parents could avoid having to send their children to schools with black students, a yearbook reveals.” (Jackson Free Press)

– “Silicon Valley wages have dropped for all except highest-paying jobs: report” (Mercury News)

– “Everything Is for Sale Now. Even Us.: The constant pressure to sell ourselves on every possible platform has produced its own brand of modern anxiety.” (NYT)

– “Meet Denny, the ancient mixed-heritage mystery girl: After the unearthing of a Neanderthal-Denisovan fossil, UK scientists are using groundbreaking techniques to learn more of the species’ complex bonds with humans” (Guardian)

– “On Your Next Cruise, Put Down That Cocktail and Head to Class:Cruise-goers typically look forward to relaxing by the pool with a drink in hand or spending the day in the spa, but more lines are eager to give you intellectual fare as well.” (NYT)

– “‘I thought – who will remember me?’: the man who fathered 200 children” (Guardian)

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