Brian Doherty

The high summer of Donald Trump In all likelihood, it is downhill for the US president from here

The high summer of Donald Trump -
"Trump can claim to be a world-historical figure in the proper sense of that misused term, in that he has overturned the prevailing thought of the age. That does not mean classical economics has suddenly ceased to apply in practice"
on.ft.com/4muX5Ns via @FT

White House Orders NASA to Destroy Important Satellite The White House has instructed NASA employees to destroy two major, climate change-focused satellite missions.

«The White House has instructed NASA employees to terminate two major, climate change-focused satellite missions.» 🤷🏻‍♂️

futurism.com/white-house-...

From now on there will be a sixth finger on the button.

We can’t lose focus on what matters – right now, Republicans in Texas are trying to gerrymander district lines to unfairly win five seats in next year’s midterm elections. This is a power grab that undermines our democracy.

I enjoyed chatting with Stephen Colbert on "The Late Show."

My thoughts on how we save our democracy are the same today as when we last spoke on "The Colbert Report" in 2010.

We must get big money out of politics.

Parliament and the Rule of Law - David Anderson QC Lawyer London UK What does the UK Parliament mean when it refers to the Rule of Law - and what has the Rule of Law to teach Parliament?

The text of my keynote address to the 2025 ALBA Conference last month is now on my website: www.daqc.co.uk/2025/08/03/p....

If there’s so much buyer’s remorse about Brexit, why is Nigel Farage the rising figure in UK politics? Ten years on, an angry tribe sees itself as more English than British - and Ireland must stay alert to the dangers

If there’s so much buyer’s remorse about Brexit, why is Nigel Farage the rising figure in UK politics?

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

What would a Reform UK government mean for the UK economy? What happens if Reform UK takes power? The economy might implode before their manifesto reaches final draft

You may think of Reform UK as just anti-immigration.

However it’s also anti-civil servants, anti- economic rules, anti-standards

In short, it’s anti-functioning government.

So what would a Reform UK govt look like?

F.B.I. Is Asked to Arrest Texas Democrats in Battle Over House Seats

This is a demand for unconstitutional, arbitrary power. There is no offense against the United States here. The FBI has no role to assist the State of Texas in becoming an authoritarian enclave.

F.B.I. Is Asked to Arrest Texas Democrats in Battle Over House Seats www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

10% for Bushmills, 15% for Jameson: The bewildering cross-border trade Business on both sides of the Border are trying to figure out the financial implications of Trump’s different tariffs with the UK and EU

“Businesses in the Republic without a presence in the North will now peer enviously across the Border at the lower rate to be applied there. This is the first year since Ireland – both parts – joined the [EEC] in 1973 that such a differential has been in play.”

www.irishtimes.com/business/202...

Starmer should offer to pause Palestine recognition in last try to win over Trump A two-state solution is going nowhere unless it is backed by Trump

derrickwyatt.substack.com/p/starmer-sh...
Starmer should offer to pause Palestine recognition in last try to win over Trump
A two-state solution is going nowhere unless it is backed by Trump
Putting the two-state solution back on track could be the biggest deal of Trump’s political life.

EU follows Starmer by giving in to Trump Commission president Ursula von der Leyen even adopts Maga talking points to justify lopsided trade deal with US

The EU has effectively copied Starmer’s template, capitulating almost entirely to Trump’s wrecking-ball agenda

www.irishtimes.com/business/eco...

Photographer Merlin Daleman chronicles Britain’s ‘act of defiance’ He talks about his new book, Mutiny, an often bleak record of Brexit-voting towns and regions

“My images tell the story of a fractured Britain” New photobook Mutiny surveys the regions that voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum. It makes for bracing viewing: litter-strewn streets, teenagers with thousand-yard stares, food banks, struggling parents and shuttered shops
FT

on.ft.com/45d94Ip

WASPInomics and the magic avocado tree Why boomers struggle to make sense of the millennial world.

My latest, exploring with numbers how the millennial household budget is basically incomprehensible to retired boomers.

Feel like I’ve had Article 55 of the Fourth Geneva Convention tattooed on the inside of my eyelids for going on two years now.

Marking 250 Years Since the Birth of Daniel O’Connell

Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) changed the face of Irish history.

As we mark the 250th anniversary of his birth this year, the @nlireland.bsky.social invites the public to rediscover his life and legacy through our unparalleled #DanielOConnell collections.

www.nli.ie/news-stories...

UK fights to preserve animal welfare standards in Brexit reset deal A British official said the government doesn’t want the talks to become “a race to the bottom on standards.”

Will it be much of a 'fight'?

"The SPS agreement the EU has with Switzerland — seen as a model for the upcoming British accord — also includes its own carve-out on animal welfare."

www.politico.eu/article/uk-a...

Iceland's confusing upcoming referendum on relations with EU Iceland's new government aims to organise a referendum on our relations with the EU — in 2027 at the latest. The vote will, however, not be about whether Iceland should join the bloc but merely wheth...

"While recent polls have shown a large majority in favour of holding the referendum, much fewer people support launching fresh accession talks... many people obviously just want the vote to be able to say no. Probably in the hope of finally killing the idea off."

euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

A new era for British-Irish relations - British Politics and Policy at LSE After a period of turmoil caused by Brexit and the undermining of the Good Friday Agreement by the Conservatives, a new Labour government offers hope for renewed British - Irish relations.

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

His fellow EU founding father, Paul-Henri Spaak, on the other hand observed that “there are only two types of states in Europe:
small states, and small states that have not yet realised that they are small”
If Europe’s humiliation is to end, its leading nations must remember Spaak and relearn Monnet

Europe’s summer of humiliation America knew the EU was weak. The rest of the world knows it now

Jean Monnet said that “Europe will be forged in crises and will be the sum of the solutions adopted for those crises”. His fellow EU founding father, Paul-Henri Spaak, on the other hand, observed that “there are only two types of states in Europe:

on.ft.com/4ffr6OI via @FT

How the UK could reform the European convention on human rights Politicians have long raised concerns about the extent to which international human rights law affects UK migration policy.

Worth a read from @joellegrogan.bsky.social on the false promises of magic solutions in the reform of the ECHR or it's domestic application in the UK for politicians perceived problems with migration in an unstable world:

theconversation.com/how-the-uk-c...

Interesting in itself, and also interesting that even trade experts like @samuelmarclowe.bsky.social find it hard to evaluate exactly what's going on with Trump's tariff 'deals'. Plus, nice to be reminded of The Vapors' hit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGy9...

Paying to Play: Europe’s Costly Concessions in Trump’s New Trade War The US-EU trade deal is a "hopelessly one-sided" agreement, which will ultimately harm the economy on both sides of the Atlantic, argues Simon Nixon

🔴Paying to Play: Europe’s Costly Concessions in Trump’s New Trade War

The US-EU trade deal is a “hopelessly one-sided” agreement, which will ultimately harm the economy on both sides of the Atlantic, argues @nixonsimon.bsky.social

bylinetimes.com/2025/07/28/p...

Oh Ursula..

Could Iceland Join The EU? Reykjavik Eyes Accession Talks As Security, Trade Tensions Mount Iceland is weighing a return to EU membership talks amid Arctic security concerns and shifting trade dynamics. Brussels is hopeful, but sovereignty and fisheries remain major sticking points.

"The fact remains that most political parties in the Icelandic parliament are against EU membership.

"And while polls show that the population is keen to restart talks with Brussels, they are less sure that they actually want to become members."

www.rferl.org/a/iceland-eu...

Denis Staunton: Ursula von der Leyen stooped to conquer with the EU-US trade deal The EU is now closer to China than the US on a growing number of policy areas

EU-US trade deal: Ursula von der Leyen stooped to conquer

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

British-Irish Relations in the Twenty-First Century: A strong examination of the Belfast Agreement’s legacy and the impact of Brexit Etain Tannam argues that John Hume’s central three-stranded idea for the agreement has been neglected

This extraordinary achievement failed to reconcile ethno-political identities in the North or stabilise government there

North-South co-op. & institutionalised relations between Ireland and the UK, has been neglected and underused by these governments and parties

www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Very sad

The Express article is, of course gibberish - the ECHR is not as such "enforced by" the ECJ