The Times They Are A-Changin’: The Shape of Water

 

 

“When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,”  

 

I borrowed this title from Andrea Camilleri, whose first Inspector Montalbano novel used this term in reference to a philosophical conversation about how water takes the shape of whatever container it is poured into. 

 

Ironically, water also has no shape for the majority of us, as we are in a drought! 

This hasn’t prevented Thames Water from hosing it around. The “it” is, of course, bonuses. Thames, a company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy appears to have no qualms about rewarding management for the company’s performance, or rather lack of, as they paid their finance chief, Steve Buck, a £1m signing fee! 

Lest we forget, Thames is on the brink of financial collapse with a debt pile of £20bn, rivers in their region are drowning in sewage and 571m litres of water are lost every day. That really is some performance! 

 

‘Always remember, “big fucks small!” ‘

 

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “It is unacceptable”. There will be more tut-tutting, and then silence. 

Always remember, “big fucks small!” 

An expert in this concept is the US who having spent years honing it, have found that roles can be reversed with small doing the deed, for example, Viet Nam, and now Iran. 

Despite this, Trump’s foreign policy document singled-out Europe, warning that the continent faces “civilisational erasure” due to mass migration and the policies of the EU. 

The document outlines plans to “cultivate resistance” by backing specific political parties, movements, and figures in Europe that favour national sovereignty and traditional lifestyles. 

Whilst this explicit interference fits in to the “surely he wouldn’t” bin, it has been reported that the US embassy in London is offering grants of up to half a million dollars for new “public education.” 

The funding notice identifies a goal of fostering a “national conversation” about “shared civilizational values” underpinning US-UK ties. Priority will go to applicants aiming to celebrate “freedom of speech” and “limited government”. 

The grants are part of a scheme called, “Liberty Under Law: The Shared Anglo-American Tradition”, and appear to be separate from other grants of $12m which the US state department is planning to allocate to organisations in the UK founded by the prominent Conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg and Toby Young. 

 

“Liberty Under Law: The Shared Anglo-American Tradition”

 

Similar is happening in Europe, with millions in grants being offered for proposals from groups in to develop “civilizational self-confidence in Europe … [and] address national sovereignty, migration, censorship, and lawfare challenges in line with our shared political philosophy, law, and Western heritage”.  

Zsuzsanna Végh, a researcher in liberal democracy, said that “the advertising of the funding calls follows a long period of networking among Maga and like-minded European actors, which have already facilitated the identification of a pool of possible recipients”.  

Following these grants, the German, chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Trump’s administration against interfering in German elections. 

Perhaps we shouldn’t complain, as Greenland has been all but invaded by a US oil company. 

Greenland Energy, connected to Trump, started offloading materials in July to prepare for drilling on their eastern coast, despite not having received permission from the local authorities. 

This comes as Trump renews his imperialist threats to claim the vast Arctic territory. Part of the prize is the claimed $1tn of crude that may lie beneath the Jameson Land region. 

 

‘Part of the prize is the claimed $1tn of crude that may lie beneath the Jameson Land region’

 

The Greenland government responded with a “strong warning” that no approval had been granted to land the kit, saying:  “All future logistical matters must be advised and approved by the mineral resources authority – before they are carried out.”   

This week, as Greenland Energy intended to sink its first wells, the government said: “The necessary regulatory process cannot be completed, and the necessary approvals cannot therefore be obtained before the planned start of drilling.” 

Greenland stopped issuing new oil licences in 2021 on environmental grounds, however a UK company, “80 Mile” had secured exploration rights in Jameson Land. Corporate filings by Greenland Energy’s say it will take a majority stake in the project in exchange for funding the exploration, though it still needs government permission to proceed. 

The proposed  wells are in an area protected by the global Ramsar Convention to preserve wetlands, home to important numbers of barnacle geese and pink-footed geese as well as whimbrel, golden plover. Oil exploration activities could threaten the birds’ habitat. 

It now seems likely that there will be additional pressure bought to bear by the Trump administration, with them using the prospect of an American oil find in to bolster their case for taking over. 

The US president’s special envoy to Greenland, the hard-right Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, told Fox News: “We need a deal. Greenland needs a deal. We could be – Greenland could be – exporting 2m barrels of oil a day right now.” 

He added, “his task is to make Greenland a part of the US.” 

 

‘temperatures in Europe rising twice as fast as other continents, causing tens of thousands of heatwave deaths so far this summer’

 

More fossil fuel is, or at least should be, the very last thing we need, with temperatures in Europe rising twice as fast as other continents, causing tens of thousands of heatwave deaths so far this summer. 

In the UK, the ongoing heatwave is estimated to have cost the economy more than £4bn in lost economic output, according to analysis from the green thinktank Verdant. 

Verdant’s director, James Meadway, said: “The economic costs of climate change are already with us, and set to worsen in future years. Action by the government to protect workers and businesses from the severe effects of extreme heat is well overdue.” 

 

“who were we going to fight”? Now I know; America! 

 

Returning to Trump, he, two of his aides and the executive office of the president, are being sued by the Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation after a subscription service charging up to $100,000 a month for early access to his posts on his Truth Social platform sparked allegations of corruption. 

The plaintiffs argue that the president, who remains Trump Media’s largest shareholder, with a stake worth C.$1bn, stands to personally profit from selling privileged access to information generated in his official capacity. 

Trump has a history of using Truth Social to disclose market-sensitive news, including posts on tariffs and the war on Iran, which have triggered swings in stock and oil prices. Trump Media’s interim chief executive, Kevin McGurn, has even promoted the service as a way to give businesses fast access to the platform’s “most market-moving” posts. He has described it as a “high-margin” product meant to provide a “meaningful, ongoing source of revenue”. 

According to the complaint, Trump Media disclosed on 10 August that it already had more than 10 subscribers, reportedly including financial news outlets and high-frequency trading firms, and was exploring licensing the data to prediction markets while working to block third-party tools that let outside groups scrape and archive Trump’s posts. 

There has been much talk about the need for us to increase defence spending. Previously, I had question this asking “who were we going to fight”?  

Now I know; America! 

 

 

“That night we went down to the river
And into the river we’d dive”  

 

 

This week’s been strange, not to say hot.

The war in Iran is just, well, it’s lingering

The Clacton by-election sums it up perfectly. No one’s bothered.

The PM is going round the country trying to make everyone feel loved. I guess he’s trying, at least.

The real story, as always, is Trump

“Truth Social” seems to be marketed as a pay-to-be-an-insider-trader platform. Somehow, why are we surprised?

Then there was the attempted “invasion” of Greenland, equally unbelievable but, again, not surprising.

Maybe the heat has done for us all?

Lyrically, we start with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel, and end with the oft forgotten “The River” by Bruce Springsteen.

Enjoy!

Philip

 

@coldwarsteve

 

Philip Gilbert is a city-based corporate financier, and former investment banker.

Philip is a great believer in meritocracy, and in the belief that if you want something enough you can make it happen. These beliefs were formed in his formative years, of the late 1970s and 80s

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