Latest news with #Fair
Otago Daily Times
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
A&P show radiates energy
Hon William Nosworthy opens the Otago A and P Society's 1925 Winter Show in Dunedin. — Otago Witness, 9.6.1925 Once again Winter Show Week has been auspiciously ushered in, and the community cannot but respond to the stimulus of its quickening influences. It may be said with accuracy that Winter Show Week is like no other of the fifty-two that comprise the year. It has an atmosphere of its own and is the more welcome because it introduces an agreeable break in the monotony of the season of short days and low temperatures and brings brightness and bustle in its train at a time when most people are in the mood to appreciate a variation of the normal routine. Only the dullard can fail to be alive to the acceleration of the city's activities which Winter Show Week introduces. The Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society's Show becomes at this time a radiating centre of energy and animation. Our visitors will of course have opportunity of judging for themselves of the promise of the forthcoming Exhibition from the magnitude of the buildings that are now erected and should find sufficient evidence during the present week of the existence of a progressive and confident spirit in the principal city of Otago. There is much to see and much to do in Dunedin within the pleasant limits of Winter Show Week, and in all manner of re-unions, gatherings and conferences, agreeable scope for the sociability which is the indispensable lubricant of the whole machinery of the Fair. — editorial Licensed premises The annual meeting of the Dunedin Licensing Committee was held in the courthouse yesterday afternoon. New licenses to old houses were granted as follows: Crown Hotel (William Ernest Metcalf), Carlton Hotel (John Richardson), Provincial (Cecil Henry Street), Bowling Green (Frederick William Rudkin), Rugby (William James Bevis), Criterion (Angus Murray McIvor), Oban (Fred Griffiths Paape), Gridiron (Alfred Walter Brown). A well-dressed woman "What had she on?" is my inevitable query on hearing my husband express the opinion that Mrs Smith or Brown was the best-dressed woman there ("there," by the way, meaning some function or other). The also inevitable answer is — " Well, er, you know what women wear; all the same, she knows what suits her, and how to dress herself." At times, I must own, I feel a wee bit jealous of the Mrs Smiths and Browns, who have the cleverness to arouse such expressions of admiration from other people's husbands. She knows what suits herself. It sounds so extraordinarily simple, doesn't it? Yet how many of us women can claim that distinction? To know how to dress ourselves becomingly and attractively is an art. But the majority of us appear to consider that what proves becoming to another person must in some inexplicable way assuredly be as becoming to ourselves. It is possible not to be out of the fashion, and yet to have a distinct style of one's own. A woman's clothes should undoubtedly express her personality. Voluble 'wobbly' in NZ Lyons, the young and voluble IWW sailor whose deportation is sought for, intends to defy the authorities. He states that he does not wish to leave New Zealand. He likes the people and he wishes to work here. Whether or not the people of New Zealand like Mr Lyons remains to be seen. They showed no very warm enthusiasm for him or his cause at the Sunday evening meeting which he addressed here. "They want to deport me," he told his audience, "But if you people get together, I say they will not dare to deport me." Lyons openly and exultantly declared that he was a member of the IWW. — ODT, 2.6.1925 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
Scroll.in
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Interview: India's options are limited but military strikes are ‘symbolic', won't deter terror
Military strikes will not deter Pakistan from using terrorism as a tool of foreign policy since Kashmir and the conflict with India are existential to the Pakistani army, said Christine Fair. 'The purpose of this was more illustrative than it was deterrence,' Fair told Scroll in an interview. India's options remain extremely limited, said Fair, an associate professor at Georgetown University who is considered an expert on the Pakistan army and the country's terrorist network. Terror groups, like the Lashkar e Taiba, are domestically crucial to Pakistan while Islamabad's use of nuclear threats in negotiating with the West will ensure its continued survival, said Fair. 'The only thing that really changes Pakistan is a decisive military defeat of the Pakistan army that leaves the Pakistan army in complete disarray,' she said. 'This is not something that India can do right now or for the policy-relevant future. It's not possible at all now [given the nuclear umbrella].' Referring to the military strikes, she said they generated a lot of jingoism in India and were risky but didn't change anything on the ground. 'They're really important symbolic attacks – but they're symbolic attacks. They don't degrade the ability of these organisations to operate.' Fair also pointed out that the off-ramp in this case was manufactured, like it was during the 2019 military strikes in Balakot after the Pulwama terror attack. In both instances, she said, the Indian and the Pakistani publics were left with this 'enormous sense of victory'. The Indian media's 'bakwas', or nonsense, said Fair, also made it difficult to evaluate the implications for foreign policy. Edited excerpts: Play Do you think Pakistan will be deterred by what just happened? No, not at all. The Pakistan army is an insurgent army – it can't defeat India conventionally. And for that matter, India can't defeat Pakistan in a short war because the forces along the IB [international border] and the LOC [Line of Control], are similarly poised. India's advantage can only kick in during a long war and that's increasingly difficult because of nuclear weapons and so forth. So India can't defeat Pakistan, Pakistan can't defeat India. But Pakistan views Kashmir as part of this incomplete process of Partition and that Pakistan itself is not complete without Kashmir. This is a story that all Pakistanis learn. It gives rise to every army chief. There was a lot of hay made about [General Asim] Munir's speech about Kashmir being the jugular vein of Pakistan. The fact is every army chief says this and every prime minister says this. The Pakistan army can't take Kashmir. But what the Pakistan army can do is deny India the victory of saying that Kashmir is calm and a peaceful part of India. I also wanted to dispel any criticism that has been leveraged against the Indian state saying this is an intelligence lapse. I was in Kashmir two years ago [and] the counter insurgency grid is very robust. But the fact is you can't stop every attack. It's just not possible. So, Pakistan has to do this to show that India hasn't compelled or deterred it. What this means is that we're going to see a return to normalcy – just as we did after Pulwama. But mark my words, there's going to be another terrorist attack. It'll likely be in Kashmir. I don't think anything has happened here strategically that is going to deter Pakistan from using terrorism as a tool of foreign policy. But does it increase its cost? In Balakot in 2019 and again this time, we're seeing credible sources that Pakistani air bases have been hit. So does increasing that cost at least impose a further barrier on Pakistan exporting terror to India? The short answer is no and the evidence really shows this, right? Pulwama was pretty costly, but let's look at the lessons that came out of Pulwama. This is important because it involves the duplicity of Indian and Pakistani media. What the Pakistanis, credibly, can say is that they shot down a MiG and they returned its pilot and they were accoladed for doing what a country is supposed to do. What allowed India to back down was this complete fabrication of an F-16 shootdown. There was no F-16 shot down. I say this with 100% confidence. This entire off ramp was manufactured, right? Let's take a look at the off ramp here. It is from the Indian public and from the Pakistani public. The Indian public believes if I listen to [Republic TV anchor] Arnab Goswami, apparently Pakistan took Karachi port. The Indians have these fictive beliefs about these capacious gains that were made vice Pakistan. Pakistan, for its part, believes that it shot down five Indian aircraft. Now, there is evidence that it shot down two, but we don't know about the other three. The Indian and the Pakistani publics are both left with this enormous sense of victory. It's going to take a really long time to do satellite imagery analysis. India made very capacious claims about damage that was made to Balakot. It turned out to be absolute nonsense. But it took a couple of weeks for those claims to be interrogated through satellite imagery analysis. By the time that the actual truth comes out, the media has moved on to something else. In any event, neither the Pakistani or Indian media are interested in what actually happened – because that's just not the way they're operating. Both of the publics have been misinformed, which allows them to have very different beliefs about the costs and the benefits that have been. So what can India do now? India really pulled out all its stops in some way. What do you think that India could do now to credibly deter the Pakistan army from misadventure. The only thing that really changes Pakistan is a decisive military defeat of the Pakistan army that leaves the Pakistan army in complete disarray. That happened in 1971. And yet, within a matter of years, we had Zia ul Haq and we know about the terror story under Zia's tenure. That's the best example we have. But there was a period of relative peace between '71 and '77 or so. So the only way to really deter Pakistan is to decisively defeat and dismember and dismantle the Pakistan army and thoroughly vilify it in the eyes of the Pakistanis. This is not something that India can do right now or for the policy-relevant future. It's not possible at all now [given the nuclear umbrella]. At a strategic level, it's very unfortunate for India. The only way forward, is the path that won't be taken, which is the international community has to resolve that the Pakistani state as it is currently constituted is a menace not only to India but to the international order. What what we've seen instead is that Pakistan gets away with this every single time. It was never on the blacklist FATF [Financial Action Task Force] because that would have deprived it of IMF [International Monetary Fund] funds – and no one wants to deprive Pakistan of IMF funds because it's too dangerous to fail. So absent a consolidated and concerted effort by the international community to reorder the way Pakistan does business, this is going to continue. I have a lot of empathy for the paucity of options that India possesses. As this conflict was going on Pakistan received a $1billion loan from the IMF. Even in a post-Afghanistan situation, we are seeing a Pakistan which does have support from the West and is best friends with China. Practically, will the West ever completely turn away from Pakistan and want to dismember it or completely change the way the state is currently? It's never going to happen. And it's never going to happen because Pakistan uses its nuclear weapons to blackmail the West that we're too dangerous to fail. In the old days we had a parking meter: you put a quarter in it, you got 15 minutes. With Pakistan, you put a quarter in it and you got two minutes – but it was a reliable two minutes. People are afraid that if you change the policy with respect to Pakistan, you'll put that quarter in and you'll get negative 15 minutes. People feel confident that they can manage Pakistan – sort of like mowing the lawn. But in this belief that it has somehow managed Pakistan and managed the conflict that it generates, it actually enables the very same conflict that is so dangerous. What has this conflict meant for Munir. The Pakistan Army's popularity has been declining over the last few years. Does this reverse that decline? It's really fascinating because the Pakistan Army hates me and its enthusiasts have hated me. There have been several occasions over the past year… I was at an airport with a former army officer of all people… So I've had a number of people reach out to me and say, '...I used to hate you because of your views about the Pakistan army, but now I love you because you were right.' This was an actual quote from a former army officer at the Dubai airport. And I was absolutely gobsmacked. So I said, 'It's because of Imran Khan, isn't it? You're an Imran Khan supporter.' And he said, 'Yes'. Imran Khan has put a huge wedge between the Pakistan army and the Pakistan people. And Munir has been suffering tremendously. Imran Khan really was the first prime minister – whether you love him or you hate him – to aim his sights at the Pakistan army, which is why he is in jail. You don't do that and get get away with it. We saw remarkable scenes – people overrunning Pakistani cantonments. The Lahore core commander's house. Just things that you don't see. Domestically, not just Munir, but the Pakistan army is really on its heels. The other issue that doesn't come up, of course, is Balochistan terrorism. In the same way that Indians believe there's a Pakistani hand behind every explosion in Kashmir, the Pakistanis believe there's an Indian hand behind every explosion in Balochistan. There was just a very horrific terrorist attack on a train in Balochistan. In terms of the timing, what explains what's going on with Pahalgam is threefold. There had been normalcy, for the most part, in the Valley. Tourism was returning. Kashmiris were making money off of the increased tourism. You have the declining popularity of Munir specifically, but the army more generally, and then you have this pretty severe spike in terrorism in Balochistan. Those three factors account for why Pahalgam and why now. When there's a war, there's a sense of national unity, especially behind the army. Will this end up badly impacting the PTI [Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf]? This is going to give the army a very temporary respite from the criticism. There's always been discussion about corruption within the army. But for the first time you have the 'core' commanders being called the 'crore' commanders. There's a much more systemic rot in the Pakistan army. The Pakistanis themselves are attuned to. This is going to provide some temporary respite, but it's not going to provide a permanent solution to the gap that has emerged between army supporters and PTI supporters. Can you describe for us how this terror network works? Right now is the Lashkar-e-Taiba as strong as it was 10 years back or has there been a decline in how Pakistan looks at and supports these terror groups? I would say just the opposite. Everyone knows about the LET conducting operations on behalf of the army. But what very few Indians are aware of is the domestic utility of the LET within Pakistan itself. The Lashkar-e-Taiba opposes all of the violence that's taking place within Pakistan, not just obviously the Baloch violence, but also the Islamist violence. They take aim at those that engage in takfir [excommunication]. They take aim at those that are trying to destabilise the government. Lashkar-e-Taiba has this really important domestic function as well as an external function. It is a militant opponent of the Islamic state. The LET is much more important in this post 9/11 world than it was before. You called the Pakistan army an insurgent organisation rather than one that behaves like a conventional army. It's very difficult to defeat an insurgent. Take a look at the Taliban. Look at how many hundreds of thousands of forces, during the height of the surge, and we still couldn't defeat the Taliban. But how does an insurgent organisation prove that it hasn't been defeated? It just has to conduct one attack. It's very easy for the Pakistan army to show that it hasn't been defeated by conducting attacks in Kashmir. More structurally, the Indians are at a huge disadvantage. If the Indians want normalcy – or the semblance of normalcy – which is usually measured by terrorist attacks to return to the valley, they have to have an increasingly impressive counter-insurgency regime, which causes a lot of resentment in the Valley, which furthers the goal of of making Kashmiris feel that they're part of the Indian project. The Pakistanis win this game because it's not a game that's hard for the Pakistanis to win. But on the other hand, it's a very difficult game for the Indians to win. What is the end game for Pakistan and its army here? It keeps exporting terror to Kashmir? Pakistan itself becomes poorer and poorer. Where does this go and end? The Pakistan army only thinks of its own corporate interests. Having an aggressive India that the Pakistan army can credibly say menaces Pakistan, burnishes the Pakistan army's credentials – it allows it to have this huge conventional footing. If there were to be peace with India, the Pakistan army, as it exists today, could not exist. There's no rationale for its existence. For the Pakistan army to have the size that it has, to have its outsized role in politics – it has a hegemon that claims the state's resources – it needs a strong India that looks menacing. I think it might be difficult for Indians to understand that all of this just benefits the Pakistan army. It's almost as if conflict is existential to the Pakistan army. People say if there were peace, there would be a better economy – and this is of course true. But the Pakistan army puts its existential needs above material gains. We've seen that happen in '71 where the Pakistan army was ready to have Pakistan divided rather than lose power. Correct. How popular is support for these terror groups domestically in the public in Pakistan? Your average Pakistani doesn't view these groups as terrorist groups for one thing. They view these groups as fighting a good fight in Kashmir, helping to liberate their Kashmiri brethren from an oppressive Indian state. If people are familiar with the group, they don't view them as terrorists. The other thing that Lashkar e Taiba does [is] it has a bunch of front organisations that do things like health and social service outreach. For example, in Sindh, the state has completely neglected to provide water to the residents. It's also an area that has a lot of Hindu residents. The Lashkar e Taiba provides water services and actually through those service provisions, they've also converted several Hindus to their creed, which is really amazing. Through these health and services outreach, coupled with those who know what they do in Kashmir not being viewed as terrorists, the support is reasonably high. I did a survey of Pakistan. It's very, very out of date – I think it was done in 2013. Obviously, support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba is highest amongst the Punjabis [of Pakistan's province] and it is lowest amongst the Baloch – because Lashkar-e-Taiba is also used as a bulwark against Baloch terrorism and against Baloch nationalism. There are 10 districts in Punjab [province] that account for about 90% of LET recruitment. It's very similar to the Pakistan Army actually. There's an overlap. And the reason for that is they need people with similar skill sets. A lot of what India did in this conflict is to target Punjab, which is such a stark diversion from Indian policy earlier. Do you think that will have an impact on Pakistani army morale? I support the attacks. I'm not criticising India for the attacks. I want to be very very clear. But I also want to be very clear that it was very very risky. And the fact is none of those targets are going to strategically degrade the ability of Jaish-e-Mohammed or Lashkar-e-Taiba to operate. That's a fact. So, it was a lot of risk for not a lot of gain. And by the way, that's why it assured that there would be a strong Pakistani response because when the Indians struck, they didn't go into Pakistani airspace. Within Indian airspace, they used standoff missiles to attack Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. That was pretty provocative, right? We saw the escalation at Balakot pretty quickly. So, obviously the Pakistanis were going to respond robustly to an attack upon the Punjab. But what I wish people would reflect upon – how do I put this nicely? This burnished the credentials of the chappan-inch sinawala [the one with the 56-in chest]. It generated a lot of jingoism in India. It had a lot of risk, but it didn't change anything on the ground. The purpose of this was more illustrative than it was deterrence. I think they were much more political in calculation than they were aimed at degrading the organisations. They're really important symbolic attacks – but they're symbolic attacks. They don't degrade the ability of these organisations to operate. Where does the US-Pakistan relationship stand now post the Afghanistan withdrawal? During the Afghan war, we were really dependent upon Pakistan because of the ground lines of communication. All the war material, most of it flew through Pakistan's airspace or was transported on the ground through Pakistan's ground lines of communication. So we needed them and we were much more willing to put up with their nonsense. But after the withdrawal, the essential concerns about Pakistan's failure remain in place. You still have the constituent of people saying that we should be engaging the Pakistanis, we shouldn't be isolating them. This conflict is going to burnish the credentials of those people who are arguing for engagement. Paul Kapoor has been tapped to be the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, and it's very unfortunate that he had not been confirmed prior to this crisis. He will be very welcomed in India. He will not be welcomed in Pakistan. It is going to limit our ability to engage Pakistan. We'll just have to see what happens after we have an assistant secretary of state in place. How do you evaluate India's foreign policy performance during this conflict? It's hard to evaluate because the Indian media was just a sea of bakwas [nonsense, rubbish]. And I have to say, after the whole Balakot affair and the manufactured F-16 shootdown, I no longer take Indian announcements as being credible. India lost a lot of credibility for me in the Balakot affair. Because of the media? Because the media was so bad, but also the Indian government directly participated in this fabrication of an F-16 shootdown. So, it's not just the media, it was the Indian government, and specifically the Modi government. I can't just take Indian pronouncements at face value, but what I can see is that the proof is in the pudding. You had a bunch of people engaging on both sides. We encouraged both sides to engage peacefully to resolve their outstanding issues peacefully. But India sees that as a defeat, right? For India that's a defeat. For Pakistan it's a victory. Because it's an acknowledgement that Pakistan's equities are valid. But for India it's a defeat. I can't evaluate the rigorous efforts that were made, but what I can see is that in the outcome of those efforts, India did not secure unequivocal support from international capitals. [Donald] Trump's tweet is something that in India we're looking at with a lot of disfavour. Let's be really clear, right? Trump and JD Vance are not reliable narrators. I actually don't know the extent to which to trust their pronouncements. The Indians have pretty much rubbished a lot of what Trump has said. I don't know the truth because my media is also unable to get to the bottom of things. But today's tweet is a really good example of what I would say is a failure of Indian foreign policy. Because if India had successfully persuaded the United States of its position, we would not have seen such an obtuse statement coming from the President of the United States.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Ireland on a journey from solid fuel to clean and green
In 1939, the painter Séan Keating produced a mural for the Irish pavilion at the World Fair in New York. The theme of the Fair was 'The World of Tomorrow'. Keating's mural depicts the monumental Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power station built in 1929, a twin propeller Aer Lingus plane and, in the middle, a mechanical peat excavator representing the fledgling peat industry. The Turf Development Board was established in 1934 by the newly elected Fianna Fáil Government. In the early 1930s, turf was entirely cut by hand and was largely for domestic use. Coal was the predominant fuel in the country, imported from Britain with infrastructure and logistics to support it — from Dublin port to the coal hatches built into Victorian houses. Unlike the modern feat of engineering represented by Ardnacrusha, the traditional practice of turf-cutting was associated with backwardness and poverty, a legacy of the colonial era. One Fine Gael TD, opposed to the development of an indigenous turf industry, quipped: 'I never thought that the day would come in this country when a Bill would be introduced into our Parliament purporting to solve unemployment by turning the people's eyes to the bogs of Ireland.' Thirty years later, the Bellacorrick turf-fuelled power station was opened with a celebratory dance in Crossmolina town hall. The Western People declared it the 'event of the century', noting that fifty years earlier, the realisation of such a project would have been more unlikely than an independent Irish state. Eighty people were employed in the power station, three hundred on the bog, providing electricity to rural households, farms and businesses. The familiar story of Irish modernisation begins with Séan Lemass ushering in T.K. Whitaker's new economic policy in the early 1960s. This periodisation insists that the Ireland that came before 1960 was backward, inward-looking and conservative. But where does this leave Séan Keating's confident mural depicting a brave new modern Republic? Where does it leave the history of Ireland's peat industry, initially a project of sovereign development and energy decolonisation? And how does this history speak to the present conjuncture of climate crisis, energy insecurity, and Ireland's geopolitical alignments in an uncertain world system? Energy decolonisation In 1956, Todd Andrews, who established the Turf Development Board, gave an address to the Statistical and Social Enquiry Society of Ireland entitled 'Some Precursors Of Bord Na Mona'. He gave generous praise to individuals who were 'characterised by abundance of public spirit' but whose 'endeavours were dissipated in the unpropitious social, economic and political climate of their times.' This climate was, in a word, colonialism. Some might dismiss Andrews' reading as outdated anti-colonial sentiment. But this is to gloss the material ways in which colonialism structures the economic activity of colonised countries, including after formal independence. Dependence on British coal fundamentally constrained Southern Ireland's capacity to embark on energy-intensive, industrial development. The creation of an indigenous turf industry was thus a project of energy decolonisation. Efforts to develop an indigenous energy industry were blocked not only by Britain, but by Irish coal merchants and their associated economic and political allies. When coal merchants were required to sell a certain amount of turf for every unit of coal, W. T. Cosgrave, leader of Fine Gael, argued that this was 'an interference with the citizen's ordinary right to purchase whatever commodity he requires'. The national media aligned with Cosgrave's position, raising the 'spectre of socialism'. To break the status quo, to initiate something new, required state intervention at scale. After World War Two, Bord na Móna was established with new authority and resources to purchase land, embark on 10-year development plans, and to finance these plans through long term, low-interest loans from the state. Within a decade, Ireland had its first turf-fired power stations and the development of 24 new bogs producing over a million tonnes of turf a year. A New Internationalism In 1936, an Irish delegation led by Todd Andrews visited Finland, Germany and Russia. Weismoor was the showpiece of the German turf industry and a tourist attraction for residents of Bremen and Hamburg who came to visit the large glass houses heated with surplus heat from the turf-powered station. Andrews also observed the neat and comfortable houses of those who worked the bogs. 'I made up my mind then', he writes in his memoir, 'that if ever I had the opportunity, I would recognise as a priority the value of maintaining a decent environment for people at work.' For Andrews, these visits demonstrated that turf was not a source of derision or backwardness, but the basis of modern ways of living if only the proper infrastructures and planning were put in place. Between 1950-57, the Bord na Móna research station in Kildare recruited new engineering and agricultural science graduates to experiment with techniques and technologies for exploiting turf. As this expertise developed, it was only right that Ireland hosted the first International Peat Symposium in 1954, with delegates from fifteen countries. At a time when thousands were taking to boats, the Midlands of Ireland saw internal migration in the 1950s and 1960s as the peat industry grew. Bord na Móna was the only semi-state that built housing for its workers. Frank Gibney, a modernist architect and planner, was commissioned to design 'worker villages' from Kildare to Roscommon. These housing developments represented for Andrews, 'the fulfilment of a process aimed at industrialising a rural population while at the same time improving rather than disrupting its environment'. Energy sovereignty According to Todd Andrews, Bord na Móna would not have been possible without Frank Aiken. Better known for his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs through the 1950s and 1960s, Aiken had always been a strong advocate of national industry and the development of indigenous resources. Bord na Móna needed this support. Even the ESB, the main purchaser of peat, was cool towards the industry, understanding that coal, and then oil, offered a more reliable, efficient and, ultimately, cheaper source of fuel for generating electricity. In 1956, Bord na Móna had to lay off technical workers because the ESB refused to purchase more peat. Aiken questioned the Fine Gael Minister responsible: 'Does the Minister think it good national policy to depend on imported coal and oil for the generation of electricity?' The late 1950s was a pivotal moment in Ireland's economic development. Under strong pressure from the US, the country was shifting away from indigenous industrialisation, towards an economy reliant on foreign direct investment. This would ultimately involve new forms of dependency on the US and EEC, undermining what indigenous industry existed, including in the energy sector. Sovereign development means being less dependent on powerful states, such as Britain or the US. This in turn enables a country like Ireland to act more confidently on a world stage. Frank Aiken is best known for representing Ireland at the UN, speaking in favour of the People's Republic of China, supporting decolonisation across the Third World, and pushing for nuclear non-proliferation. Such principled positions were attacked by the opposition in Ireland for putting off US industries and investment. As he advanced Ireland's policy of neutrality and multilateralism in the UN, Aiken also advanced support for newly independent countries across the Third World through solidaristic aid and cooperation. In 1964, Aer Lingus trained up to 80 African and Asian engineers and pilots in the maintenance and flying of planes, while Bord na Móna co-operated with the Government of Pakistan in initiating peat development in that country. Reclaiming the past We should always avoid the trap of nostalgia. But we also need to recognise that history is not a linear path. Despite what we are told, Irish modernity does not begin and end with entry into the EEC and the arrival of US companies. There are modernisation paths that were not taken, promises unfulfilled, that speak to us with new relevance today. At a time when Ireland is doubling down on its dependence on US fossil fuels with Shannon LNG, we should remember our historic struggle for energy sovereignty against Western imperial powers; as Ireland's energy transition is increasingly dictated by the needs of US tech companies and their data centres, we should remember the public ethos and social priorities that drove the development of Bord na Móna; and as we face a situation in which Ireland has abundant offshore wind energy and yet the highest energy prices in the EU, we should remember the political ambition and state planning required to build an indigenous turf industry from the ground up.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
R&B pop group 98 Degrees to return to the NYS Fair
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The 'Just One Night' singers will return and hit the Suburban Park Stage this summer. 98 Degrees, known for 'I Do Cherish You,' 'The Hardest Thing,' 'My Everything,' 'Because of You,' and more, performed back in 2021 — and they clearly couldn't get enough. They will return on Monday, Aug. 25, at 8 p.m. Known for their seamless harmonies and signature R&B-inspired ballads, 98 Degrees is an internationally acclaimed, multi-platinum, multi-award-winning and nominated vocal group comprised of brothers Nick and Drew Lachey, Jeff Timmons, and Justin Jeffre, according to the Fair. 'Fresh on the heels of their new album, we're looking forward to what's sure to be a performance that brings on the nostalgia for longtime listeners while introducing a new generation of fans to the sultry sounds that defined the '90s!' said Fair Director, Julie LaFave The Fair starts Wednesday, August 20, and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 1. All concerts are included in the price of admission, which is on sale now through the Fair's recently launched Star-Spangled Savings ticket sale promotion. Artist: Place: Time: Date: The Concert: A Tribute to ABBA Chevy Court 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20 Nate Smith Suburban Park 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20 Cheap Trick Chevy Court 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21 Steve Miller Band Suburban Park 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21 Kidz Bop Chevy Court 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 Kameron Marlowe Chevy Court 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 O.A.R Suburban Park 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23 Los Lonely Boys Chevy Court 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24 Busta Rhymes Suburban Park 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Chevy Court 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25 98 Degrees Suburban Park 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 25 Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone Chevy Court 1 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26 Sister Hazel Chevy Court 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26 Red Hot Chilli Pipers Chevy Court 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 27 Maddie & Tae Chevy Court 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28 DJ Pauly D Chevy Court 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29 Shaggy Suburban Park 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31 Dionne Warwick Chevy Court 12 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 24K Magic – The Ultimate Bruno Mars Tribute Experience Chevy Court 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 +LIVE+ Suburban Park 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1 Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Willsboro ex-town clerk pleads guilty to stealing $90k from town, agricultural society
WILLSBORO, N.Y. (ABC22/FOX44) – The Essex County Fair has survived the Civil War, multiple pandemics, and now – a treasurer who stole sixty thousand dollars from its coffers. The New York State Comptroller's office announced Wednesday that Bridget Brown pled guilty to stealing nearly $90,000 from the Town of Willsboro and the Essex County Agricultural Society. Brown was formerly the treasurer of the society and town clerk and tax collector in Willsboro. Brown was first arrested in September 2021 while still town clerk. She sought re-election anyway while on leave, but lost to a write-in campaign in November. One person rescued from 60-foot Okemo fire tower 'Bridget Brown exploited the trust of her community and used her two positions to enrich herself at taxpayer expense,' said State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 'My thanks to Franklin County District Attorney [Elizabeth] Crawford and Superintendent [Steven] James for their partnership in fighting public corruption and holding Bridget Brown accountable.' Crawford said that Brown's actions caused great financial damage to the Essex County Fair, which is annually held in August, through her position as treasurer of the society responsible for organizing it. 'As a part of her negotiated plea agreement and her conditions of probation, Ms. Brown will be required to pay full restitution back to the Town and the Fair.' Town of Newcomb completes $1.9 million community center Investigators found that Brown bought items for herself, withdrew money from the society's bank account at ATMs, and repaid a personal loan with $5,300 of society funds. She also stole about $29,000 from taxes and licensing fees in the Town of Willsboro by pocketing cash payments rather than depositing them in the town's bank account. Brown pled guilty to two counts of grand larceny. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 25. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
