Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Diplomacy? A Piece of Cake.

Back Story


The Cupcake:


The crisis.  There was only one cupcake left. 

The Solution:  One cuts, the other chooses.

My Dad, a smart man but short of Solomon, came up with that "plan".

My sister was too young to make an even cut.  She knew this.  The cutting was left to me.

I was so scrupulous in cutting the cupcake into two even pieces, that my sister could not determine which piece was larger.  My sister was gripped with the fear that she would choose the smaller piece.

My Dad handed each of us half a cupcake and never tried that method again.  Therein lies my Dad's Brilliance!  My Dad never tried that method again.



The EuroUnion
Diplomacy:   A system of such scrupulous adherence to protocol and good manners that everone believes he received the smallest piece of cake.

My sister and I were four and seven respectively.  There is no excuse for what is going on among the EuroCrats.

Bon appetit.


Slim

PS. 

 "If people were more concerned about being respectable and dignified, they could worry less about being treated with dignity and respect." 

"Don't bother asking me, you don't want to hear my opinion, you want to hear your opinion."

From The Quotations of Slim Fairview.  Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview


slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview

EuroUnion: An Uncivil Union

The EuroUnion will go nowhere without an Economic Development Project.  And, Europe needs both Management and Leadership.

You can't lead if you can't manage.  And the EuroCrats CANNOT manage.

One reason the EuroCrats fail is because no one has confidence in anyone.  Why would they? 

Why would anyone feel confident in the EuroCrats, Merkel at the fore, who have devised a plan, implemented the plan, and presided gallantly over the plan that has perpetuated the decline?

Who, really, has confidence in Angela Merkel?  Who?  Why?  Answer: Because she is rich.

Here is the folksy analogy.

Hey, everyone, Rich Aunt Angela is coming to dinner.  Let's spend more than we can afford and eat less than we need, to curry favour with the Rich Aunt who criticises us for wasting money on frivolity and not eating well.

You cannot cut wages, fire people, raise property taxes and call it a solution.

You cannot approve a bailout on the assumption of growth in Greece, then impose sanctions to punish Greece because your assumptions were wrong and call yourself a leader.  You are not a leader.  And you certainly are not a manager.  You are a failure.  A failure.

Reduce the number of attendees.
Stop sitting in a circle behind flags.
Face the blackboard.
Don't ask questions.
Through question and answer, quest 4 the truth.
Eliminate known failures.
Seek not consensus--seek acknowledgement.

To lift a line from our Founding Fathers:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident."

"It may be a Universal Condition:  We refuse to acknowledge that all alliances and enmities are transitory."  The Quotations of Slim Fairview.  However, The EuroCrats must accept that the Zero-Sum Game is no longer viable. That is the nexus of my ppt. presentation "The Future of the G 20 in Good Times and Bad."  If you watch Cannes, however, you will see my prediction come true.  Nothing will come out of it.

I had had hopes when I read the statement by Wolfgang Schauble adding two more elements to the EuroPlan.

Provisions for Economic Development. (Growth)
Management of the EuroUnion.

It seems neither will come about any time soon. In other words, why bother making the effort to put the umlaut (รค) when writing his name when he will prove to be as big a disappointment as Chancellor Merkel?

It is time for Angela Merkel to step down or for the Germany to leave the EuroUnion.


Bon Chance.

Slim


slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2011 Slim Fairview