Letters to the Editor: Europe’s only unity is tacit approval of Trump’s war
“Europe must show unity and cohesion in the face of this global crisis,” says the in Monday’s editorial (March 9).
You rightly praise the Spanish prime minister for refusing to let Donald Trump launch bombing raids against Iran from US bases in Spain. And you say that his opposition to what Trump is doing is a position “that every European leader should embrace”.
If only. Trump has promised economic vengeance against Spain, and other European countries are not deaf. Germany has buried its head in the sand, France is toying with getting involved in the Gulf, Italy under Giorgia Meloni will not cross Trump, and so on.
This is the reality, and it’s not about to change. If anything, it could be said that Europe is indeed showing unity and cohesion by its tacit approval of Trump’s illegal war by not actively opposing it at the UN, with Spain the only naysayer.
Which begs an important question that is not addressed in your editorial: What does Ireland say?
Will Micheál Martin tell Trump on St Patrick’s Day that assassinating Iran’s head of state, threatening to kill his replacement, bombing civilians (including a school full of children) and destroying Iran’s infrastructure ticks all the wrong boxes as far as Ireland is concerned?
No, that’s not going to happen. Ireland has lost the habit of speaking out against geopolitical lawlessness.
Worse, by the erasure of legislative reference to UN approval for Irish overseas military deployments — that is, by ditching the Triple Lock — Ireland intends to snub its nose at the UN, just as the US has.
An Taoiseach will be most welcome in Trump’s White/Mad House. This is truly alarming.
If you want to meet a real Nobel Prize winner, not one who was ‘given’ one by a winner, then your best chance is at the Ig Nobel presentations.
Many of the Ig Nobel awards are given out by real Nobel winners.
For those that haven’t heard of these before, they are awarded “for achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think”. They are obviously rather quirky, with the 2024 peace prize given for research on the feasibility of housing live pigeons inside missiles to guide the flight paths of the missiles.
It is all a bit of fun, while making people think, but now the Ig Nobel prizes have left America and gone to Zurich. The reason given is that “during the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country”. The current immigration issues in America and the ICE activities would make most hesitant in even considering a visit.
My letters to the editor have not all, actually none have, praised president Trump, so I am also going to wait until he has retired before I visit America again.
If you want to investigate the awards further, google Andre Geim, who is the only one to win the Ig Nobel and Nobel prizes.
His work on levitating frogs using magnetism is quite interesting.
Gyms are full of energy, but much of it goes nowhere.
People spend hours running on treadmills and lifting weights, spending all that energy on themselves instead of putting it into anything real.
I looked into the numbers. One treadmill uses 1,200 watts, the same as 40 TVs. A cardio room with 20 machines draws 24,000 watts, equal to 400 laptops.
Add heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting, and gyms become energy monsters, far more demanding than almost any other indoor activity.
Offices already bombard us with stale air, harsh lights, constant hums, and invisible electrical fields; gyms just multiply it.
Step outside, and the same workout costs nothing.
Fresh air fills your lungs, your muscles move naturally, and science shows it lowers stress, improves mood and focus, and even boosts immunity.
Winter landscapes are as stunning as summer, offering a quiet kind of beauty.
Many women fear running outside, yet in the Wicklow Mountains, where I’ve hiked and photographed for a decade, I’ve never felt unsafe.
Surrounded by nothing but nature, the world feels calm, open, alive.
Strength matters, but historically it was directed outward, into work, service, and craft. Today, vitality often turns inward, polishing only ourselves when we could be polishing the world.
When Micheál Martin presents the bowl of shamrock to the US president he need not do so in a subservient manner.
He could offer to assist in housing, on a temporary basis, any US citizens fleeing the war in the Middle East who find direct flights home impossible to get.
Martin can say that being mindful of the great assistance that the US was in bringing about the Good Friday Agreement, we could reciprocate by assisting in mediation, if the Iran war drags on for some time.
Furthermore, if the resulting price hikes from this war were to push the US national debt much higher than the present $38.8tn and their economy should tank, we might be in a position to give them a loan.
Sure, isn’t that what real friends are for?
