en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1003185 Comments by CharlesSmyth http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/anger-at-belfast-international-airports-pound1-pickup-charge-14860362.html#IDComment83882560 Glasgow and Dublin International service a very much bigger population and many more destinations than Northern Ireland's Belfast International, so can afford to offer alternative schemes, which may be comparably more attractive. Those who live close to the southern border with the ROI, can more easily choose between Dublin or Belfast International, than those who live in Belfast or Londonderry, for example. As for Belfast International, the more that passengers are prepared to reasonable pay, the more services they can enjoy. Thu, 1 Jul 2010 18:10:53 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/anger-at-belfast-international-airports-pound1-pickup-charge-14860362.html#IDComment83882560 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/anger-at-belfast-international-airports-pound1-pickup-charge-14860362.html#IDComment83825190 The obvious answer is for you to vote with your feet, and relocate to Glasgow. Thu, 1 Jul 2010 15:04:25 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/anger-at-belfast-international-airports-pound1-pickup-charge-14860362.html#IDComment83825190 http://biggovernment.com/jbabbin/2010/06/22/obama-cant-fire-mccrystal/#IDComment81452018 I've already read Peter Hopkirk's The Great Game. As General Skobolev after the destruction of Geok Tepe observed: The harder you hit them, the longer they stay quiet. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:33:20 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/jbabbin/2010/06/22/obama-cant-fire-mccrystal/#IDComment81452018 http://biggovernment.com/jbabbin/2010/06/22/obama-cant-fire-mccrystal/#IDComment81422527 Stanley McCrystal should treat this incident as the opportunity to bail out of this campaign, which has absolutely no chance of success. In excess of 200,000 of the people that he would need to act as reliable partners, no longer live in Afghanistan, but have fled the country to seek refuge in the EU and the US. The police and Afghan army (ANA) are riven by dope-fiends and mercenaries. The Afghan government is utterly corrupt and incompetent. And the Taleban are not an insurgency, they are an ideologically committed and utterly ruthless menace that the US simply refuses to defeat. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:38:22 +0000 http://biggovernment.com/jbabbin/2010/06/22/obama-cant-fire-mccrystal/#IDComment81422527 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/employees-face-prospect-of-bare-minimum-pensions-14843896.html?#IDComment80394930 Employees should choose to take out a private pension plan instead of one which is tied to an employer, even if it is potentially of greater value. This gives employees greater flexibility over their employment, in terms of moving to another employer and/or so that a pension plan cannot be used as an instrument of disciplinary action. And the pension pot is not available for an employer to plunder. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:55:07 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/employees-face-prospect-of-bare-minimum-pensions-14843896.html?#IDComment80394930 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment79140216 The Israel Test by George Gilder, and The Case Against Israel's Enemies by Alan M. Dershowitz covers these truths in considerable detail. Start Up Nation by Dan Senor, is also useful to read. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 16:43:10 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment79140216 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/schoolboy-hopes-to-build-on-aid-mission-to-brazil-14833448.html#IDComment79079460 If Brazil now sees itself as an international player of significance, which is able to disburse large amounts of Brazilian, international aid money, to those it wishes to geopolitically influence, it stands to reason that Brazil has sufficient resources with which to build its own aid-mission/s. This is like the situation in Poland's Gmina Chynów, where the kindergarten kids have no access to milk, but Poland can provide milk to kids in the third world. Darragh O'Cluasaigh seems to be a reasonably educated young man, whose talents would be better employed in the vanguard of contemporary entrepreneurship. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 09:23:14 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/schoolboy-hopes-to-build-on-aid-mission-to-brazil-14833448.html#IDComment79079460 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment78649904 How the democratically elected Hamas behaves towards its own electorate in Gaza Strip, is entirely the concern of that electorate, so long as Hamas limits its activities to Gaza Strip. However, since Hamas is predicated on the murder of Israelis and the destruction of Israel, Hamas must be treated as the existential threat that it is, and neither Hamas, nor Hamas' international supporters who are in league with Israel's sworn enemies and UN members, Syria and Iran, for example, can demand that Israel must participate in its own destruction. Sat, 5 Jun 2010 07:31:46 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment78649904 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment78487484 Although David Vance is a member of the TUV, it does not detract from the accuracy and rationality of his comments. In stark contrast, it is frankly risible that Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen can threaten Israel with "the most serious consequences", if Israel intercepts the Rachel Corrie, given that terrorism in Ireland is at its highest level of alert, and, in effect, out of control. The same applies to the UK, where radical Islamists, in effect, bomb and kill at will, and have enormous influence over the law and civil liberties. Israel, on the other hand, actually does what its western counterparts should be doing, vis-à-vis the existential threat from its Islamist enemies, but gets nothing but international censure, including censure from the states which sponsor this line of terrorism. Hamas, Gaza Strip's de-facto rulers, could afford to buy all the wheelchairs and crutches that were needed, if they weren't spending all their money on Rockets and bullets with which to kill Israelis, as per their democratic mandate. Fri, 4 Jun 2010 09:15:49 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tuv-manrsquos-gaza-boat-comments-spark-outrage-14830447.html#IDComment78487484 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/airport-plans-must-take-flight-14787978.html#IDComment71497942 The city of Berlin, Germany, has a population of 3.5 million and it has been decided to integrate all of its airport requirements into the Schönefeld site. This tells me that Northern Ireland will be perfectly well serviced by a single airport, too, even if that clashes with the interests of vested interests, as per GBBCA. For those on our southern border who are looking for flights unavailable from here, Dublin airport is a viable and already a frequently utilised alternative. Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:58:33 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/airport-plans-must-take-flight-14787978.html#IDComment71497942 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/airport-plans-must-take-flight-14787978.html#IDComment71484638 The volcanic ash cloud clearly demonstrated how much this far-flung corner of the EU depends on air travel, if it is to have a viable people/knowledge based economy in competition with its EU counterparts. But it does not follow that the expansion of the airline industry in the province, is contingent upon extending the runway at George Best Belfast City Airport (GBBCA), even if that is the most convenient and least expensive option for prospective airlines. The proper remedy, and is consistent with Chapter 7 of the transport plan for Northern Ireland, is to expand services out of Aldergrove, so as to meet all the necessary requirements, including the reduction/elimination of noise pollution over east Belfast. This could include a George Best International Terminal. What is now GBBCA, was a suck-it-and-see exercise, based on a few Skyvans and resources surplus to the requirements of Shorts. GBBCA is not a viable option anymore. Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:10:06 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/airport-plans-must-take-flight-14787978.html#IDComment71484638