Fellow Debaters,

The time has come for a revival of this group.

The Political Blogging Society was once a great group where spirited debates on a wide variety of topics could take place. Together we shall restore this group to its former glory.

Currently the group is undergoing construction in order to prepare it for more members and debates. If you have any suggestions please leave them in the Suggestions Forum.

Best to all of you,

Ferdinand

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This group has been inactive throughout the year and most of last year, as the founder of it I cannot express my sadness at such developments. But I also realize it is partly the fault of myself and the other moderating figures of this group.

Thus, in an effort to rebuild such a group and the great spirit of debate that it stood for, I am asking for a check of those still interested in participating and those that are possibly willing to help moderate the group.

Only together, can we rebuild the PBS to the stature it once stood at. I thank you all for your time.

Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected leader, has been decisively ejected from power after the army flooded the streets of Cairo and announced a new interim government.
Mr Morsi, who had earlier refused to resign, was told at 7pm local time he was no longer president as Egypt’s military seized control in a coup.
As the streets of Cairo erupted in jubilation, Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, the head of the army, made a televised address to the nation accusing Mr Morsi of rejecting calls for national dialogue.
Backed by the main religious leaders, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Church, he said the military was taking up its “patriotic duty to the Egyptian masses”.
Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, made a televised address to the nation accusing Mr Morsi of rejecting calls for national dialogue Photo: AFP
He announced a political road map suspending the constitution, forming an interim government, and leading to elections. He appointed chief justice of the constitutional court, Adly Mansour, interim president with “full powers of decree”.

A Muslim Brotherhood spokesman claimed Mr Morsi was being held by the authorities. The Egyptian police was reportedly given orders to arrest 300 leaders and members of the Brotherhood, according to the state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. Earlier, two senior Brotherhood leaders were detained, according to security officials.
The leaders of Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood party were banned from leaving the country, with airports put on alert. Local media reported that Mohammed Badie, the group’s Supreme Guide, was turned back from the Libyan border.
Mohammed Morsi (AP)
The plug was pulled on a Brotherhood television station, and Al-Jazeera’s local station was raided. Mr Morsi was last night said to have been moved to an undisclosed location. He had earlier been rumoured to be inside the buildings of the Republican Guard. He denounced the move as “illegal” and urged Egyptians to “peacefully resist the coup as he himself will do”. Later a pre-recorded tape was played to supporters near the presidential palace in which he said he was still president and asked them to defend his “legitimacy”.
The opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, was consulted in advance of the announcement, which was met with fireworks by crowds in Tahrir Square and outside the presidential palace.
Mr Morsi had held talks with Gen Sisi, the defence minister, during the day, but pulled out at lunchtime after it became clear he was not going to be able to cling to office.
Mohammed Elbaradei was consulted in advance of the announcement (AFP)
As dusk fell, convoys of troops poured through the centre of the capital. Armoured personnel carriers took up position on bridges. They were cheered as they passed anti-Morsi protesters. In the north-west suburb around the presidential palace soldiers set up barriers to keep pro-Morsi demonstrators away from the Republican Guard buildings, where Mr Morsi was rumoured to be holding out or under house arrest.

I personally believe that the benefits are outweighed by the cons. I shall state the pros and cons in this announcement:

Benefits:
-Free trade agreements, easier for mutual economic prosperity (eliminates Protectionism)
-Easier to travel through Europe
-Cooperation on military and foreign matters
-Strengthens Europe as a continent to act as some sort of counter-weight between the emerging powers and America
-Easier for businesses to operate
-Common currency means it's easier to facilitate financial integration and interaction

Disadvantages:
-All countries are forced to sign up to the same stringent structural reforms
-Too much power in domestic affairs (they can even tell states when not to have elections because their plans for reform of their economies may be put into jeopardy, lol!)
-Brussels can overrule any decisions taken by individual states on Europe-wide grounds, showing contempt towards the opinions of any individual nation
-Sets targets that not all nations may be able to reach
-Is a disadvantage towards strong nations as the weaker nations pull the stronger ones down (Germany having to help Greece, etc)
-Has unrealistic goals
-Is dictatorial in the way it manages Europe
-Concerted efforts can be made against one country if they don't step into line (or even to attack places like Africa, the Middle East or Asia in foreign affairs)
-Easy immigration means mass migration to places like Britain, Germany, France, Sweden etc, which jeopardises national economies as migrant workers take jobs simply because they will accept less money than native workers, which is grossly unfair

So...there you have it. Make up your own mind whether the EU is good or not :)

What do I think personally? That the EU is not all that great. The benefits are outweighed by the disadvantages, and in its goal for a united European continent, the European Union completely ignores individual national interests, national issues and national mindsets, deluded, as it is, in the belief that all these can be transcended by one "European" patriotism, which is just not possible. And with many Western European nations become more multicultural, we see things like Islamic extremism/terrorism, segregated communities (mainly because the whites move out when the migrants move in), racism, crime and other issues which have a bad effect on Europe as a whole and shatters the facade that is the "progressive" European plan. I feel that there should be limited cooperation but NOT the great European nation-state that the Brussels elite envisage. It is unrealistic, costly and only benefits a few nations. Look at the countries that joined the EU, and used the Euro, who are probably wishing they hadn't.

This morning, former British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher died from a stroke at the age of 87.

What is your opinion of her life? Her legacy? Her performance as Prime Minister. She was a very controversial figure, and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

- Alex