(Thies text is taken from "reporters without borders")
Journalists in 2010 targets and bargaining chips
Published on 30 December 2010. View this article in .Figures in 2010
57 journalists killed (25% fewer than in 2009)
51 journalists kidnapped
535 journalists arrested
1374 physically attacked or threatened
504 media censored
127 journalists fled their country
152 bloggers and netizens arrested
52 physically attacked
62 countries affected by Internet censorship
Fewer killed in war zones
Fifty-seven journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2010, 25% fewer than in 2009, when the total was 76. The number of journalists killed in war zo- nes has fallen in recent years. Significantly, it is becoming more and more difficult to identify those responsible in cases in which journalists were killed by criminal gangs, armed groups, religious organizations or state agents. “Fewer journalists were killed in war zones than in preceding years,” Reporters Without Borders secretary- general Jean-François Julliard said. “Media workers are above all being murdered by criminals and traffickers of various kinds. Organized crime groups and militias are their leading killers worldwide. The challenge now is to rein in this phenomenon. The authorities of the countries concerned have a direct duty to combat the impunity surrounding these murders. If governments do not make every effort to punish the murderers of journalists, they become their accomplices.”
Journalists as bargaining chips
Another distinguishing feature of 2010 was the major increase in kidnappings of journalists. There were 29 cases in 2008, 33 in 2009 and 51 in 2010. Journalists are seen less and less as outside observers. Their neutrality and the nature of their work are no longer respected. “Abductions of journalists are becoming more and more frequent and are taking place in more countries.” Reporters Without Borders said. “For the first time, no continent escaped this evil in 2010. Journalists are turning into bargaining chips. Kidnappers take hostages in order to finance their criminal activities, make governments comply with their demands, and send a message to the public. Abduction provides them with a form of publicity. Here again, governments must do more to identify them and bring them to justice. Otherwise reporters – national or foreign – will no longer venture into certain regions and will abandon the local population to their sad fate.” Journalists were particularly exposed to this kind of risk in Afghanistan and Nigeria in 2010. The case of French TV journalists Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier and their three Afghan assistants, held hostage in Afghanistan since 29 December 2009, is the longest abduction in the history of the French media since the end of the 1980s.
No region of the world spared
Journalists were killed in 25 countries in 2010. This is the first time since Reporters Without Borders began keeping these tallies that journalists have been murdered in so many countries. Almost 30% of the countries (7 in total) were African countries: Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda. But the deadliest continent by far was Asia with 20 cases, and this was due above all to the heavy toll in Pakistan, where 11 journalists were killed in 2010. Of the 67 countries where there have been murders of journalists in the past 10 years, there are eight where they keep recurring: Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, and Somalia. These countries have not evolved; a culture of violence against the press has become deeply rooted there. Pakistan, Iraq and Mexico have been the three most violent countries for journalists during the past decade. The passing years have brought no changes to Pakistan, with journalists continuing to be targeted by Islamists groups or to be the collateral victims of suicide bombings. This total of 11 killed was the highest of the year. Iraq saw a return to earlier levels of violence with a total of seven journalists killed in 2010 as against four in 2009. Most of them were killed after the United States announced that all of its combat troops had been withdrawn in August. Journalists are caught in a trap between the different sectors – including local authorities, those involved in corruption and religious groups that refuse to accept media independence. In Mexico, the extreme violence of the drug traffickers affects the entire population including journalists, who are particularly exposed. This has a major impact on reporting, with journalists reducing their coverage of crime stories to the minimum in order to take as few risks as possible. In Central America, three were killed in Honduras in 2010 in connection with their work. Politically-motivated violence since the June 2008 coup d’état has com pounded the “traditional violence” of organized crime, a major phenomenon in this part of the world. In Thailand, where newspapers are able to enjoy relative independence despite recurring press freedom violations, 2010 was a very tough year. Two foreign journalists, Fabio Polenghi of Italy and Hiroyuki Muramoto of Japan, were killed in clashes between government forces and Red Shirts (supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra) in Bangkok in April and May. The shots that killed them were very probably fired by the members of the army.
Two journalists killed in Europe
Two journalists were murdered in European Union countries – Greece and Latvia. Neither murder has so far been solved. Social and political instability is having an impact on the work of the media in Greece, where Socratis Guiolias, the manager of Radio Thema 98.9, was gunned down with an automatic weapon outside his home in southeast Athens on 19 July. The police suspect a far- left group calling itself Sehta Epanastaton (Revolutionary Sect) that emerged in 2009. In Latvia, a country with a calmer environment for the press, Grigorijs Nemcovs, the publisher and editor of the regional newspaper Million and owner of a local TV station of the same name, was shot twice in the head in the southeastern city of Daugavpils while on his way to a meeting on 16 April.
Even the internet no longer a refuge
Reporters Without Borders is continuing to investigate the June 2010 death of the young netizen Khaled Mohammed Said, who was arrested by two plain-clothes police officers in an Internet café, taken outside and beaten to death in the street. There were reports that his death was prompted by a video posted online that incriminated the police in a drug deal. Autopsy reports attributed his death to a drug overdose, but this was belied by photos of his body. The number of arrests and physical attacks on netizens in 2010 was similar to previous years. Harassment of bloggers and censorship of the Internet have become commonplace. There are no longer any taboos about online filtering. Censorship is taking new forms: more aggres- sive online propaganda and increasingly frequent use of cyber-attacks as way to silence bothersome Internet users. Significantly, online censorship is no longer necessarily the work of repressive regimes. Democracies are now examining and adopting new laws that pose a threat to free speech on the Internet.
Journalists killed
(graph shown on reporters without borders page)
Exile – the last resort
Many journalists flee abroad to escape violence and oppression. A total of 127 journalists from 23 countries did this in 2010. The exodus from Iran continues. For the second year running, it was the biggest source of fugitive journalists – 30 cases registered by Reporters Without Borders in 2010. The Horn of Africa continues to shed journalists. Around 15 fled Eritrea and Somalia in 2010. The year also saw the forced exile of 18 Cuban journa- lists, who had been jailed since March 2003 and who were released on condition that they immediately leave for Spain.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Fintan O'Toole and his Ten 'radical' points for political change in Ireland.
The Irish time's coloumnist Fintan O'Toole on November 26th published a list of "ten radical reforms" needed to jumpstart the Irish economy again.
And to give Ireland back some pride....
But how radical are these "reforms" and would they really help our sick green fields?
O'Toole's so-called reforms include:
1. SHARE THE PAIN
No one paid from the public purse should earn more than €100,000 during the period of the emergency. --Prettey good judgement here however I would have put this somewhere else on the list (another spot) perhaps Mr. O'Toole is limiting himself here by only having ten "radical reforms."
2. PUT THE PARISH PUMP BACK IN THE PARISH
Real local democracy, paid for by local taxes, and using direct democracy at every level, must be established. -- Well Mr. O'Toole we do have county councils but I would have to admmit they are pretty inaffective and redundent, local democracy could work but it shouldn't contradict the decsions made by those who are higher up.
3. END CLIENTILISM
Change the electoral system that turns TDs into constituency fixers. Replace it with a mix of direct election and a list system similar to that used for the Scottish parliament. -- I'm not sure what exact system the Scottish parliament uses so I can't really say a lot about this reform.
4. CUT THE FAT
Reduce the Dail to 100 members. Either transform the Senate within 12 months into a genuine forum for civic society or abolish it. -- This I agree with we need less Dail memebers but I disagree, we shouldn't even bother to reform the senate we should abolish it De Valera got rid of the senate during the 1930's because of the problem's it was causing politically we don't really need one it is anti-productive.
5. MAKE PARLIAMENT WORK.
Stop the use of the guillotine system to pass laws that have not been scrutinised. Give Dail committees the powers to examine proposals for spending before it happens and to hold those who spend public money accountable. Make senior public servants responsible for their decisions and actions. -- Mr. O'Toole's intentions are right here however this seems a bit fantastic to work, on paper you can "make" anything work....But parliament is always gonna be divided over things which is why I'm wondering should we even have one during this time period.
6. BRING WOMEN INTO POLITICS
Cut public subsidies to political parties unless at least 30 per cent of their candidates are female. -- I agree with this point but it is not needed here in these "radical" points, this has always been a problem that we don't have enough female political figures but having them or not having them won't help to save our nation, if this was the 1950's this comment may make a bit more sense and have more susbatnace to it.
7. END IMPUNITY
Conduct an urgent review of company law to ensure that white collar criminals are brought to justice. -- Again like point #6 this is a good suggestion for reform but during economic turmoil how will this help us? Mr. O'Toole should focous more on the subsequent difficuiltes the nation is facing with the IMF/EU takeover and points to reform us in that context, these reforms he is suggesting would have been perfect in the boom.
8. GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
Ban all significant private donations to political parties. Make parties publish annual accounts. Register and control lobbyists. Protect whistleblowers. - Same argument here again, it's a very vaild and excellent point but I don't see us escaping the IMF with it.
9. RESTORE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
Bring back the original Freedom of Information Act. -- Again this should just happen in general, at this stage I find it interesting that Mr. O'Toole never seemed to mention any of these 'radical' reform's when we were still an independent Republic, why now?
10. NO MORE CRONYISM
Make all appointments to State and public bodies open to public competition and Dail scrutiny. Ban any individual from being a director of more than three companies or public bodies. -- This I admit could have saved us a bit if we had implimentaed it during the boom and it is right but it not going to stop (like the majoirity of O'Toole's points) the IMF from taking us over.
in conclusion; these points are useful but the large bulk of them should be included in a working system in general, at the minute it is our system that is damaged and Mr. O'Toole doesn't seem to grasp this he suggests a few vauge reforms for the Dail and that's about it, we should take the good points out of his suggestions BUT come up with our own points and plan for action.
When I have studied the situation a bit more, I will try and put some of my own radical suggestons down on paper.
I respect Mr. O'Tooles views but I question how they would save our national identity.
And to give Ireland back some pride....
But how radical are these "reforms" and would they really help our sick green fields?
O'Toole's so-called reforms include:
1. SHARE THE PAIN
No one paid from the public purse should earn more than €100,000 during the period of the emergency. --Prettey good judgement here however I would have put this somewhere else on the list (another spot) perhaps Mr. O'Toole is limiting himself here by only having ten "radical reforms."
2. PUT THE PARISH PUMP BACK IN THE PARISH
Real local democracy, paid for by local taxes, and using direct democracy at every level, must be established. -- Well Mr. O'Toole we do have county councils but I would have to admmit they are pretty inaffective and redundent, local democracy could work but it shouldn't contradict the decsions made by those who are higher up.
3. END CLIENTILISM
Change the electoral system that turns TDs into constituency fixers. Replace it with a mix of direct election and a list system similar to that used for the Scottish parliament. -- I'm not sure what exact system the Scottish parliament uses so I can't really say a lot about this reform.
4. CUT THE FAT
Reduce the Dail to 100 members. Either transform the Senate within 12 months into a genuine forum for civic society or abolish it. -- This I agree with we need less Dail memebers but I disagree, we shouldn't even bother to reform the senate we should abolish it De Valera got rid of the senate during the 1930's because of the problem's it was causing politically we don't really need one it is anti-productive.
5. MAKE PARLIAMENT WORK.
Stop the use of the guillotine system to pass laws that have not been scrutinised. Give Dail committees the powers to examine proposals for spending before it happens and to hold those who spend public money accountable. Make senior public servants responsible for their decisions and actions. -- Mr. O'Toole's intentions are right here however this seems a bit fantastic to work, on paper you can "make" anything work....But parliament is always gonna be divided over things which is why I'm wondering should we even have one during this time period.
6. BRING WOMEN INTO POLITICS
Cut public subsidies to political parties unless at least 30 per cent of their candidates are female. -- I agree with this point but it is not needed here in these "radical" points, this has always been a problem that we don't have enough female political figures but having them or not having them won't help to save our nation, if this was the 1950's this comment may make a bit more sense and have more susbatnace to it.
7. END IMPUNITY
Conduct an urgent review of company law to ensure that white collar criminals are brought to justice. -- Again like point #6 this is a good suggestion for reform but during economic turmoil how will this help us? Mr. O'Toole should focous more on the subsequent difficuiltes the nation is facing with the IMF/EU takeover and points to reform us in that context, these reforms he is suggesting would have been perfect in the boom.
8. GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
Ban all significant private donations to political parties. Make parties publish annual accounts. Register and control lobbyists. Protect whistleblowers. - Same argument here again, it's a very vaild and excellent point but I don't see us escaping the IMF with it.
9. RESTORE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
Bring back the original Freedom of Information Act. -- Again this should just happen in general, at this stage I find it interesting that Mr. O'Toole never seemed to mention any of these 'radical' reform's when we were still an independent Republic, why now?
10. NO MORE CRONYISM
Make all appointments to State and public bodies open to public competition and Dail scrutiny. Ban any individual from being a director of more than three companies or public bodies. -- This I admit could have saved us a bit if we had implimentaed it during the boom and it is right but it not going to stop (like the majoirity of O'Toole's points) the IMF from taking us over.
in conclusion; these points are useful but the large bulk of them should be included in a working system in general, at the minute it is our system that is damaged and Mr. O'Toole doesn't seem to grasp this he suggests a few vauge reforms for the Dail and that's about it, we should take the good points out of his suggestions BUT come up with our own points and plan for action.
When I have studied the situation a bit more, I will try and put some of my own radical suggestons down on paper.
I respect Mr. O'Tooles views but I question how they would save our national identity.
On the treason in Ireland.
according to an Irish time's poll 53% of the population support the IMF/EU bailout of Ireland while 37% were opposed to it.
56% of the population say that if Ireland accsepts the deal it will lead to a loss of independence, 33% say it won't. The poll was conuded between Monday and Tuesday of this week in all 43 constiuence's howver only 1,000 voters were asked their opion's overall.
69% of voters said it would be better to stay in the EU while 22% said it would be better to leave. And finally 42% said that an alternative Fine Gael/Labour government would not have managed public finances better then Fianna Fail and the Greens while 38% said they would have.
This poll with these figures only show's one thing,
that treason has been commited in the republic!
Fianna Fail and the Greens have managed to succsefully push their EU agenda and brainwash the majoirity of Irish people into thinking that the EU/IMF are somehow saving us and that it is a *good thing* to lose our independence (which we have fought for, for over 700 years). the government has scared us with the lisbon treaty and we have been caught up in a capitalist property bubble were we bought, bought and bought paying huge amounts to the banks and never caring how they spent our money.
Now we are told it will be judgement day - "end of the world" if we don't conforim to the EU norm of how to run our country.
If we don't bend down to the IMF (America) and the ECB (European central bank)
we are a lost republic, we are losing any national status we had in the world thanks to our own blind obedience, our own love for an outdated system (capitalism)
and our faith in an inffective coalition government.
For a second view on the topic here's a peace written by Professor John Crown:
A Second Republic could cure our ills
Radical change in our political system, including a new Constitution, could encourage real leadership, says John Crown
Share Digg del.icio.us Google Stumble Upon Facebook Reddit Print Email Text Size
NormalLargeExtra LargeAlso in Analysis
Our foolish leaders approved a deal that will ruin this country
Only an immature society turns its back on vulnerable
Good riddance to our old ways, here's to the future
Waldorf exits stage left after old pal Statler
All is calm as stars just the tonic for ill children
Analysis Home
Ads by Google
Merge FG and FF
Merge Fine Gael and Fianna Fail Join the debate
www.jolitics.com
Dublin 1-Day Coupons
Up to 90% Off the Best Stuff to do! Restaurants, Spas, Events and More.
www.LivingSocial.com
Teeth Whitening-Dub2 €180
Incl Free Topup + Oral Healthcheck By Irish Reg'd Dentists/Nurses
www.myteeth.ie
The Top 10 Golf Mistakes?
Play the Best Golf of Your Life in Just 2 Weeks - 10 Free Videos
PeakPerformanceGolfSwing.com
Affordable Dublin Dentist
Going abroad for dental treatment? Check us out first!
www.eiredent.com
Sunday February 01 2009
"The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
-- Shakespeare
THE words spoken by Cassius in Julius Caesar were a warning to his friend that the Roman Republic was falling under dictatorial rule, not because of bad fortune, but because its citizens had colluded in their own subjugation.
The Bard's words could equally apply to our citizenry and to our Republic, as we career chaotically, apparently rudderless, into a deepening recession, a crisis which our Government tells us is due to "our stars" -- ie, international economic forces.
Most authorities don't accept this, noting that an undoubtedly global phenomenon is hitting us disproportionately hard. Blame is being attached to our lenders who threw traditional banking caution to the four winds, and to the economic professionals in the State financial agencies, who either didn't see the danger signs, or who, as seems more likely, were too timid in bringing their concerns to the attention of their political masters.
The politicians themselves appear to have ignored dire and explicit warnings from independent economists that a housing bubble was inflating in front of their eyes. That those same politicians had an unusually, and perhaps unhealthily, close relationship with the very people who stood to gain the most from that bubble, the building and property development sectors, has not gone unnoticed.
Do we, the people, also deserve some blame? Did we, by behaving as Shakespearian underlings, allow complacency, cynicism and greed to blind us to our responsibilities as citizens of a democracy? Our Government must believe that we do. Why else would they insist that we are the ones who will pay the penalty? It seems likely that they will impose increased income taxes, reduced public sector pay, curtailed health and other public services. We may face a tax on houses which are already falling in value, while most homeowners are still paying the mortgage they took out to finance stamp duty.
Maybe we are guilty. Bubbles are fed by the psychology of those who pay. The heady feeling that we were wealthy because the little house down the street from our own had just been sold for a million, blinded us to the reality that we were taking part in a huge international pyramid scheme. While it is true that no-one forced us to borrow or to buy ludicrously over-priced houses, our collective "guilt" must be seen in the context that a growing population did need places to live, and that we are a nation of homeowners, not renters.
In addition, our banks, our Government, our planning process and the constructionocracy all effectively colluded to encourage us to keep buying beyond our means. The roles of the banks and the builders in this process are wholly explicable on the basis of short-term self-interest. Unfortunately, it would appear that the Government, which should take a statesman-like and long-term view of the common good, was similarly motivated. Their short-term interest was the next election.
Democracies get the governments they deserve. Collectively, we were like Carmella Soprano, the wife of Tony. As long as Tony (ie the Government) was bringing home wads of cash, we didn't ask too many questions about where it was coming from, nor did we fret, as we should have, about the family's long-term financial prospects.
I know I will be accused of wandering outside my sphere of competence when I say this, but my 15 years in Ireland, as a returned emigrant, as a doctor working in the health service, and as a concerned observer of our system of government, has forced me to conclude that we are a failed political entity.
At the core of our public governance is a dysfunctional interface between inexpert ministers and senior civil servants who have generally risen to the top of their departments on the strength of their adroitness at navigating its bureaucracy. The ministers are unfortunately drawn exclusively from a cohort of generally mediocre, frequently nepotistic TDs, whose entree to national politics was based not on a grasp of the big issues of state, but on their ability to manipulate a local constituency party machine. These observations explain the now-exposed incompetence of our Government, an incompetence which was obscured from our view by the Celtic Bubble.
Please contrast this with the Obama cabinet. Current energy policy will be one of the key determinants of the future of our society. Who did the President appoint as energy secretary? A Nobel Prize winning physicist! Given the pool of talent available in the Dail, that could never happen here.
Yet we have never needed national vision, intelligent statesmanship and good government more than we do now. To achieve this, we will need to reform the public service, both political and administrative. In short we need a new Constitution -- the "Second Republic", or "Dara Phoblacht" as it were.
Replacing the current multi-seat constituency with a national list system based on proportional representation, in which the entire State would form a single constituency, would minimise the impact of the local machines and would allow the parties to build a slate of candidates whose appeal would transcend local loyalty.
In this system, outstanding potential ministerial candidates could be offered high places on their party list, guaranteeing their availability for Cabinet appointment provided their party won the approvalof the electorate. Ideally, the Taoiseach would also have the power to make a number of ministerial appointments from outside parliament.A slimmed-down directly elected constituency-based Seanad with limited legislative oversight powers, could be retained as an interface between government and population.
What of our bloated civil service? My own belief is that it would be in the economic interests of the country, and in the personal interest of those involved, if all non-front line staff were offered the opportunity of early retirement at 50.
Beannacht De ar an Dara Phoblacht!!
Professor John Crown is a consultant oncologist.
56% of the population say that if Ireland accsepts the deal it will lead to a loss of independence, 33% say it won't. The poll was conuded between Monday and Tuesday of this week in all 43 constiuence's howver only 1,000 voters were asked their opion's overall.
69% of voters said it would be better to stay in the EU while 22% said it would be better to leave. And finally 42% said that an alternative Fine Gael/Labour government would not have managed public finances better then Fianna Fail and the Greens while 38% said they would have.
This poll with these figures only show's one thing,
that treason has been commited in the republic!
Fianna Fail and the Greens have managed to succsefully push their EU agenda and brainwash the majoirity of Irish people into thinking that the EU/IMF are somehow saving us and that it is a *good thing* to lose our independence (which we have fought for, for over 700 years). the government has scared us with the lisbon treaty and we have been caught up in a capitalist property bubble were we bought, bought and bought paying huge amounts to the banks and never caring how they spent our money.
Now we are told it will be judgement day - "end of the world" if we don't conforim to the EU norm of how to run our country.
If we don't bend down to the IMF (America) and the ECB (European central bank)
we are a lost republic, we are losing any national status we had in the world thanks to our own blind obedience, our own love for an outdated system (capitalism)
and our faith in an inffective coalition government.
For a second view on the topic here's a peace written by Professor John Crown:
A Second Republic could cure our ills
Radical change in our political system, including a new Constitution, could encourage real leadership, says John Crown
Share Digg del.icio.us Google Stumble Upon Facebook Reddit Print Email Text Size
NormalLargeExtra LargeAlso in Analysis
Our foolish leaders approved a deal that will ruin this country
Only an immature society turns its back on vulnerable
Good riddance to our old ways, here's to the future
Waldorf exits stage left after old pal Statler
All is calm as stars just the tonic for ill children
Analysis Home
Ads by Google
Merge FG and FF
Merge Fine Gael and Fianna Fail Join the debate
www.jolitics.com
Dublin 1-Day Coupons
Up to 90% Off the Best Stuff to do! Restaurants, Spas, Events and More.
www.LivingSocial.com
Teeth Whitening-Dub2 €180
Incl Free Topup + Oral Healthcheck By Irish Reg'd Dentists/Nurses
www.myteeth.ie
The Top 10 Golf Mistakes?
Play the Best Golf of Your Life in Just 2 Weeks - 10 Free Videos
PeakPerformanceGolfSwing.com
Affordable Dublin Dentist
Going abroad for dental treatment? Check us out first!
www.eiredent.com
Sunday February 01 2009
"The fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
-- Shakespeare
THE words spoken by Cassius in Julius Caesar were a warning to his friend that the Roman Republic was falling under dictatorial rule, not because of bad fortune, but because its citizens had colluded in their own subjugation.
The Bard's words could equally apply to our citizenry and to our Republic, as we career chaotically, apparently rudderless, into a deepening recession, a crisis which our Government tells us is due to "our stars" -- ie, international economic forces.
Most authorities don't accept this, noting that an undoubtedly global phenomenon is hitting us disproportionately hard. Blame is being attached to our lenders who threw traditional banking caution to the four winds, and to the economic professionals in the State financial agencies, who either didn't see the danger signs, or who, as seems more likely, were too timid in bringing their concerns to the attention of their political masters.
The politicians themselves appear to have ignored dire and explicit warnings from independent economists that a housing bubble was inflating in front of their eyes. That those same politicians had an unusually, and perhaps unhealthily, close relationship with the very people who stood to gain the most from that bubble, the building and property development sectors, has not gone unnoticed.
Do we, the people, also deserve some blame? Did we, by behaving as Shakespearian underlings, allow complacency, cynicism and greed to blind us to our responsibilities as citizens of a democracy? Our Government must believe that we do. Why else would they insist that we are the ones who will pay the penalty? It seems likely that they will impose increased income taxes, reduced public sector pay, curtailed health and other public services. We may face a tax on houses which are already falling in value, while most homeowners are still paying the mortgage they took out to finance stamp duty.
Maybe we are guilty. Bubbles are fed by the psychology of those who pay. The heady feeling that we were wealthy because the little house down the street from our own had just been sold for a million, blinded us to the reality that we were taking part in a huge international pyramid scheme. While it is true that no-one forced us to borrow or to buy ludicrously over-priced houses, our collective "guilt" must be seen in the context that a growing population did need places to live, and that we are a nation of homeowners, not renters.
In addition, our banks, our Government, our planning process and the constructionocracy all effectively colluded to encourage us to keep buying beyond our means. The roles of the banks and the builders in this process are wholly explicable on the basis of short-term self-interest. Unfortunately, it would appear that the Government, which should take a statesman-like and long-term view of the common good, was similarly motivated. Their short-term interest was the next election.
Democracies get the governments they deserve. Collectively, we were like Carmella Soprano, the wife of Tony. As long as Tony (ie the Government) was bringing home wads of cash, we didn't ask too many questions about where it was coming from, nor did we fret, as we should have, about the family's long-term financial prospects.
I know I will be accused of wandering outside my sphere of competence when I say this, but my 15 years in Ireland, as a returned emigrant, as a doctor working in the health service, and as a concerned observer of our system of government, has forced me to conclude that we are a failed political entity.
At the core of our public governance is a dysfunctional interface between inexpert ministers and senior civil servants who have generally risen to the top of their departments on the strength of their adroitness at navigating its bureaucracy. The ministers are unfortunately drawn exclusively from a cohort of generally mediocre, frequently nepotistic TDs, whose entree to national politics was based not on a grasp of the big issues of state, but on their ability to manipulate a local constituency party machine. These observations explain the now-exposed incompetence of our Government, an incompetence which was obscured from our view by the Celtic Bubble.
Please contrast this with the Obama cabinet. Current energy policy will be one of the key determinants of the future of our society. Who did the President appoint as energy secretary? A Nobel Prize winning physicist! Given the pool of talent available in the Dail, that could never happen here.
Yet we have never needed national vision, intelligent statesmanship and good government more than we do now. To achieve this, we will need to reform the public service, both political and administrative. In short we need a new Constitution -- the "Second Republic", or "Dara Phoblacht" as it were.
Replacing the current multi-seat constituency with a national list system based on proportional representation, in which the entire State would form a single constituency, would minimise the impact of the local machines and would allow the parties to build a slate of candidates whose appeal would transcend local loyalty.
In this system, outstanding potential ministerial candidates could be offered high places on their party list, guaranteeing their availability for Cabinet appointment provided their party won the approvalof the electorate. Ideally, the Taoiseach would also have the power to make a number of ministerial appointments from outside parliament.A slimmed-down directly elected constituency-based Seanad with limited legislative oversight powers, could be retained as an interface between government and population.
What of our bloated civil service? My own belief is that it would be in the economic interests of the country, and in the personal interest of those involved, if all non-front line staff were offered the opportunity of early retirement at 50.
Beannacht De ar an Dara Phoblacht!!
Professor John Crown is a consultant oncologist.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Brazil and Argentina recgonize Palestian state, U.S. show's predictable bias.
Argentina and Brazil over the last week have declared that they will recognize a Palestian state based on the border's drawn before the 1967, Israeli-Palistine conflict.
However US undersecretary of state William Burn has said that the descsion by the two Latian American countries who dared to excerise their own free thoughts was "premature." -- He said that talks between Israel and Palestine were the only ways to recognize the border soloution drawn up after the '67 conflict.
Argentina's forigen minister condemed Burn's statement saying, that once again the US complains when "the Argentine republic" has it's own indvidual views...
Israel has also condemed the declerations saying Brazil and Argenita aren't even invovled in the peace process...
And hence shouldn't hold a view on the matter.
But the point is that "Undersecreatry" Burn's statement clearly shows that the U.S. wants to stop the talks from shifting in a direction that might not please Israel or more importantly might not suit their own interests....
Hence they are showing a complete bias towards the Israeli's
I don't know what the pre-1967 border's were so I can't offer a full view of them however I think the US should just stop destroying the middle-east...
Israel is guility of war crimes and so is Hamas but the US is guility of much, much more by this stage in history....
However US undersecretary of state William Burn has said that the descsion by the two Latian American countries who dared to excerise their own free thoughts was "premature." -- He said that talks between Israel and Palestine were the only ways to recognize the border soloution drawn up after the '67 conflict.
Argentina's forigen minister condemed Burn's statement saying, that once again the US complains when "the Argentine republic" has it's own indvidual views...
Israel has also condemed the declerations saying Brazil and Argenita aren't even invovled in the peace process...
And hence shouldn't hold a view on the matter.
But the point is that "Undersecreatry" Burn's statement clearly shows that the U.S. wants to stop the talks from shifting in a direction that might not please Israel or more importantly might not suit their own interests....
Hence they are showing a complete bias towards the Israeli's
I don't know what the pre-1967 border's were so I can't offer a full view of them however I think the US should just stop destroying the middle-east...
Israel is guility of war crimes and so is Hamas but the US is guility of much, much more by this stage in history....
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Link to Live RTÉ broadcast on "budget day"
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1207/live_budget_updates.html
Follow the link to see the Irish parliment debate the budget Fianna Fail and the Greens plan to introduces today to try and "rescue" Ireland from an economic collapse that it has not seen in decades.
Follow the link to see the Irish parliment debate the budget Fianna Fail and the Greens plan to introduces today to try and "rescue" Ireland from an economic collapse that it has not seen in decades.
Julian Assange: hero or sex offender?
Julian Assange the 39 year old Australian who owns the small outlet
"Wikileaks" which he describes as a "whistle blowing website" on governments around the world is in London today, answering charges that he is responable for the leak of thousands of state documents. The London court pointed out to Mr. Assange that he could conscent to been deported to Sweeden where he faces charges on so-called "sex abuse crimes". Assange said he understood this and said he refused to be charged in Sweeden.
He is also wanted in the U.S. For the leaking of government documents,
and VISA have seezed his bank assets meaning that Mr. Assange is in quite a lot of trouble. But no one has seemed to ask the question, is he guility?
Is there not a law in the US that all documents have to be made public at some point in time nayway, so Assegne by US standards is not really breaking any laws by publishing these documents.
Assenge in an interview with the news outlet Al Jazeera's has said that WikiLeaks checks and re-checks to see if the documents (which are given to the company on a voulentary basis) are legal and offical before he even considers publishing them.
The rape charges in Sweeden are shady (to say the least....) Comming at a time when his organization is under surveillance for simply throwing light on government cover-ups and crimes. Whilest sex abuse charges are a serious question, and can never be fully put aside untill either proven right or wrong, one has to admit that the timeing for these accusations is very convienonant from a political viewpoint.
Mr. Assange should in my view go to Sweeden clear his name in front of the Sweedish authorites who are probably been backed by another hand with these charges...
And continue to publish his documents.
If a country like Iran started to shut down websites because they had damming evidence against the Iranian government on them, the west would call the act anti-democratic yet the US seneate is now shutting down websites that have WikiLeaks pages on them with the only vauge claim been that their harming Afghan civilzians (despite the fact that the WikiLeak articales show that the US is KILLING Afghan civilizans - although that should have been obvious from the start).
The west needs to stand up to it's own self-rightous, and hypocrtical standards that it lays down for others, freedom of information and freedom of speech should be allowed for all, if we want Iran to act like a free country then countries in the West should do the same insted of getting other's to follow the party line that we throw down, and not obeying it ourselves.
So is Mr. Assenge a hero or a sex abuser? Only time will fully tell
but I strongly believe that he is on the right track
but he should confirm first that he is not guility of sex abuse or rape in Sweeden,
and the West should learn to put it's money where it's Mouth is.
"Wikileaks" which he describes as a "whistle blowing website" on governments around the world is in London today, answering charges that he is responable for the leak of thousands of state documents. The London court pointed out to Mr. Assange that he could conscent to been deported to Sweeden where he faces charges on so-called "sex abuse crimes". Assange said he understood this and said he refused to be charged in Sweeden.
He is also wanted in the U.S. For the leaking of government documents,
and VISA have seezed his bank assets meaning that Mr. Assange is in quite a lot of trouble. But no one has seemed to ask the question, is he guility?
Is there not a law in the US that all documents have to be made public at some point in time nayway, so Assegne by US standards is not really breaking any laws by publishing these documents.
Assenge in an interview with the news outlet Al Jazeera's has said that WikiLeaks checks and re-checks to see if the documents (which are given to the company on a voulentary basis) are legal and offical before he even considers publishing them.
The rape charges in Sweeden are shady (to say the least....) Comming at a time when his organization is under surveillance for simply throwing light on government cover-ups and crimes. Whilest sex abuse charges are a serious question, and can never be fully put aside untill either proven right or wrong, one has to admit that the timeing for these accusations is very convienonant from a political viewpoint.
Mr. Assange should in my view go to Sweeden clear his name in front of the Sweedish authorites who are probably been backed by another hand with these charges...
And continue to publish his documents.
If a country like Iran started to shut down websites because they had damming evidence against the Iranian government on them, the west would call the act anti-democratic yet the US seneate is now shutting down websites that have WikiLeaks pages on them with the only vauge claim been that their harming Afghan civilzians (despite the fact that the WikiLeak articales show that the US is KILLING Afghan civilizans - although that should have been obvious from the start).
The west needs to stand up to it's own self-rightous, and hypocrtical standards that it lays down for others, freedom of information and freedom of speech should be allowed for all, if we want Iran to act like a free country then countries in the West should do the same insted of getting other's to follow the party line that we throw down, and not obeying it ourselves.
So is Mr. Assenge a hero or a sex abuser? Only time will fully tell
but I strongly believe that he is on the right track
but he should confirm first that he is not guility of sex abuse or rape in Sweeden,
and the West should learn to put it's money where it's Mouth is.
Monday, December 6, 2010
isn't it funny, and sad too?
“Isn’t it funny and sad too?”
“Romantic Ireland is dead and gone. It’s with O’Leary in the grave” – W.B. Yeats, “September 1913.”
“The valiant effort and the martyrdoms that followed it finally awoke the sleeping spirit of Ireland” – Michael Collins, on the 1916 rising.
Lots of things are funny, and sad too if you think about it.
Like here’s a good one, isn’t it funny, and sad too? How a small nation fought for 800 years against British imperialism and then finally bankrupted itself and sold itself to the EU and IMF… Well when Patrick Pearse, Éamon De Valera, James Connolly and the other national hero’s of the failed 1916 “blood sacrifice” (revolt) attempted to end British rule in the 32 counties and declare a republic in Easter week of 1916, I’m sure that was the last thing they thought Ireland would end up doing if and when it liberated itself, sadly they were to be proven wrong.
Ireland for years before the British conquest and plantations and Cromwell and the famine of the 1840’s was actually moderately advanced for a state. It was an absolute monarch system; Ireland grew to be romantic with fairy tales and an interesting and complex mythological culture. Skip forward to the 6th of December 1921, Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and other Irish republican nationalists sign the “Anglo-Irish treaty” which makes 26 counties out of the 32 in Ireland a free-state. Now fast-forward to 1937, Éamon De Valera, An Taoiseach of Ireland gives Ireland it’s own constitution renaming “The Irish Free-state” simply “Ireland.” Skip forward now to 2nd of December 1939, Éamon De Valera calls an emergency meeting of the Dail, to declare that Ireland will remain neutral in the impending war (WWII) virtually assuring that Ireland becomes a 26 county sovereign state free from outside standards. ast-forward again to 1949, the first interparty government headed by John Costello declares Ireland an “official” “Republic” under the “Republic of Ireland act.” And finally skip forward to November of 2010, Ireland (virtually) sells it’s economy to the EU, IMF and partly to our old friend Great Britain, speaking in the vernacular of our new Lords and Ladies from London “one must wonder why it all went so terribly wrong.”
Would W.B. Yeats, Michael Collins, Grace O’Malley or any other Irish persona recognize the land we call “Ireland” today? Or would they see a state who was so desperate to save a failed economic philosophy that it would make a Faustian like deal with the IMF and Co? The truth is how much of a Bourgarie class have we become who are only interested in saving just like Yeats warns off in “September 1913.”
The truth is, they would not recognize the Republic as it stands presently in time.
We have become ghosts of a nation. We have sold ourselves to foreign donors long before the “IMF crisis” No we killed our Republic when we granted the EU parliament full control over us or at least the opportunity to gain full control over us with the “Lisbon treaty.” After it was declared that Ireland was officially in a resection in late 2008, a wave of terror gripped the country, we forgot about Ireland, Cathleen Ni Holien herself, forgot that other countries in parts of Africa were much worse off then us, panicked and in despair turned to Fianna Fail’s shallow promises that all would get better if we granted the EU parliament greater powers. Which we did when we were tricked into voting “yes” to Lisbon after rejecting it the first time.
Sense then Fianna Fail has created “NAMA” which has been a complete disaster and the Irish taxpayer now owes at least 40 billion altogether to the failed banks of AIB and BOI who got us into this collapse. In the last week Finna Fail have tried to have both sides of the cake they’ve insisted we are still a sovereign nation and yet Brian Lenihan later said every time you go for a lone, you lose a little bit of your independence.” Isn’t that funny? And I guess if you want to stretch it a little sad too… Sad that Finna Fail feel they have to desperately lie about any basic policy they make.
Things came to ahead on Monday when John Gormelly’s “Green party” did something healthy for once and announced their withdrawal from government although it appears they also want the other side of the cake as they say they will support Finna Fail’s passing of the budget on 7th of December 2010. – A budget which deputies Éamon Gilmore and Enda Kenney have made perfectly clear they can’t accept because both their respective parties have not been permitted to discuss it or view any of its content, which raises the question how will Finna Fail gain enough support to pass it with at least two independents so far saying they will not support it and they’ll hardly find sullus in Sinn Féin as an ally. Today on the 25th of November, the ‘November criminal’s’ got it wrong again as Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív (a descendent of Éamon De Valera) has admitted that his Department overpaid customers by at least €65 million last year. – In a time when Ireland apparently has “no money” we can at least play detectives now and find out where the money has gone, most of it to an elite of bankers and paying 65 million in social-protection is a farce which surely has made the country greener (and by that I mean sick).
But there is another problem which is eating Ireland, it’s not the politicians, nor the IMF nor the budget that British chancellor George Osborn knows more about then the average Irish citizen. The problem is the system itself, when the tiger was slinking around with plenty of milk to feed it people only wanted the milk, they simply craved more and more until inevitably the milk spilled. Capitalism was a drug for many Irish families during the “boom” but drugs usually have a very negative defect to them (e.g. they kill you!)
And the drug of free-market, (or at least relatively free here) capitalism is beginning to kill us. Yes that’s right; greed and the free-market system have driven Cathleen Ni Houllen from her four green fields or at least three which she won after 1921. I’m not advocating a Marxist revolution or a socialist burrocray (because that would be just as bad as the failed free-marketing we’ve been trying) but something ‘new’ has to come along before we forget that we are Irish, or more correctly speaking, fully forget that we are Irish.
Isn’t it funny, but sad too? How 53% of the population still want Ireland to be ruled by the politicians (that includes opposition leaders), or is this sad? The 53% who indicated according to Pat Kenney’s the “frontline” they’d still like to be ruled by Irish politicians instead of the IMF these 53% still it seems have some national sentiment left over, while the 47% who want the IMF to take us over obviously belong to those described above in the years of the eye of the tiger when they still felt like kings of the fight, the type who want the money and all the milk, and who don’t care who rules Ireland or yet alone what Ireland is as long as it goes back to having full nonstop free market glory times.
They’re the ones who are slowly forgetting the cultural revival attempts of Yeats and the sacrifice Pearse, Connolly and the other 1916 leaders had to valiantly make. They along with the government of this nation, despise the nation, they are seemingly indifferent or against the republic. I’m not trying to suggest that we should declare war on the 47% who want the IMF to rule us, but I do feel a ‘second republic’ should be declared based on Pearce’s declaration of Easter Monday, 1916…Except this time it should be brought about through perhaps peaceful legislation not terror campaign like we saw in the North, when Irish nationalists degraded themselves by hiding behind the pseudo-nationalist “provisional IRA.”
Should we not as a nation, focus more on the positive things about Irish literature, cinema, history etc, etc, we have had writers like Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Bram Stoker and yet today, it seems more about the people you know and the standard you are at financially in the constantly globalist economy. Our culture bends more towards America now and even to England, while I respect their cultures, the fact that a majority of programs on TV are American says a lot.
Isn’t it sad, and funny too that for a lot of Irish people the name J.F.K means more then Hugh O’Neill, Robert Emmet or Grace O’Malley?
To reiterate what was said earlier isn’t it funny and sad too? That after 800 years of poverty at the hands of a foreign government we are now subjecting ourselves to poverty, we’ve let globalism take the country for a ride, a very long ride in which it is essay to crash while riding. Isn’t it funny, and also sad? That after the good Friday agreement of 1998 there was a (small) possibility of a united Ireland, but now thanks to our apathy towards the North, that small window is gone forever, because we shunned the North after the agreement, we had become to rich ourselves to care for it and now we are back at the doorstep of the UK begging for a loan to help bailout two banks who represent the degraded capitalist system in Ireland.
Isn’t it funny, and sad too? That America the country with the least respect for other countries independence or pride encourages large bursts of nationalism (or almost racial-nationalism in some parts of the country) in it’s populace, and yet a small much more modest state like Ireland has shot it’s national identity and economy in the foot. It does not matter now if Brian Cowen goes and dissolves the Dail and a new Fine Gael/Labour government is swarm in. Even Sinn Féin at this stage would be forced, if they were in the front seat, to sell Ireland to the IMF, to abandon any identity we had and to make us a shell of a nation….My question is will we ever be in the words of Winston Churchill “ a nation once again” ?
And finally closing I want to point out, that we as a nation are not better, but we are no worse then any other nation on earth. When I attacked America above, I did not mean to insinuate that Irish people are superior to Americans but it was more an attack on their government – however that is a different story. Globalism has a positive side, that we are respecting eachother as human begins and understanding that other countries aren’t u unbelievably different, but is it not also important to keep a nations culture and pride to at least some extent? Surely the way forward is not a fully integrated world nor a fully divided world but, a world with sovereign governments and cultures who live in peaceful and respectful tolerance of eachother. We can appreciate and even participate in each other’s cultures and should not sink to the level of nationalism displayed by the Nazis, however let’s keep our own nation alive, let’s again to quote Churchill be “a nation once again.”
“Romantic Ireland is dead and gone. It’s with O’Leary in the grave” – W.B. Yeats, “September 1913.”
“The valiant effort and the martyrdoms that followed it finally awoke the sleeping spirit of Ireland” – Michael Collins, on the 1916 rising.
Lots of things are funny, and sad too if you think about it.
Like here’s a good one, isn’t it funny, and sad too? How a small nation fought for 800 years against British imperialism and then finally bankrupted itself and sold itself to the EU and IMF… Well when Patrick Pearse, Éamon De Valera, James Connolly and the other national hero’s of the failed 1916 “blood sacrifice” (revolt) attempted to end British rule in the 32 counties and declare a republic in Easter week of 1916, I’m sure that was the last thing they thought Ireland would end up doing if and when it liberated itself, sadly they were to be proven wrong.
Ireland for years before the British conquest and plantations and Cromwell and the famine of the 1840’s was actually moderately advanced for a state. It was an absolute monarch system; Ireland grew to be romantic with fairy tales and an interesting and complex mythological culture. Skip forward to the 6th of December 1921, Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and other Irish republican nationalists sign the “Anglo-Irish treaty” which makes 26 counties out of the 32 in Ireland a free-state. Now fast-forward to 1937, Éamon De Valera, An Taoiseach of Ireland gives Ireland it’s own constitution renaming “The Irish Free-state” simply “Ireland.” Skip forward now to 2nd of December 1939, Éamon De Valera calls an emergency meeting of the Dail, to declare that Ireland will remain neutral in the impending war (WWII) virtually assuring that Ireland becomes a 26 county sovereign state free from outside standards. ast-forward again to 1949, the first interparty government headed by John Costello declares Ireland an “official” “Republic” under the “Republic of Ireland act.” And finally skip forward to November of 2010, Ireland (virtually) sells it’s economy to the EU, IMF and partly to our old friend Great Britain, speaking in the vernacular of our new Lords and Ladies from London “one must wonder why it all went so terribly wrong.”
Would W.B. Yeats, Michael Collins, Grace O’Malley or any other Irish persona recognize the land we call “Ireland” today? Or would they see a state who was so desperate to save a failed economic philosophy that it would make a Faustian like deal with the IMF and Co? The truth is how much of a Bourgarie class have we become who are only interested in saving just like Yeats warns off in “September 1913.”
The truth is, they would not recognize the Republic as it stands presently in time.
We have become ghosts of a nation. We have sold ourselves to foreign donors long before the “IMF crisis” No we killed our Republic when we granted the EU parliament full control over us or at least the opportunity to gain full control over us with the “Lisbon treaty.” After it was declared that Ireland was officially in a resection in late 2008, a wave of terror gripped the country, we forgot about Ireland, Cathleen Ni Holien herself, forgot that other countries in parts of Africa were much worse off then us, panicked and in despair turned to Fianna Fail’s shallow promises that all would get better if we granted the EU parliament greater powers. Which we did when we were tricked into voting “yes” to Lisbon after rejecting it the first time.
Sense then Fianna Fail has created “NAMA” which has been a complete disaster and the Irish taxpayer now owes at least 40 billion altogether to the failed banks of AIB and BOI who got us into this collapse. In the last week Finna Fail have tried to have both sides of the cake they’ve insisted we are still a sovereign nation and yet Brian Lenihan later said every time you go for a lone, you lose a little bit of your independence.” Isn’t that funny? And I guess if you want to stretch it a little sad too… Sad that Finna Fail feel they have to desperately lie about any basic policy they make.
Things came to ahead on Monday when John Gormelly’s “Green party” did something healthy for once and announced their withdrawal from government although it appears they also want the other side of the cake as they say they will support Finna Fail’s passing of the budget on 7th of December 2010. – A budget which deputies Éamon Gilmore and Enda Kenney have made perfectly clear they can’t accept because both their respective parties have not been permitted to discuss it or view any of its content, which raises the question how will Finna Fail gain enough support to pass it with at least two independents so far saying they will not support it and they’ll hardly find sullus in Sinn Féin as an ally. Today on the 25th of November, the ‘November criminal’s’ got it wrong again as Minister for Social Protection Éamon Ó Cuív (a descendent of Éamon De Valera) has admitted that his Department overpaid customers by at least €65 million last year. – In a time when Ireland apparently has “no money” we can at least play detectives now and find out where the money has gone, most of it to an elite of bankers and paying 65 million in social-protection is a farce which surely has made the country greener (and by that I mean sick).
But there is another problem which is eating Ireland, it’s not the politicians, nor the IMF nor the budget that British chancellor George Osborn knows more about then the average Irish citizen. The problem is the system itself, when the tiger was slinking around with plenty of milk to feed it people only wanted the milk, they simply craved more and more until inevitably the milk spilled. Capitalism was a drug for many Irish families during the “boom” but drugs usually have a very negative defect to them (e.g. they kill you!)
And the drug of free-market, (or at least relatively free here) capitalism is beginning to kill us. Yes that’s right; greed and the free-market system have driven Cathleen Ni Houllen from her four green fields or at least three which she won after 1921. I’m not advocating a Marxist revolution or a socialist burrocray (because that would be just as bad as the failed free-marketing we’ve been trying) but something ‘new’ has to come along before we forget that we are Irish, or more correctly speaking, fully forget that we are Irish.
Isn’t it funny, but sad too? How 53% of the population still want Ireland to be ruled by the politicians (that includes opposition leaders), or is this sad? The 53% who indicated according to Pat Kenney’s the “frontline” they’d still like to be ruled by Irish politicians instead of the IMF these 53% still it seems have some national sentiment left over, while the 47% who want the IMF to take us over obviously belong to those described above in the years of the eye of the tiger when they still felt like kings of the fight, the type who want the money and all the milk, and who don’t care who rules Ireland or yet alone what Ireland is as long as it goes back to having full nonstop free market glory times.
They’re the ones who are slowly forgetting the cultural revival attempts of Yeats and the sacrifice Pearse, Connolly and the other 1916 leaders had to valiantly make. They along with the government of this nation, despise the nation, they are seemingly indifferent or against the republic. I’m not trying to suggest that we should declare war on the 47% who want the IMF to rule us, but I do feel a ‘second republic’ should be declared based on Pearce’s declaration of Easter Monday, 1916…Except this time it should be brought about through perhaps peaceful legislation not terror campaign like we saw in the North, when Irish nationalists degraded themselves by hiding behind the pseudo-nationalist “provisional IRA.”
Should we not as a nation, focus more on the positive things about Irish literature, cinema, history etc, etc, we have had writers like Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and Bram Stoker and yet today, it seems more about the people you know and the standard you are at financially in the constantly globalist economy. Our culture bends more towards America now and even to England, while I respect their cultures, the fact that a majority of programs on TV are American says a lot.
Isn’t it sad, and funny too that for a lot of Irish people the name J.F.K means more then Hugh O’Neill, Robert Emmet or Grace O’Malley?
To reiterate what was said earlier isn’t it funny and sad too? That after 800 years of poverty at the hands of a foreign government we are now subjecting ourselves to poverty, we’ve let globalism take the country for a ride, a very long ride in which it is essay to crash while riding. Isn’t it funny, and also sad? That after the good Friday agreement of 1998 there was a (small) possibility of a united Ireland, but now thanks to our apathy towards the North, that small window is gone forever, because we shunned the North after the agreement, we had become to rich ourselves to care for it and now we are back at the doorstep of the UK begging for a loan to help bailout two banks who represent the degraded capitalist system in Ireland.
Isn’t it funny, and sad too? That America the country with the least respect for other countries independence or pride encourages large bursts of nationalism (or almost racial-nationalism in some parts of the country) in it’s populace, and yet a small much more modest state like Ireland has shot it’s national identity and economy in the foot. It does not matter now if Brian Cowen goes and dissolves the Dail and a new Fine Gael/Labour government is swarm in. Even Sinn Féin at this stage would be forced, if they were in the front seat, to sell Ireland to the IMF, to abandon any identity we had and to make us a shell of a nation….My question is will we ever be in the words of Winston Churchill “ a nation once again” ?
And finally closing I want to point out, that we as a nation are not better, but we are no worse then any other nation on earth. When I attacked America above, I did not mean to insinuate that Irish people are superior to Americans but it was more an attack on their government – however that is a different story. Globalism has a positive side, that we are respecting eachother as human begins and understanding that other countries aren’t u unbelievably different, but is it not also important to keep a nations culture and pride to at least some extent? Surely the way forward is not a fully integrated world nor a fully divided world but, a world with sovereign governments and cultures who live in peaceful and respectful tolerance of eachother. We can appreciate and even participate in each other’s cultures and should not sink to the level of nationalism displayed by the Nazis, however let’s keep our own nation alive, let’s again to quote Churchill be “a nation once again.”
Brian Lenihan named Europe's "worst finance minister" amid Irish crisis.
Fianna Fail member and current "minister for finance"
Brian Lenihan has been listed in 19th (lowest spot) in a poll of the best to worst finance ministers in Europe...
Wolfgang Schaeuble: of Germany is listed as Europe's best finance minister.
With Poland's Jacek Rostowski comming in second.
While I admit that Fianna Fail are a terrible government and have led to the loss of Irish economic independence over the last few weeks - talks between Lenihan and the American-owened IMF have summented a dubious future for the Republic....It is still worth pointing out that this poll is deliberatly singleing out Ireland.
Proof of this is that Greace's finance minister George Papaconstantinou was listed as 8th in the poll (despite the fact taht Greece fell into severe economic turmoil before the "IMF talks" In Ireland began)--- infact Greace has asked that the EU and IMF impose austiorty messaures that are based on Ireland's on their economy.
The fact is England has agreed to lend Ireland money to get out of the banking crisis (pay of AIB which will lend the next few generations of Irish taxpayer's - such as this writer in debt to the banks - and England)meaning we've once again lost our independence to England and the rest of Euroupe wants a country to blame for their own failures and Ireland is the horse picked, despite the fact Greece got their first.
*****
Backround:
At least three to four weeks ago John Gormmly leader of the "Irish Green party" the small minioirty party that is keeping Fianna Fail in power as a coalitoin parthner, announced that the Greens would leave government and an election should be healed by the end of January, the same afternoon Mr. Gormmley announced that the Greens would support an upcomming Fianna Fail budget that will be put to the Dail on December 7h (tomorrow) for aproval. The same day two Fianna Fail TD's called for prime minister Brian Cowen's rescognation as party leader and head of the state.
Ireland's raidcal party Sinn Féin then attempted a vote of no confidence in Fianna Fail but Fine Gael and Labour igonred it.
After that Brian Lenhian stated that Ireland was not in a national crisis and did not need IMF or EU funding to repair it's banks and markets.
Cowen later repeated this heavily scripted lie but by the end of the week it was revealed by British finance minister George Osborn (who came sixth in the list) that Ireland had been in "seceret talks" with England to agree on funds to help rescue Ireland's economy again (meaning in the long term Ireland would be in debt to the UK.) Then it was reavled we were in talks with the IMF and the EU who have agreed a package for our economy....
Fianna Fail then relasead a four year plan, which in the words of Enda Kenney (leader of Fine Gael- Ireland's main oppostion party) "God help us all."
As the plan is nothing but a rehash of what Fianna Fail have said for over 14 years, that the country needs to be "improved" without actually pointing out how.
So yes Fianna Fail have destroyed our country, yes Fianna Fail are incompetent, yes the Greens are on both sides of the bed wanting out of the government and yet going to support tomorrow's impending budget which is apperantly "the toughest in the history of the state." But also yes, the EU is not facing up to it's own responsabllites and short-commings and is pinning the blame on Ireland and yes this is unfair, welcome to the world of international politics folks.
Brian Lenihan has been listed in 19th (lowest spot) in a poll of the best to worst finance ministers in Europe...
Wolfgang Schaeuble: of Germany is listed as Europe's best finance minister.
With Poland's Jacek Rostowski comming in second.
While I admit that Fianna Fail are a terrible government and have led to the loss of Irish economic independence over the last few weeks - talks between Lenihan and the American-owened IMF have summented a dubious future for the Republic....It is still worth pointing out that this poll is deliberatly singleing out Ireland.
Proof of this is that Greace's finance minister George Papaconstantinou was listed as 8th in the poll (despite the fact taht Greece fell into severe economic turmoil before the "IMF talks" In Ireland began)--- infact Greace has asked that the EU and IMF impose austiorty messaures that are based on Ireland's on their economy.
The fact is England has agreed to lend Ireland money to get out of the banking crisis (pay of AIB which will lend the next few generations of Irish taxpayer's - such as this writer in debt to the banks - and England)meaning we've once again lost our independence to England and the rest of Euroupe wants a country to blame for their own failures and Ireland is the horse picked, despite the fact Greece got their first.
*****
Backround:
At least three to four weeks ago John Gormmly leader of the "Irish Green party" the small minioirty party that is keeping Fianna Fail in power as a coalitoin parthner, announced that the Greens would leave government and an election should be healed by the end of January, the same afternoon Mr. Gormmley announced that the Greens would support an upcomming Fianna Fail budget that will be put to the Dail on December 7h (tomorrow) for aproval. The same day two Fianna Fail TD's called for prime minister Brian Cowen's rescognation as party leader and head of the state.
Ireland's raidcal party Sinn Féin then attempted a vote of no confidence in Fianna Fail but Fine Gael and Labour igonred it.
After that Brian Lenhian stated that Ireland was not in a national crisis and did not need IMF or EU funding to repair it's banks and markets.
Cowen later repeated this heavily scripted lie but by the end of the week it was revealed by British finance minister George Osborn (who came sixth in the list) that Ireland had been in "seceret talks" with England to agree on funds to help rescue Ireland's economy again (meaning in the long term Ireland would be in debt to the UK.) Then it was reavled we were in talks with the IMF and the EU who have agreed a package for our economy....
Fianna Fail then relasead a four year plan, which in the words of Enda Kenney (leader of Fine Gael- Ireland's main oppostion party) "God help us all."
As the plan is nothing but a rehash of what Fianna Fail have said for over 14 years, that the country needs to be "improved" without actually pointing out how.
So yes Fianna Fail have destroyed our country, yes Fianna Fail are incompetent, yes the Greens are on both sides of the bed wanting out of the government and yet going to support tomorrow's impending budget which is apperantly "the toughest in the history of the state." But also yes, the EU is not facing up to it's own responsabllites and short-commings and is pinning the blame on Ireland and yes this is unfair, welcome to the world of international politics folks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
