Apartheid returns to Africa, Corruption remains

Apartheid is one of the worst crimes black people have to endure in the 20th century. But now it looks like Zimbabwe want to do the same to white people. From South Africa’s Mail & Guardian

“Banks in Zimbabwe must not enter into contracts with white commercial farmers without asking the government first, the official Sunday Mail reported. National Security Minister Didymus Mutasa said some financial institutions were "denying new [black] farmers loans ... on the basis that the white commercial farmers had title deeds of the farms as collateral," the paper reported.”

This is part of along series of measures brought in by Robert Mugabi to slowly remove democracy and white people's rights from Zimbabwe. He is cracking down on the media. Shuting down independent newspapers and arresting journalists saying (From NY Times)

The journalists were "driven by the love for the United States dollars and British pounds, which they are paid by the foreign media houses to peddle lies,"

In an interesting case of irony. In 1983 Emmerson Mnangagwa, then Minister of State Security (From this is Zimbabwe)

He told a rally at the Victoria Falls that the government was considering as one option the burning down of “all villages infested with dissidents”. The dissidents were, in his words, “cockroaches” and 5 Brigade was the “DDT” brought in to eradicate them

DDT was a famous chemical that cause a lot of damage to the environment it was used in. Same to for the Zanu PF's rule of Zimbabwe. Inflation in Zimbabwe in January was a spectacular 613% compared to neighbouring Zambia at 12% and a GDP growth of -4%. Back in 2000 inflation was 50%. This is due mainly to Mugabi's policies. Like many countries in Africa white people controlled much of the decline in Zimbabwe’s economic collapse has been Mugabe’s policies of forced seizure of White owned land. Land redistribution has always been an issue in Zimbabwe since independence. It started on a voluntary selling basis which didn’t work as few sold. Then in 1992 it changed to a forced selling basis but with fair compensation. This was widely corrupt and the land merely went to cabinet ministers and other cronies. Because of this Britain then stopped its aid to the land reform programme. In 2000 the government staged a referendum to pass a constitution that would allow the acquiring of land compulsorily without compensation. The Government lost but supporters seized land anyway. Now there is 300 white farmers left farming in Zimbabwe, down from more than 4 000 in 2005. While white farmers have their land is due to colonial rule the manner in which Mugabe is going about rectifying this is counter-productive. By destroying the agricultural sectors viability he is in essence making the Black population less well off then before. And the country has severe fuel and food shortages. Protestors against the government are stoped. On Tuesday 159 women and students marching for bread and roses were arrested and jailed including a 0ne-year old baby. In May of 2005 he started Operation Murambatsvina" (Drive Out Trash) hundreds of thousands of poor peoples homes were destroyed. (From Wikipedia)

The Zimbabwean Police Commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, said that Operation Murambatsvina was meant to “clean the country of the crawling mass of maggots bent on destroying the economy”

So will anything be done to halt Mugabe.The easiest option is for the South African Government to put pressure on Mugabe. As Economist, Tom Hawkin said of South African President Thabo Mbeki (From Disillusioned Lefty)

"If he wants to, he can force Zanu-PF to the negotiating table, the exit package, free and fair elections" It's just that he appears not to want to, or lacks the conviction that this is what he should do but the South Africans seems unwilling to do this.

(From BBC)

South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlaminini Zuma said South Africa would "never" condemn its Zimbabwean counterpart. "It is not going to happen as long as this government is in power," she told journalists.

So unless there is a change of government in South Africa. Which considering the main opposition has 12.4% of the vote compared to the ANC's 69.7 % . Thats not going to happen any time soon so little is going to be done. The next avenue is the African Union but considering that the actions of Mugabe are not uncommon in other African countries they are unlikely to act. The unwillingness to act was vocalised by an AU spokesman who said (From BBC)

If the government that they elected say they are restoring order by their actions, I don't think it would be proper for us to go interfering in their internal legislation,"

Zimbabwe has left the commenwealth so it has little influence in this situation. (I wrote about the Commenwealth here) The next port of call for action as always is the UN. Now as I pointed out over Iran the UN is weak due to other countries self interests. China is investing heavily in many African countries and Zimbabwe is no different. It is Zimbabwe’s biggest foreign investor and eager to get its hand on the worlds second largest platinum exporters stock. It is also the supplier of the radio-jamming equipment that the government uses to suppress the radio media. So the likelihood of China supporting the ousting of Mugabe is slim to none and slim just left town.

So then we are left with every anti-war peaceniks bogeyman a “Coalition of the Willing”. From (The Washington Post)

David Coltart, an opposition member of parliament, said Zimbabwe has been on the Bush administration's radar screen, even if not the president's. "George Bush is too preoccupied by Iraq to be personally engaged in the Zimbabwe crisis," he said. "But Colin Powell certainly was a friend of those struggling to bring democracy. It's too early to say whether Condoleezza Rice is focused on Zimbabwe."

In October Mugabe speaking at a UN meeting said (From BBC)

"Must we allow these men, the two unholy men of our millennium, who in the same way as Hitler and Mussolini formed [an] unholy alliance, form an alliance to attack an innocent country?" asked Mr Mugabe, apparently referring to Iraq. "The voice of Mr Bush and the voice of Mr Blair can't decide who shall rule in Zimbabwe, who shall rule in Africa, who shall rule in Asia, who shall rule in Venezuela, who shall rule in Iran, who shall rule in Iraq," he said

Was this a pre-emptive strike against the likely main instigators of his ousting. His only hope would be to develop enough international sentiment against this. But other then China I can not see any country rally to his side. I see 4 future outcomes.

1. South Africa gets its act together
2. The people will no longer tolerate his corrupt and catastrophic rule and rise up and topple him.
3. A coalition of the willing lead by America or South Africa will either invade, topple or encourage and help option 2
4. He will die. The man is 82 on the 21^st. So this is the most likely scenario. Will his successor follow in his footsteps and reform. Is another question.

But I think Mugabe’s days are numbered. This can only be a good thing for all people in Zimbabwe.

Cartoon from here

Vote in Blog awards and win

Damien Mulley has announced that O2 are sponsoring I-mode phones as prizes if people vote in the Blog Awards. So please go vote Dossing Times (if you think we are worth it) and maybe you will win a phone. Voting ends Friday

Sean Haughey who does he think he is.

From RTE

The TD, who had been widely tipped for promotion, told RTE‰ News he believed he was best placed for the post and he was baffled by the decision not to appoint him. Mr Haughey said while he accepted that such appointments were entirely at the discretion of the Government, the decision indicated that he was unlikely to secure the higher office which would enable him to represent his constituents at the level they deserved.

Translation: Enable me to get the job I think I deserve. Also with talk of him moving to the PD's which would be spectacular considering the way his father treated Des O' Malley. This guy is a pure self-serving opportunist in my opinion. Just shows you the apple does fall far from the tree.

Hope for the Middle East

The always interesting Lebanon an Irish Experience through the bottom of a glass Has a great piece about the recent events in Lebanon.

MacDara was witness to a people at their best, Young and old, Christian , Druze and Muslim were all there to remind the politicians that it is there country and that they want to live together in peace and prosperity.

Lebanon is really showing the middle east how the future can be bright.

A drive-by arguement with....

Richard Waghorne of Sicilian Notes said

I don't have a problem with inequality, either of income or of opportunity, though I believe people are far better off in a free society rather than a planned society in any case.

Not so long ago Michael McDowell said that Inequality was good for the Economy. And people were like “how dare he”. “You can’t say that” “we are Irish we love each other equally” “we cherish each child of the state equally”. He is the minister for Justice Equality and Law reform he is suppose to lax lyrically about equality and yadda yadda yadda.

Few I think actually realised that he is right. Inequality is good for the economy in some ways. And everyone who is out there shocked at what McDowell said is glad of inequality.

I have argued before the case for a high minimum wage which I still stand by. But there is a limit to the height it will go can go before it will start price inflation. At a certain point the increased consumer spending will not compensate for a business costs so prices will rise. Thus as prices rise people will be getting less “value for money” then before and demand wage increases and thus creating loads of problems and job losses. (Edit Cause high inflation as well thus starting a vicious cycle)

The fact of the case is that to control inflation and give people the “value for money” they so crave we need inequality in the economy. Before anyone yells at me what about the Swedish model. Read this. Then you can yell away.

However in other ways inequality is not good for the economy. We are going to be a knowledge economy so we need to excel at it. That means every child should have equal access to education, health and an equal opportunity in life. It should not matter if a parent can pay to send their kids to a top school the free school needs to be as good. If it is not and rich kids get a better education then poor kids our economy will decline. We can not have a type of inbreed intellectual elite in this country coming from the same social strata(inbreed from a limited pool of people). Our economy needs the best of the best not the best of the rich. And with that then people will be better off.

So Richard. I disagree. neeeeeeeeeeumm
(if anyone doesn't get the family Guy Reference For Shame get thee to the DVD store)

Is Michael D talking lessons from Sinn Fein

Last night on Questions and Answers (watch here) Michael D Higgins said that Pat Rabbitte's remarks about 40 million poles was unfortunate. Is that not what Sinn Fein say of the killing of Garda Jerry McCabe. That is was unfortunate. Is this the kind of dodging the question spin we have to put up with in Ireland. Do we not deserve more!

Is Northern Ireland's future success on a North-South basics or East-West basics

In the past few elections the SDLP has been taking a hammering in the Northern Elections with Sinn Fein engineering themselves into the position where they say they are the true Irish party. So the SDLP have been trying to claim back this territory for themselves last year they had their White paper on Irish Unity. Now they have a document about North South Co-operation.

The DUP have an alternative East-West proposal. As DUP MEP Jim Allister said.

“Bearing this reality in mind, the most obvious and natural area of co-operation is co-operation undertaken on an east-west basis, rather than the unnatural and politically-motivated north-southery”

Personally I think both of these proposals are more politically motivated then serious proposals to enhance the North. But what of the question which is better for the North. A North-South link or a East-West link.

The DUP’s first point is about tourism. Yet none of it really says why tourist links are needed to be created with Scotland to implement there proposals. Other then selling to a Scottish market. Their proposals are quiet good with such ideas as promoting leisure ports i.e. pleasure boating but they don’t say why Scottish co-operation is needed on this issue. They don’t talk about people sailing between ports in Antrim and West Scotland. So why co-operation is needed for this I don’t know. The idea of attracting Ulster-Scot American ancestor hunters is a good one. But are they going to be moving between Scotland and the North. On the other hand as Ireland is a single island. It is possible to sell it as a complete package for one simple reason. You can get a train to Belfast from Dublin but not from Belfast to Edinburgh. To go to Scotland you have to fly or go by sea. If you promote to people an Ulster-Scotland tour you have to tell them ,of the need to cross the sea and organise ferry or flight passage etc. However on an all Island bases they can travel where they want by just turning up at the bus/train/car rental depot and get where they want to go. Tourist want hassle free touring. A North South tour is less hassle then a east-west.

Next the DUP take about road infrastructure co-operation. Now no where in the plan do they talk about building a bridge between the North and Scotland So I don’t really get the need to co-operate on road building. Their calls for more Ferries and plans is a good idea. Now on the Ireland side. It is quiet obvious why road co-operation needs to take place. Because the roads join. I mean what use would the M1 be if it joined a small by-road south of the border or the other way around. So it makes sense for North-South road co-operation.

Then the proposals stop. I think this document was put together quiet quickly really as it does very little about economic development. But I will continue on with the comparison. If we compare the two economies Ireland and Scotland. We see two different stories. Now I will not bore you with the details that you already know about the Celtic Tiger. But the Scottish economy is in an entirely different animal with the state accounting for 55% of the economy while the country has about 2% growth(growth in Northern Ireland is 3% and in ROI is 5.5%). Like the North the state props up the economy is this something that the North should look towards integrating closer with. Something it wants to model itself on. From the Scotsman

Alan Mitchell of CBI Scotland said: "To have that much of the economy generated by wealth spending rather than wealth creating can't be good for the Scottish economy long term.”

The same goes for the Northern economy if they want to survive long term they have to wean themselves off the British exchequer. Maybe this is the DUP’s plan to make the country totally dependent on London’s pockets and the union will always be secure. But if they want the country to advance economically they need to adapt a new model. One highly successful model is on their doorstep in the South. While they could try every lefties wet dream the “Swedish Model” if cross border co-operation on economic factors started they would have a wealth of experience to tap in to. So economically North-South as opposed to east-west makes sense to me anyway.

Now some of the policies the SDLP came up with can be taken or leaven and they would work on an North-South, east-west basis even some like The development of an all-Ireland approach to suicide prevention should possibly be implemented on a British-Irish level However I can see where some policies would bother unionists. Such as the ability of cross-border workers being able to pay tax in either jurisdiction. Now I am not sure how many cross-border workers there are. But the prospect of money being brought out of the Northern Ireland exchequer to go to Ireland is a valid concern as it would effect the North’s ability to pay for services. Also the prospect of the all-Ireland police intelligence agency probably worries them as much as the thought of the PSNI running intelligence in the south is to us.

On the whole North-South co-operation on issues such as tourism, transport, waste disposable and economy makes sense. Much more sense then the East-West co-operation. But we have to thread carefully on this issue. Unionist sensibilities are as valid as Nationalist sensibilities they have to be shown that this is the prudent and wise thing to do. Not forced into it to appease Nationalists. The south is desperate for workers the North has them and as Northern Secretary Peter Hain said the North and the South “must work together to prosper”. Perhaps Scotland too should realise the direction they are heading in and reform along the lines of the Irish model. Then maybe the East-West co-operation the DUP envisage would produce a positive outcome for Northern Ireland.

Perception is the clash of civilisations.

I’m a physicist by education and few of you have actually meet me. So in your mind what do you imagine me to be like. Do you see a pimpled guy with glasses who looks like Professor Frink from the Simpson. Who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of every episode of Star Trek. Or do you see a Brad Pitt look alike. I guess the answer is a lot closer to Frink then to Brad. Yet I do not wear glasses, have pimples nor have I ever watch an episode of star trek from beginning to end. I will leave the Frink vs Brad looks comparison to your imagination.

The vast majority of physicist I know do not fall into the Frink school of physicist appearance and actions. So why do you have this image of physicist. Simple because that is the perception of physicist people have through years of TV newspapers and other media.

Now while the perception people have about physicists can give me a unique edge over lets say accountants on nights out.:-) (I have been asked to explain the theory of special relativity by girls I have been chatting up for some reason) This same warping of perception is damaging worldwide peace.

If you ever read some American blogs you get to see how Muslims are seen by many Americans. They see them as a violent people, intent on the destruction of truth, justice the American way and sesame street. They saw 9/11, Madrid, 7/7 and suicide bombings in Israeli cafes. They look at violent protests over cartoons published in an obscure Danish newspaper. All they see is death and destruction caused in the name of Islam.

In Islamic countries the west is disliked . They see Islamic countries been invaded by western forces. They see American culture attempting to crush their culture. They hear the west talk about decency, then they see British Troops beating up teenagers. They hear the west talk about tolerance and then see the Danes shiting on their religion. They see America support Israel subjugation of the Palestine. All they see is death and destruction cause in the name of the west.

So the perception both sides see is of a clash of civilisations. It doesn’t matter if it is happening on a large scale or not it is perceived to be. The British army were originally greeted by nationalist but after a while due to the actions of a few the perception changed and rightly or wrongly they became the devil incarnate. This too ,will happen to the British army in Iraqi over the News of the world video. The actions of a few will demonise all.

So why is the west and Islam turning into each others respective bogey men. In Syria there is no protest without government permission. So this means that the protests in Syria were approved of if not organised by the government. If you look at the North how many people would have spoken out against the IRA. Since the decommissioning of weapons the McCartney sisters have had to leave the Short Strand. This kind of atmosphere exists in most of the countries of the middle east. You can not speak-out against the regime. So is it not beyond the bounds of possibility that many of the demonstrators were forced into protesting rather then having a violent hatred of all things Danish. The same goes for many other countries that had protests. With the Iranian government calling for all sorts of things against Europe.

With massive unemployment, corruption, and poor services. The governments are all very much in danger of being toppled. They all fear a cedar revolution. So what do they do. Invest in the country, open up trade, no they solidify their power by creating a common enemy. Like in Orwell’s 1984 if you tell them something often enough use what ever means are necessary to divert their attention from the true state of the country. Then patriotism will win out and the ineptitude of the government will hidden and they will come to love big brother.

Perception is distorting the worlds view of each other. Creating an even greater divide between us and the Arabs. This is not the fault of the media. They can not make up the pictures of the riots nor can they make up the pictures of the British soldiers beating up Iraqi teenagers. It is up to people to have enough cop on to separate reality from perception.

Little Green Footballs Attack Mary McAleese

The pinnacle of American debate that is the Little Green Footballs don't like Mary . With such choice comments as "you ignorant biotch" "She doesn't mean it, the infidel tart". "CAN WE START BOMBING THESE IRISH BASTARDS NOW?" They use loyalist sites as a source of facts. Which is a bit like using www.hamas.com for facts on Israel. They have also come up with such well researched facts as.

Oh, well. What do you expect from Nazi sympathizers? the Irish, I mean. They hated England so much they sided with Hitler in WW II.

Slogan explanation.

I think Carlsberg used to say the "Carlsberg the best best in the World" but had to change it to "Carlsberg probably the best best in the World" as they couldn't prove that is was the best beer in the world. This is why Toyota can still say "the best built cars in the world". Hat tip(Damien Mulley)

Blogs add a new dimension to physics

Article from this months Physics World. Also in this months Physics World The mystery of the skipping stone And an article about a better way of destroying plutonium by burning it with thorium. This article is however not online I think.

Blog Abortion Poll results

I regret the yes in extreme cases option now I feel it should have been a straight yes no vote. I'll stop the vote now as the Irish Debate seems to be over. Anyway the results. Yes 16 votes Yes in extreme cases 8 No 8 So pretty even really I would say. I don't think I actually voted in the poll in the end :-).

How the Green Party can get farming votes

The Green party traditionally has not been seen in the best light by framers. As farmers are against such things as the Nitrates Directive which the Greens are for. But there is sections where the Greens policies can attract some farming votes.

One of the green parties policies is renewable energy. I am totally in favour of it not for cutting emissions reasons but to lessen the control of Russian gas on our country. Now Wind power is never going to solve our problems. If we built enough wind farms to provide our power needs then we would alter our weather patterns. As the winds energy would be reduced. So in effect by implementing a system of wind farms to halt climate change would actually change the climate. On the greens website it says. “Bio fuels the fuels of the future”. If this is sold right to the farming organisations can really boost the greens rural vote. They need to say to farmers that if the Green Party is in power that they will implement policies to move Bio Fuels up the agenda and thus create a new profitable market for farmers to enter. With the demise of the sugar beet industry that many farmers blame Fianna Fail for the greens may be able to capture some of those votes by saying they can provide a new market.

Irish farmers are dependent on CAP and it is going to go. This is going to devastate the Irish market. Unless they can come up with another commercially viable product farming in this country will be gone. With GM crops in larger African and South American countries where they will have economies of scale and cheap wages we simply will not be able to compete. But if we create a GM free island then we can successfully sell this label to the entire organic cotton wearing Jamie Oliver loving crowd. The people who will eat organic and GM free foods are the people who can afford to pay well for it and they will. Thus to maintain rural Irelands viability we need to keep GM crops off this Island. Simply saying GM crops are bad is going to be seen by farmers as a direct attack on their livelihoods the Green party need point out how CAP is going to go and how they are the only ones with a option for farmers.

If the Green Party want to expand they have to appeal to more then the trendy lefties who drive SUV’s to the shops to buy organic vegetables. They need to appeal to the closest people to the Irish environment the farmers. They need to do more then just give out about the present minister. They need to publicises how they have novel options. If they don’t do it soon someone else will.

Terrorism a state of mind

New Blogger J.D Vega said of the war on terror.

Now, bear with me for a moment, but to declare war on a state of mind seems like a bit of an uphill struggle. Unlike the 'War on Drugs' or declaring war on a particular country, where there is a tangible target...You can show a picture of your enemy on the news and say 'We must defeat this enemy', there is no defense against terrorism, there is no way to hunt it down and kill it(no matter how many Afghan caves you look in)

And it has got me thinking. Can you really win a war on terror. If you look at the North the IRA was not defeated in battle while it was weakened by spies etc the Omagh bomb showed that there was still people ready to murder to advance the republican cause. America seems to think that getting Osama will stop the war but if you look at the last two attacks in Madrid and London it was not organised by Osama. You cannot defeat terror solely by killing. True you can eliminate the ring leaders in a hope that the organisation might fall. But if the mind set, the idea, the state of mind still exists to use terrorism then no amount of bombs, armies, fighter jet can ever defeat terrorism. As terrorism is not a tangible thing it is a state of mind. To defeat terrorism you must win the battle for the hearts and minds. Looking at the violence over the Danish cartoons it is clear the we are not the ones winning the hearts and minds of the islamic world.

Search engines referrals

On behalf of the dossing times crew I would like to apologies to the person who came to the dossing times via the msn search engine looking for pictures of the greatest position to have orgasmic sex. We are not willing to part with that information at this point and time. But we do hope that you find true happiness in that position when you discover it. You got to love wacky search engine referrals.

Top 6: Reasons to Watch the Oscars

For many when we consider the Oscars, the backslapping, predictability, tiresome acceptance speeches and dominance of mainstream fare can be a turn off. However this year there are some indicators to give us hope that the beautiful people have some taste.

6: Charlize Theron: This woman gets dowdy and serious for films full of angst and turmoil (‘Monster’- psychotic lesbian killers, ‘North Country’- sexual harassment in mines) but when she turns up for gigs like the Oscars she looks dam fine and exudes the type of sexiness that inspires men, women and cosmetic marketers the world wide (Go Rent: ‘The Devils Advocate’).

Honourable Mention: Reese Witherspoon, for every ‘Just Like Heaven’ and ‘Legally Blonde 2’, this girl has made ‘Election’ and ‘Best Laid Plans’.

5: This is the first of the Award Season shows that have acknowledged ‘Munich’, a spectacle in film making, a story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, my favourite type of story telling. After Martin Scorcese, Spielberg is one of the most neglected Hollywood directors, then again Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar so there are no guarantees. Munich not being considered in the other awards shows throws up an element of much welcome unpredictability.

4: George Clooney, this is the man who after ‘The Peacemaker’ and ‘One Fine Day’ was condemned to lists of stars who failed to make the transfer from TV to movies. After Batman and Robin he was condemned to lists of stars who ended film franchises. Now working both behind and in front of the camera the man’s acting talents, writing and directing are each being acknowledged. I look forward to ‘Good Luck and Good Night’ and ‘Syriana’, much respect is due for his bravery in making a film about real issues and also respect is due for his CV since ‘Batman and Robin’- ‘O Brother Where Art Thou?’, ‘Oceans 11’ and ‘Confessions of A Dangerous Mind’. In any other year where a gay cowboy movie had not received 8 nominations, his 3 nominations would be the big story of these Oscars.

3: Philip Seymour Hoffman: I first became aware of this man’s talent in ‘State and Main’ and while David Mamet cannot help but have every line of his scripts be pure gold, Hoffman gave them life playing a charming, funny and intelligent character. Too often his roles (‘Red Dragon’, 'Boogie Nights') are supporting ‘character’ roles so I’m glad that he has been given the chance to shine in ‘Capote’ and even more glad that he has received kudos for it. I am intrigued as to the movies concept of putting context to his novel ‘In Cold Blood’ which is one of those books that will stay with me forever. If time allows read it before you see this movie and watch a star in the ascendant on Oscar night. I want people to talk about Hoffman the way they talk about Spencer Tracy today.

Honourable Mention: Matt Dillon’s Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in ‘Crash’, not since his threesome with Neve Campbell and Denise Richards in ‘Wild Things’ has the man been involved in such an inspiring performance.

2. The greatest surprise in hearing the nominations was the acknowledgement of ‘Crash’. I truly regret not putting this movie on the Top 6 movies of the year post from last year. SPOILER: Only the other day when watching the news and the disheartening developments in the violence following the publishing of cartoons in print media, I thought of the scene following the break in to a family’s grocery store, the break-in is clearly racially motivated, the presumption of the criminal based on graffiti left and of the viewer to this point is that the shop owners are Muslim and the attacks follow on from tensions since 9/11. Of course them we have the gutwrenching revelation from the mother that they are in fact a Hindu family and we realise that these people have been punished because of the colour of their skin and how they dress with no understanding of their belief system. The message resonates through to current events. END SPOILER. Also Paul Haggis, the writer/director (and writer of ‘Million Dollar Baby’) was behind one of my favourite TV shows, ‘Due South’ so I’m glad to see the man hit the big time.

Honourable Mention: Paul Giamattis nomination for ‘Cinderella Man’, the film otherwise has been criminally over looked.

1.The greatest surprise in the organising of the Oscars has been the announcement that the show will be presented by Jon Stewart, presenter and producer of ‘The Daily Show’. All credit to Chris Rock but he sucks, he served as a male Whoopi Goldberg with less lesbian innuendo which is never a good thing. I am looking forward to Stewart’s hosting duties being the only thing anyone will talk about the morning after the show. If you have not seen ‘The Daily Show’ I guarantee you will seek it out the following evening and relish his diatribe. The in your face theatrics of Michael Moore caused nothing but unease and tension 3 years ago, now the time is ripe for the intelligent commentary and humour that this man delivers in spates. This man injects some humour into the ridiculousness of our world, I enjoy that relief.

Watch March 6th.

The Irish Politics of Fear

I was watching the documentary "The power of nightmares"(you can watch it here) the other day. Basically what it tells is an interesting but very biased story about how the Neo conservatives in America and Al-Qaeda used fear to get people to vote for them. Very basically it is a Orwellian concept based on the teachings of Leo Strauss. In the book 1984 the government use the idea that the country is at war to keep the people under control. This is what the documentary said the Neo-Cons were doing by making people believe not in ideals but in nightmares (i.e soviet Union under Regan and Al-Qaeda under Bush) they could make people believe that they alone can save them from the treat.

But it is not just in America that the politics of fear is being used to gain support from people here too in Ireland all the parties use fear to garner votes. Some more blatantly then others

Fianna Fail has always been the most powerful party in the country. Other then Cumann na nGheadheal no other party has ever been in a single party government. Yet they have a fear and they are using this fear to gain votes. One of the big fears a lot of people have in this country is to have Sinn Fein in government. The prospect of having murders who are not repentant at the cabinet table is not something that many people relish. So afraid that Fianna Fail will lose their Republican base they are trying to reclaim that ground with such things as 1916 Commeration parades. Fianna Fail make people believe that they alone can hold off Sinn Fein taking all the republican votes. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can halt the rise of Sinn Fein.

Fine Gael are trying to appeal the people who are afraid of rip-off Ireland. The people that feel they are being robbed blind by stealth taxes. That the tax man is behind lurking every corner just waiting to take all your cash and siphon it off to some rich property developer. They gave birth to the www.ripoff.ie website and wished had gave birth to Eddie Hobbs. On the rip off website Fine Gael say

For over two years we have been lifting the lid on Rip Off Ireland. On everything from soft drinks to mobile phones, houses to funeral costs we have been highlighting the high cost of living in Ireland and coming up with radical, workable solutions that will shut the door on Rip Off Ireland once and for all.

They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can save you from the stealth taxman.

Labour’s exploit the greatest fear of many now in Ireland have. Xenophobia. Anecdotal evidence is portrayed as facts and the country is made believe foreigners are coming here to take Irish peoples jobs. They are starting a race to the bottom. And there is more waiting to come, to invade. Pat Rabbitte articulated this in saying “There are 40 million poles you know” and few in the party have disagreed publicly. They try to defend their liberal morality flank with talk of labour inspectors but really they are taping into the fear of foreigners to increase their vote. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can save you from foreigners taking your job.

The PDs participation in government was secured by a picture of Michael McDowell putting up a poster saying Single party government No thanks. They used peoples fear of a majority Fianna Fail government by portraying the PDs as the only party that can stop a single party government and “keep an eye on Fianna Fail”. However this time round with the possibility of another single party government is remote. So they are changing their tactic. They claim that they are available for both coalitions and that the people of Ireland would want them in to keep an eye on things. They claim that economic progress is not guaranteed and is solely due to their vision and policies. The fact that Charlie McCreevy was from Fianna Fail does not stop them as they eagerly point out that he greatly influenced the parties policies when they formed and thus their policies is what and will continue to keep the country booming. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can save the economy from ruin.

The Greens operate on fears. Few people know where they stand any issue that are not environmental which is probably a fault of their own. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can save you from global warming/nuclear power/incinerators/peak oil/GM crops/Russian gas/landfill sites/Kyoto fines.

Sinn Fein has always been one of the smoothest political operators in the business. What other party with a terrorist group can gain as much support. What parties terrorist wing can commit the largest bank robbery in the history of the Irish isles (I ain’t calling it the British Isles) and get a bump in the opinion polls. What parties terrorist group can kill one of their own and cover it up and not suffer for it. This is all due to the political genius of Gerry Adams. So their political strategy is going to be as brilliant as it is subtle. Basically Sinn Fein exploit the fear of themselves. As Pastor of Muppets said about the North.

Once the violence was switched off, Irish nationalism was greatly attracted to Sinn Féin. Many long-term SDLP supporters freely gave their votes to the republican movement, if only to encourage them along a peaceful route.

This is part of what Sinn Fein do down south. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can save Ireland from us.

Then we have the independents, Sinn Fein and the SWP working at a local level. They zone in to an issue that people have in the area. They make people fear that they are being left behind by the Celtic tiger, fear someone is doing better then you by employing unfair means. They say vote for us as we are the only ones that can make you heard.

Now many of the parties are exploiting real fears others are phantom fears. Some parties exploit the same fears such as fear of Sinn Fein. Some exploit peoples fear more then others. The program suggested that the people with the darkest fear will have the most power. Now this is probably not true in Ireland but maybe the people with the greatest fear will gain the most in the next election.

Chicken saved by mouth to beak CPR

Chicken saved by mouth-to-beak CPR

A retired nurse saved her brother's chicken, Boo Boo, by administering mouth-to-beak resuscitation last week after the fowl was found floating face down in the family's pond. Marian Morris said she hadn't had any practice with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in years, but she was interested to see if she "still had it". "I breathed into its beak, and its dadgum eyes popped open," Morris said. "I breathed into its beak again, and its eyes popped open again. I said, 'I think this chicken's alive now. Keep it warm.'" She said she did not know how to find a pulse on a chicken. Boo Boo's owners, Jackie and Becky Calhoun, put her in a large cardboard box containing a grain feeder and water. They also placed a heater nearby. The chicken is called Boo Boo because she is easily frightened. The Calhouns thought Boo Boo was startled and flopped into the pond. -- Sapa-AP

This reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons. With the guinea pig and the vet.

Cartoon wars the revenge

From brussels journal. In belgium the Arab European League has published some cartoons in response to the Danish cartoon

The first cartoon, posted on Friday evening, shows Anne Frank in bed with a naked Adolf Hitler. “Write this one in your diary Anne!” Hitler says. The cartoon of the Führer and the little girl in his bed is eerily reminiscent of a story I once heard about a certain leader who took himself a child wife, but I have forgotten who it was. The second cartoon, posted yesterday, shows Jews amidst Auschwitz corpses. “We have to get to the 6,000,000 somehow!” one Jew tells another. “I don’t think they are Jews,” the other one replies. The third cartoon, posted today, shows Steven Spielberg ringing Peter Jackson to ask for his assistance with a Holocaust movie. “I don’t think I have that much imagination Steven, sorry,” Jackson replies.

The web site is down but you can see the first two here Edit: I found the third one with some difficulty so I added it to the site. I am only adding it to show the image not for any reason I disproved of the media republishing the Danish cartoons.

Run for cover, its a debate on abortion!

I've been quiet reluctant to throw my tuppence worth into the ring on the abortion debate thats spread like a rash across the Irish blogsphere. Unlike my Saintly colleague I do have strong views on the topic, but much of what I feel has been stated more eloquantly elsewhere. However as this blog has been referred to as an "umpire", I thought it would be remiss not to post an opposing view to The Saint. Simply put, I don't believe abortion should be legalised in Ireland. There are many layers to the debate and they have been addressed elsewhere, so I won't repeat them here. The fundamental issue, in my humble opinion, in this debate is when does human life begin? All other arguments are trumped by this as it involves our most basic right as a human, the right to life. This may be moralistic, but our law is based primarily on what is morally right and wrong. Granting somebody the 'status' of human being based on its ability to survive on its own is flawed and highly unsatisfactory. The new born baby will not survive on its own. Nor will somebody who is severely mentally handicapped. Yet nobody would deny that such persons are human beings. How about the level of dependence on the mother involved? Does somebody on a life support machine cease to be a human being for the duration they are on the life support machine? I believe that the simplest and most satisfying answer to that question is the life begins at the moment of fertilisation, conception. Thus the foetus growing in its mothers womb is an innocent human being. I, like many others, believe this to be the fundamental and pivitol issue in the debate. Once a human being exists, that human has a fundamental right to life, and that right is only matched by the right to life of other human beings. It is superior to all other rights and non-negotiable. Aud puts the point succinctly when she says "Refusal to extend the most basic of all human rights, the right to life, to unborn human beings, makes the ubiquitous human rights language that we reference so many of our dilemmas to, negotiable and wholly dependent on social/cultural mores. " I've read other blogs talking about rights of the mother, be they the right to choose, 'reproductive' rights, 'right to privacy and bodily integrity' etc. Whilst there is little doubt that these rights exist , surely they are not absolute and the right to life is superior to all such rights? I would echo the sentiments of Michael over at disillusioned lefty, where points out that, if the woman has freely entered into actions that can result in pregnancy then she should accept the responsibilities that arise when pregnancy occurs. In the instance of rape the woman of course has not freely entered into the actions which resulted in pregnancy. As a male I can't begin to put myself in the shoes of a woman in that position. However, that foetus is still a 100% innocent human being, with the same fundamental rights as every other human. Finally, The Irish State has a duty to protect the right to life of all the natural persons living on this Island, whether they be a citizen or not. This duty exists regardless of how dependent one person is on another, or the circumstances of that persons conception. Similarly every human being has the duty to respect the right to life of all other human beings. Legalising the murder of human beings, whether they be in the womb or not, is wholly inconsistent with these duties.

Abortion

The abortion debate is griping the Irish Blogsphere. So I guess I better put my views on virtual paper. Now I have often been called a fence sitter and I guess in many ways I am. But on this issue I take much the same attitude as I do on drugs. Drugs are bad but should be legalised. Same with abortion. I think abortion is basically wrong but should be legalised. Now I know this argument will result in both sides destroying my argument as it is based on zero principles. But I believe I’m right so poo to you . Whatever law that is brought into Ireland (or not in this case) abortion is still going to be available in the UK. This is going to result in women still going to the UK to have abortions. So we can bury our head in the sand on this issue or face facts. But the real victims (the foetus are inevitable victims) in this are the women coming back in the veil of secrecy. In serious need of supports. If abortion services were supplied in the state a better after care services could be provided and women would not be suffering in silence on this issue. Also in the state women could be allowed to see all the options or maybe after counselling more would chose adoption or to keep the child.

Who are we.

Fiona has started a new politcal meme. Richard Waghorne taged me Firstly I don't believe in labeling anyone as I believe people views should be read not what party they follow. So I am not going to answer all these questions. But anyway here is some.

Gender: Male

Age: 19-30

Nationality: Irish

Country of Residence: Ireland

Sexual Orientation: Straight

Do you have a disability? Yes Dislexia. I learned to tie my shoe laces and tell time at the age of about 13.(Even though I still have to tie my shoelaces over ten times a day as I can't tie them that well) still can't spell addreass though

How would you describe your political philosophy? I take each issue on a case by case basis

Level of Education: Graduate

If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (Ireland)? Not answering that one

If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (UK)? Or this one

If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (US)? I'd spoil my vote

Where do you stand on the EU? It is growing too fast should wait until the east European countries have built up their economies before moving east. Without this I think we are doing Turkey Bulgaria etc a disservice

Did you support the invasion of Afghanistan? darn tuten

Did you support the invasion of Iraq? Indeed

Do you continue to support either or both of those conflicts? Yes. But Rumsfeld couldn't plan a piss up in a brewery.

What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing Irish politics? Education

What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing European politics? American influence Good or bad?

What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing international politics? The Future of the UN

Are you, have you ever been, and do you ever wish to be involved in politics in a party political manner? No I have principles :)

Who would you have voted for in the past US Presidential Election? I would spoiled my vote I tag: The other 2 here Frank red rover

Edit: by Tuathal Gender: Male Age: 19-30 Nationality: Irish Country of Residence: The Emerald Isle Sexual Orientation: Hetro Do you have a disability? No. How would you describe your political philosophy? Right Wing & Liberal (in the true sense of the word) Level of Education: Graduate If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (Ireland)? Probably P.D
If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (UK)? "New" Labour
If you were to vote on party lines which party would you choose (US)? Republican
Where do you stand on the EU? I have a sneaking suspicion that the real purpopse of the EU is to provide the French with a means of finally conquering the world. Honestly though, the original idea of a common market is one which I wholeheartedly support. Anything beyond that I am unconfortable with. The EU appears to be in an awful hurry to expand i.e Turkey, which in my opinion is dangerous. Its about a week since ten new Countries joined the party. After the last week, is it really all that wise to already be talking about a country with 70,000,000 approx Muslims joining too?

Did you support the invasion of Afghanistan? Yes. Did you support the invasion of Iraq? Yes Do you continue to support either or both of those conflicts? Yes to Afghanistan. Yes and No to Iraq. I said at the time that if there was no WMDs found then going into Iraq would not be justified, and I stand by that. There are bigger threats than Saddam. Nonetheless, I believe Iraq and the Middle East will ultimately be a better place when all this is said and done. Now that the U.S are in there, I don't subscribe to the notion that they should cut their losses and get out at the soonest opportunity, regardless of the mess they leave in their wake. What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing Irish politics? Sinn Fein in the long term. Otherwise health. What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing European politics? Culture clash with Islam What do you believe is the single biggest issue facing international politics? The Middle East Are you, have you ever been, and do you ever wish to be involved in politics in a party political manner? No, I'd be no good at it and I'd be unelectable. Who would you have voted for in the past US Presidential Election? Bush, simply because the alternative was scary (Well scarier).

Abortion Debate Poll

I am putting my current poll on hold for a while to deal with the more important question of Abortion. Some blogs are weighing on the issue at the moment. So I think a poll question to see where attitudes lie is important. So you shall she the poll on the right. Please vote. Edit:some people can not see it for some reason. So can get poll here as well. Edit: The debate is building up. by the if you click the here you can see the pole

Edit: BTW Extreme case would be life and death decided by doctors so would still not be pro-choice.

Edit: Just realised the problem with the poll had to do with Internet Explorer.I am using Firefox and the poll worked fine. But I just checked it in IE and there was the problem. Sorry about that all. Or maybe it is Bill Gates that should be sorry. Anyway I think that is fixed now. So go vote on the right. If you still can't see it tell me and also the browser you are using. Sorry about this again.

For Fiona de Londras weighs in with Abortion Should be legal
Where's me country
Tom Cosgrave
Fiona a little more on Abortion
Me the saint
Damien Mulley
El Matador All-Ireland Abortion Policy Needed

Sarah Carey Life and death decision our leaders can’t face

Against Auds weighs in on the other side with The Next Big Thing -– Abortion Debate
Balrog Abortionists demand legalisation of murder
Michael Larkin disillusioned lefty
Tuathal run for cover its debate on abortion
Auds just another little bit more about
In Fact ah In opposition to abortion on demand
Auds. Abortion - Kid Rock, Reasons for, Men and Adoption
Rinceoir

Plain of Pillars sarah-carey and abortion
Plain of Pillars Abortion

1916 Commemoration and Neo-Redmondness

Of late Neo-Redmondism is on the rise. What is Neo-Redmondism you ask. Well it is a word I just made up. It basically is a belief that the 1916 rising was wrong and that John Redmond’s parlimentary party could have delivered a Irish Republic.

Ok firstly a bit of background for any foreign readers. John Redmond was leader of the Irish Parliamentary party from 1900 to 1918. The aim of the party was to get a home rule party in Dublin. This was granted in 1912 but was suspended due to a delay brought by the House of Lords. This meant that it would have granted in 1914. But when world war 1 broke out it was suspended until the end of the war. In 1916 the 1916 rising broke out.

So now the argument centres around the fact that John Redmouds method could have lead to an independent Ireland. John Burns in the Sunday Times argues this. Now hindsight is great and indeed Redmouds method would have worked. But it would have worked in the 1960s when Britain was going through its period of decolonisation but could anyone have known that No. So then we need to look at the fact at whether or not it could have produced a republic in or before 1949.

Firstly it was not the same as the free state as gained in 1922. It was a devolved assembly with limited powers. This would have meant that Dev would not have had the same powers to change the constitution as he did in 1937. We did not have the same power. In fact we would still have been part of the United Kingdom. This would have resulted us being involved in the second world war and all the trouble that would have brought. So just coming out of the Second World War the UK had no longer a conservative government and had a labour government might have given more freedom to Ireland but unlikely a Republic.

Now the other contention would be that a united Ireland could be achieved. But this would not have happened. The UVF was formed not to stop a Irish republic but to stop a home rule parliament in Dublin. The Ulster Unionist no more wanted a Home Rule parliament then a republic. So the Island would still have been divided.

So now we come to the argument about the rising had no support. Richard Waghourne Said

With hundreds of thousands of Irishmen at the front, next to no popular support, no mandate sought or received, no respect for human life, no prospect of success, and no attempt at agitating through the usual channels, the events of 1916, in my mind, have no possible defence. The attack was wholly illegitimate and it was the right and duty of the lawful authorities to put it down. Indeed, those who did so, in the first days, were themselves Irish, and the deep unpopularity of the rising at the time is well known.

Now another war that could be described in those terms is the war in Iraq which Richard supports. The United States did not go through the “usual channels” or “seek a mandate”( Edit :I'll admit they had a mandate from the congress but not from the UN. Thanks for Kevin of DL for pointing that out.) the war has “no popular support” Yet he is against the rising. In 1916 true the rising had no support yet the point that Richard and Kevin Myres forget to mention is that in 1918 Sinn Fein’s overwhelmly won the election pacifically on the basis’s and aims of the rising and this gives the Rising the mandate. Home rule was supported because there was no alternative the rising gave them an alternative. In 1918 the country was united by 1916 not home rule.

Edit:

On the issue of parliamentary support the last election in Ireland prior to 1918 was 1910 3 years before the formation of the Irish volunteers. This suggest that a ground swell of militaristic tradition had developed in the 3 years from 1910 to 1913 and had an election been held in 1914. Sinn Fein may have won some if not many seats.

People go on about the violence about how it was wrong. These are the same people who justify when it is for Iraqi freedom. Why treat Ireland different? People say Ireland could have negotiated freedom but that is highly unlikely. People say that the blood sacrifice was wrong but as Winston Churchill Said

"You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."

Richard says 1916 has no place in our national self-understanding. But it is the very basis of our understanding like 1798, 1916 was when we said we are Irish and will not be ruled by others. It is our most united past event. Every party (save greens) had a part of it. 1918 can not claim that neither can 1922. In 1918 Labour did not run in the election. 1922 Sinn Fein split on pro and anti-treaty sides. The 1937 constitution was Fianna Fail, the declaration of the republic was Fine Gael. But 1916 is the in fact unifying factor of our national self-understanding the formations of Fianna Fail, PDs and Fine Gael came from Sinn Fein. Labour was invested in the Citizen Army.

We should all celebrate the 1916 and not allow the PIRA violence intimidate us into thinking that the 1916 rising was wrong. Maybe it is time for neo-republicanism.

1916 is Ireland.

United Irelander has some interesting quotes on the subject.

Irish Blog Awards Election Campaign

Considering that many blogs are asking for votes for the awards. I feel it is time for the Dossing Times election campaign posters. Edit more posters:

What can Iraq learn from Spain and Catalonia

Ask any random person in Barcelona what football club they support and they will say Barcelona. Rarely do you hear anyone say they support the other Barcelona primra League side Espanyol. The reason for this is the Barcelona Football club’s crest includes the Catalonia flag and the word Espanyol means Spanish and the crest has a crown. Barcelona football club has always been the symbol of Catalan nationalism. When Franco was in charge of Spain he tried to kill of Catalan identity. The language was banned in public and even calling a kid Jordi was banned as St Jordi was the patron saint of Catalonia. But all this has changed Catalonia nationalism is free and on the rise. Last September the Catalonia parliament passed a bill to declare Catalonia a nation but still part of the spainish state. This was forwarded to the Parliament in Madrid. Luis Rodriguez Zapatero the Spainish Prime ministers government is propped up by regional parties. This gives the Catalans a lot of power in parliament and they are not afraid to use it. The bill that was sent to parliament is likely to pass with some modifications. Although the above measures are supported in the polls. All is not well. From Backseat drivers

Lieutenant General José Mena Aguado, said that the armed forces may have to intervene should the new statute exceed the limits set by the constitution. Mena claimed that the military was empowered under the constitution to do so: "...if those limits were exceeded, which at the moment luckily seems unthinkable, Article 8 of the Constitution — the armed forces, including the army, the navy and the air force, have the mission to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of Spain and to defend her territorial integrity and the Constitutional order".

The Lieutenant General was immediately put under house arrest as a military leader is prohibited from making a public statements on political opinions. While a military coup is unlikely in an EU country and the constitution doesn't support this it does seems to show an underlining extreme dislike in Spain for the idea of a separate Catalan nation. Nationalism and greed are possibly the 2 most driving forces in the world. These are also the 2 forces involved in the Catalan Spain divide. Spanish people feel like the Lieutenant General feel Spain can not be split. They also want to keep the tax monies rolling in from Barcelona. Catalans see themselves as Catalans as different to the rest of Spain. They also want to see their tax stay within their region. So what can this teach Iraq. Spain is a prosperous and peaceful country relative to Iraq. Yet tensions between different factions dominate politics. Europe has never been more divided yet also it has never been more peaceful. Why? When you do not give a people their own say, their own land, their own independence they will do all in their power to obtain it. When they do have all these things they will do all in their power to enhance it. Catalan nationalism is predominantly non violent because the people are predominantly prosperous. This limits them to peaceful needs. The more you have to lose the less you are willing to do. In Iraq the country is clearly divided into Kurdish Sunni and Shiite areas. These are basically different "tribes". Where as the French, German, Belgium, "tribes" have their own lands and independence the Iraqi "tribes" do not. The oil is in the North and the South not the middle. But greed is not strong enough to keep a country together nationalism is going to break it apart until each "tribe" has its independence. Until they are separate like the EU countries will their greed make them realise that they will work best together. Whether or not each tribes desire for independence can be fulfilled in a federal Iraq is another question. But I think until America realises like Spain that somethings are just not going to stick together forever Iraq will not be peaceful.

Dossing Times poll question.

I saw this statement over on Irish Health

“2 in 5 doctors believe obese patients, smokers and heavy drinkers should be excluded from some treatments”

Primary Care study Suffolk, UK

If you are sick of something that is your own fault such as lung cancer from smoking or liver damage from drinking. Something that you know that is bad for you. Should the state pay for your treatment.

So the poll questioon is If you are sick because of your own actions does the state have a duty of care.

Vote now on the right.

Results of Dossing Times NATO Poll

On the question should Ireland join NATO. No 52.7% 29 Votes Yes 47.3% 26 Votes This result has surprised me. I did not think NATO support would be so strong. Anyway there will be more on this issue later.

Irish Blog Awards Voting open

Voting is open for the Irish Blog awards. So go here and pick who you think is the best blogger in all the categories. The top 5 in each lot will be shortlisted for the judges to pick the eventually winners I think. Edit: I didn't want to tut our own horn but everyone else is tuting theirs :). So you can vote for the Dossing Times in the catagories of Best Political Blog and Best Blog post for this. On behalf of Myself Tuathal and Ck thanks to all for reading our stuff.

A new war in East Africa?

In 2 countries Ethiopia and Eritrea where the people are in desperate need of help. Their leaders are gearing up for a fight.

Brokeback Fighter Squadron

Brokeback Fighter Squadron :-) Hat tip (here)

Because we "Can"

Spain's leading newspaper became the latest European paper to publish a cartoon depicting the prophet Mohammad today, publishing a cartoon previously published in France on it's front page. The cartoon in question portrayed Mohammad's head made up of lines which say "I must not draw Mohammad" in French. Is it me, or is that taking the piss, just a little? Freedom of speech and expression are fundamental to our society, but human decency is vital too. Printing cartoons that will obviously cause massive offense, just to show we "can" print them, is not what freedom of speech is about. In fact if doing so is supposed to show how 'great' our free & democratic society is, then it is a shockingly poor advert for it. Both sides have taken an extreme stance on the issue, demanding the other to accept their values absolutely. No attempt has been made to see the others point of view. Are Western and Muslim cultures so different that dialogue cannot find a compromise? And should the more "culturally advanced" West continue to pour salt into the wounds by republishing the cartoons over and over, until Muslims get the point?

Is religion more identity then faith

Many people believe that religion is a matter of faith. A new term is appearing in Irish life. A pseudo-religion Al carte Catholicism. Many people think that the Catholic Church should change their views to suit a “modern Ireland” yet why should they Catholic faith is the Catholic faith. Catholic Dogma is Catholic Dogma. Religion is a set of values set by a higher power and not you. The Catholic Church’s values do not include divorce, married priests, female priests, accepting of gay relationships etc. If you do not agree with the set of values of the Catholic Church you are not a follower of the Catholic Church. Religious values do not change with the times they are supposed to transcend time.

In the Catholic Church at the age of about 12 kids get confirmed. Do you know any 12 year olds that can confirm their favourite bar of chocolate let alone there beliefs. For that matter can you think of any 20 year old that could confirm their beliefs. So why do kids go through this process. They do so because it is part of the school day. The school go through the hymns prayers and choreography of day but never address the most important aspect of the day the conformation of belief. Kids are never made question and analysis their beliefs. Why? Because they are 12 year olds and don’t have the ability too. But the meaning of conformation is that you have fully questioned your beliefs and are saying that your belief is in the Catholic Church is without questioned.

In Ireland the beliefs of the majority of young Catholics include divorce, etc are not the beliefs of the Catholic Church but of the Anglican Church. Yet people are not heading on down to the local Church of Ireland of a Sunday the theological differences are minuscule. So why do people not follow a faith that is not their faith?

Despite the fact that the likes of Wolfe Tone and Bono are protestant nationalism and Irishness is always aligned to the catholic church. When people talk about the North the terms catholic and nationalist are intertwined. Throughout Irish history protestants were seen as the oppressors of the Irish Catholics. Some people have thrown scorn on the Ulster Unionist proposals to try to attract catholic voters. Yet 25% of catholic voters are reportedly pro union.

In America what kept the Irish community together was the church while the Ulster-Scots Presbyterians never have had that same sense of community. In the census most people say that they are Catholic. Even though they no longer adhere to the tenements of the Catholic faith they still say that they are Catholic.

So why do people say they are catholic when their beliefs are closer to Church of Ireland. Is it because Catholism is still the identity of many Irish. During the penal times many people changed their religion from Catholic to Anglican to keep their land. This was seen as been a sell-out. So is it still in modern Ireland not acceptable to be a protestant. While we accept people coming to this country being protestant do we still have a hang up of Irish people being protestant?

I already discussed the case of Islam extremism in Britain being an identity in Britain. But what does the latest riots over the Danish cartoons say about Islam. The Koran says

5:32: "For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), but afterwards lo! Many of them become prodigals of the earth."

Now are these cartoons deemed to be “corruption in the earth” and is this the reason of the attacks or are the cartoons seen as an attack on their identity? Or like in Ireland is religion and identity intertwined beyond faith?

While Christian Irish take no offence at Cartoons of jesus. Would we take no offence at this cartoon from the 19th century punch magazine.

Top 6 Friday Dossing Times suggestions for adaptations of TV series that will never be made.

6. E.R Dublin. I need a trolley stat 5.Celebrity love island. George Gallowey is looking for love. 4. Lost season 3. Four women and a map. 3.I’m a politician get me out of here. George Galloway in his constituency. 2.Hanging with Hector. Hector introduces us to the world of hanging as he hangs some of the worlds greatest fiends. (Tá a muineál bhriste) 1. Survivor with Suicide bombers and George Galloway

Tree Hugging Rock-Stars

The growing craze amongst the conscience driven pop star is to 'carbon neutralise' their music by buying enough trees to absorb the carbon produced by their albums and tours. Chris Martin has just bought 50,000 trees to make ammends for Coldplay's latest album and the upcoming tour. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but wouldn't you need to purchase land and plant the required number of new trees in order to truely carbon neutralise their music. What's the point of buying trees that are already in existence and will absorb the carbon anyway? Coldplay aren't the only people to jump at the opportunity to do something for the environment however, with the Rolling Stones, David Gray, KT Tungstel and the Sex Pistols all owning forests around the world. It all appears to be a big scam to fool gullible rock stars however. As the director of Climate Care put it "When Mick Jagger's trees die in 50 years' time, they will release the CO2 they have been storing at a time when the situation is likely to be more critical." You can't blame Chris though. Man, if I had made millions from releasing pretty much the same album over and over again, I'd be feeling a little guilty too.

Miracle in Limerick the Blind and lame can walk

Manuel Estimulo discovers that a miracle has happened on the streets of Limerick. A blind and disabled man was miraculous cured and then managed to get a cup of coffee. With this sort of photographic evidence maybe the pope will consider creating a St Limerick pavement

Danish Cartoons and Freedom of Speech

As I was travelling in to college this morning, an unprovoked Ray D'Arcy, decided to commit a crime against humanity and played the latest 'song' from Girls Aloud. Immediatedly, my primitive survival instincts kicked in and I changed station, to 2fm. What I stumbled across was a debate, for lack of a better word, on the G-Ryan show about the recent Danish cartoon controversy.

Briefly, the cartoons were published in last September in a Danish newspaper, depicting the prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb on his head and elsewhere saying that paradise was running short of virgins for suicide bombers. This sparked outrage in the Muslim world, with Saudi Arabia and Syria recalling their ambassadors to Denmark and drawing threats from Islamic militants. Since then, the cartoons have been published in 7 newspapers across Europe, in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. The editor of France Soir, Jaques Lefranc, was sacked yesterday for publishing the cartoons, as 'a powerful sign of respect for the intimiate beliefs and convictions of every individual'.Gerry and his callers were considering the effect these caricatures would have, and the topic evolved quickly onto the true extent of freedom of speech/expression.

He began with a Muslim caller, who was understanably upset at the publications and believed that it was right for the French editor to lose his job over the matter. He stated that the editor would have known the hurt this would cause in Muslim circles and as such had a duty not to publish them. European Muslims reacted similarly with the vice-chairman of the central council of Muslims in Germany, Mohammad Aman Hobohm saying 'It was done not to defend freedom of the press, but to spite the Muslims'.

Gerry took this as his cue and launch into proclaiming that by the days end the cartoons would be in every nook and cranny of Afghanistan and that there would be 'Jihad' over them. He said that he could easily envisage a scene where an Islamic suicide bomber would blow himself and a newspaper office to bits over the cartoons. Noting the riots in Paris last October, he predicted that similar riots could occur in this instance and with this in mind asked the question of whether the freedom of the press and the freedom of speech/expression should be tempered when it comes to satirising religious leaders and icons.

Next came the proponents of free speech to champion the cause. One caller proclaimed that the French editor was fired for 'doing his job' and that the problem was that 'these people [Muslims], just don't have any sense of humour and don't understand how comedy works'. Gerry in accepting this point 'completely' stated that Muslims are on the whole far more serious about their religion that Christians.

A subsequent caller argued that freedom of speech is almost absolute in Western Society, stating that if someone takes offense to something somebody says or prints, that's there problem. He also asked whether the principles of liberal Western Society should be tempered just so we don't offend the 'medievil' culture of the Middle East, one which isn't 'compatible' with ours anyway?

The caricatures in question did not break any laws in any state they were published in. So, should freedom of speech be restricted where such speech will offend a religious movement? Or how about if such speech will cause widespread offence in general? Or should freedom of speech be held hostage by a fear of a violent reaction from the Arab world, or other factions within our society?

I'm at a loss to find a satisfactory middle ground on the issue. Freedom of speech, like every other right, is not absolute in Western society, despite what Gerry's callers might believe. Even the right to life is conditional in some Western democracies (cough, the 'land of the free'). If we take it as true that the caricatures in question create the risk of violent recriminations from Islamic militants, then it seems logical that people should be wary of offending such people. However that is hardly satisfactory as Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus etc. are unlikely to react violently to being similarly offended and thus we create a special case for Muslims, where all other religions are fair game. Conversely we could go down the road of making all religions a special case, where none can be criticised in any way, for fear of causing offense. Again that is hardly a satisfactory solution.

My gut reaction to the issue however is that society should be as free as possible, and any restrictions on that freedom should come solely from the people, acting through their elected Government. As such, I am ill at ease with the idea that freedom of expression should be tempered purely because of what Islamic terrorists might find sufficently offensive to react violently to.

Irish Conspiracy for World Domination

The Jewish conspiracy is known the world over. The holocaust denier Mark Weber, who is director of the American Institute for Historical Review said a few years ago that "Since the 1960s, Jews have come to wield considerable influence in American economic, cultural, intellectual and political life ... close to half its billionaires are Jews.

They claim that the Jews control the media and to make sure that is manifested in the Americas policy towards Israel where Israel seem to get a freer hand in dealing with rivals then any other countries. But is all this is just to hide the true conspiracy in the world the Irish Conspiracy.?

Now many foreign readers of this are saying ah but the Irish are great they are great craic everyone loves the Irish. But this may all be a myth to hide the fact that the Irish are closing in on world domination created by the Irish controlled media and grip on the most powerfull office in the world.

One of the most powerful media figures on the right is Bill O’Reilly an Irish American one of the most powerful on the left is Michael Moore an Irish American. But it doesn’t stop in front of the camera.

One of the most powerful media moguls is Rupert Murdock. He controls Fox news one of the most powerful news agency in America The Times in London Britain’s newspaper of record, the Sun the largest selling paper. Sky News one of Britain’s top news channels. He also has numerous Australian titles. So is he Jewish? No but his mother is of Irish decent. Tony O’Reilly owns the Independent in Britain. The owner and CEO of the Tribune company which owns many of the big American papers is Dennis Fitzsimmons which is an Irish name this suggests that he is Irish, the president of the broadcast division is Patrick Mullen. If you look across other papers you will also see many Irish names appearing as Editors.

But possibly the most damming statistic is this.

George W Bush’s great great grandmother was Mary Elizabeth Butler so he and his father have Irish Ancestry

Bill Clinton had Irish Ancestry

Ronald Regan had Irish Ancestry

Jimmy Carter Wife’s mother was of Irish Decent

Gerald Ford was born Leslie Lynch King, Jr so is in fact of Irish Ancestry

Richard Nixon was of Irish decent

John F Kennedy was of Irish decent

So in the last 46 years only Lyndon Johnson has no Irish connection that I can find.(and we all saw JFK didn't we maybe he is part of another organisation trying to stop the Irish) The Irish are infiltrating the world order. Look at leaders of other countries where the Irish have gone you will see that they have infiltrated the higher echelons of power.

Now much of the facts may be indeed a bit murky all such world domination plans are conducted in secret behind closed doors. However the evidence is a lot stronger then Jewish Conspiracy theory. But if you still don’t believe that Irish wheald more power then any other people. I will leave you with this question What national holiday is celebrated in more countries and to such a large extent that rivers are coloured then the Irish St Patrick’s Day?

Edit 07/02/06 the new President of the International Court of Justice is Rosalyn Higgins . Will anyone believe me until it is to late.

Update: Tony Blair's mother is from Donegal. So he is also Irish.

Munster Match

Sorry for taking so long to put these pictures of the Munster Sale Rugby match up on the Blog. Fr Click to see larger versions. TRY!!

Key Quotes of the IMC report

Key quotes

We believe that there is no intention on the part of a number of those groups, in particular PIRA,to revert to terrorism but there still remain questions about how far this dynamic will develop. There seems to be a growing awareness within groups on both sides that violence and crime – even if they had been considered an acceptable option in the past – do not now offer a way forward which is either right or likely to bear political fruit in the longer term.

On this occasion, for the first time, we report 2 further dissident groupings. One – styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH) – has splintered from CIRA and the other – describing itself as Saoirse na hÉireann (SNH)

We conclude that CIRA remains a threat; that it will continue to mount real and hoax attacks; and that it will continue to plan violence and to seek to enhance its capacity.

We are of the firm view that the present PIRA leadership has taken the strategic decision to end the armed campaign and pursue the political course which it has publicly articulated.

There has been some press comment about possible changes in the membership of the Provisional Army Council but these remain unconfirmed.

We referred in our last report to intelligence gathering. We believe that the organisation continues to engage in it, and has no present intention of doing otherwise.This is an activity which we believe is authorised by the leadership and which involves some very senior members. While some of it may be for defensive purposes, it is predominantly directed towards supporting the political strategy. It involves among other things the continuation of efforts to penetrate public and other institutions with the intention of illegally obtaining or handling sensitive information. This raises the question of whether the commitment to exclusively democratic means is full and thorough going, or whether there remain elements of a continuing subversive intent going beyond the boundaries of democratic politics,

There are indications that in some areas PIRA units have been closing down criminal operations and clearing stocks of contraband goods, and we have no reports of PIRA sanctioned robberies in the period under review. However, members and former members of PIRA continue to be heavily involved in serious organised crime, including counterfeiting and the smuggling of fuel and tobacco11. As in the past, we are not able to say confidently to what extent the substantial proceeds of crime are passed to the organisation.

PIRA continues to raise funds and we also believe that it looks to the long term exploitation of the proceeds of earlier crimes, for example through the purchase of property or legitimate businesses.

To sum up, the position is not entirely straightforward. We see a number of definite signs of the organisation moving in the direction indicated in the 28 July statement. We see other signs which we would describe as neutral and some which are more disturbing. For example, some members continue to be engaged in significant crime and occasional unauthorised assaults. Whereas these assaults are not in our view sanctioned by the leadership, and may be directly against its wishes, the contrary appears to be the case with some other criminal activities such as the exploitation of financial assets PIRA had previously acquired or the illegal gathering of intelligence. The indications that PIRA appears to retain long term intentions to gather intelligence is also in our view a matter for concern. On the other hand we believe there is a clear strategic intent to turn the organisation on to a political path and there is good evidence that this is happening even given such constraints as there may be on the leadership in this regard.

In the 3 months under review in this report RIRA – within which there are two factions – has continued to seek to enhance its capacity as a paramilitary organisation. It has sought to develop its capacity to acquire intelligence, particularly on the security forces. It continues to develop its equipment and to seek both to recruit members and to acquire munitions. Some parts of the organisation are working on a long-term strategy and are focussing on the training of members.

Loyalist groups, which are violent as well as responsible for a wide range of other crime, have not made the strategic choice which PIRA has made. But there are some early signs of change amongst loyalists which we hope to see taken much further.

IMC report

The IMC report is online here. More on it when i get to read it.Hat tip Slugger

Immigrants,childcare and elections

The big two stories so far this year have been work permits and the new story that the governments new childcare proposal means that workers here can get the €1000 euro benefit when their kids are back home in Eastern Europe. This amounts to according to Fine Gael €150million and Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness to €50million more then the budget budgeted for. The government say that they have budgeted for it by taken into account the child benefit scheme already in place. However this is basically crap nobody in this country knows what they can claim so the likelihood of immigrants knowing what they can get is not likely. But they will now know with all the media coverage.

I am with Fine Gael on this one. Now I think immigrant workers should be and are entitled to the normal child care benefit. That is for the upkeep of children of people in the state and the fact that they are in Eastern Europe is inconsequential. The childcare grant is to help parents with childcare. It is suppose to make it feasible for both parents to stay in the workforce. But as the kids are in Eastern Europe they are not impeding their parent(s) from working and thus the childcare provision does not achieve its aim and thus is wasted tax payers money. The reason the government did not operate a voucher system for childcare places was to pander to the one group that has faced down the government and won. The stay at home mothers. They brought down McCreavys individualisation project and Fianna Fail didn’t want to suffer the same kind of defeat so close to an election. So the benefit was to all children instead of to subsides workers childcare. Hence we are where we are.

Elections are about issue. Always have been and always will be. In 1918 despite what Kevin Myres might think the issue was about the 1916 rising and independence, during the 80s it was the economy. So what is it going to be next election. The smart money is on health. The economy is basically spectacular but the health system is dire. So you would expect healthcare to be the only words coming out of Labour Greens and Fine Gael would be beds, MRSA, consultants, weighting list and trolleys. True the words have been coming out. However not as much as would be expected.

The words that are coming out though are about immigration. This suggest that this will be the platform on which the election is fought. If there is any major crime or murder carried out by a Immigrant that catchs the public imagination watch this powder keg go off.

I hope I am wrong