Paedophilia is a very un-comfortable subject—most people dismiss the topic if it is brought up in conversations—the very idea is repulsive to most human beings, yet paedophilia is part of the human condition whether we like to accept the idea or not—and in order to protect innocent children going forward it is vital that society address this complex issue with vigour.
The most recent report from the diocese of Cloyne is surrounded with legal controversy and the omitted text from the original report is now in the public domain. The question that I would like to ask my fellow citizens is what in effect does this mean—for example will this report aid us in our understanding of what actually happened—or will it be filed away under the heading ‘We are very sorry—and we offer all the victims substantial financial compensation,’ then nothing is heard of the whole sad saga until some other terrible account of abuse is unearthed.
My next question is if these findings are in the public domain what can we learn about the nature of abuse and indeed abusers—as I firmly believe that the more we understand the nature of things especially when they are perverse the greater the possibility of us preventing further abuse down the road. I am indeed a very curious person and I do like to search the motivations of people who do things to others that are intrinsically cruel and damaging. However when I read the analysis of the Cloyne debacle I sigh because it is woefully short in this area.
There must be countless studies done all over the world into institutionalised child abuse—both sexual and physical but yet the best that our media experts can come up with is that the Catholic Church attracted paedophiles into its ranks as they had this desire to place themselves in positions of authority over children.
I thought about this long and hard before I suddenly shouted aloud ‘rubbish,’ think of what we are been asked to believe—young men many of whom were from good stable backgrounds consciously chose the priesthood so that they could abuse children—to do this they had to go through the seminary and read their way through theology—in order to pursue their quest. To follow this theory to its conclusion each abuser would have had to plan to do this individually and without collusion—I find this theory implausible.
Another explanation is offered that perhaps the church creates this abusive trait because of the all male celibate world which it endorses and indeed insists on as part of its doctrine. Those who adhere to this explanation accuse the church of corrupting normal young men, by denying them sexual release thus corrupting their sexual desires and making them social misfits and a danger to society. I don’t believe in this thesis either because if it were true a far greater number of priests would have abused children rather than the minority who did.
Also it is important to remember that child abuse is not confined to the religious—most children are abused in their own homes by a parent or a member of the extended family. Around the world many children were and I presume are abused in state run institutions where there is no clerical involvement.
I have just released my short story called the ‘The Fuchsia Walk,’ in this story a young curate hears the confession of his parish priest by the fireside in the parochial house. There follows a moral dilemma as the parish priest confesses incidents of child abuse. The story begins as the young curate confesses to his Bishop and a couple of theologians. The striking issue in the confession was an almost vitriolic statement by the parish priest—when he was asked why he committed the heinous crime—he answered—‘because I could—and with impunity.’ The young curate goes on sabbatical to West Cork where he takes the Fuchsia walk—and suffers a terrible epiphany in relation to the dark side of his own sexuality.
I am not for one second claiming to have the answer to the problems our society faces in relation to the problems set out above—but I think the theory that somehow if some men hold a very high expectancy of impunity—whilst placed in positions of power—this dark side of their sexuality can manifest itself leading to the terrible abuse of innocent children. Perhaps this theory is worthy of discussion.
The Fuchsia Walk is available as an e-book on smashwords at $1.99
Friday, 23 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
A Declaration of War
I am declaring war on the Irish electorate after all it was they that replaced one set of neo-liberals with another set who have also managed to swallow the parliamentary party of the so called socialist labour party. The result of our electorate’s decision is this mean minded austerity that is pointlessly been aimed at our poor and vulnerable today.
The problem as I see it is that the Irish electorate is uneducated in ideology and the importance of same when reaching a decision as to who to give a vote to. There are may reasons for this, the local element of our politics particularly in rural areas has no room for ideology-instead the local representative is a mere fixer, maybe getting a road built or some other petty favour.
Many of these representatives are only mindless backbenchers anyway-they add no value to democracy at any level, and they are at the mercy of the most undemocratic phenomenon in the world the whip system. This soviet style tag to our democratic system renders it undemocratic, in that individual conscience is exchanged for political expediency.
Another reason for this lack of ideology is historical as many of the socialist revolutionaries’ who fought for Irish freedom were killed either in the rising of 1916-or in the civil war leaving the citizens of this state with a two party cartel from which to make their political choices. The labour party was insignificant and for many years this state was ruled by conservative politicians in league with the catholic church.
People could argue that the young state was in dire need of leadership and it also needed stability to allow it grow and prosper. Yet when you examine the whole process of our political evolution one could ask why there was no room for any political alternative to the catholic democrats who took turns in holding office for well over half a century. Gradually of course different parties emerged many were formed as splinter groups from the war in Northern Ireland and of course the labour party grew in line with the growth in urban populations.
Other parties followed like the workers party who divided into democratic left which was then annexed by the labour party. Indeed it is hard to believe that Gilmore and Rabbitte were once regarded as ideologically dangerous or subversive-but then as I said this electorate doesn’t do ideology.
What differences would an ideologically aware electorate have to evaluate before making there choice, there is a school of thought that bestows decency to all political representatives no matter which party they hail from, this view spawns from the idea of hard working and in the public service. It would be a misnomer to assume that the correct ideology makes it believers good and the incorrect doing the reverse. So taking the personalities out of it is vital when one examines the difference in ideology and the effects that it has on our daily lives.
The main difference is in ones realisation as to what is a state and indeed what are the true functions of the state. Most people regard the state as inanimate our flag blowing in the wind or by the parameters set out on an Atlas. Some think it is our government or our bureaucracy but it is of course none of these things, the state is comprised by the people who are its citizens. So when a government ministers says they wants to promote jobs and keep income taxes low as they have faith in private enterprise to provide jobs they are in a effect excluding the citizenship from this process.
This mantra means that the public service must be cut to aid job creation in the private sector-read this as the Irish citizen cannot control or run our own enterprises in order to create jobs and wealth. We cannot be trusted for example to control our fisheries-our natural resources of oil and gas-wind energy etc. Do we Irish citizen agree with this because if we did take control of the aforementioned there would be no need for the austerity and we actually could in time create a more equal society on condition that we pay higher income taxes in exchange for world class services in health-education and infrastructure.
So now will the electorate continue to vote blindly-or will ideology become a real issue in the formation of ones vote-time will tell and when it does I will withdraw my declaration and retreat.
The problem as I see it is that the Irish electorate is uneducated in ideology and the importance of same when reaching a decision as to who to give a vote to. There are may reasons for this, the local element of our politics particularly in rural areas has no room for ideology-instead the local representative is a mere fixer, maybe getting a road built or some other petty favour.
Many of these representatives are only mindless backbenchers anyway-they add no value to democracy at any level, and they are at the mercy of the most undemocratic phenomenon in the world the whip system. This soviet style tag to our democratic system renders it undemocratic, in that individual conscience is exchanged for political expediency.
Another reason for this lack of ideology is historical as many of the socialist revolutionaries’ who fought for Irish freedom were killed either in the rising of 1916-or in the civil war leaving the citizens of this state with a two party cartel from which to make their political choices. The labour party was insignificant and for many years this state was ruled by conservative politicians in league with the catholic church.
People could argue that the young state was in dire need of leadership and it also needed stability to allow it grow and prosper. Yet when you examine the whole process of our political evolution one could ask why there was no room for any political alternative to the catholic democrats who took turns in holding office for well over half a century. Gradually of course different parties emerged many were formed as splinter groups from the war in Northern Ireland and of course the labour party grew in line with the growth in urban populations.
Other parties followed like the workers party who divided into democratic left which was then annexed by the labour party. Indeed it is hard to believe that Gilmore and Rabbitte were once regarded as ideologically dangerous or subversive-but then as I said this electorate doesn’t do ideology.
What differences would an ideologically aware electorate have to evaluate before making there choice, there is a school of thought that bestows decency to all political representatives no matter which party they hail from, this view spawns from the idea of hard working and in the public service. It would be a misnomer to assume that the correct ideology makes it believers good and the incorrect doing the reverse. So taking the personalities out of it is vital when one examines the difference in ideology and the effects that it has on our daily lives.
The main difference is in ones realisation as to what is a state and indeed what are the true functions of the state. Most people regard the state as inanimate our flag blowing in the wind or by the parameters set out on an Atlas. Some think it is our government or our bureaucracy but it is of course none of these things, the state is comprised by the people who are its citizens. So when a government ministers says they wants to promote jobs and keep income taxes low as they have faith in private enterprise to provide jobs they are in a effect excluding the citizenship from this process.
This mantra means that the public service must be cut to aid job creation in the private sector-read this as the Irish citizen cannot control or run our own enterprises in order to create jobs and wealth. We cannot be trusted for example to control our fisheries-our natural resources of oil and gas-wind energy etc. Do we Irish citizen agree with this because if we did take control of the aforementioned there would be no need for the austerity and we actually could in time create a more equal society on condition that we pay higher income taxes in exchange for world class services in health-education and infrastructure.
So now will the electorate continue to vote blindly-or will ideology become a real issue in the formation of ones vote-time will tell and when it does I will withdraw my declaration and retreat.
Thursday, 24 November 2011
On This Almighty Road
Many years ago I met my first entrepreneur –this man had a day job driving buses for CIE-as they were called in those days—but once a week he toured around our little estate in Sallynoggin collecting slops and we kept a separate bin for potato peels and vegetable cuttings. He collected them weekly without fail and used our waste to feed a small herd of pigs he kept fenced in his back garden. This was well before the Green party or any mention of environmental issues—most families were happy to supply him with his animal feed free of charge.
There are very few council houses these days where one could keep even a small herd of pigs but the houses in Sallynoggin whilst modest boasted large rear gardens with the corner sites having large front gardens but their rear gardens were smaller. So the ‘Slop man,’ Called to us, and he fed his pigs and obviously sold them on for a profit. He passed the entrepreneurial gene on as years later his son used to collect stale bread from the local supermarkets to feed his own herd of pigs.
As time passed I met more entrepreneurs in various stages of their development—indeed I even became one myself for a number of years with varying degrees of success. I worked for one man for over ten years and though he was basically a decent human being—he was given to a certain seriousness that one attaches to the modern version of my ‘slop man’. For example he was tight-fisted when it came to wages and expenses—often the money one earned was derisory for the amount of hard graft that was expected—but heck isn’t that what they say, keep your costs base low.
When I entered into this murky world myself I met many entrepreneurs who had set up retail businesses in the main they were nice men and women but they operated on very tight margins and the staff employed were on the minimum wage some even below it. The individuals themselves in the main worked long hard hours and I befriended a few of them. I genuinely admired these people for their get up and go attitude-and the risks they were willing to undertake so as to create their own businesses.
Allowing for all of that I am finding it extremely difficult to accept that entrepreneurs can save this or any other economy—to listen to government ministers talk the talk about our brilliant entrepreneurs is mind boggling. Many of these start up businesses, fail to get through the first two years in reality that is the case. Some enterprises fail through the inexperience of the protagonist –others fail because they cannot access the correct funding from the local banks. Many of the enterprises are too small to attract Angel capital or qualify for seed funding.
The entrepreneur is fast becoming the victim of the neo-liberal conspiracy in that small business is claimed to be its champion and the living proof of this ideology. Government ministers regularly quote how vital they are in the provision of jobs—yet they do nothing about the penal level of rates and the upward only rent reviews that cripple the said entrepreneur. When all is said and done we are expected to believe in the might of unregulated capitalism to lead us to the promised land and yet it is this very unregulated capitalism that has led us to the troubled waters we find ourselves in.
The smiling Richard Bruton is quite willing to avoid serious questions and use inaccurate information to further his thesis that the wealthy do not need to pay more tax—and that raising vat by 2% effects everyone not just the poor— (but it effects the poor far more)-and we need our entrepreneurs these great champions of our nation to continue creating jobs and they must not suffer higher taxes. This is an almighty road on which we toil I have no doubt, but I am certain that entrepreneurs will not lead us to its end. The idea of individualism is advanced by neo-liberals like Richard Bruton at every turn—in the same breath as promoting this brand of capitalism he congratulates the new government for reforming the public service. This reform he speaks of is basically a clear out, in cutting job numbers and closing down vital services.
How the world has changed since the slop man called once a week and how funny that a government should reform the public service its predecessors destroyed as they acquiesced to all demands for the sake of expediency.
There are very few council houses these days where one could keep even a small herd of pigs but the houses in Sallynoggin whilst modest boasted large rear gardens with the corner sites having large front gardens but their rear gardens were smaller. So the ‘Slop man,’ Called to us, and he fed his pigs and obviously sold them on for a profit. He passed the entrepreneurial gene on as years later his son used to collect stale bread from the local supermarkets to feed his own herd of pigs.
As time passed I met more entrepreneurs in various stages of their development—indeed I even became one myself for a number of years with varying degrees of success. I worked for one man for over ten years and though he was basically a decent human being—he was given to a certain seriousness that one attaches to the modern version of my ‘slop man’. For example he was tight-fisted when it came to wages and expenses—often the money one earned was derisory for the amount of hard graft that was expected—but heck isn’t that what they say, keep your costs base low.
When I entered into this murky world myself I met many entrepreneurs who had set up retail businesses in the main they were nice men and women but they operated on very tight margins and the staff employed were on the minimum wage some even below it. The individuals themselves in the main worked long hard hours and I befriended a few of them. I genuinely admired these people for their get up and go attitude-and the risks they were willing to undertake so as to create their own businesses.
Allowing for all of that I am finding it extremely difficult to accept that entrepreneurs can save this or any other economy—to listen to government ministers talk the talk about our brilliant entrepreneurs is mind boggling. Many of these start up businesses, fail to get through the first two years in reality that is the case. Some enterprises fail through the inexperience of the protagonist –others fail because they cannot access the correct funding from the local banks. Many of the enterprises are too small to attract Angel capital or qualify for seed funding.
The entrepreneur is fast becoming the victim of the neo-liberal conspiracy in that small business is claimed to be its champion and the living proof of this ideology. Government ministers regularly quote how vital they are in the provision of jobs—yet they do nothing about the penal level of rates and the upward only rent reviews that cripple the said entrepreneur. When all is said and done we are expected to believe in the might of unregulated capitalism to lead us to the promised land and yet it is this very unregulated capitalism that has led us to the troubled waters we find ourselves in.
The smiling Richard Bruton is quite willing to avoid serious questions and use inaccurate information to further his thesis that the wealthy do not need to pay more tax—and that raising vat by 2% effects everyone not just the poor— (but it effects the poor far more)-and we need our entrepreneurs these great champions of our nation to continue creating jobs and they must not suffer higher taxes. This is an almighty road on which we toil I have no doubt, but I am certain that entrepreneurs will not lead us to its end. The idea of individualism is advanced by neo-liberals like Richard Bruton at every turn—in the same breath as promoting this brand of capitalism he congratulates the new government for reforming the public service. This reform he speaks of is basically a clear out, in cutting job numbers and closing down vital services.
How the world has changed since the slop man called once a week and how funny that a government should reform the public service its predecessors destroyed as they acquiesced to all demands for the sake of expediency.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Are Labour Prisoners in Government
The Labour party in Ireland has sold out-at least its parliamentary party has, they have been sucked in by the gaping mouth of neo-liberalism in all its guises. One has only to look at the recent decisions made by the coalition from the closure of army barracks to the proposed cuts in the public service and of course the forthcoming increase on vat rates by 2% -these actions and their complicit support in paying the unsecured bond holders have left them bereft of any credibility as a party of the left.
Their partners in crime the Fine Gael party who promised the Irish electorate that they would re-negotiate the dreadful bail-out deal imposed on there predecessors. As we know the re-negotiation amounts to more austerity and the unsecured bond holders are still being paid. One could argue that Labour are virtually prisoners within the confines of the financial mess this state finds in itself in, and others will claim that a Labour presence in Government stops the excesses of the neo-liberalist agenda. Of course this is all nonsense as in recent days it has been Labour spokespeople including Ruairi Quinn who are claiming that we have lost financial sovereignty and all cheques have to be countersigned.
The later claim in relation to the re-introduction of student fees is disingenuous to say the least as the Fianna Fail bail out fiasco was well and truly with us when he made his famous promise and nothing has changed fiscally since. So now Mr Gilmore is leading a frightened Labour party within a coalition made up of a majority of neo-liberals and the Labour party are hiding and covering their faces with masks. Of course their predicament is further troubled when faced with the stark truth about the European Union as it now exists.
The European Union is in the clutches of neo-liberal thinking and action and Ireland’s largest left wing party [I do Joke,] is expendable and ineffective against this might. Many wonder about the wisdom of the Labour leadership after the last general election-some see it is a pragmatic move by the party in that they were duty bound to represent those that elected them, within the new Government. Others argue that if the Labour party were ideologically to the left of centre-such a course of action should have been examined forensically before jumping in to the acid tank they now are dissolving in.
The Irish electorate in the main don’t go for ideology most people are media led and populist, and in television debates people look upon the panellists as one. Well sure they might be blowing their own trumpet but when the chips are down there isn’t that must separating them. This is not true anymore and it is now time for us all to mature ideologically.
Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney was asked recently on the Vincent Browne show as to why he was reluctant to tax the wealthy, he ranted on about how it would be madness to increase taxes on what he termed our brightest, by inference did Mr Coveney mean that the rest of the population were thick. It was also a stark reminder of the difference in ideology as the very wealthy pay very little income tax compared with the ordinary working person whether PAYE or self employed. The sheer fact that a government minister could make a statement of this nature on national television says so much for the culture within the Fine Gael party.
So what were Labours choices after the last election—obviously they chose to go into government thinking perhaps that on social issues they had much in common with the Fine Gael party. The other choice they had was to form the opposition in the Dail with possible support from Sinn Féin and some independents along with the United Left Alliance it is possible also that on some issues they may have sought and got Fianna Fail support. It could have been a staunch opposition opposing the terrible austerity that is lashing the citizens of this state. Perhaps this united left opposition would have supported the occupy movements and help form other means of protest.
What Labour has done instead is to betray the very people who elected them—is the Labour leadership aware of the hurt they are causing the citizens of this country? One wouldn’t hold out too much hope for them in the next election if they continue on the dangerous path they are following blindly. It is time for Mr Gilmore to re-think the countersigning of cheques spin and impose some left wing austerity on the neo-liberals surrounding them.
Their partners in crime the Fine Gael party who promised the Irish electorate that they would re-negotiate the dreadful bail-out deal imposed on there predecessors. As we know the re-negotiation amounts to more austerity and the unsecured bond holders are still being paid. One could argue that Labour are virtually prisoners within the confines of the financial mess this state finds in itself in, and others will claim that a Labour presence in Government stops the excesses of the neo-liberalist agenda. Of course this is all nonsense as in recent days it has been Labour spokespeople including Ruairi Quinn who are claiming that we have lost financial sovereignty and all cheques have to be countersigned.
The later claim in relation to the re-introduction of student fees is disingenuous to say the least as the Fianna Fail bail out fiasco was well and truly with us when he made his famous promise and nothing has changed fiscally since. So now Mr Gilmore is leading a frightened Labour party within a coalition made up of a majority of neo-liberals and the Labour party are hiding and covering their faces with masks. Of course their predicament is further troubled when faced with the stark truth about the European Union as it now exists.
The European Union is in the clutches of neo-liberal thinking and action and Ireland’s largest left wing party [I do Joke,] is expendable and ineffective against this might. Many wonder about the wisdom of the Labour leadership after the last general election-some see it is a pragmatic move by the party in that they were duty bound to represent those that elected them, within the new Government. Others argue that if the Labour party were ideologically to the left of centre-such a course of action should have been examined forensically before jumping in to the acid tank they now are dissolving in.
The Irish electorate in the main don’t go for ideology most people are media led and populist, and in television debates people look upon the panellists as one. Well sure they might be blowing their own trumpet but when the chips are down there isn’t that must separating them. This is not true anymore and it is now time for us all to mature ideologically.
Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney was asked recently on the Vincent Browne show as to why he was reluctant to tax the wealthy, he ranted on about how it would be madness to increase taxes on what he termed our brightest, by inference did Mr Coveney mean that the rest of the population were thick. It was also a stark reminder of the difference in ideology as the very wealthy pay very little income tax compared with the ordinary working person whether PAYE or self employed. The sheer fact that a government minister could make a statement of this nature on national television says so much for the culture within the Fine Gael party.
So what were Labours choices after the last election—obviously they chose to go into government thinking perhaps that on social issues they had much in common with the Fine Gael party. The other choice they had was to form the opposition in the Dail with possible support from Sinn Féin and some independents along with the United Left Alliance it is possible also that on some issues they may have sought and got Fianna Fail support. It could have been a staunch opposition opposing the terrible austerity that is lashing the citizens of this state. Perhaps this united left opposition would have supported the occupy movements and help form other means of protest.
What Labour has done instead is to betray the very people who elected them—is the Labour leadership aware of the hurt they are causing the citizens of this country? One wouldn’t hold out too much hope for them in the next election if they continue on the dangerous path they are following blindly. It is time for Mr Gilmore to re-think the countersigning of cheques spin and impose some left wing austerity on the neo-liberals surrounding them.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Sinn Féin the truth about why I don't vote for them
As discussed yesterday I am not a Sinn Féin supporter and to be honest I doubt if I ever will be. I complained yesterday about the political establishment here in our tiny republic and how they disingenuously used the media to discredit the reputations of Martin Mc Guinness and Gerry Adams. To make matters worse they used the tragic cases of Jean Mc Conville and David Kelly as sticks to beat the Sinn Féin leaders with, and I have a major problem in that I honestly believe that these political hacks don’t really care about the plight of these particular victims of the war in Northern Ireland.
Official Ireland sends out its message that Gerry Adams and Martin Mc Guinness will do for the electorate in the north but not for the privileged in the south, work that one out if you can? I have, and I don’t particularly like the answer I have come up with. I as much as anyone else am at the mercy of the spin doctors, these are the people that can convince us that America and Britain can wage justifiable war whilst our own citizens are not entitled to defend themselves from aggressors, which us brings us back to the state and the power entrusted in the few that actually run it. The real power in the modern world is with those who can control the media whether it be on television or in print.
Take Rte six one news for example or Prime Time, the presenters reverently refer to Government ministers as ‘Minister’ or as in the case of the leader of the opposition recently he was called ‘Mr Martin.’ This is a tiny example of state controlled television at work, and if anyone is convinced that the Frontline is anything more than a mouthpiece for government policy I wish to hear from them. You will notice that the interviewer never gets to the core of the issue, bland questions are asked and half answered with the hard questions left in reserve till the show times out and all are friends by the end.
However the Rte interviewers reserve their hardest questions for Sinn Féin, but only during elections the rest of the time they are invited to fall into the mediocrity that is state political discussion. Elections are different you see in that hearts and minds need only be swayed for a one day one event, and a prospective candidate can live or die on their current public perception ratings. It is in essence the quick and immediate kill and sure if the real truth emerges later so be it, they will think up something again to destroy the candidate at the next election.
This type of state media manipulation is bad for the citizen as not only does it steal the truth but it also robs us of any real political analysis of the candidates in question. Watching the recent Prime time presidential debate I felt that Miriam O’ Callaghan should have called the police such was the vigour with which she pursed Martin Mc Guinness. It was a good job that Martin has most likely endured worse in the hands of some special policemen up north, but hey wasn’t Miriam just asking the questions people wanted asked, and really needed answered. No in fact the questions she asked were not real or proper questions to ask a candidate for the presidency who is minister of education in the Northern Ireland Parliament, there was no fear that she might call him ‘Minister.’
Now I come to reasons why I don’t vote Sinn Féin and most likely never will, it is very simple I don’t trust them? I feel my readers shift in their seats exclaiming ’but isn’t that we were saying all along we don’t trust them.’ With respect I don’t trust them for a what I suspect is an entirely different reason to you not trusting them if you get my drift. I don’t trust Sinn Féin because they preach one message in the north of Ireland re- economic and social policy and another in our little republic. Martin Mc Guinness is playing political games when he boasts of how he and his friend Peter Robinson and his other pal Ian Paisley went to Wall Street and played their part in the further globalisation of Northern Ireland. In the north American multi-nationals are the solution even if in our experience it is at least worth a debate as to their real long term worth to our economy. Down here Sinn Fein project themselves as a party of the left well certainly more to the left than either of the Fianna’s and possibly most of labour.
Up north Sinn Féin are backers of austerity and support budgetary cutbacks like any good lazy government in power. Northern Ireland due to its history has no strong connections with the politicisation of the left, most of its politics historically has been drawn on religious or ethnic divisions usually both. Down south Sinn Féin are critics of austerity in my opinion rightly so but how do the two strands equalise? In the republic they speak of self development rather than the failed dependence on the might of the multi national, they make stirring speeches on how best to develop our natural resources, and how to re-claim our potentially enormous and lucrative fishing grounds.
As voter I don’t know where I am I have one crowd of conservatives preaching the merits of wall street, and another radical movement calling for immediate and significant change in the way we organise our society and economy. These surely are the questions that should have been asked of Gerry Adams during the general election rather than trying to ruin his reputation as a person. I know the presidency is not in itself a political role but Martin Mc Guinness could have been made answer about these inconsistencies, but he wasn’t and our state run television service presumed we didn’t need to know. Of course there is also a competition in place I would suspect as to which broadcaster will be the first to catch out the Sinn Féin hierarchy, as Vincent Browne did his best to claim the prize on Irelands independent channel if there is such a thing. I would ask Sinn Féin to come clean with us the voters as to which policies they are actually presenting to us before I for one could even consider giving them my vote.
In response to a comment left on my blog yesterday I found the following article in An Phoblacht, [Republican News] from Thursday June 3rd 1999, I thought it might be of interest.
The background to the current search for bodies at locations around the country can be traced back to the first IRA cessation in 1994, when several West Belfast families whose relatives had been killed by the IRA in the 1970s and buried in secret graves contacted Gerry Adams in relation to the return of their remains.
Gerry Adams met the families and promised to do all that he could to resolve the matter. For Sinn Féin, the issue of the missing bodies is a clear matter of human rights and justice for the families involved and the party has said from the outset that all of the bodies should be returned with utmost speed so that the anguish of the families can be eased.
The Sinn Féin President commented this week: ``I am sorry that the bereaved families have been subjected to the trauma and pain arising from these killings and from the long wait they have had until now to have the bodies returned
``There is no easy way around this issue. It is part of the process of reconciliation which has come about because of the peace process.
``People are very upset by the harrowing scenes. This is a very painful chapter in our history. The enormity of the tragedy is effecting everyone on the island, but most especially the families involved.''
Adams has also said that unlike those who have attacked republicans for years, Sinn Féin recognised the injustice of the situation and spoke out against it and worked to see the bodies returned.
Sinn Féin has said it believes the IRA is being genuine in its attempts to deal with the issue. The IRA has apologised to the families. The hope now must be that all the remains will be located and returned to their families as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Gerry Adams urged individuals with more precise information about the location of the bodies to provide details to the commission appointed to aversee the returns of the remains.
``There is always a possibility that someone out there has some little piece of information or that someone's memory has been triggered by the television images that we have seen. If that is the case then I would certainly urge such individuals to give such information to the commission as soon as possible.
``I like everyone else believe the fact that this is going on for so long is a source of unimaginable pain for those that are witnessing it. I think the whole nation is watching and I hope that the remains will be retrieved as quickly as possible,'' he added.
Adams said that his understanding, having been in touch with the intermediaries over recent days, is that all information uncovered by the IRA is in the hands of the commission.''
Official Ireland sends out its message that Gerry Adams and Martin Mc Guinness will do for the electorate in the north but not for the privileged in the south, work that one out if you can? I have, and I don’t particularly like the answer I have come up with. I as much as anyone else am at the mercy of the spin doctors, these are the people that can convince us that America and Britain can wage justifiable war whilst our own citizens are not entitled to defend themselves from aggressors, which us brings us back to the state and the power entrusted in the few that actually run it. The real power in the modern world is with those who can control the media whether it be on television or in print.
Take Rte six one news for example or Prime Time, the presenters reverently refer to Government ministers as ‘Minister’ or as in the case of the leader of the opposition recently he was called ‘Mr Martin.’ This is a tiny example of state controlled television at work, and if anyone is convinced that the Frontline is anything more than a mouthpiece for government policy I wish to hear from them. You will notice that the interviewer never gets to the core of the issue, bland questions are asked and half answered with the hard questions left in reserve till the show times out and all are friends by the end.
However the Rte interviewers reserve their hardest questions for Sinn Féin, but only during elections the rest of the time they are invited to fall into the mediocrity that is state political discussion. Elections are different you see in that hearts and minds need only be swayed for a one day one event, and a prospective candidate can live or die on their current public perception ratings. It is in essence the quick and immediate kill and sure if the real truth emerges later so be it, they will think up something again to destroy the candidate at the next election.
This type of state media manipulation is bad for the citizen as not only does it steal the truth but it also robs us of any real political analysis of the candidates in question. Watching the recent Prime time presidential debate I felt that Miriam O’ Callaghan should have called the police such was the vigour with which she pursed Martin Mc Guinness. It was a good job that Martin has most likely endured worse in the hands of some special policemen up north, but hey wasn’t Miriam just asking the questions people wanted asked, and really needed answered. No in fact the questions she asked were not real or proper questions to ask a candidate for the presidency who is minister of education in the Northern Ireland Parliament, there was no fear that she might call him ‘Minister.’
Now I come to reasons why I don’t vote Sinn Féin and most likely never will, it is very simple I don’t trust them? I feel my readers shift in their seats exclaiming ’but isn’t that we were saying all along we don’t trust them.’ With respect I don’t trust them for a what I suspect is an entirely different reason to you not trusting them if you get my drift. I don’t trust Sinn Féin because they preach one message in the north of Ireland re- economic and social policy and another in our little republic. Martin Mc Guinness is playing political games when he boasts of how he and his friend Peter Robinson and his other pal Ian Paisley went to Wall Street and played their part in the further globalisation of Northern Ireland. In the north American multi-nationals are the solution even if in our experience it is at least worth a debate as to their real long term worth to our economy. Down here Sinn Fein project themselves as a party of the left well certainly more to the left than either of the Fianna’s and possibly most of labour.
Up north Sinn Féin are backers of austerity and support budgetary cutbacks like any good lazy government in power. Northern Ireland due to its history has no strong connections with the politicisation of the left, most of its politics historically has been drawn on religious or ethnic divisions usually both. Down south Sinn Féin are critics of austerity in my opinion rightly so but how do the two strands equalise? In the republic they speak of self development rather than the failed dependence on the might of the multi national, they make stirring speeches on how best to develop our natural resources, and how to re-claim our potentially enormous and lucrative fishing grounds.
As voter I don’t know where I am I have one crowd of conservatives preaching the merits of wall street, and another radical movement calling for immediate and significant change in the way we organise our society and economy. These surely are the questions that should have been asked of Gerry Adams during the general election rather than trying to ruin his reputation as a person. I know the presidency is not in itself a political role but Martin Mc Guinness could have been made answer about these inconsistencies, but he wasn’t and our state run television service presumed we didn’t need to know. Of course there is also a competition in place I would suspect as to which broadcaster will be the first to catch out the Sinn Féin hierarchy, as Vincent Browne did his best to claim the prize on Irelands independent channel if there is such a thing. I would ask Sinn Féin to come clean with us the voters as to which policies they are actually presenting to us before I for one could even consider giving them my vote.
In response to a comment left on my blog yesterday I found the following article in An Phoblacht, [Republican News] from Thursday June 3rd 1999, I thought it might be of interest.
The background to the current search for bodies at locations around the country can be traced back to the first IRA cessation in 1994, when several West Belfast families whose relatives had been killed by the IRA in the 1970s and buried in secret graves contacted Gerry Adams in relation to the return of their remains.
Gerry Adams met the families and promised to do all that he could to resolve the matter. For Sinn Féin, the issue of the missing bodies is a clear matter of human rights and justice for the families involved and the party has said from the outset that all of the bodies should be returned with utmost speed so that the anguish of the families can be eased.
The Sinn Féin President commented this week: ``I am sorry that the bereaved families have been subjected to the trauma and pain arising from these killings and from the long wait they have had until now to have the bodies returned
``There is no easy way around this issue. It is part of the process of reconciliation which has come about because of the peace process.
``People are very upset by the harrowing scenes. This is a very painful chapter in our history. The enormity of the tragedy is effecting everyone on the island, but most especially the families involved.''
Adams has also said that unlike those who have attacked republicans for years, Sinn Féin recognised the injustice of the situation and spoke out against it and worked to see the bodies returned.
Sinn Féin has said it believes the IRA is being genuine in its attempts to deal with the issue. The IRA has apologised to the families. The hope now must be that all the remains will be located and returned to their families as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Gerry Adams urged individuals with more precise information about the location of the bodies to provide details to the commission appointed to aversee the returns of the remains.
``There is always a possibility that someone out there has some little piece of information or that someone's memory has been triggered by the television images that we have seen. If that is the case then I would certainly urge such individuals to give such information to the commission as soon as possible.
``I like everyone else believe the fact that this is going on for so long is a source of unimaginable pain for those that are witnessing it. I think the whole nation is watching and I hope that the remains will be retrieved as quickly as possible,'' he added.
Adams said that his understanding, having been in touch with the intermediaries over recent days, is that all information uncovered by the IRA is in the hands of the commission.''
Monday, 17 October 2011
Politics Perceptions, Criminality and the Election.
Years ago my brother read British comics like the Lion and the Valiant or was it the Hotspur I cant remember now but they contained all sorts of non-sense with footballers playing without boots becoming cult heroes, and motor bike cops who solved crimes, with the reader having to spot the clues. They had second world war stories also and in these the Germans were referred to as Krauts and the Japanese as Nips. But have no fear the world was a different place then and there was none of this awful political correctness that blights our sensibilities now. In the main people sort of laughed at it and reasoned well that’s what that crowd deserve for loosing the war, and when I was growing up people didn’t really talk about the war as such it was referred to in sort of hushed tones, like somehow we might be accused of something in relation to its waging, and after all were the gallant Irishmen who fought not sort of frowned upon by the masses for serving the Queen. Oh yes the good old days before the arrival on these shores of the politically correct breed, and they have slowly but surely taken the fun out of almost everything.
Not that everything was sweet then either, it is difficult to imagine that many of the awful revelations re- our past and our treatment of women and children and the poor in general thrived in the face of such ambivalence and within a culture that was controlled by the church and its closest ally the state. For in Ireland the state was and is an institution it is not representative of citizenry but rather it is the iron hand that negates its citizens into divisiveness based on class which by its nature leads to conflicts of interest, and the separation of agendas which in the cold light of day serves only the elite few.
It is with this in mind that I reflect on the presidential election and also the last general election where upon we have had the two most recognisable faces in Sinn Fein stand for election. Before I continue I must state that I abhor violence and I am at one with the victims of violence no matter where and whom they might be. However I am also a realist and when I examine the world in which I live taking away the violence that is owned by criminality, I will take a look at what we would regard as justifiable violence like in the case of sovereign countries engaging in war. I was born in 1958 five years after the Korean conflict and just after the war started in Vietnam in 1955,with American involvement beginning in 1965 and it came to a conclusion in 1975,and so on until we come to the unofficial wars in South America, and on to the debacle that was and is Iraq and Afghanistan.Of course there were skirmishes in the Balkans and Libya along the way and Britain had its own little crusade in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, each one of these conflicts have been justified at least to a level of acceptance to what I term the general populace. Who are it seems quite adept at accepting that violence can be used to settle conflicts in far way regions were despots have threatened not only their own citizens but our way of life also, and violence can protect us from such fall outs from conflict like oil shortages, and trade embargo’s etc. Recently we had the commander in chief of the American armed forces and the commander in chief of the British armed forces welcomed and wined and dined by our little outraged nation. If a proper examination of these countries conduct whilst engaging in war and even as to whether they were legally entitled to go to war was to take place, I wonder how many people would approach them with photographs of their loved ones and demand an explanation. But you see it is alright because these people are our friends so we are advised and who are we the general populace to argue differently.
Forgive me but my mental image of the general populace is not very flattering I tend to imagine a middle-aged couple sitting in a comfortable room watching the Six One news and commenting occasionally with observations like, ‘isn’t that terrible,’ and ‘the yanks will sort them out,’ and ‘I don’t trust anyone with a beard,’ and ‘they should take the dole off of them,’ I could go on but I wont you get my point.
Now when Gerry Adams stood for election for the last Dail the knives were out and sharpened and we had the political opportunists foaming at the mouth in anticipation of making a kill. Here was a man with a sinister past a member of the IRA no less a murderer and a protector of murderers. Not a great start for anyone trying to convince the electorate that this man is right man for them. To put things in context the political establishment were asking people to believe that a man like Gerry Adams who had just led his people down the road to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland was not a fit candidate to serve in Dail Eireann. Now I wasn’t present at the Good Friday agreement negotiations, they took place without me and no matter how sore I am about it I just wasn’t there and that is it, but honestly would it be too much to argue that the very parties that were sticking the knife into Gerry Adams in our election were instrumental in nominating both him and Martin Mc Guinness as peacemakers and men of vision during these negotiations?
During the recent campaign they tried to pull the same trick on Martin Mc Guinness as was tried against Gerry Adams, in the latter’s case they brought up the Jean McConville issue, this mother of ten went missing in 1972 her body was found accidentally in 2003 on a beach in Co. Louth. An ex-IRA, man accused Gerry Adams of ordering her execution this accusation Adams has always denied vehemently. Then Martin Mc Guinness was faced by David Kelly who lost his father Paddy who was a serving soldier and was killed in the freeing of the kidnapped Don Tidy in 1983. I would ask why this young man didn’t get his local TD to raise the matter in the Dail or if indeed he had any evidence of a crime why didn’t he go to the authorities. I may be wrong but the only television piece I saw on this issue was of him presenting or rather confronting Martin Mc Guinness with a photograph of his deceased father. One thinks that if Martin Mc Guinness is in politics for thirty years why confront him with this now and indeed why confront him at all without some evidence that he was involved in this crime. People will argue that Gerry Adams topped the poll in Louth and the allegations about Jean McConville didn’t do his election prospects any harm as in effect there is not a grain of proof pointing to any wrong doing by Gerry Adams. That is true but with the odd exception the people of the Louth constituency are not particularly the target of the spin. Louth is a border county and the people who live there know that they lived in war zone for over thirty years and they also know what is required to both make and keep the peace. Also we will see how many of the outraged politicians take the Jean Mc Conville case forward and win some sort of resolution, this unfortunate family who have been left high and dry by politicians, the fact that these victims are deemed as no longer news worthy or worth an interest by these political hacks now that the political scarring of Gerry Adams is no longer pursuable, is it not the worst example of cynicism?
It is frustrating to see such political dirty tricks come into the political debate, I take it as a grave insult to the intelligence of the electorate and their analysis of politics on this island, the slanted information is definitely aimed at my RTE six one viewers but are they that prevalent, perhaps they are when one examines the overall results of the last election. One wonders about the motivation of the ruling classes and their relationship with Sinn Fein in particular, I must make it absolutely clear at his juncture that I am not a Sinn Fein supporter I have never voted for them and I am unlikely to vote for them any time soon. But for the powers that be in this little republic to blatantly try and trick the Irish electorate by the planting of disingenuous red-herrings to try and sway public opinion is wrong in my view and should be challenged and rebuffed. These same parties of power left a small portion of its citizens alone and undefended in 1969, they were expected to struggle and suppress the might of the British army whom at his stage were at one with a corruptive and un-representative government in Northern Ireland. These nationalists citizens of our state were left without defence against not just an army but also against para-military forces like the B-specials and later the UDA. Houses were burned to the ground people were evicted from their homes many of them fleeing south over the border to places like Donegal and Dublin, the citizens of this country were under threat but we chose not to protect them in any fashion. Young men were arrested and interrogated sometimes brutally beaten and then came the greatest breach of human rights of all with the introduction of internment. The spin of course was that this wasn’t a war and that the IRA had no mandate to defend the citizens of our state but it did by definition because we as a sovereign nation refused to defend our own citizens thus leaving the void for the IRA to fill.
We now hold the high moral ground and accuse those who fought what was a war and not the silly titled ‘the troubles,’ as we later christened it. This was of course a conflict very much of our own making in that had we responded as any other nation on this earth would have,and defended our citizens the conflict may never have escalated the way that it did, and I fully accept that it was a dreadful conflict with victims on all sides brutally killed and maimed, I also fully accept that as the conflict progressed it was hi-jacked by criminals and splinter groups on all sides many of these engaged in criminality and in many ways it became a threat to all of our citizens basically because it had no coherent leadership at that time.
Lastly the greatest disservice perpetrated by successive Irish governments was in its failure not only to protect its citizens in the north of Ireland but also us here in the south, there is and there never will be any accountability by those who destroyed so many lives in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974. Maybe when Gay Mitchell comes canvassing I will show him a Photograph of a beautiful young neighbour of mine form Sallynoggin who died on that fateful day, and I will demand he names the perpetrators.
Not that everything was sweet then either, it is difficult to imagine that many of the awful revelations re- our past and our treatment of women and children and the poor in general thrived in the face of such ambivalence and within a culture that was controlled by the church and its closest ally the state. For in Ireland the state was and is an institution it is not representative of citizenry but rather it is the iron hand that negates its citizens into divisiveness based on class which by its nature leads to conflicts of interest, and the separation of agendas which in the cold light of day serves only the elite few.
It is with this in mind that I reflect on the presidential election and also the last general election where upon we have had the two most recognisable faces in Sinn Fein stand for election. Before I continue I must state that I abhor violence and I am at one with the victims of violence no matter where and whom they might be. However I am also a realist and when I examine the world in which I live taking away the violence that is owned by criminality, I will take a look at what we would regard as justifiable violence like in the case of sovereign countries engaging in war. I was born in 1958 five years after the Korean conflict and just after the war started in Vietnam in 1955,with American involvement beginning in 1965 and it came to a conclusion in 1975,and so on until we come to the unofficial wars in South America, and on to the debacle that was and is Iraq and Afghanistan.Of course there were skirmishes in the Balkans and Libya along the way and Britain had its own little crusade in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, each one of these conflicts have been justified at least to a level of acceptance to what I term the general populace. Who are it seems quite adept at accepting that violence can be used to settle conflicts in far way regions were despots have threatened not only their own citizens but our way of life also, and violence can protect us from such fall outs from conflict like oil shortages, and trade embargo’s etc. Recently we had the commander in chief of the American armed forces and the commander in chief of the British armed forces welcomed and wined and dined by our little outraged nation. If a proper examination of these countries conduct whilst engaging in war and even as to whether they were legally entitled to go to war was to take place, I wonder how many people would approach them with photographs of their loved ones and demand an explanation. But you see it is alright because these people are our friends so we are advised and who are we the general populace to argue differently.
Forgive me but my mental image of the general populace is not very flattering I tend to imagine a middle-aged couple sitting in a comfortable room watching the Six One news and commenting occasionally with observations like, ‘isn’t that terrible,’ and ‘the yanks will sort them out,’ and ‘I don’t trust anyone with a beard,’ and ‘they should take the dole off of them,’ I could go on but I wont you get my point.
Now when Gerry Adams stood for election for the last Dail the knives were out and sharpened and we had the political opportunists foaming at the mouth in anticipation of making a kill. Here was a man with a sinister past a member of the IRA no less a murderer and a protector of murderers. Not a great start for anyone trying to convince the electorate that this man is right man for them. To put things in context the political establishment were asking people to believe that a man like Gerry Adams who had just led his people down the road to peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland was not a fit candidate to serve in Dail Eireann. Now I wasn’t present at the Good Friday agreement negotiations, they took place without me and no matter how sore I am about it I just wasn’t there and that is it, but honestly would it be too much to argue that the very parties that were sticking the knife into Gerry Adams in our election were instrumental in nominating both him and Martin Mc Guinness as peacemakers and men of vision during these negotiations?
During the recent campaign they tried to pull the same trick on Martin Mc Guinness as was tried against Gerry Adams, in the latter’s case they brought up the Jean McConville issue, this mother of ten went missing in 1972 her body was found accidentally in 2003 on a beach in Co. Louth. An ex-IRA, man accused Gerry Adams of ordering her execution this accusation Adams has always denied vehemently. Then Martin Mc Guinness was faced by David Kelly who lost his father Paddy who was a serving soldier and was killed in the freeing of the kidnapped Don Tidy in 1983. I would ask why this young man didn’t get his local TD to raise the matter in the Dail or if indeed he had any evidence of a crime why didn’t he go to the authorities. I may be wrong but the only television piece I saw on this issue was of him presenting or rather confronting Martin Mc Guinness with a photograph of his deceased father. One thinks that if Martin Mc Guinness is in politics for thirty years why confront him with this now and indeed why confront him at all without some evidence that he was involved in this crime. People will argue that Gerry Adams topped the poll in Louth and the allegations about Jean McConville didn’t do his election prospects any harm as in effect there is not a grain of proof pointing to any wrong doing by Gerry Adams. That is true but with the odd exception the people of the Louth constituency are not particularly the target of the spin. Louth is a border county and the people who live there know that they lived in war zone for over thirty years and they also know what is required to both make and keep the peace. Also we will see how many of the outraged politicians take the Jean Mc Conville case forward and win some sort of resolution, this unfortunate family who have been left high and dry by politicians, the fact that these victims are deemed as no longer news worthy or worth an interest by these political hacks now that the political scarring of Gerry Adams is no longer pursuable, is it not the worst example of cynicism?
It is frustrating to see such political dirty tricks come into the political debate, I take it as a grave insult to the intelligence of the electorate and their analysis of politics on this island, the slanted information is definitely aimed at my RTE six one viewers but are they that prevalent, perhaps they are when one examines the overall results of the last election. One wonders about the motivation of the ruling classes and their relationship with Sinn Fein in particular, I must make it absolutely clear at his juncture that I am not a Sinn Fein supporter I have never voted for them and I am unlikely to vote for them any time soon. But for the powers that be in this little republic to blatantly try and trick the Irish electorate by the planting of disingenuous red-herrings to try and sway public opinion is wrong in my view and should be challenged and rebuffed. These same parties of power left a small portion of its citizens alone and undefended in 1969, they were expected to struggle and suppress the might of the British army whom at his stage were at one with a corruptive and un-representative government in Northern Ireland. These nationalists citizens of our state were left without defence against not just an army but also against para-military forces like the B-specials and later the UDA. Houses were burned to the ground people were evicted from their homes many of them fleeing south over the border to places like Donegal and Dublin, the citizens of this country were under threat but we chose not to protect them in any fashion. Young men were arrested and interrogated sometimes brutally beaten and then came the greatest breach of human rights of all with the introduction of internment. The spin of course was that this wasn’t a war and that the IRA had no mandate to defend the citizens of our state but it did by definition because we as a sovereign nation refused to defend our own citizens thus leaving the void for the IRA to fill.
We now hold the high moral ground and accuse those who fought what was a war and not the silly titled ‘the troubles,’ as we later christened it. This was of course a conflict very much of our own making in that had we responded as any other nation on this earth would have,and defended our citizens the conflict may never have escalated the way that it did, and I fully accept that it was a dreadful conflict with victims on all sides brutally killed and maimed, I also fully accept that as the conflict progressed it was hi-jacked by criminals and splinter groups on all sides many of these engaged in criminality and in many ways it became a threat to all of our citizens basically because it had no coherent leadership at that time.
Lastly the greatest disservice perpetrated by successive Irish governments was in its failure not only to protect its citizens in the north of Ireland but also us here in the south, there is and there never will be any accountability by those who destroyed so many lives in Dublin and Monaghan in May 1974. Maybe when Gay Mitchell comes canvassing I will show him a Photograph of a beautiful young neighbour of mine form Sallynoggin who died on that fateful day, and I will demand he names the perpetrators.
Sunday, 9 October 2011
The Arrogance of the Brilliant
I am confused and bemused, absolutely shocked to tell the truth here we are the citizens of this tiny island we are bang in the middle of austerity and misery and what do we get? Bono yes you are reading correctly Bono and not just the great man but we also have politicians you know those guys that make all the sincere promises but then when reality bites they have to park them, yes those guys. We also have our brilliant entrepreneurial business sorts who found the geographical confines of this little nation a little restrictive and they like Bono found better places to make and keep their loot.
It was laughable to hear them discuss our plight with such detachment and in very concise business speak as well which is nice of them. One guy informed us that within the next five years some shoppers in America will not use money at all, which is great news for us idiots who need to buy basics like bread and milk but can’t afford to pass the wanted posters outside our local store. Yes he went on to tell us that it will all be done over a phone line, and the shop will debit our accounts as we buy unlimited amounts of permanently discounted groceries. Well doesn’t that beat Banagher as the fella said, and thanks so much to this innovative businessman for spreading the gospel, and sure wont our consumer lives be all the richer for it,. I can hear people all over the country saying ‘well couldn’t we do with a few more like him,’ and they are right aren’t they, I mean this country has never built its economy on the brains of entrepreneurs now have we?
No Ireland has always built its economic planning round the sound ideology of collective responsibility the strong protecting the weak, the harvesting of our massive natural resources of gas and oil, all of this combining with the fruits of our fishing industry,and boy that is why this country is booming, oh sorry it is not like that here, that is why we have Bono and the boys in suits talking bollocks with our politicians is it not.
It is of course laughable that we citizens should bow to the entrepreneurial types who ride on the crest of the very wave that has engulfed us. Are we the citizens of this country that naïve to think that even if they had the odd good idea that it is going to save our lost souls? I liken it a little to those telethons they ran in the eighties when we had well know guys like Pat Kenny throwing off his suit and appearing in a nice jumper his granny knit and he asking us to dig deep to support something that we the people and by proxy our government should have been doing anyway. Why don’t we have a save Ireland concert we could have it in the Phoenix Park, get Ryan Tubridy to front the television phone in and we all can pledge to save the nation. We could even have Bono saying something really emotive near the end, and it will bring tears to peoples eyes and we will all remember where we were on the memorable night.
It is times like this when one wakes from a nightmare of huge proportions to think about jumping ship, who knows maybe the sth of France nice and warm or Italy, or dear old England. But the nightmare continues as soon as you realise that the empire has not only spread but it has actually dumped its toxic waste on us little Europeans to such an extent that it is unlikely to heal itself over time. What is the fall out of this cynical and evil dumping well if you watch the media, have you noticed a shift in the way that news is reported, for example whilst we all know that some very greedy people scam welfare, but when it is presented as one of the major ills facing our economic well being, it is disingenuous to say the least. The neo-liberal agenda is further served by staging this tribute to those entrepreneurial types I spoke of earlier, how can the Taoiseach sit smugly feting the business brigade when he must know that only through state intervention the state been us the citizens can we create the correct conditions for employment and growth. Do we need to continue with the cap in hand to multi-nationals who will soak up their tax breaks before bolting to India or someplace, or do we need as a state to control our natural resources at least one bank and one state credit union, our health and education services, if we were to control the core of our society surely by proxy it would create a lively economy an attractive investment proposition for foreign companies, and a real base for the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
I am sure the business types will go back to their various nests in whatever countries have benefited from their wisdom. They will have tales to tell by the fireside as their children listen in awe at the sad tales emanating from the oul sod. Tales of people lying on hospital trolleys all over the country citizens on urgent waiting lists to see specialist who may save their lives. Special needs children without the extra teachers they need to improve their lives, and nurses and doctors who are overstretched and exhausted from long hours and poor resources. They will tell tales of a society that judges and punishes people based on their level of income, a society where individualism is rewarded over conscience, where even the once sacrosanct teachings of religion have been replaced by a must have consumerism. They will tell of a society controlled by the media and corrupted by rogue financial interests, but at least they will have got Bono’s autograph and hey he might even write a nice song about the injustice, and we can all learn it and sing it.
It was laughable to hear them discuss our plight with such detachment and in very concise business speak as well which is nice of them. One guy informed us that within the next five years some shoppers in America will not use money at all, which is great news for us idiots who need to buy basics like bread and milk but can’t afford to pass the wanted posters outside our local store. Yes he went on to tell us that it will all be done over a phone line, and the shop will debit our accounts as we buy unlimited amounts of permanently discounted groceries. Well doesn’t that beat Banagher as the fella said, and thanks so much to this innovative businessman for spreading the gospel, and sure wont our consumer lives be all the richer for it,. I can hear people all over the country saying ‘well couldn’t we do with a few more like him,’ and they are right aren’t they, I mean this country has never built its economy on the brains of entrepreneurs now have we?
No Ireland has always built its economic planning round the sound ideology of collective responsibility the strong protecting the weak, the harvesting of our massive natural resources of gas and oil, all of this combining with the fruits of our fishing industry,and boy that is why this country is booming, oh sorry it is not like that here, that is why we have Bono and the boys in suits talking bollocks with our politicians is it not.
It is of course laughable that we citizens should bow to the entrepreneurial types who ride on the crest of the very wave that has engulfed us. Are we the citizens of this country that naïve to think that even if they had the odd good idea that it is going to save our lost souls? I liken it a little to those telethons they ran in the eighties when we had well know guys like Pat Kenny throwing off his suit and appearing in a nice jumper his granny knit and he asking us to dig deep to support something that we the people and by proxy our government should have been doing anyway. Why don’t we have a save Ireland concert we could have it in the Phoenix Park, get Ryan Tubridy to front the television phone in and we all can pledge to save the nation. We could even have Bono saying something really emotive near the end, and it will bring tears to peoples eyes and we will all remember where we were on the memorable night.
It is times like this when one wakes from a nightmare of huge proportions to think about jumping ship, who knows maybe the sth of France nice and warm or Italy, or dear old England. But the nightmare continues as soon as you realise that the empire has not only spread but it has actually dumped its toxic waste on us little Europeans to such an extent that it is unlikely to heal itself over time. What is the fall out of this cynical and evil dumping well if you watch the media, have you noticed a shift in the way that news is reported, for example whilst we all know that some very greedy people scam welfare, but when it is presented as one of the major ills facing our economic well being, it is disingenuous to say the least. The neo-liberal agenda is further served by staging this tribute to those entrepreneurial types I spoke of earlier, how can the Taoiseach sit smugly feting the business brigade when he must know that only through state intervention the state been us the citizens can we create the correct conditions for employment and growth. Do we need to continue with the cap in hand to multi-nationals who will soak up their tax breaks before bolting to India or someplace, or do we need as a state to control our natural resources at least one bank and one state credit union, our health and education services, if we were to control the core of our society surely by proxy it would create a lively economy an attractive investment proposition for foreign companies, and a real base for the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive.
I am sure the business types will go back to their various nests in whatever countries have benefited from their wisdom. They will have tales to tell by the fireside as their children listen in awe at the sad tales emanating from the oul sod. Tales of people lying on hospital trolleys all over the country citizens on urgent waiting lists to see specialist who may save their lives. Special needs children without the extra teachers they need to improve their lives, and nurses and doctors who are overstretched and exhausted from long hours and poor resources. They will tell tales of a society that judges and punishes people based on their level of income, a society where individualism is rewarded over conscience, where even the once sacrosanct teachings of religion have been replaced by a must have consumerism. They will tell of a society controlled by the media and corrupted by rogue financial interests, but at least they will have got Bono’s autograph and hey he might even write a nice song about the injustice, and we can all learn it and sing it.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Paul Kestell Author of Viaréggio and now Wood Point is offering fellow writers the following:
The West Cork International Writing School
I am now looking for writers in all genres to join my new on-line writing classes starting Oct 1st. This is a new concept in writing in that I will focus on the imagination within the writing process rather than presentation or technique. My first novel Viaréggio has received great reviews and I have just finished my second novel Wood Point. My new short story the Fuchsia Walk will be available soon.
Any writers who are interested in developing the imaginative side of their writing can e-mail me at pkestell@live.ie they can submit samples of their work and I will read through and offer suggestions and we can discuss the imaginative content of their work. There is a once off charge of €100 and then each submission will be examined and a price relayed to the author before I look at the manuscript once the author agrees with the price structure we will proceed. The author will then pay the fee for the manuscript when I have completed my evaluation and have returned their work. pkestell@live.ie for further details
I am now looking for writers in all genres to join my new on-line writing classes starting Oct 1st. This is a new concept in writing in that I will focus on the imagination within the writing process rather than presentation or technique. My first novel Viaréggio has received great reviews and I have just finished my second novel Wood Point. My new short story the Fuchsia Walk will be available soon.
Any writers who are interested in developing the imaginative side of their writing can e-mail me at pkestell@live.ie they can submit samples of their work and I will read through and offer suggestions and we can discuss the imaginative content of their work. There is a once off charge of €100 and then each submission will be examined and a price relayed to the author before I look at the manuscript once the author agrees with the price structure we will proceed. The author will then pay the fee for the manuscript when I have completed my evaluation and have returned their work. pkestell@live.ie for further details
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
A Nation Once Again
We are a rabble, Ireland is a country without nationhood, we exist in tiny segments of self interest and parish politics we live in an anarchy with cynical politicians going on television debates making bland statements designed to sway the middle-classes, what about the ATM'S they declare like they were ever going to run out of cash, like the European union would close down its financial markets just to teach little old Ireland a lesson.
Yet the disease goes deeper outside of sport and even that is dubious, what other sense of nationhood do we cherish?
We have such a low sense of self, and indeed as one former US ambassador put it we have no sense of outrage. Why is this when the ordinary folk in this little country are facing austerity, they must watch in awe as the bankers and developers get rescued and more financially draining institutions are created to deal with the mess. Which of course they don't deal with and various suits are wheeled out to try and justify the preposterous reality, which is hammering the final nails into our economic coffin.
People give out about European union accusing this massive bureaucracy of stealing our sovereignty when in fact we all but handed that over when we joined the common market, we basically gave away our biggest natural resource or fishing industry, we did this to facilitate electoral votes for our main political parties, in essence they sucked up to the agricultural lobby where they both had their power base.
But in order to lose one's sovereignty one has to own it first, and when only a minority of the populace actually owns a state's sovereignty, then by proxy it is up for sale to the highest bidder. Ireland through its patriotic revolution swapped one merchant class for another, instead of the English overlords we replaced them with our own Irish ones. Those brave men and women who saw the struggle not just in nationalist terms but as a revolution against capitalism were executed or beaten into the ground. The spin was alive and well and one wonders how much the American capitalist system assisted in the transfer of power and wealth, and perhaps even in regards who got shot and who lived on.
The legacy that is left to the citizens of this country is one of complete anarchy in that it is every man and woman for themselves, the whole system under which we live is based on a bland consumerism this is not unlike the dark black and white days of soviet communism. Every one wants the same things the same mobile phones, cars, the nice house and the good private religious run school, young teenagers wear the same clothes aspire to the same meaningless degree's. Like how many marketing graduates does an economy need, and how many food safety degree graduates can get jobs?
The idea of statehood or collective responsibility to things like health, education, and social welfare are foreign to most of our citizens they will tell you simply that there was never any help for them, and indeed they had to slog long and hard to earn a crust, yet they fail to realise that statehood and collective responsibility are indeed profit making, for example if we took real ownership of our natural resources including fisheries how much would this generate for an economy on its knees?
It is time to re-examine or notion of nationhood because in reality as things stand now our nationhood is our economy, it is one and the same as all ownership and action is governed by some fat cat investor who instructs some poor minnow who sits at a computer all day long to place bets for him, the results of this so called trading basically effects every sphere of our lives, and we as citizens allow this because people will lament that there is no alternative. I for one lament that we are still living under an archaic system that is undemocratic cumbersome. extremely wasteful, unfair and unequal, and loss making.
Maybe sometime soon the people of this little country might realise that we do have the power to re-claim what is rightfully ours and that is our true sovereignty, we can achieve this by insisting on collective responsibility for us, ourselves.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Miriam meets Wood Point author Paul Kestell
Tapes from the show they pulled:
MOC: This is your second novel?
PK: It is, my first novel was Viaréggio it got great reviews but some people didn't get it especially agents and publishers.
MOC: Really oh my God I don't believe you!
Pk: No, it is true, I am afraid that Viaréggio got reviews that would put most mainstream publications to shame but it still wasn't enough to secure a publishing deal, I can only guess as to the reasons why, but some of the press coverage it got was awesome!
MOC: Really oh my God people will say that your are blowing your own trumpet.
Pk: I am Miriam this is a lonely business and I am a very lonely man, if you get my drift.
Moc: I do I do honest I do, you will have me in tears in a minute, you probably dream of being one of the greats do you like John Boyne, or Joe O' Connor, maybe even a Colm Toibin?
Pk: Did you ever read Joe O' Connor's the 'Birdcage,' ?
MOC: Can't say that I have but I love Joe O' Connor and I love John Banville in fact I love all our great writers I would even love you Paul if I was told to you know?
Pk: It was the worst novel I have ever read even worse than Julie Parsons, and yer woman Enright, and that boring fella Toibin, and that John Boyne.
MOC: You do sound very bitter if you don't mind me saying so, like I am sure all our great writers had to serve their time like fame didn't just come knocking on the door?
Pk: Viaréggio is an fffing great book Miriam all the critics agree it is just the silly gombeen public that didn't buy it in the numbers required to make me rich, the bastards.
MOC: You really think that? My God it is incredible that you really think that. Tell me now about your second novel Wood Point like what is it about!
PK: It is about a society that has lost it's soul Miriam and it is also about love and loss and the birth of greed in this society and the beginning of the collapse of morality, this is my thesis Miriam.
MOC: My God are you sure it is about all that, like who would have influenced you to write about all of that sort of working class mumbo jumbo if you don't mind me saying so.
Pk: At the core of my novel is James Joyce he is my favourite writer, and surrounding Joyce I have Mills and Boon you know for the romantic bits, and then I have Enid Blyton you know for the bits with Bob the dog, I even called one of my characters Georgina after the one in the famous five.
MOC: Oh my God you have covered every angle you really are great you know that, I for one am so proud of you!
PK: Oh and Miriam you know the bits of violence and the goings on I based that on Dallas, and the Quentin Tarantino movies, so I have covered even more than you think, I also put in a good bit about the spaghetti westerns and Sergio leone, just so I could imagine the Ennio Morricone music in my head, pretty good hey, Wood Point will be the first novel ever with a soundtrack.
MOC: My God you have thought of everything, now I am not promising I will buy it myself but I am sure some of those bastards gombeens will this time, and if you want I can get you that agent and a publisher, as you know it is only a matter of time before I write my own saga, it will of course be a bestselling debut I know it will, oh my God I am so nice am I not. Pity on those striving to make a living with their sincere novels just like yours gathering dust on the storeroom shelves of bookshops, and even the poor darlings that write the chic lit sure most of them are starving and me look at me, a best seller first time out. You got to get the machine Paul that is all you need the machine, oh my God do you actually believe a machine can do that?
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Capitalism Greed and the thugs on the street.
Communism didn't work so we are told and people rattle off the stats on Stalin and how he killed more people than the nazi's etc, it is a rather dubious argument because one could say that capitalism has killed more people than Stalin did, just look at the stats with all the wars fought over money and land,how many people living under the capitalist system have died due to extreme poverty and the diseases associated with it, if one was to carry this thesis to its logical conclusion would it be in order to say that God is responsible for all deaths?
The people who love to say that communism didn't work sigh and express their heart felt relief that at least we have capitalism, thank God, as it gives a few of us a real chance at becoming rich, and if we are not lucky enough to be among the precious few we can always buy a lotto ticket and dream. Indeed communism went against the very notion of individualism, and its effort to dilute human greed ended in complete failure as it is akin to asking humans to become something different from what we really are.
Many view the liberation of the former Eastern countries as some sort of miraculous conversion, this took place on a mass scale where over night peoples ideology got thrown out the window and they suddenly became sainted with the capitalist doctrine, and from now on everything will be alright. There were of course serious breaches of human rights in the former soviet empire the restrictions on travel, and free speech and many cases of torture and false imprisonment, made this empire corrupt and unsupportable. Yet the idea of collective responsibility is the very essence of our continued existence on this planet, it is so important that the state remains responsible to all its citizens and in particular the disadvantaged the sick and the disabled. The empire of capitalism under which we live through its media have sent out a clear message to us that we don't have this collective responsibility and we need not care for our fellow citizens.
The most fashionable pub talk lately is the anti social welfare rant that people are living off the dole sponging on their hard working neighbours, they live it up whilst honest Joe is struggling with his mortgage. In truth there are people sponging off the system but the vast majority of social welfare recipients are in dire poverty and cannot live on the money paid by welfare.Another point is that many young couples who are struggling with their mortgages were mis-sold the product in the first place, leaving them in a financial mess, this has huge implications for them in every sphere of their lives, as society brow beats them into home ownership that for many was always outside of their earning power.
People talk as they watch the rioting in London they wonder why the army are not called out to deal with the rioters, who are in the main youths with hoodies the so called uniform of thugs world wide. One person wants to know why don't they shoot them with plastic bullets, he is reminded that this is London not Belfast, and these thugs are English not Irish, one can't help but feel that the people in Belfast are watching it all with a wry smile. The news then shows us live rioting with an audience of disinterested locals watching as riot police chase a handful of miscreants across a green.
So you wonder why are these riots happening, are all the rioters thugs and criminals, when you see them looting shops and stealing from the injured you could hardly think of any other worthwhile explanation. So these thugs just mushroomed in different areas of London, and then in Birmingham etc. Surely the initial protesters had some genuine grievance can all of these rioters be thugs? Assuming that the majority are, why then is this happening in a democratic state with an advanced welfare system a country who are currently saving us all from the terrors of Islam in Afghanistan. In Britain they have a massive underclass that is growing in numbers every day. This underclass is fed by the down beat culture of capitalism, these could have been the next recruits for the army, many of these boys could have ended up serving overseas. Most of these youths are currently unemployed, and many are unemployable, as their standard of education is so low, they are drilled by the media, courted to buy the designer uniforms they wear, they eat fast food and drink takeaway tins of lager, many of them are habitual drug users.
The English state has the answer police them properly lock them up, and if they break the law they will be punished repeatedly, this is the capitalist answer, it does not serve capitalism to remove the root causes of disaffection as it is costly and the money is far better invested in weaponry and the investors wouldn't like millions being poured into a non profitable enterprise. This is of course a totally false calculation as any money spent redressing this awful inequitable scenario would save billions to the state in the long term.
One asks where is the political will, and you may also ask as to why ordinary people allow such disruption and inequality in society, the answer is close at hand in association with a bland and corrupting media, supported by our very own greed.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Television Saturday night review
The Saturday Game, Rte 2, Miriam meets Rte1, Love -Hate, Rte 1.
Having recently come to the sudden realisation that writing is the pursuit of poverty, I found myself penniless in front of Saorview, for those of you who are not familiar with the name it is Rte's new digital service and very good it is too. Rte two is broadcast in Hd, and all the home channels are available with an extra bonus news channel which re- broadcasts the six one and the 9 o' clock news so as one can always catch up. They also have Rte junior and Rte one + one which is also handy.
I settled in to watch Dublin play Tyrone, having taken the pragmatic decision that Gaa may put in a lot of hours over what is left of the summer. The match itself was most entertaining and I found myself warming to the game itself after over forty years of Gaa hating wherever that came from, as children we played soccer as it was a street game, and it was unlikely that many neighbours windows would get smashed as we kept the ball on the ground. We played Gaa at school but I was never much good at gaelic football and worse still at hurling.
I marvelled at the levels of fitness on display and the speed at which the game was played at, Dublin took the game to Tyrone and were very impressive, looking like they could score at will for most of the first half, but also they were resolute in defence, one could see the pain etched on the faces of the Tyrone forwards as another attack broke down.
The half time analysis was most entertaining with Michael Lyster coming across as an easy chairman who's love of the game surpasses any personal agenda he may have, Pat Spillane the Kerry Eamonn Dunphy is entertaining as he tries to bring us outside the parallell so to speak, but he is nothing if not passionate, Colm O' Rourke could do with a rub of passion as I suspect the floor manager has to shake him after the ad break just so he will appear awake, however in fairness to Colm he does have all the terminology like when he says the word football, he always says it the Gaa way. Joe Brolly came across as been entirely sinister, I expected Michael Lyster to ask him could he confirm as to when the hostages might be released. When Pat Spillane spoke Joe thought it was alright to laugh no matter what Pat might be saying, then when it came back to Joe I was certain he said something like on the hour every hour, unless you meet our demands.
The second half was even better for Dublin and they should have scored a few goals, but to Tyrone's credit they did try to the end, but their effort faded to an inevitable defeat by a fitter and physically stronger Dublin outfit. Our panel spoke of humiliation, and end of era's, naming a few players who had passed their sell by dates. Joe laughed again every time Pat spoke, and Colm said football the Gaa way a few times, until Michael looking nervously at Joe closed the show.
Miriam O' Callaghan was on after the news, she started her show with a miniature horse, she was out and about on a mock stable like set with straw and all of that. She interviewed the breeder of the miniature horse, she came across as a nice person well meaning, and her husband who was also nice and full of enthusiasm for their chosen hobby or full time living? I never found out as Miriam was more taken with the horse than listening to the answers to the bland questions she asked. For example she seemed totally uninterested in the ethics of this type of breeding, like in human terms would we be happy with growing to say four feet. Anyhow she moved on asking more bland questions of another guest, before entirely frustrating a bee keeper chap, who kept giving her very interesting facts about bees, and the keeping of same. Miriam was more concerned about the horse who was poised near a rather delicate area. She kept telling the poor bee keeper how she was so afraid of bee's and not to dare and open the hive.
Her show continued with the usual silly greed prize, which is akin to buying a late lotto holiday ticket, and she then tried to get serious talking to the poor brave Tipperary woman that featured with her handicapped son on a recent Prime Time programme. We were told at the start that we need not worry as a rich benefactor had donated money to pay for the boy's treatment. Miriam has this infuriating ability to act amazed no matter what answers her guest gives to her questions, and she was duly amazed as the poor lady from Tipperary described her boy's treatment and also with the generous contribution from the consultant surgeon who treated the child.
Then she said it 'It is a pity we have ro rely on charity but we do,' and she let it go there and the audience were quiet. Somehow I was nearly hoping the bee keeper had left his hive open.
I think love-hate is really good, in fact it is the best drama I have ever seen on Rte. The atmosphere is claustrophobic one would think Dublin was just a tiny village, the acting is superb all round male and female what talent we have. The direction is crisp smooth and imaginative and the script is tight, meaningful but never preachy. I loved the wedding scene when they entered the church and marched to the altar with the dead sound of rap, and the groom doing a hand stand. I also liked the way the dancing at the wedding went suddenly from classical to popular dance music. This shows me that we have a great future in film making in Ireland if only we allow artists to write and make the films they want to make. Small points, I thought the two bad guys turning up at the wedding out of their heads on coke was a little far fetched, and why would Darren go see his arch rival to square things up unprotected and on foot? Small points indeed but when you write novels everything checks out.
Having recently come to the sudden realisation that writing is the pursuit of poverty, I found myself penniless in front of Saorview, for those of you who are not familiar with the name it is Rte's new digital service and very good it is too. Rte two is broadcast in Hd, and all the home channels are available with an extra bonus news channel which re- broadcasts the six one and the 9 o' clock news so as one can always catch up. They also have Rte junior and Rte one + one which is also handy.
I settled in to watch Dublin play Tyrone, having taken the pragmatic decision that Gaa may put in a lot of hours over what is left of the summer. The match itself was most entertaining and I found myself warming to the game itself after over forty years of Gaa hating wherever that came from, as children we played soccer as it was a street game, and it was unlikely that many neighbours windows would get smashed as we kept the ball on the ground. We played Gaa at school but I was never much good at gaelic football and worse still at hurling.
I marvelled at the levels of fitness on display and the speed at which the game was played at, Dublin took the game to Tyrone and were very impressive, looking like they could score at will for most of the first half, but also they were resolute in defence, one could see the pain etched on the faces of the Tyrone forwards as another attack broke down.
The half time analysis was most entertaining with Michael Lyster coming across as an easy chairman who's love of the game surpasses any personal agenda he may have, Pat Spillane the Kerry Eamonn Dunphy is entertaining as he tries to bring us outside the parallell so to speak, but he is nothing if not passionate, Colm O' Rourke could do with a rub of passion as I suspect the floor manager has to shake him after the ad break just so he will appear awake, however in fairness to Colm he does have all the terminology like when he says the word football, he always says it the Gaa way. Joe Brolly came across as been entirely sinister, I expected Michael Lyster to ask him could he confirm as to when the hostages might be released. When Pat Spillane spoke Joe thought it was alright to laugh no matter what Pat might be saying, then when it came back to Joe I was certain he said something like on the hour every hour, unless you meet our demands.
The second half was even better for Dublin and they should have scored a few goals, but to Tyrone's credit they did try to the end, but their effort faded to an inevitable defeat by a fitter and physically stronger Dublin outfit. Our panel spoke of humiliation, and end of era's, naming a few players who had passed their sell by dates. Joe laughed again every time Pat spoke, and Colm said football the Gaa way a few times, until Michael looking nervously at Joe closed the show.
Miriam O' Callaghan was on after the news, she started her show with a miniature horse, she was out and about on a mock stable like set with straw and all of that. She interviewed the breeder of the miniature horse, she came across as a nice person well meaning, and her husband who was also nice and full of enthusiasm for their chosen hobby or full time living? I never found out as Miriam was more taken with the horse than listening to the answers to the bland questions she asked. For example she seemed totally uninterested in the ethics of this type of breeding, like in human terms would we be happy with growing to say four feet. Anyhow she moved on asking more bland questions of another guest, before entirely frustrating a bee keeper chap, who kept giving her very interesting facts about bees, and the keeping of same. Miriam was more concerned about the horse who was poised near a rather delicate area. She kept telling the poor bee keeper how she was so afraid of bee's and not to dare and open the hive.
Her show continued with the usual silly greed prize, which is akin to buying a late lotto holiday ticket, and she then tried to get serious talking to the poor brave Tipperary woman that featured with her handicapped son on a recent Prime Time programme. We were told at the start that we need not worry as a rich benefactor had donated money to pay for the boy's treatment. Miriam has this infuriating ability to act amazed no matter what answers her guest gives to her questions, and she was duly amazed as the poor lady from Tipperary described her boy's treatment and also with the generous contribution from the consultant surgeon who treated the child.
Then she said it 'It is a pity we have ro rely on charity but we do,' and she let it go there and the audience were quiet. Somehow I was nearly hoping the bee keeper had left his hive open.
I think love-hate is really good, in fact it is the best drama I have ever seen on Rte. The atmosphere is claustrophobic one would think Dublin was just a tiny village, the acting is superb all round male and female what talent we have. The direction is crisp smooth and imaginative and the script is tight, meaningful but never preachy. I loved the wedding scene when they entered the church and marched to the altar with the dead sound of rap, and the groom doing a hand stand. I also liked the way the dancing at the wedding went suddenly from classical to popular dance music. This shows me that we have a great future in film making in Ireland if only we allow artists to write and make the films they want to make. Small points, I thought the two bad guys turning up at the wedding out of their heads on coke was a little far fetched, and why would Darren go see his arch rival to square things up unprotected and on foot? Small points indeed but when you write novels everything checks out.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
David Norris and the Christian Right
Over two years ago I was book signing in the Sirius arts centre in Cobh, it was bright summers day and the liner 'Independence of the sea,' was visiting. People came from far and wide to view it, in all its splendour moored alongside the deep water berth beside Cobh's heritage centre. The arts centre was busy with people sauntering in to view the photographic exhibition, the building also houses the tourist information office, that too was busy with people buying souvenirs and asking touristy questions.
I chatted to a few interested Americans telling them all about my novel, and wondering would they take to it if they bought it, then in walked an escorted Senator David Norris passing by me and on into the tourist office, I had never met him in the flesh before but he was true to his television imagine, he walked gracefully with a beaming genuine smile.
I greeted him warmly on his way back out and his escort a local man allowed him stop for a chat, he was very interested in my novel and he pronounced the title perfectly, 'Viaréggio,' I went on to give him a short synopsis and he listened intently, I then told him of the reference in my work to Shelley, and the beach in Viaréggio. David was impressed he had not heard of my Shelley story before, 'Do you know he came to Dublin?' David asked me, which I openly admitted to not knowing, 'he was sympathetic to irish nationalism.' David said, I presented him with a signed copy free of charge, he thanked me profusely and he was on his way.
Two years later I tweeted him re-his campaign and I also asked him what he thought of 'Viaréggio,' Shelley and all of that? I never received a reply, so I surmised that perhaps he never read it, or he did read it and didn't like it, or indeed he found one or two scenes a little graphic. I will explain this, in my novel a former Mi5 agent in flashback to his days during the war in North of Ireland, forces a young informant to wear a wig and lipstick, before engaging in oral sex with him. In the present this intelligence agent hires a male prostitute who is a transvestite to have oral sex also, so in my silly little mind I wondered would David be uncomfortable with this as he was running for president, and that he may not want to be associated with literature of this nature.
Of course events soon overshadowed my petty little world, and the Christian right tried to bury him with their age of consent slur, fair enough people say that Senator Norris handled all this poorly, but how does one handle it? He is appealing to the middle-classes to elect him, and most of these people live in a world that is media driven,they sleep with opinion polls, and form their views based on the middle-class agenda that is spouted on Rte radio and television, not to mention our cosy little print media.
You cannot argue a case re- the age of consent, as the issue is not up for discussion, then of course they came back for the kill with the revelation that his former lover the plumber and human rights activist Ezra Yizhak Nawi had sex with a fifteen year old boy, and that Senator Norris intervened on his behalf using Seanad notepaper. What failed to come to light however was that Ezra Yizhak Nawi claimed his innocence at all times, he says the boy assured him he was sixteen, he has also denied that he is a paedophile.
Ezra Yizhak Nawi is a well known human rights activist and therefore is hardly the darling of the Israeli government, he has had many previous brushes with the law mostly to do with his human rights agenda, also he has incurred some nebulous drug offences. At the time of the Norris letter they were lovers, so here was a man that David Norris loved deeply who in his eyes was wrongly accused of statutory rape, and a person whom quite possibly the Israeli authorities wanted to put away, is it any surprise that Senator Norris wrote the letter?
So the Christian right have had their way, and the Irish people have been denied the opportunity to have Senator Norris stand as a presidential candidate, it is now deemed by those who follow the middle-class agenda, that this man is so vile, he cannot be allowed to go before the electorate. They have in essence crucified David Norris for having different views on sexuality to their main stream victorian like values, this man who has never pushed his ideas on society, but only dared to bring them to the table for discussion, has been informed that the door is permanently locked to his kind.
The novel 'Viaréggio,' is available on Amazon, or through Easons!
I chatted to a few interested Americans telling them all about my novel, and wondering would they take to it if they bought it, then in walked an escorted Senator David Norris passing by me and on into the tourist office, I had never met him in the flesh before but he was true to his television imagine, he walked gracefully with a beaming genuine smile.
I greeted him warmly on his way back out and his escort a local man allowed him stop for a chat, he was very interested in my novel and he pronounced the title perfectly, 'Viaréggio,' I went on to give him a short synopsis and he listened intently, I then told him of the reference in my work to Shelley, and the beach in Viaréggio. David was impressed he had not heard of my Shelley story before, 'Do you know he came to Dublin?' David asked me, which I openly admitted to not knowing, 'he was sympathetic to irish nationalism.' David said, I presented him with a signed copy free of charge, he thanked me profusely and he was on his way.
Two years later I tweeted him re-his campaign and I also asked him what he thought of 'Viaréggio,' Shelley and all of that? I never received a reply, so I surmised that perhaps he never read it, or he did read it and didn't like it, or indeed he found one or two scenes a little graphic. I will explain this, in my novel a former Mi5 agent in flashback to his days during the war in North of Ireland, forces a young informant to wear a wig and lipstick, before engaging in oral sex with him. In the present this intelligence agent hires a male prostitute who is a transvestite to have oral sex also, so in my silly little mind I wondered would David be uncomfortable with this as he was running for president, and that he may not want to be associated with literature of this nature.
Of course events soon overshadowed my petty little world, and the Christian right tried to bury him with their age of consent slur, fair enough people say that Senator Norris handled all this poorly, but how does one handle it? He is appealing to the middle-classes to elect him, and most of these people live in a world that is media driven,they sleep with opinion polls, and form their views based on the middle-class agenda that is spouted on Rte radio and television, not to mention our cosy little print media.
You cannot argue a case re- the age of consent, as the issue is not up for discussion, then of course they came back for the kill with the revelation that his former lover the plumber and human rights activist Ezra Yizhak Nawi had sex with a fifteen year old boy, and that Senator Norris intervened on his behalf using Seanad notepaper. What failed to come to light however was that Ezra Yizhak Nawi claimed his innocence at all times, he says the boy assured him he was sixteen, he has also denied that he is a paedophile.
Ezra Yizhak Nawi is a well known human rights activist and therefore is hardly the darling of the Israeli government, he has had many previous brushes with the law mostly to do with his human rights agenda, also he has incurred some nebulous drug offences. At the time of the Norris letter they were lovers, so here was a man that David Norris loved deeply who in his eyes was wrongly accused of statutory rape, and a person whom quite possibly the Israeli authorities wanted to put away, is it any surprise that Senator Norris wrote the letter?
So the Christian right have had their way, and the Irish people have been denied the opportunity to have Senator Norris stand as a presidential candidate, it is now deemed by those who follow the middle-class agenda, that this man is so vile, he cannot be allowed to go before the electorate. They have in essence crucified David Norris for having different views on sexuality to their main stream victorian like values, this man who has never pushed his ideas on society, but only dared to bring them to the table for discussion, has been informed that the door is permanently locked to his kind.
The novel 'Viaréggio,' is available on Amazon, or through Easons!
Monday, 4 July 2011
What will the Catholic Church do now? Update
The Catholic church has taken some beating in the last ten years with news of scandal after scandal. Even the most fervent of believers are struggling to explain the disgrace of their church. Often it is like what happens when one meets a Fianna Fail supporter they just go quiet and sit in the corner muttering to themselves.
Its a harsh world we live in full of people who will not only throw stones but might run you down with a steam roller whilst their at it. I wonder does the comparison to Fianna Fail really stand up? Well at least Fianna Fail have mentioned somewhat unconvincingly mind you but they have said it you know the word 'radical'. That dangerous word that can mean just about anything and in Fianna Fail's case it could be anything from Marx-to Hitler but let us leave them alone.
Now the idea I now have of the Catholic church is simple. There has been a change like a small change in the way they do business. The practise of moving serial child rapists from one parish to another is now gone. These offenders will now be handed over to the civil power for trial and punishment if convicted. Very good and what else is new? Well priests are very thin on the ground and in rural areas one priest may have to serve two or three parishes and a couple of off-shore Islands to boot. Good people empathise with may good hard working priest's because by association they are tarred with the stigma of child abuse and cover ups etc.
The Vatican who oversee our clergy have been strangely silent about the demise of our once flourishing national religion. I suspect we are but a drop in the ocean and they have bigger fish to fry in far off third world countries. In these places the church if still flourishing due to low standards of education and indeed deep poverty. So little fat recession plagued Ireland will be allowed to plod along with its ageing clergy. Perhaps as they die off they will be replaced by foreign priests who will eventually customise themselves to this society a bad plan maybe but this must be the Vatican's plan as they have not offered anything else.
What do you suggest I hear my readers ask I mean the church is doomed, doomed I say and many would say good riddance. Alright so just for a moment pretend that I am some big noise ecclesiastical nut who has total freedom to reform the Irish Catholic church what would I do? Right let us address the issues in order with simple ones first, on the issue of ageing priests etc one has to come up with the obvious. Priests must be allowed to marry. Also we will welcome applications from women with open arms as you will see this is a total radical manifesto. Now I would hope that the inclusion of women and married clergy would openly invite some lapsed Catholics back into the fold. There is more, my new church would take up a position like a political position. No more will the emphasis be on liturgy and doctrine but on the political welfare of the flock. I explain one of the main duties of my new Catholicism will be to educate people on the effects that politics has on their daily lives. It goes without saying of course that my churches new found radical politics would put Karl Marx to shame. We will insist that our flock should understand this. Well you see they need to understand what kind of battle is raging now. It is not like in the past when it concerned people's souls and hell and brimstone an all of that.
Today the problems are different entirely people need to know that they are living in a capitalistic fantasy. This world in which inequality thrives the battle is for your heart more so than your soul. People are born into a consumer spending stupor- that is fed by media and business interests. This stupor convinces us individuals that there is no place for equality. That the state and society is without responsibility to its citizen's, never mind it having a moral duty to its weakest.
There could be a few votes in this if the church was willing to grab this radical approach. After all for once the church would be teaching the true message of the greatest socialist of all Jesus Christ. Perhaps if they adopted his radical plan the true message of Catholicism might live on.
Its a harsh world we live in full of people who will not only throw stones but might run you down with a steam roller whilst their at it. I wonder does the comparison to Fianna Fail really stand up? Well at least Fianna Fail have mentioned somewhat unconvincingly mind you but they have said it you know the word 'radical'. That dangerous word that can mean just about anything and in Fianna Fail's case it could be anything from Marx-to Hitler but let us leave them alone.
Now the idea I now have of the Catholic church is simple. There has been a change like a small change in the way they do business. The practise of moving serial child rapists from one parish to another is now gone. These offenders will now be handed over to the civil power for trial and punishment if convicted. Very good and what else is new? Well priests are very thin on the ground and in rural areas one priest may have to serve two or three parishes and a couple of off-shore Islands to boot. Good people empathise with may good hard working priest's because by association they are tarred with the stigma of child abuse and cover ups etc.
The Vatican who oversee our clergy have been strangely silent about the demise of our once flourishing national religion. I suspect we are but a drop in the ocean and they have bigger fish to fry in far off third world countries. In these places the church if still flourishing due to low standards of education and indeed deep poverty. So little fat recession plagued Ireland will be allowed to plod along with its ageing clergy. Perhaps as they die off they will be replaced by foreign priests who will eventually customise themselves to this society a bad plan maybe but this must be the Vatican's plan as they have not offered anything else.
What do you suggest I hear my readers ask I mean the church is doomed, doomed I say and many would say good riddance. Alright so just for a moment pretend that I am some big noise ecclesiastical nut who has total freedom to reform the Irish Catholic church what would I do? Right let us address the issues in order with simple ones first, on the issue of ageing priests etc one has to come up with the obvious. Priests must be allowed to marry. Also we will welcome applications from women with open arms as you will see this is a total radical manifesto. Now I would hope that the inclusion of women and married clergy would openly invite some lapsed Catholics back into the fold. There is more, my new church would take up a position like a political position. No more will the emphasis be on liturgy and doctrine but on the political welfare of the flock. I explain one of the main duties of my new Catholicism will be to educate people on the effects that politics has on their daily lives. It goes without saying of course that my churches new found radical politics would put Karl Marx to shame. We will insist that our flock should understand this. Well you see they need to understand what kind of battle is raging now. It is not like in the past when it concerned people's souls and hell and brimstone an all of that.
Today the problems are different entirely people need to know that they are living in a capitalistic fantasy. This world in which inequality thrives the battle is for your heart more so than your soul. People are born into a consumer spending stupor- that is fed by media and business interests. This stupor convinces us individuals that there is no place for equality. That the state and society is without responsibility to its citizen's, never mind it having a moral duty to its weakest.
There could be a few votes in this if the church was willing to grab this radical approach. After all for once the church would be teaching the true message of the greatest socialist of all Jesus Christ. Perhaps if they adopted his radical plan the true message of Catholicism might live on.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Where have all the real people gone? Update
Why are we subjected to it to day after day, political show after political show. Countless newspaper articles and the new online super mouth that breaks the news faster than we break.....! The it I refer to is the economy, you know the ECB and the IMF and Fianna Fail and Fianna gael. The whole thing adds up to a bad dream poisoned by the presence of some malignant infection. I guess the sad part of all of this really is that some people get off on it. Media types and political correspondents, bland journalists and university educated producers, this is real time for them and they love every minute of it.
Caught up in all the mayhem is the stark reality that the backbone of this society ie- the voting public elected their peers to deal with the mess, yet all I hear are people cribbing and moaning about austerity and many seem to lack any positives regarding politicians or politics in general. One ends up unable to sleep asking the relentless question who actually did vote for these people, come on hands up. Of course the reality is that if you did vote for any of these middle right parties you more or less deserve everything you get.
The people I feel most sorry for are those who voted for Independents, the left wing alliance, or Sinn Fein, they are most unlikely to see the fruits of their labours within their life time. Now trouble sleeping is one thing but how about waking in a cold sweat trying to come to terms with the actual awful truth that capitalism just doesn't work for the majority of the people. The sudden realisation that we are sold the lines again and again. I will list a few of the lines we here in Ireland are sold every day and evaluate their truth level.
'The Atm's will run out of money and we will have no money to pay our Doctors and nurses!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- there is no proof to sustain this argument.Can you really imagine the EU allowing this to happen?
'If we higher Corporation tax foreign multi-nationals will leave immediately!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Foreign multi-nationals come to Ireland for tax breaks in the main but also for a strategic position to service European and world markets using our highly educated work force etc. They also pay very little taxes here and indeed repatriate most of their profits. If the strategy of inviting and in forming a dependence on foreign multi-nationals works for Ireland how come we have ended up in the trouble we are in. It must also be stated that we pay billions on the bureaucracy we have created with the knock them out with a mallet and bring them to Ireland doctrine.
'All left wing economic thinking is for the birds!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Most left wing economic thinking comes from the same area used by the main political parties they all consult economists for example some of the Sinn Fein economic policy in the last election was straight from the David Mc Williams school of economics. In television debates the right wing politicians usually start to shout down their opponent screaming the now standard,'where on earth the money is going to come from?' As soon as answer is attempted they shout down their opponent again.
'Fianna Fail will come up with some radical policies' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Fianna Fail are fast becoming the rural party- they have a new support comprised of mainly middle aged rural women.Many of these women are from families that have been favoured by association with Fianna Fail. Does this explain the shift to the right since the new leader sat on the throne, lots of anti-social welfare talk in the pubs where I live from people I know to be Fianna Fail supporters.
Now am I glad to get nagging thoughts off my chest so early in the day, I might even sleep better tonight. Before I nod off I promise myself I wont restart the whole bandwagon effect by wondering where have all the real people gone? The people who know we are been hoodwinked- people who know for example Irish people can actually control our natural resources. We can also control health, education, maybe even a bank or two. Hark I hear a voice sweeping over the Atlantic telling me that the dumb Irish are not capable of manufacturing a generic version of Lipitor, or that we cant make Stents for Angioplasty cheaply and supply them to our hospitals. No we need a multi-national to come in and make them sell them into our public health service at enormous cost before eventually going to India or Poland because the labour costs are lower. Verdict total nonsense and I never mentioned Vincent Browne once, the father of the Irish poor will sleep peacefully this night.
Caught up in all the mayhem is the stark reality that the backbone of this society ie- the voting public elected their peers to deal with the mess, yet all I hear are people cribbing and moaning about austerity and many seem to lack any positives regarding politicians or politics in general. One ends up unable to sleep asking the relentless question who actually did vote for these people, come on hands up. Of course the reality is that if you did vote for any of these middle right parties you more or less deserve everything you get.
The people I feel most sorry for are those who voted for Independents, the left wing alliance, or Sinn Fein, they are most unlikely to see the fruits of their labours within their life time. Now trouble sleeping is one thing but how about waking in a cold sweat trying to come to terms with the actual awful truth that capitalism just doesn't work for the majority of the people. The sudden realisation that we are sold the lines again and again. I will list a few of the lines we here in Ireland are sold every day and evaluate their truth level.
'The Atm's will run out of money and we will have no money to pay our Doctors and nurses!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- there is no proof to sustain this argument.Can you really imagine the EU allowing this to happen?
'If we higher Corporation tax foreign multi-nationals will leave immediately!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Foreign multi-nationals come to Ireland for tax breaks in the main but also for a strategic position to service European and world markets using our highly educated work force etc. They also pay very little taxes here and indeed repatriate most of their profits. If the strategy of inviting and in forming a dependence on foreign multi-nationals works for Ireland how come we have ended up in the trouble we are in. It must also be stated that we pay billions on the bureaucracy we have created with the knock them out with a mallet and bring them to Ireland doctrine.
'All left wing economic thinking is for the birds!' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Most left wing economic thinking comes from the same area used by the main political parties they all consult economists for example some of the Sinn Fein economic policy in the last election was straight from the David Mc Williams school of economics. In television debates the right wing politicians usually start to shout down their opponent screaming the now standard,'where on earth the money is going to come from?' As soon as answer is attempted they shout down their opponent again.
'Fianna Fail will come up with some radical policies' Verdict: Absolute nonsense- Fianna Fail are fast becoming the rural party- they have a new support comprised of mainly middle aged rural women.Many of these women are from families that have been favoured by association with Fianna Fail. Does this explain the shift to the right since the new leader sat on the throne, lots of anti-social welfare talk in the pubs where I live from people I know to be Fianna Fail supporters.
Now am I glad to get nagging thoughts off my chest so early in the day, I might even sleep better tonight. Before I nod off I promise myself I wont restart the whole bandwagon effect by wondering where have all the real people gone? The people who know we are been hoodwinked- people who know for example Irish people can actually control our natural resources. We can also control health, education, maybe even a bank or two. Hark I hear a voice sweeping over the Atlantic telling me that the dumb Irish are not capable of manufacturing a generic version of Lipitor, or that we cant make Stents for Angioplasty cheaply and supply them to our hospitals. No we need a multi-national to come in and make them sell them into our public health service at enormous cost before eventually going to India or Poland because the labour costs are lower. Verdict total nonsense and I never mentioned Vincent Browne once, the father of the Irish poor will sleep peacefully this night.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
'Vincent Brane,' Update
I have decided that this will be my final Vincent Browne [Brane] blog, one could spend a lifetime on him and the various subjects he covers and drops with such abandon, safe to say that the only subject sure to stay on the agenda is anything to do with the economy. I sit up nights worrying about this but I console myself in the knowledge that it is money that makes the world go round and indeed capitalism by it's very nature is the only true ideology befitting a human race that really doesn't care for their fellow time travellers.
You see I find it hard to empathise with people who agree to live in a system which allows limitless potential in return for a small select group hoarding all the wealth, this thesis survives on the notion that those privileged few hold all the power. Does anyone else worry that our sole mission at present is to return to gamblers and bookies in order to regulate our finances, does nobody else care that we are constantly fed lies and inaccuracies in order to retain this system that has served us so badly since the foundation of the state?
This system that has failed the poor and the needy for years it has stifled development where people from working class backgrounds didn't make university and if they had work it was generally manual in nature, so our patriots who fought for Irish freedom gave their lives so that the British upper class left this Island to be replaced with our own merchant class who in effect just continued the working doctrine of our colonists.
Well you may wonder what has Vincent Brane got to do with all of this, the answer just watch his show very carefully and listen and it will become apparent, last night he had three suits discussing a bland interview given by the very smug governor of the central bank Patrick Honohan. The very cheerful Patrick basically told us nothing and revealed only that the then minister of finance Brian Lenihan was disturbed by the whole process and that events eventually wore down his natural enthusiasm and certainly it would appear his naivety. Vincent then discussed this with his panel and introduced a panellist as one of TV3'S innovative new panel of guests which by the way judging from last night still does not trust the working classes.
Why does Vincent Brane not tell the truth , well if his whole handling of the Brian Lenihan's sad death is to be examined we will see. I for one have great sympathy for Brian Lenihan and his family and even though he was ill he kept up the brave fight, and I have no doubt worked very hard during the financial crisis that led to the bank guarantee and the eventual deal with the IMF and the ECB. However Vincent has made no attempt to discuss or properly analyse Brian Lenihan's role in all of this, instead he has patronisingly referred to the human side of the former minister and felt it un-important that we should get any closer to the truth as to why a sovereign country should sign away it's independence.
Perhaps in years to come the Irish media will examine the truth about this period of Irish history, but the influence of our elitist media will probably dictate that such discussion will be brushed aside so we can eulogise those responsible and seek to lay the blame elsewhere. Am I the only person that actually thinks that Brian Lenihan was out of his depth, if Brian Lenihan was English he would have been at Oxford or Eton, he came from the Irish privileged classes. He was born to govern rather than be governed his people are steeped in political blood. I am hearing that he was one of our brightest and possessed a great intellect, perhaps this is true but he didn't show this in any of the political interviews he gave during this crucial period of negotiations with our overlord's. As I said I have great sympathy for Mr Lenihan and his family on a personal basis but how many lives are affected by the economic mess we find ourselves in, how many people will actually die prematurely because of cutbacks in our health service etc.
I think me and Vincent Brane will part on a sound note, his show is different to the usual spoof journalism practised by RTE, where Miriam O' Callaghan calls people minister in her reverent dart accent, at least Vincent Brane gets at the odd gobshite. In my view he did the people of Dun Laoghaire a great favour by exposing Mary Hanifin as the political reptile she is, in the week of the election thus costing her a seat. Alright Vincent this is the end of the road my final comment will you ever get rid of the solicitor's suit, and learn how to use the autocue, and also will you practise the ending of your show like try to say good night to us all properly.
You see I find it hard to empathise with people who agree to live in a system which allows limitless potential in return for a small select group hoarding all the wealth, this thesis survives on the notion that those privileged few hold all the power. Does anyone else worry that our sole mission at present is to return to gamblers and bookies in order to regulate our finances, does nobody else care that we are constantly fed lies and inaccuracies in order to retain this system that has served us so badly since the foundation of the state?
This system that has failed the poor and the needy for years it has stifled development where people from working class backgrounds didn't make university and if they had work it was generally manual in nature, so our patriots who fought for Irish freedom gave their lives so that the British upper class left this Island to be replaced with our own merchant class who in effect just continued the working doctrine of our colonists.
Well you may wonder what has Vincent Brane got to do with all of this, the answer just watch his show very carefully and listen and it will become apparent, last night he had three suits discussing a bland interview given by the very smug governor of the central bank Patrick Honohan. The very cheerful Patrick basically told us nothing and revealed only that the then minister of finance Brian Lenihan was disturbed by the whole process and that events eventually wore down his natural enthusiasm and certainly it would appear his naivety. Vincent then discussed this with his panel and introduced a panellist as one of TV3'S innovative new panel of guests which by the way judging from last night still does not trust the working classes.
Why does Vincent Brane not tell the truth , well if his whole handling of the Brian Lenihan's sad death is to be examined we will see. I for one have great sympathy for Brian Lenihan and his family and even though he was ill he kept up the brave fight, and I have no doubt worked very hard during the financial crisis that led to the bank guarantee and the eventual deal with the IMF and the ECB. However Vincent has made no attempt to discuss or properly analyse Brian Lenihan's role in all of this, instead he has patronisingly referred to the human side of the former minister and felt it un-important that we should get any closer to the truth as to why a sovereign country should sign away it's independence.
Perhaps in years to come the Irish media will examine the truth about this period of Irish history, but the influence of our elitist media will probably dictate that such discussion will be brushed aside so we can eulogise those responsible and seek to lay the blame elsewhere. Am I the only person that actually thinks that Brian Lenihan was out of his depth, if Brian Lenihan was English he would have been at Oxford or Eton, he came from the Irish privileged classes. He was born to govern rather than be governed his people are steeped in political blood. I am hearing that he was one of our brightest and possessed a great intellect, perhaps this is true but he didn't show this in any of the political interviews he gave during this crucial period of negotiations with our overlord's. As I said I have great sympathy for Mr Lenihan and his family on a personal basis but how many lives are affected by the economic mess we find ourselves in, how many people will actually die prematurely because of cutbacks in our health service etc.
I think me and Vincent Brane will part on a sound note, his show is different to the usual spoof journalism practised by RTE, where Miriam O' Callaghan calls people minister in her reverent dart accent, at least Vincent Brane gets at the odd gobshite. In my view he did the people of Dun Laoghaire a great favour by exposing Mary Hanifin as the political reptile she is, in the week of the election thus costing her a seat. Alright Vincent this is the end of the road my final comment will you ever get rid of the solicitor's suit, and learn how to use the autocue, and also will you practise the ending of your show like try to say good night to us all properly.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
How did Vincent Browne get God on his show?
Well Vincent really brought the house down last night, I was expecting the usual bland Tuesday night guests when to my amazement he introduced God as a guest explaining how he had just written this great book about statistics and how he really cared about our attitudes to things.
God came complete with white beard and saintly expression and he informed us that we were much better off in general now than we used to be with women taking their rightful place in society, and that our standards had improved so much since God last checked us out in 1989. However Vincent was only tolerating God in his generalisation of the state of our nation he was far more interested the plight of our travelling community and as he put it more than once, 'they really are the most discriminated people you know.'
Now I have great sympathy for God and am a sucker for statistics but to see my favourite Fianna Fail politician Éamon Ó Cuív lord it archangel like promoting travellers rights was a bit hard to take, as as recently as the last budget this guy wanted to reduce disability benefit and more recently in a snippet from one of those new breed of TV3 shows he explained that if we get the dole cheats we will basically clear the national debt. This man is in favour of travellers rights? Perhaps there may be some votes in this for him but if Vincent can find a more right wing voice from west of the Shannon please let me know.
God sort of faded a little in the discussion once we got the statistics out of the way, and we found ourselves in Vincent territory he is very good on statistics and also he can conjure the odd obscure and even deleted word that nobody in the pub ever uses and more to the point he probably doesn't use himself that often. Vincent spoke and the chap from the travellers group spoke very well and suddenly the Irish audience were not just faced with God but with an articulate traveller.
It all faded out without much of a sting and my friend Éamon reminded us much to Vincent's annoyance about Francis Barrett and the Olympic games, Vincent went on to read some texts and tweets which were offensive but not much more than you hear on the average bar stool, you know when the orator is absolutely sure you agree with him and you don't but are quiet for the sake of peace. Now to the issue of travellers in general, people are wary of the subject as it is one of the no win scenarios common in Irish society, and to my mind it is an issue for which political correctness will not contribute to a solution.
In the main people are people and if some people choose to live a life by the side of the road or moving from place to place well there isn't much I can do about it, and children in Ireland from all backgrounds can suffer, and many from poor and disadvantaged area's are discriminated against all their lives. I sometimes wonder about shows of this nature, the debate will hardly change what is a cultural issue, we are a people who are mortally wounded by chronic indifference this is a society which has lost it's moral soul. I was all set for my my bed when I remembered that God had said that he himself lived with the travellers for a while, then I was reminded of time in my first life when an traveller girl was fitted out for her confirmation by my mother, she called regularly to our door for clothes-and I see her now as a jolly polite girl who thanked my mother profusely for her kindness. She called on us many times but then it stopped abruptly and we never saw her again.
God came complete with white beard and saintly expression and he informed us that we were much better off in general now than we used to be with women taking their rightful place in society, and that our standards had improved so much since God last checked us out in 1989. However Vincent was only tolerating God in his generalisation of the state of our nation he was far more interested the plight of our travelling community and as he put it more than once, 'they really are the most discriminated people you know.'
Now I have great sympathy for God and am a sucker for statistics but to see my favourite Fianna Fail politician Éamon Ó Cuív lord it archangel like promoting travellers rights was a bit hard to take, as as recently as the last budget this guy wanted to reduce disability benefit and more recently in a snippet from one of those new breed of TV3 shows he explained that if we get the dole cheats we will basically clear the national debt. This man is in favour of travellers rights? Perhaps there may be some votes in this for him but if Vincent can find a more right wing voice from west of the Shannon please let me know.
God sort of faded a little in the discussion once we got the statistics out of the way, and we found ourselves in Vincent territory he is very good on statistics and also he can conjure the odd obscure and even deleted word that nobody in the pub ever uses and more to the point he probably doesn't use himself that often. Vincent spoke and the chap from the travellers group spoke very well and suddenly the Irish audience were not just faced with God but with an articulate traveller.
It all faded out without much of a sting and my friend Éamon reminded us much to Vincent's annoyance about Francis Barrett and the Olympic games, Vincent went on to read some texts and tweets which were offensive but not much more than you hear on the average bar stool, you know when the orator is absolutely sure you agree with him and you don't but are quiet for the sake of peace. Now to the issue of travellers in general, people are wary of the subject as it is one of the no win scenarios common in Irish society, and to my mind it is an issue for which political correctness will not contribute to a solution.
In the main people are people and if some people choose to live a life by the side of the road or moving from place to place well there isn't much I can do about it, and children in Ireland from all backgrounds can suffer, and many from poor and disadvantaged area's are discriminated against all their lives. I sometimes wonder about shows of this nature, the debate will hardly change what is a cultural issue, we are a people who are mortally wounded by chronic indifference this is a society which has lost it's moral soul. I was all set for my my bed when I remembered that God had said that he himself lived with the travellers for a while, then I was reminded of time in my first life when an traveller girl was fitted out for her confirmation by my mother, she called regularly to our door for clothes-and I see her now as a jolly polite girl who thanked my mother profusely for her kindness. She called on us many times but then it stopped abruptly and we never saw her again.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Vincent Browne Uncovered
Now we have said goodbye to the monarch and the President the Vincent Browne show retuned to more domestic issue's the panel four woman and one man discussed various matters in relation to sexual crime. The discussion on New York justice and the arrogance of some powerful males holding power to presume they could select sexual targets with impunity.
All very well till Vincent allowed his male panellist conclude 'that visiting a prostitute was akin to paying to rape somebody's daughter,' then we were informed that brilliant Ireland the very people who presided over the most corrupt and abusive prostitution system in the world, was about to adopt the Swedish system, which in effect decriminalises the sale of sex but criminalises the purchase of same. This system evidently has been a popular success in Sweden reducing the numbers of prostitutes and Pimps, and also reducing the number of violent crimes associated with this back street industry.
That is all fine and well indeed if not raising a few eyebrows, as Sweden has a long association with sexual liberalism and indeed the famous Swedish Pornography industry, I wonder if Ireland follows their lead on the prostitution front will we create a load of jobs with our new porno industry, Irish Porn now there is something we can be proud of.
I presume if I try to make a case for legalising prostitution I will be accused of supporting the paying to rape somebody's daughter school of thought, but I seriously don't agree with that point of view, because it presumes that all men and women seeking sexual comfort are of like mind and of one cast as it were. Nothing could be further from the truth, people seek sexual services for all sorts of reasons, and people provide them for multiple reasons as well. Yes many women are trafficked into what is slavery and a life of violence and drugs, many women are endangered by thugs and crime lords all this is true. Yet in countries like Germany for example where prostitution is legal they have strict controls over these operations and many sex workers are legalised.
In order to follow the Swedish model this is what we are proposing, we are in effect saying as a society that sexual relations should only be legal among consenting adults with no payment of any kind exchanged, this then confines sexual activity to those who are married, or in a relationship whether straight or gay, it discriminates against single people, the old and the infirm and also those who are disabled, if as in many cases they do not have a partner for sexual fulfilment.
Society has now placed the moral emphasis on one side of the argument and I can say with equal surety, 'tough luck Mr or Miss lonely no sexual engagements for you, why don't you go out and secure a girlfriend a wife, or husband or boyfriend etc.... be normal for God sake.'
I place some data from both Germany and Sweden for your perusal I am surprised Vincent didn't go for balance here but sometimes he looks tired so late at night.
Legislative reform (2002)
In 2002 a one page law sponsored by the Green Party was passed by the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens in the Bundestag. The law removed the general prohibition on furthering prostitution and allowed prostitutes to obtain regular work contracts. The law's rationale stated that prostitution should not be considered as immoral anymore.
The law has been criticized as having not effectively changed the situation of the prostitutes, often because the prostitutes themselves don't want to change their working conditions and contracts.[14] The German government issued a report on the law's impact in January 2007, concluding that few prostitutes had taken advantage of regular work contracts and that work conditions had improved only slightly, if at all.[15]
In addition to the two pronged legal strategy, a third and essential element of Sweden's prostitution legislation provides for ample and comprehensive social service funds aimed at helping any prostitute who wants to get out, and additional funds to educate the public. As such, Sweden's unique strategy treats prostitution as a form of violence against women in which the men who exploit by buying sex are criminalized, the mostly female prostitutes are treated as victims who need help, and the public is educated in order to counteract the historical male bias that has long stultified thinking on prostitution. To securely anchor their view in firm legal ground, Sweden's prostitution legislation was passed as part and parcel of the country's 1999 omnibus violence against women legislation.
Paul Kestell lives in Co. Cork and is author of the novel 'Viaréggio,' his new novel 'Wood Point,' will be published by Thorn Island books in September 2011.
All very well till Vincent allowed his male panellist conclude 'that visiting a prostitute was akin to paying to rape somebody's daughter,' then we were informed that brilliant Ireland the very people who presided over the most corrupt and abusive prostitution system in the world, was about to adopt the Swedish system, which in effect decriminalises the sale of sex but criminalises the purchase of same. This system evidently has been a popular success in Sweden reducing the numbers of prostitutes and Pimps, and also reducing the number of violent crimes associated with this back street industry.
That is all fine and well indeed if not raising a few eyebrows, as Sweden has a long association with sexual liberalism and indeed the famous Swedish Pornography industry, I wonder if Ireland follows their lead on the prostitution front will we create a load of jobs with our new porno industry, Irish Porn now there is something we can be proud of.
I presume if I try to make a case for legalising prostitution I will be accused of supporting the paying to rape somebody's daughter school of thought, but I seriously don't agree with that point of view, because it presumes that all men and women seeking sexual comfort are of like mind and of one cast as it were. Nothing could be further from the truth, people seek sexual services for all sorts of reasons, and people provide them for multiple reasons as well. Yes many women are trafficked into what is slavery and a life of violence and drugs, many women are endangered by thugs and crime lords all this is true. Yet in countries like Germany for example where prostitution is legal they have strict controls over these operations and many sex workers are legalised.
In order to follow the Swedish model this is what we are proposing, we are in effect saying as a society that sexual relations should only be legal among consenting adults with no payment of any kind exchanged, this then confines sexual activity to those who are married, or in a relationship whether straight or gay, it discriminates against single people, the old and the infirm and also those who are disabled, if as in many cases they do not have a partner for sexual fulfilment.
Society has now placed the moral emphasis on one side of the argument and I can say with equal surety, 'tough luck Mr or Miss lonely no sexual engagements for you, why don't you go out and secure a girlfriend a wife, or husband or boyfriend etc.... be normal for God sake.'
I place some data from both Germany and Sweden for your perusal I am surprised Vincent didn't go for balance here but sometimes he looks tired so late at night.
Legislative reform (2002)
In 2002 a one page law sponsored by the Green Party was passed by the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens in the Bundestag. The law removed the general prohibition on furthering prostitution and allowed prostitutes to obtain regular work contracts. The law's rationale stated that prostitution should not be considered as immoral anymore.
The law has been criticized as having not effectively changed the situation of the prostitutes, often because the prostitutes themselves don't want to change their working conditions and contracts.[14] The German government issued a report on the law's impact in January 2007, concluding that few prostitutes had taken advantage of regular work contracts and that work conditions had improved only slightly, if at all.[15]
In addition to the two pronged legal strategy, a third and essential element of Sweden's prostitution legislation provides for ample and comprehensive social service funds aimed at helping any prostitute who wants to get out, and additional funds to educate the public. As such, Sweden's unique strategy treats prostitution as a form of violence against women in which the men who exploit by buying sex are criminalized, the mostly female prostitutes are treated as victims who need help, and the public is educated in order to counteract the historical male bias that has long stultified thinking on prostitution. To securely anchor their view in firm legal ground, Sweden's prostitution legislation was passed as part and parcel of the country's 1999 omnibus violence against women legislation.
Paul Kestell lives in Co. Cork and is author of the novel 'Viaréggio,' his new novel 'Wood Point,' will be published by Thorn Island books in September 2011.
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
May 17th 1974
I watch the Queen with president McAleese laying wreaths in the garden of remembrance, they do so stoic women they are, so much of what they do is driven by respect for the fallen, men and women who fell in the cause of securing Irelands freedom and today they are stoic once more as they visit Islandbridge and remember our war dead, men and women who fought on foreign fields in foreign armies.
Whatever about the ideology behind these sad individual stories, the truth is in many cases young men went to fight to secure their econimic survival, and to this day the working classes are still the foot soldiers across the world.
I turned sixteen in the summer of 1974, and I can remember May 17th of that year like it was yesterday. I had my first offical date that evening and when I met the beautiful young girl we strolled the streets of Killiney, and Ballybrack, knowing somehow that the world had changed forever that afternoon, Dublin was a war zone with bodies strewn along the footpaths cars incinerated where they were parked, shop fronts blown away and twenty seven innocent people murdered.
How innocent we were walking the safe steets of South Dublin. How innocent the relatives of the dead and injured were to place their faith in the false promises made by offical Ireland, that the perpetrators would be hunted down and brought to justice.
Nobody has ever been charged in connection with this atrocity or the terrible explosions in Monaghan on the same day.
We are a tired country we create our own myths we select the usual voices to comment people we are comfortable with, media freaks like Eamonn Dunphy, and Ryan Tubridy, it is like we round up the usual suspects, our national broadcaster has a short list and a long list.
The short list is made up of people like the forementioned add in a few smart politicians some senior pain in the ass journalists or image consultants the odd posh sounding professor etc and we are grand, the long list is all of the above plus anyone with an effective middle-class accent or who hails from some faculty in one of our wonderful third level institutions.
These people have one thing in common they tend to enjoy life and the privileges it bestows on them so they will never seriously rock the boat their crime is in pretending to do so. Eammon Dunphy wants us to move on from the terrible events of 1974, pretend it didnt happen get over it, his thesis is that British people are honest and decent, and sure doesnt the Queen like a gin and tonic and horse racing.
We then have that idiot Martin Mansergh telling us that the files the bereaved families are seeking may not exist despite evidence to contrary, and is he for real how does he know has he seen them, has somebody told him this over a pint in the dail bar.
It is no wonder we find ourselves on the brink of financial ruin the standards we as a people accept in both politics and in our media are scandalous.
I want to commend Vincent Browne for bringing this issue to the fore midst all the blandness and avoidance that surrounds us. I thought his chat with the female victim on the very street where she was maimed and he and his brother tried valiantly to save the wounded and the dying, deeply moving in its simplicity and impact, as we were looking at live witnesses to the largest single atrocity to fall upon this country since the civil war.
What do the media want us to do? In general they want us to forget move on what does it matter what a few British intelligence files might say? Those people died nearly forty years ago what is the point of dragging it all up now that the Queen is visiting?
These people were not soldiers fighting against imperial oppressors or on the great battle fields of France, they were innocent men, women, and children going about their daily lives when they were taken out, with the possible collusion of a sovereign state.
Where are the wreaths, for them?
Whatever about the ideology behind these sad individual stories, the truth is in many cases young men went to fight to secure their econimic survival, and to this day the working classes are still the foot soldiers across the world.
I turned sixteen in the summer of 1974, and I can remember May 17th of that year like it was yesterday. I had my first offical date that evening and when I met the beautiful young girl we strolled the streets of Killiney, and Ballybrack, knowing somehow that the world had changed forever that afternoon, Dublin was a war zone with bodies strewn along the footpaths cars incinerated where they were parked, shop fronts blown away and twenty seven innocent people murdered.
How innocent we were walking the safe steets of South Dublin. How innocent the relatives of the dead and injured were to place their faith in the false promises made by offical Ireland, that the perpetrators would be hunted down and brought to justice.
Nobody has ever been charged in connection with this atrocity or the terrible explosions in Monaghan on the same day.
We are a tired country we create our own myths we select the usual voices to comment people we are comfortable with, media freaks like Eamonn Dunphy, and Ryan Tubridy, it is like we round up the usual suspects, our national broadcaster has a short list and a long list.
The short list is made up of people like the forementioned add in a few smart politicians some senior pain in the ass journalists or image consultants the odd posh sounding professor etc and we are grand, the long list is all of the above plus anyone with an effective middle-class accent or who hails from some faculty in one of our wonderful third level institutions.
These people have one thing in common they tend to enjoy life and the privileges it bestows on them so they will never seriously rock the boat their crime is in pretending to do so. Eammon Dunphy wants us to move on from the terrible events of 1974, pretend it didnt happen get over it, his thesis is that British people are honest and decent, and sure doesnt the Queen like a gin and tonic and horse racing.
We then have that idiot Martin Mansergh telling us that the files the bereaved families are seeking may not exist despite evidence to contrary, and is he for real how does he know has he seen them, has somebody told him this over a pint in the dail bar.
It is no wonder we find ourselves on the brink of financial ruin the standards we as a people accept in both politics and in our media are scandalous.
I want to commend Vincent Browne for bringing this issue to the fore midst all the blandness and avoidance that surrounds us. I thought his chat with the female victim on the very street where she was maimed and he and his brother tried valiantly to save the wounded and the dying, deeply moving in its simplicity and impact, as we were looking at live witnesses to the largest single atrocity to fall upon this country since the civil war.
What do the media want us to do? In general they want us to forget move on what does it matter what a few British intelligence files might say? Those people died nearly forty years ago what is the point of dragging it all up now that the Queen is visiting?
These people were not soldiers fighting against imperial oppressors or on the great battle fields of France, they were innocent men, women, and children going about their daily lives when they were taken out, with the possible collusion of a sovereign state.
Where are the wreaths, for them?
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
The Queen has Arrived
I for one share the mis-conception as it is easy to do, since I was a kid I have always viewed stuff like Britain and the Queen as an entity. When someone talks about the UK I automaticly see the map populated by flea like citizens with the Queen waving out the window of her palace.
France would be the same just add the Beret's and so on the further I go towards the Med just add some olive oil and stir gently.
Now I am aghast as the Queen has arrived and there is great excitment and consternation for some it beckons them to celebrate, lifting the faded easter lillies out of the drawer to find great granddad's union Jack, they will wave them on the streets of Dublin and Cork I can tell you.
Others of course will take a different view holding up the history of colonization and oppression, citing her role as the commander and chief of the British armed forces who have a dubious record all around the world!
Yet I have to admit to holding a different view on the Queen and her visit, as a committed socialist come anarchist and so on I dont do Royalty as such but to even pretend that the Queen is actually the head of the British armed forces is nonsense, they are in reality only short of using her in the next please visit Britain television advertisement.
In truth the Queen is not important in a political sense at all, she is a media guru's dream with all the trappings of wealth the castles and the horses and dogs, but in truth if you can show me a more boring and captive lifestyle let me know.
So who is the commander in chief of the British armed forces if the Queen spends her time locked away. Why the British public of course you thought I was going to let them away Scott free didn't you? You know what I am going to say next well the British people vote for the people who make the policy blah blah, so they are ultimatly responsible for what Britain gets up to on foreign fields not the poor old lady with the handbag.
I close my eyes now to see the map and the fleas jumping in places as diverse as Coventry and London ah yes there is Liz cleaning her windows and remarking on the weather, now I am in Paris gay prosperous, next image is Germany and Frankfurt, and I am suddenly mad as hell.
France would be the same just add the Beret's and so on the further I go towards the Med just add some olive oil and stir gently.
Now I am aghast as the Queen has arrived and there is great excitment and consternation for some it beckons them to celebrate, lifting the faded easter lillies out of the drawer to find great granddad's union Jack, they will wave them on the streets of Dublin and Cork I can tell you.
Others of course will take a different view holding up the history of colonization and oppression, citing her role as the commander and chief of the British armed forces who have a dubious record all around the world!
Yet I have to admit to holding a different view on the Queen and her visit, as a committed socialist come anarchist and so on I dont do Royalty as such but to even pretend that the Queen is actually the head of the British armed forces is nonsense, they are in reality only short of using her in the next please visit Britain television advertisement.
In truth the Queen is not important in a political sense at all, she is a media guru's dream with all the trappings of wealth the castles and the horses and dogs, but in truth if you can show me a more boring and captive lifestyle let me know.
So who is the commander in chief of the British armed forces if the Queen spends her time locked away. Why the British public of course you thought I was going to let them away Scott free didn't you? You know what I am going to say next well the British people vote for the people who make the policy blah blah, so they are ultimatly responsible for what Britain gets up to on foreign fields not the poor old lady with the handbag.
I close my eyes now to see the map and the fleas jumping in places as diverse as Coventry and London ah yes there is Liz cleaning her windows and remarking on the weather, now I am in Paris gay prosperous, next image is Germany and Frankfurt, and I am suddenly mad as hell.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Why Vincent Browne is wrong about the ECB
Vincent Browne is normally right, well he is right about a lot of stuff, and even when he is not right he manages to express a wonderful wounded look which says 'look they are tormenting my beautiful idealism with their cynical snarling brand of hogwash!'
But this time he is wrong he blames the ECB, for all our ills and points to their total lack of accountability to the European state, it's parliament and in turn to us the citizens.
Why should the ECB be accountable to us? Would I be accountable to the person who slipped and fell down the stairs after raiding my bedroom safe.
In order to demand accountability one must have the moral authority to do so, do we as citizens hold such authority?
We live in a divided society which is controlled by the flow of money, the system we live under is designed to make a few people very rich,allow a comfortable existence for many but also it leaves millions by the wayside trapped in poverty without hope.
We the people allow this, we encourage it by voting endless right wing politicians into power, in our case here in Ireland inexplicably so. So we are the people that Vincent wants the ECB to be accountable to like somehow we have the higher moral authority.
We do not own any moral authority look a the world we live in where people starve because of their colour, wars are fought to protect oil wealth and the arms industry. We are the makers of systems we make the ECB, it is us that are accountable to nobody.
But this time he is wrong he blames the ECB, for all our ills and points to their total lack of accountability to the European state, it's parliament and in turn to us the citizens.
Why should the ECB be accountable to us? Would I be accountable to the person who slipped and fell down the stairs after raiding my bedroom safe.
In order to demand accountability one must have the moral authority to do so, do we as citizens hold such authority?
We live in a divided society which is controlled by the flow of money, the system we live under is designed to make a few people very rich,allow a comfortable existence for many but also it leaves millions by the wayside trapped in poverty without hope.
We the people allow this, we encourage it by voting endless right wing politicians into power, in our case here in Ireland inexplicably so. So we are the people that Vincent wants the ECB to be accountable to like somehow we have the higher moral authority.
We do not own any moral authority look a the world we live in where people starve because of their colour, wars are fought to protect oil wealth and the arms industry. We are the makers of systems we make the ECB, it is us that are accountable to nobody.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Tweetering Twits
We can all rejoice the twitter generation has arrived, and I wonder if twitter didn't exist would we all go round talking to ourselves in little sound-bytes like 'I would love to stop for coffee but got to rush.'
I have no doubt that twitter's popularity is due in no small measure to it's female users,women can now comment safely on every area of their lives yet not give a hoot if anyone is interested, I see loads of 'night, night all,' tweets from women who are valiantly sending their extended family ie, the whole world to sleep.
Men use it for different reasons of course there is the hard edged business guy who tweets common sense with his hard nosed business values, he is out hunting and he will make a kill. Also there are the more shy retiring types who are slightly embarrassed by the technology so they reluctantly try and be funny, or quote from some Greek philosopher!
The one thing that strikes me about twitter is of course it's reinforcment of the worlds middle class agenda, I cant imagine poor people tweeting, 'going begging today, hope it goes well?' later of course they would recieve lots of tweets from their followers, 'how did you do?' with my hard nosed business guys asking, 'how much did you make, nice profit!'
So I resign myself to another day of blandness reading lots of silly notices with links to web-sites and photo's etc, I will hear from both men and women about business the state of the world with news and sports, breaking news before it has even happened that is the magic of twitter.
Yet can anyone enlighten me I thought that twitter was a tool to facilitate discussion well I dont know but have you ever tried to discuss anything on twitter?
People run scared hide behind their little icons one can sense their tone change, the bland stuff like, ' Meeting Ryan Tubridy today, cant wait,' is replaced by a deafening silence.
When one persists in probing an individual as in a recent case I took exception to her term 'Breaking News,' during the Japanese disaster, she blocked me from following her silly tweets. It was this journalists way of tweeting and discussing the world today, and the way the media works.
Of course I know I am an annoying tweeter I write in the early hours of the morning and sometimes subject to fatigue I can be a little sarcastic you know and sometimes people read tweets and take them at face value, and I go to sleep all smug congratulating myself on how clever I am, and how the silly Dublin fourite will miss the point!
Come to think of it that is actually the only good thing I can say about this forum for tweetering twits, I am off now with my little bowl got some begging to do!
I have no doubt that twitter's popularity is due in no small measure to it's female users,women can now comment safely on every area of their lives yet not give a hoot if anyone is interested, I see loads of 'night, night all,' tweets from women who are valiantly sending their extended family ie, the whole world to sleep.
Men use it for different reasons of course there is the hard edged business guy who tweets common sense with his hard nosed business values, he is out hunting and he will make a kill. Also there are the more shy retiring types who are slightly embarrassed by the technology so they reluctantly try and be funny, or quote from some Greek philosopher!
The one thing that strikes me about twitter is of course it's reinforcment of the worlds middle class agenda, I cant imagine poor people tweeting, 'going begging today, hope it goes well?' later of course they would recieve lots of tweets from their followers, 'how did you do?' with my hard nosed business guys asking, 'how much did you make, nice profit!'
So I resign myself to another day of blandness reading lots of silly notices with links to web-sites and photo's etc, I will hear from both men and women about business the state of the world with news and sports, breaking news before it has even happened that is the magic of twitter.
Yet can anyone enlighten me I thought that twitter was a tool to facilitate discussion well I dont know but have you ever tried to discuss anything on twitter?
People run scared hide behind their little icons one can sense their tone change, the bland stuff like, ' Meeting Ryan Tubridy today, cant wait,' is replaced by a deafening silence.
When one persists in probing an individual as in a recent case I took exception to her term 'Breaking News,' during the Japanese disaster, she blocked me from following her silly tweets. It was this journalists way of tweeting and discussing the world today, and the way the media works.
Of course I know I am an annoying tweeter I write in the early hours of the morning and sometimes subject to fatigue I can be a little sarcastic you know and sometimes people read tweets and take them at face value, and I go to sleep all smug congratulating myself on how clever I am, and how the silly Dublin fourite will miss the point!
Come to think of it that is actually the only good thing I can say about this forum for tweetering twits, I am off now with my little bowl got some begging to do!
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