I’m either getting popular or NOT, depending on how you read ‘Bumped’ but in any case I look to be, in the popular ‘reality’, bumped off Cork and Irish blog aggregators. 😉
Yearly Archives: 2006
A Generation lost
Crime statistics aside, much of the current crime has been committed by gangs. Gangs formed in the absence of alternatives in the infrastructure and jobs. Note also the glamorization of drugs and alcohol and the easy life. All these things are the results of neglect 10, 15 and 20 years ago of community infrastructures and youth facilities. Facilities still missing, and continuing to contribute canon fodder, in form of a lost generation, to the crime.
The old saying, the crows have come home to roost fits perfectly. And this will continue to happen until facilities, good facilities, youth centers, job training, and educational facilities. More funding for schools, and school facilities and good jobs, for students to look forward to working at, could provide alternatives to crime.
And of all things decentralization, of all things, could also be the facilitator of less crime. Rat studies years ago have noted that high population densities increase community violence. Decentralization of industrial jobs and government must lead to increased community infrastructure, schools, shopping and transport in more rural areas.
We are living in a generation lost, and it will not be mended by treating the symptoms, but by attacking the root causes. We will not save this generation until we save the next one.
The age of consent, should vote
Here is a novelty, if the decision on the age of consent should be lowered, why not let the citizens most affected by the decision be allowed to vote on the subject. Why not lower the voting age to 16 and put the decision up to the people. That would let the TD’s and Dail off the hook for any hard decisions that might affect their reign.
Passing the buck to the church, given their way, everyone will not permitted sex, at all! What’s good for priests, are good enough for the general population. How normal is that, no thanks.
The reality of he situation is, some 16 year olds are criminals, having nasty sex, in defiance of the law. The real issue is really education, no one in this puritanical country wants to educate the kids about sex, sexual health, and the emotional issues associated with sex.
Time for this culture to growup and find out where babies really come from.
When is an iPhone only an iTalk
When is an iPhone NOT what Apple will call their new iPod/Mobile Phone? When they call it an iTalk. A name they trademarked several years ago, and is generally clear of any trademark infringement. The iPhone is what the press have been calling it all along. Don’t expect Apple to call it that.
Update: Cisco — not apple — announces iPhone
Told you!
What will 500€ buy these days
500€ that’s proximately what the surplus means to every man woman and child in Ireland today. What could you do with 500 Euros? Maybe buy a new government, or maybe add it with your neighbor’s 500 and help fix up the local medical facilities, or maybe your estate residents could help fund a rapid transit stop in your community. Maybe with the next budget, we the citizens of Ireland could vote for what we thought the budget surplus be spent on?
This Government is not in Business
Interesting, almost everybody I’ve talked to knows that government is not a business. So why is the government hoarding it’s our money? We gave the government money to spend on maintenance and infrastructure build-out, to help people and make the future brighter and better. If they aren’t spending it, give it back, they obviously don’t need it.
They are being told by ‘economic’ genius, that they should hold on to the surplus so that there would be funds for any crisis in the future. However the only known constants in the world are death and taxes. The government will ALWAYS have enough money, This government will always increase taxes when it needs it. It always allows energy, communications and transportation businesses to increase their rate at will, so we know that they will increase taxes should a crisis arise.
So why don’t we have a world class health system, why do we have high speed trains that can’t go high speed due to poor railroad tracks. Why do we pay taxes and get nothing back, except back talk from this government?
This week we will see how bad the hoarding will be. Who are they saving our money for, us or their ‘friends’?
History and Presidential ratings
We really didn’t need to have yet another article about how poor president George Bush has been, as detailed here;He’s The Worst Ever by the Washington Post.
The real question is why, with all the historical information about what constitutes a ‘Good President’, how he was allowed, by congress, and the general public to become the worst President in history.
A more pressing question will be how will they redeem themselves? Will the public, having now decided on a new Democratic Congress, put an end to the ‘worst’ president, and impeach him.
Only history will tell, let’s hope we won’t have to wait very long.
Testing Link Probagation
This will be interesting, testing the probagation time for a blog link 😉
Measuring the S
Irish Mad dog
Why does Ian Paisley look like a man with a mad dog on a leash with regards to the Stormont attack by Loyalist killer Michael Stone ? Why is this a great thing, appearing to be a real moderate by demonstrating to the public what a real Unionist looks like? What a great tactic to insure control of Stormont by implying that he is the only one to claim control of the radical unionist movement?
It seems to be entirely too convenient.
The British repel ‘Intellegent Design’
Now we know why the British education system is better than the American one,
teaching materials deemed “not appropriate” by the government
This is the response to the BBC Article Let us test Darwin, teacher says that claim’s that “packs promoting intelligent design are useful for debating Darwinist theories.”
I don’t think so!
If the Americans believe that the world is the result of ‘Intelligent Design’ why did everything turn out so bad? 😉
Post Bertiegate comes the silent lie
Has any one noticed that the Irish Government has returned to the silent lie? That the Stardust does not need to be investigated, because no new evidence was found by the non existent follow up investigations that never happened. That the nursing home reports are never publish so long as the bathroom tiles are fixed?
The fact that the Irish freedom of information act will postpone any evidence from from coming to light about this corrupt and incompetent government does not make the problems go away. Except for the ministers, who can continue to be unresponsive to their responsibilities to the public.
Time for a change, will an honest politician restore the Freedom of Information? Or will we continue to be governed in the dark?
Or will the press begin to ask the hard questions, and not bow to the governments requirements not to questions their decisions?
Making illegality legal?
The lame duck Republicans are attempting to make the illegal violation of the 4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, legal!
Republicans who limped back to Washington for a lame duck congressional session last week found a host of marching orders from President Bush, but perhaps none more urgent than this: Before Democrats take control of Congress in January, they must pass legislation authorizing the National Security Agency’s domestic eavesdropping program.
The real question will be how, even with the biased right wing Supreme Court, will you justify further violations to the constitution. How will Bush and his fellow future prisoners GOP republicans lie to convince the American public that being illegal is, really Legal?
Weapon of philosophy
Now that the Democrats are in control of congress, maybe we can do something that the Republicans were unwilling to do. Support the troops overseas.
And this is where I diverge from my usual subjects. Like Bernie Goldbach at IrishEyes I’ve had a previous life with the U.S. Government, both in the Military, and as a civilian.
Recently I have read about the soldiers in the field complaining about the weapons that they carry, in particular the venerable M-16. This is the mainstay of the U.S. Army (and troops elsewhere in the world) and is a unique Weapon of philosophy. And this is the nature of war, it often prescribes a weapons requirements.
The M-16, and bullet and cartridge that they use is designed for a type of war that is not the current norm. Let me explain, the M-16 utilizes a 5.56x45mm (.223 Remington) caliber bullet. This is a very small bullet, but it’s the reasoning behind this choice.
This bullet is intended to wound rather than kill.
The motivation behind this was the nature of warfare at the time. The thinking at the time, and the nature of the enemy lead military designers to the conclusion that a wounded enemy soldier consumed more enemy resources than a dead one. This follows that the enemy retrieves and cares for it’s wounded. It also is based on the idea that a wounded soldier would stop fighting and/or surrender if wounded.
This is not the current enemy, and the soldier in the field is finding this out, they are screaming out for the older and larger bullet of the M-14 a 30-06 (7.62x63mm). And while this is heavy and restricts the amount of ammunition that a soldier can carry, it has stopping power. A real killing bullet that is required for an enemy that chooses to die, and who will seek it out and will not be stopped by wounding and will not be deterred by the wounded. In the same issue, the M-16 has no penetration in a stone and mortar world or a metal car and light armored world, the M-14 will!
Hence the philosophy issue, warfare has changed, the weapons will have to change to prevent the soldier from loosing the battle before it begins. There are still plenty of battles before we withdraw from the mistake of Iraq. I only hope that the new congress will armor and arm, pay and support the soldier who defends the renewed democracy called America.
The great Uniter that never was
Where was this great uniter Bush over the last 6 years? Where was this great uniter, who’s favorite words were ‘My way, or the Highway’ Great words for a uniter that never was. And never will be.
When will we see the great uniter? Right after he vetoes his first documents from a Democratic Congress. Something, anything, that he doesn’t like, something, anything he can’t control. Then we will see the true colors of this ‘great uniter’, The only thing he knows, is how to divide, he who is really only a great divider?
Soon, very soon, we will see his true colors.
Betting is getting hot and heavy on the Senate and House
Looks like I’ll be watching the U.S. elections for the next few hours, but it’s more interesting watching the betting on the Senate and house Races I’m just hoping that the betting that shows the Senate remaining in GOP hands is wrong, and the both the Senate and House pass into Democratic control.