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What you want to say – 21st June, 2017 June 21, 2017

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
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As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.

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1. Alibaba - June 21, 2017

Closing speeches in the Jobstown trial were given yesterday.

‘prosecution barrister Sean Gillane SC, told the jury that the essential question in the case was “not political” and that their political views should have no bearing on the case.

“You’re entitled to those views but those views have to be left outside the jury room,” he said. Outlining the nature of the charges against the accused men, he said that when you seek to restrain the liberty of a person, the restraint has to be “total”.

Outlining the nature of the charges against the accused Gillane said there was no doubt about the right to peaceful protest, which he said was “embedded in the Constitution” but he said there were “obvious limitations” to that right.’

That shows utter contempt for our rights. This protest was a  political one. It was spontaneously generated and directed in a peaceful manner by the defendants when the car occupants were detained. Fact. The jury was told by the defence barrister that: “By your verdict, you will not only decide (Paul) Murphy’s future, you will fix the limits of our freedom to hold our elected leaders to account”. Whichever way the verdict goes, the results will go down in history.

http://www.thejournal.ie/jobstown-trial-latest-3454894-Jun2017/

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EWI - June 21, 2017

I foresee emergency legislation, maybe even an all-nighter, if this case goes against the establishment. Appalling Vista, Attack on Democracy, etc.

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2. Gerryboy - June 21, 2017

For the year that’s in it, here is a link to Sergei Eisenstein’s 1928 film October (Ten Days that shook the World). The opening scene sets the atmosphere – a crowd pulls down the statue of the czar.

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3. Starkadder - June 21, 2017

Remember last year, when all the Putin shills were warning us that
voting for Hillary Clinton would cause WWIII in the Middle East? Well:

Though Trump derided such an approach in debates with Clinton, the U.S. is now fighting a multi-pronged war in Syria, as opposed to focusing exclusively on ISIS. In April, after a chemical weapons attack by Assad forces, Trump ordered a missile strike on a military airfield—a harbinger of a shift in policy, it now seems. Over the past week, the U.S. has downed two Iranian-built drones, and on Sunday the military shot down a Syrian jet—the first time the U.S. has done so in this war. In response, the Russian government suspended its air-traffic hotline with the U.S. and warned that it might target U.S. and allied planes if they fly west of the Euphrates.

https://newrepublic.com/article/143416/trumps-syria-policy-remind-someone

I was no fan of Hillary, but at least she would be prepared to listen to her advisors. Trump is simply pushing more US military force there without listening to anyone.

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WorldbyStorm - June 21, 2017

Have to agree, the situation is deeply concerning and there’s no end of provocations and this administration seems uniquely unsuited to engage with the overall context.

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4. ivorthorne - June 21, 2017

So I just read this article:

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/only-three-out-of-19-new-ministers-of-state-are-women-1.3127220

Is it just me but are these kind of analyses utterly ridiculous?

Put this way:

There were 34 ministerial appointments. 5 of these went to independents. Leaving 29 Ministerial appointments for FG.

22% of TDs are female. Within government FG have 11 female TDs. Three of these are first time TDs. That leaves 8 who would have been eligible for ministerial positions. 5 of the 29 ministerial positions available to FG were given to women by Leo. So 62.5% of eligible women within FG got ministerial positions.

78% of TDs are male. Within government, FG has 39 male TDs. Three were new, leaving a pool of 36. 24 of the ministerial positions available to FG were given to men by Leo so 66% of eligible women within FG got ministerial positions.

These are back of the fag packet calculations. I’m sure there are some mistakes. But a difference of 3.5% with such small numbers is pretty negligible.

This doesn’t actually look at experience levels, who people supported for the position of leader of FG etc. which could put a slightly different spin on things.

It’s not that I do not think that there are not considerable barriers to entering political life that, at the group level, disadvantage women in comparison to men or that we should not address these issues, but I cannot help but look at commentary like the above and think it misses the point entirely. Eligible TDs were appointed to ministerial positions at a pretty similar rate. Talk of a 50/50 split at the cabinet level is unrealistic if you appoint on the basis of merit and merit is equally distributed across the sexes when the number of women running and succeeding at election time is much lower than men.

It feels as though some liberal, middle class journalists do not want to look at the structural barriers but instead like the aesthetics of having more women in positions of power. They would not care if those women are part of the political dynasties that dominate the main parties. It’s all about how things look as opposed to how things are. Style over substance.

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sonofstan - June 21, 2017

Fact remains, Ireland is WAY behind the rest of Europe in terms of gender balance in parliament and it does matter. 119 out of 262 BLP MPs are women; that’s about 40%. Female SF representation in the Assembly is even higher 44% from memory? – as is the SNP’s in both Westminster and Holyrood. The left in Ireland is fairly balanced, but also, of course, small. The big parties look old fashioned golf clubs in comparison.

So yes, analysis such as that which you quote is useless – but the big parties really need to get their act together.

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ivorthorne - June 21, 2017

Yeah, I’d agree. We are well behind the rest of Europe and that is a symptom of a wider problem. FF and FG dominate Irish politics and their internal party structures favour more men than women, though of course they discriminate against anybody who does not have the “right” background and lifestyle.

Gender quotas appear to have pushed up the number of female candidates but, again, they are addressed at a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. Pushing up the number of female ministers, for its own sake, will not tackle the problem. They would only mask it.

What we want is a situation where a single parent with no finances can stand on a level playing field with Mary O’Rourke’s grandchild and, everything else being equal, have the same chance of being elected and/or promoted to a ministerial position. This goes against the very nature of the two main parties.

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GW - June 23, 2017

So to give women a chance we need to get rid of the Fx parties.

I’ll buy that. Perhaps more women will come to see it that way and vote accordingly, if they create alternatives that aren’t based on patriarchal structures and cultures.

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ivorthorne - June 23, 2017

Yeah, it is not in the interests of the left or Irish people generally to allow Fx to paper over the flaws inherent in those parties by encouraging them to adopt means that make them appear representative or progressive.

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5. roddy - June 21, 2017

The last time I looked SF’s 45% assembly women were in Ireland too.Certainly they would see themselves as such!

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sonofstan - June 21, 2017

fair point.
I was using ‘Ireland’ to mean the jurisdiction generally referred to by that name, not the Ireland we would like it to mean.

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6. Michael Carley - June 22, 2017

Extract from a UK A-Level history textbook.

Frankly, it’s a surprise anyone at all over here has a clue about anything in Ireland.

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2017

Feck, wrong tweet. Should have been this one:

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sonofstan - June 22, 2017

Holy F*ck
It’s like something you’d get free with the Daily Express. In large type.

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Michael Carley - June 22, 2017

And this is A Level. People turn up at university with this as a qualification in history.

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RosencrantzisDead - June 22, 2017

Would this be the upshot of Michael Gove’s crusade against the histoy curriculum, which he said did not honor ‘heroes’ enough?

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WorldbyStorm - June 22, 2017

Bloody hell. This is… I don’t know. Imperialism writ small? Or at least the mindset? And the old Irish Republic creeps in which is simply incorrect as the name of the state many of us live in.

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shea - June 22, 2017

its sort of like the history your uncles teach you but written down and imperialist.

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ivorthorne - June 23, 2017

Didn’t Niall Ferguson re-write the history curriculum under Cameron?

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6to5against - June 23, 2017

Is it by any chance quoting from a separate text? By way of offering context? I read through my niece’s A level text last year and found little so obnoxious.

Pretty much the only references to Ireland were in the context of the difficulties we caused British politicians: the so-called ‘Irish problem’. Objectionable in its own way, but nowhere near as objectionable as this quote….

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GW - June 23, 2017

Apart from anything else this leaves the victims of this kind of history teaching extraordinarily poorly equipped to deal with place their country in a world or even regional context.

Hence Brexit etc.

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7. roddy - June 22, 2017

The sooner the education system goes integrated and teaches this “history” the better.!

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Jolly Red Giant - June 22, 2017

There is some seriously dodgy stuff in the history books in Irish schools as well.

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8. Geraldus Galwensis - June 22, 2017

De Valera’s worldwide influence reaches Samoa, which is now officially a Christian state.

http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/samoa-officially-becomes-a-christian-state/

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GW - June 23, 2017

I suspect the influence of more Protestant branches of Christian fundamentalism is behind this, rather than the Catholic fundamentalism that de Valera espoused.

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9. sonofstan - June 23, 2017

You may remember Martin Jacques, editor of Marxism Today through the 80s/ early 90s, a publication that helped shift the Labour party towards the ‘New’
Well here he is, and he’s found a new messiah…

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2017/06/why-jeremy-corbyn-new-leader-new-times

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10. sonofstan - June 23, 2017

The Guardian has a not very funny humour piece on ‘what if Brexit hadn’t happened’. It’s worth pondering seriously, or as seriously as one can take counterfactuals. A few starters:
Cameron would still be PM, Gideon would be Chancellor and May HS (or maybe not).
Trump? without the ‘yes ‘we’ can’ fillip it gave, would he have won?
UKIP would, paradoxically, still be a force?
The FN would have run the eventual winner, who might/ might not have been Macron a lot closer.
Corbyn? Without an election ‘triumph’ would he still be leader or barely clinging on?

Any more?

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11. Joe - June 23, 2017

Meanwhile the Independent.co.uk has this http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/general-election-early-jeremy-corbyn-poll-lead-first-time-theresa-may-a7805041.html.

Just scanning thru the Independent.co.uk site, it appears to be quite pro Remain. Was it always? Or is there a bit of momentum building for a rerun and for Remain over on our culturally-very-close-to-us sister island?
They had a great headline earlier which I can’t find now about a farm owner who voted Leave saying that if he can’t get EU wokers to pick his fruit, he’ll go out of business. Well, duh.

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ivorthorne - June 24, 2017

The Independent has been, on balance, pro-remain.

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12. roddy - June 24, 2017

A unionist “strong farmer” was on radio ulster the day after the vote.He rather sheepishly said he voted leave but never thought it would happen!

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13. Michael Carley - June 27, 2017

Probably of interest to people here: why has Dublin GAA become so middle class?

https://www.buzz.ie/gaa/long-read-dublin-gaa-danger-leaving-working-class-behind-243759

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14. Michael Carley - June 27, 2017

The Guardian carried an article on how Welsh-language education is harming children. A brilliant dignified response from Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jun/22/sad-english-parents-afraid-children-taught-welsh

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15. Michael Carley - June 27, 2017

And here is the Mail’s take on the DUP deal. They can’t even get their racism straight.

https://twitter.com/mmegannnolan/status/879624472747282433

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16. sonofstan - June 27, 2017

IT reporting electoral commission report allocates new seats to Dublin Central (which will be fascinating) Kildare South and Cavan- Monaghan with Laois-Offaly reverting to be one constituency with 5 seats, as opposed to two 3-seaters.

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