I have recently returned from a business trip to the far east and arrived back just in time for the annual tradition of the 12th of July. The "Glorious Twelfth" as it is known in some circles is the traditional celebration of the The Battle of Boyne in 1690 when the Protestant King William of Orange gave the Catholic King James a bloody nose. Now it was far from the simple matter of two denominations of Christianity being belligerent, it was more about the power of the royal families in Europe at the time. In fact Pope Alexander VIII lent King William troops for the war against King James. King William and the Pope and several other countries were in the League of Ausburg which was set up to defend the Palatinate of the Rhine from the French. A fact sadly lacking from the history expounded by organisations like the Orange Order who much prefer the world view that the Battle of the Boyne was a "Protestant Victory for a Protestant People" which is in fact a load of revisionist knob cheese, but what is a bit of revisionism when it is the absolute right given by God and justified by Luther, Calvin, Knox and the tooth fairy to be a raving bigot at the drop of a bowler hat each July.
I overheard a conversation at the airport where a grandmother was telling her grandchildren of the "good old days" when her grandfather paid her 1 old penny each time she sat on his knee and shouted "To hell and the flames with the pope and all Catholics". Ah yes the good old days of vitriol and hatred ... such a fine gift to pass on to one's children!
When I was a teenager if you travelled outside the streets where you were known it was inevitable that you would be asked "What are you?". Now for other traditional forms of hatred like racism it is easy to pick your targets by visual cues alone. Picking which person to abuse is harder when based on religion hence the blunt interrogative method. It became second nature for most to quickly work out who was doing the asking and switch sides accordingly, this whilst being ethically suspect was a sure fire way to avoid getting a black eye or worse. Needless to say one had to learn the responses to the follow up questions of "Well sing the Sash" or "Say the hail Mary" but that was a small price to pay.
You could not answer "neither", that was not an option, you could not sit on the fence. You had to plant yourself firmly on one side or the other and be prepared to defend that position from all comers, needless to say expressions of distrust or outright hatred of the "other" side were mandatory if you were to be believed.
As a callow youth the painful experience of having to fight off both sides soon lead to the my questionable position of variable allegiance, although in hindsight I was put in the position of having to repeat parrot like the vitriol of one side or the other, something I could not and hopefully would not allow myself to do now.
Now do not get me wrong, tradition can be a wonderful thing. The traditions of openness, friendship, philanthropy and generosity of spirit are fine things to pass on to the next generation. Such traditions are the glue that holds societies together and makes them work. However on the other side of the coin are the traditions that are divisive, that are driven by the sure and certain knowledge that your tradition is the ONLY one that is right, the only one that is useful and in this case that it is the only one that is God Given to you and your side only.
Traditions are dangerous when they are the only thing that defines who you are. I do not define myself by the country that I live in, nor do I wrap myself in the dubious comfort of a flag, as this only succeeds in hiding me from others. If I was holding that tightly onto a flag how could I hug a stranger or extend them the hand of friendship?.. and there is the rub ... i do not think that is part of the traditions I see unfolding each July. There are no hands of friendship, no hugs expect for those in your tribe. It is all inward looking, incestuous, foetid reinforcement of generationally transmitted regligious hatred and distrust.
Tomorrow, tens of thousands of bowler hatted, white gloved men will march behind banners that display their commitment to the British monarch (but ONLY with the strict condition that the monarch is Protestant, or more exactly, not Catholic) and commitment to the Bible (the protestant one not the catholic one). The banners they march behind will be flanked by men carrying swords and pikestaffs in rememberance of those that were killed and the fact that they needed to be killed to protect the faith. There will be marching bands playing military marching tunes mixed with sectarian anthems, some of which will have words that call the listener to arms to defend with violence the God given right to be Protestant. There will be acts of worship in which ministers will pillory the "church of rome" and declaimed it as the worst evil in the world. There will be speeches where the leaders of the Orange tribes will extole their members to stick together for God and Country at all and any cost.
This is not a tradition I want any part of.
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Politics. Show all posts
Sunday 12 July 2009
Saturday 9 May 2009
More scantimonious dribbling from the Zombies that run the country
It has long been a bone of contention (for me anyway) that Ireland still has a Blasphemy law. Currently, section 13 of the 1961 Defamation Act provides for sanctions, both monetary and prison, where a person might be convicted of publishing a blasphemous libel and this HAS to be enacted since article 40.6.1.i of the Constitution of Ireland imposes an obligation to implement the constitutional offence of blasphemy. Now there is a bit of a debate going on at the moment should we keep it, change it or get rid of it and if it goes would the nun's go on strike?
So were I to make a claim that Mr Cowen current "TeaShock" and chief of the Zombies that currently run the country not only had problems with Onanism but has a face like the back end of the donkey that carried the holy family to Egypt shortly after Christmas 2009 odd years ago, a special arm of the irish police "the Be'Jaazus Squad" would appear at my door and drag me off to face a nice big fine and a term in Jail for taking the name (or arse in this example) of a holy donkey in vain.
Were the changes being discussed enacted, hundreds of thousands of euros could be raised by the "Be'Jaazus" squad were they to hang around all the parents of teenage sons in Ireland ready to slap a 5,000 euro fine on any parent that intoned the phase" Jesus, Mary, Joesph and the wee donkey too!" when their offspring came home with their tongue, eyebrow and foreskin pierced.Ireland would be free from the pecuniary effects of the credit crunch!
What annoys me most is the "special treatment complaint" proposal which would ban speech where:
Now I suppose on the face of it that doesn't sound like a bad idea, pluralism and all that, lets be nice to each other and just get along. However as an atheist this fills me with a certain amount of foreboding. For a god botherer could say that my position of total rejection of the sanctimonious bollocks that dribbles diarrhoea like from the pulpits, prayer mats and gospel tents of Erin's green land falls under the remit of "causing an outrage" (quite frankly I can't find the face that fecking cares whether they are outraged or not) But ... if it becomes law I will HAVE to be nice and polite to these people or face the legal consequences. Should this be enacted in law they can continue to spout their deluded crap but with protection under law from people like me who laugh at their frankly dangerous ramblings. For example when Pope Bendydick comes out with a statement Condoms Make Aids Worse that claims sacréd authority for his Pythonesque view that "Every Sperm is Scared" and sex is for "Procreation not Recreation" [isn't it odd how the Pope and the Arch Demon of Proddy rhetoric the Rev Ian Paisley agree on the sins of the flesh] . Obviously his senile ex cathedra pronouncements are fact because they are backed up by the words of talking camel that once took a crap on Moses's doormat on the instructions of an angel
And then there would be me ... I could no longer say that he is a child molester protecting, delusional old fecker who believes he eats the flesh and drinks the blood of his god every Sunday and not only should he be ignored but should be locked up under the mental health act. Well I can .. but can I afford the 5000 euro fine and the up to 7 years in jail?
BAH HUMBUG! Why give one section of society a right to ban the speech of the rest on grounds that they are offended when reason and rationality point out they are daft?
So were I to make a claim that Mr Cowen current "TeaShock" and chief of the Zombies that currently run the country not only had problems with Onanism but has a face like the back end of the donkey that carried the holy family to Egypt shortly after Christmas 2009 odd years ago, a special arm of the irish police "the Be'Jaazus Squad" would appear at my door and drag me off to face a nice big fine and a term in Jail for taking the name (or arse in this example) of a holy donkey in vain.
Were the changes being discussed enacted, hundreds of thousands of euros could be raised by the "Be'Jaazus" squad were they to hang around all the parents of teenage sons in Ireland ready to slap a 5,000 euro fine on any parent that intoned the phase" Jesus, Mary, Joesph and the wee donkey too!" when their offspring came home with their tongue, eyebrow and foreskin pierced.Ireland would be free from the pecuniary effects of the credit crunch!
What annoys me most is the "special treatment complaint" proposal which would ban speech where:
How fecking daft is that? Lets take the word “religion” out of that phrase and put in “sport” or “political party”. No one would suggest that politicians or football teams get such protection, although it would appear that Chelski need it. If you were just generally making comments that caused outrage amongst the 4 or 5 people that make up the enitre congregation of the Church of the sacred bleeding turnip of Ballymunn in the back bar of McNulty's gin palace on a wet Tuesday in May would it be okay given that I have just outraged then all?the material be grossly abusive or insulting in matters held sacred by a religion; that it must actually cause outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion; and, crucially, that there be an intent to cause such outrage
Now I suppose on the face of it that doesn't sound like a bad idea, pluralism and all that, lets be nice to each other and just get along. However as an atheist this fills me with a certain amount of foreboding. For a god botherer could say that my position of total rejection of the sanctimonious bollocks that dribbles diarrhoea like from the pulpits, prayer mats and gospel tents of Erin's green land falls under the remit of "causing an outrage" (quite frankly I can't find the face that fecking cares whether they are outraged or not) But ... if it becomes law I will HAVE to be nice and polite to these people or face the legal consequences. Should this be enacted in law they can continue to spout their deluded crap but with protection under law from people like me who laugh at their frankly dangerous ramblings. For example when Pope Bendydick comes out with a statement Condoms Make Aids Worse that claims sacréd authority for his Pythonesque view that "Every Sperm is Scared" and sex is for "Procreation not Recreation" [isn't it odd how the Pope and the Arch Demon of Proddy rhetoric the Rev Ian Paisley agree on the sins of the flesh] . Obviously his senile ex cathedra pronouncements are fact because they are backed up by the words of talking camel that once took a crap on Moses's doormat on the instructions of an angel
And then there would be me ... I could no longer say that he is a child molester protecting, delusional old fecker who believes he eats the flesh and drinks the blood of his god every Sunday and not only should he be ignored but should be locked up under the mental health act. Well I can .. but can I afford the 5000 euro fine and the up to 7 years in jail?
BAH HUMBUG! Why give one section of society a right to ban the speech of the rest on grounds that they are offended when reason and rationality point out they are daft?
Sunday 5 April 2009
All the dead voices
Just finished watching a BBC drama called "Five minutes of heaven" on BBC2 and although it had dark,sombre overtones it has left me more positive about this troubled little country I live in.
The drama revolves around two men whose lives intersected briefly in the late 70's when the one of the men murders the other's brother in a sectarian tit-for-tat murder.
Now I realise that many of my readers come from outside Northern Ireland and you probably don't know more than what the media has served up about "the troubles" through the years. Basically it came down to two tribes who hated each other with a ferocity that knew no bounds. The dogma of the two tribes was so strong that when strangers met they would either politely dance around looking for clues as to the tribe you belonged to, or they would ask bluntly "What are you?". It was and in some cases what tribe you were in was more important than who you actually were.
One tribe were mainly protestant and loyal to the Crown (ie the UK) the other mainly catholic and republican (ie wanting a united Ireland). The warrior elite of both tribes segregated themselves into ghettos and regarded the other side with a hatred that was as dark as it was palpable. To these "warriors" simply being in the other tribe was ample reason for your execution. It has been my experience that reason plays little part in proceedings that are driven by hatred fuelled by religion and I have long since stopped looking for it.
The drama this evening made me look at the effects "the troubles" had on me, my friends and those people I met along the way who were involved more intimately with the machinations of whatever tribe they chose to be in and the continuing effects it is having today.
The story went like this, some time in the 70's a protestant 16 year old goes to the UVF commander in his estate and volunteers to kill a catholic. There had been a spate of Tit-for-tat killings and some Protestant workers had been threatened by the Provisional IRA. The Protestant UVF then selected at random a Catholic worker from the same business, gave him a warning to quit and a couple of days later sent the 16 year old to kill him ... which he duly did. The killing was witnessed by the dead man's younger brother.
We zoom back up to the present, the killer and the young boy are now men. The killer served 12 years for his crimes and then was released under license as part of the peace agreement. A TV crew approach the two men with a view to making a program about "truth and reconciliation" and the two men agree to meet.
The program is available on iPlayer and stars Liam Neeson and Jimmy Nesbit, if you didn't get a chance to see it.. I urge you to.. it is not pleasant and the ending you expect may not be exactly the way you expect it to be.
For the first time in many years here was a drama that had hope amidst the violence and hate. The hope is that while all the dead voices are still there, their cries as strident as they ever were but instead of crying for vengeance perhaps they are crying for peace?
The drama revolves around two men whose lives intersected briefly in the late 70's when the one of the men murders the other's brother in a sectarian tit-for-tat murder.
Now I realise that many of my readers come from outside Northern Ireland and you probably don't know more than what the media has served up about "the troubles" through the years. Basically it came down to two tribes who hated each other with a ferocity that knew no bounds. The dogma of the two tribes was so strong that when strangers met they would either politely dance around looking for clues as to the tribe you belonged to, or they would ask bluntly "What are you?". It was and in some cases what tribe you were in was more important than who you actually were.
One tribe were mainly protestant and loyal to the Crown (ie the UK) the other mainly catholic and republican (ie wanting a united Ireland). The warrior elite of both tribes segregated themselves into ghettos and regarded the other side with a hatred that was as dark as it was palpable. To these "warriors" simply being in the other tribe was ample reason for your execution. It has been my experience that reason plays little part in proceedings that are driven by hatred fuelled by religion and I have long since stopped looking for it.
The drama this evening made me look at the effects "the troubles" had on me, my friends and those people I met along the way who were involved more intimately with the machinations of whatever tribe they chose to be in and the continuing effects it is having today.
The story went like this, some time in the 70's a protestant 16 year old goes to the UVF commander in his estate and volunteers to kill a catholic. There had been a spate of Tit-for-tat killings and some Protestant workers had been threatened by the Provisional IRA. The Protestant UVF then selected at random a Catholic worker from the same business, gave him a warning to quit and a couple of days later sent the 16 year old to kill him ... which he duly did. The killing was witnessed by the dead man's younger brother.
We zoom back up to the present, the killer and the young boy are now men. The killer served 12 years for his crimes and then was released under license as part of the peace agreement. A TV crew approach the two men with a view to making a program about "truth and reconciliation" and the two men agree to meet.
The program is available on iPlayer and stars Liam Neeson and Jimmy Nesbit, if you didn't get a chance to see it.. I urge you to.. it is not pleasant and the ending you expect may not be exactly the way you expect it to be.
For the first time in many years here was a drama that had hope amidst the violence and hate. The hope is that while all the dead voices are still there, their cries as strident as they ever were but instead of crying for vengeance perhaps they are crying for peace?
Friday 2 January 2009
3 Cheers for the Northern Ireland MLA's
That is not something you will hear me say very often!
For my foreign readers and MLA is a "Member of the Legislative Assembly". Sort of like an MP in Westminister except their mandate is provided by the voters of Northern Ireland which after 50 odd years of being "run" 100% by the Westminister Parliment having voted for these folk it is nice to see they actually "do" something.
What have they have done to deserve my praise?
Well they have slashed the price of a medical perscription fro 2009 and plan to make them free in 2010. For most folk this isn't a cause for much celebration but I was paying £7.00 per item on a perscription (and i need 4 items every 2 months) it is now £3.00 per item on a perscription!!
YIPEE thats my drugs bill down from £170 to £72 a year. Even better if I get a "PrePay" certificate that reduces it to only £25 for the year .... ~does small jig of delight~ ....
Now if we can just get them to forget about bringing in water charges !
For my foreign readers and MLA is a "Member of the Legislative Assembly". Sort of like an MP in Westminister except their mandate is provided by the voters of Northern Ireland which after 50 odd years of being "run" 100% by the Westminister Parliment having voted for these folk it is nice to see they actually "do" something.
What have they have done to deserve my praise?
Well they have slashed the price of a medical perscription fro 2009 and plan to make them free in 2010. For most folk this isn't a cause for much celebration but I was paying £7.00 per item on a perscription (and i need 4 items every 2 months) it is now £3.00 per item on a perscription!!
YIPEE thats my drugs bill down from £170 to £72 a year. Even better if I get a "PrePay" certificate that reduces it to only £25 for the year .... ~does small jig of delight~ ....
Now if we can just get them to forget about bringing in water charges !
Saturday 25 October 2008
What annoyed me this weekend - Obama Vs McCain
Oh KNOB!
I can't avoid it any longer, I have, for the sake of international politeness and Irish/American detante, not made mention of the imminent exercise of electoral manumission in USia. However I have just watched the news and the pointless strutting and posturing that is being beamed onto every TV in the world has incensed me and I am monumentally fucked off with the whole thing.
Now I make no bones about my total disrespect for politicians and for the political process. If you follow my twitter stream you will have no doubt seen my description of the legacy of Pericles thus :-
@duffbert thought this was "Ewwwwww...." and @andreaw_m "YUCK!" and whilst @BillMalchisky thought the metaphor somewhat earthy, he then posited that ".. the purchase of a better quality paper would avoid the experience". Hmmm I am not sure about the purchasing of a new and better legislative assembly. Isnt that what we in the free world have already? For what are lobbyists if not the political machine's purchasing department?
USia is when it comes down to it, a two party system. Fair enuff. In the rest of the world where there are 2,3,or 4 party systems a stranger can ask "Which is which?" and you will probably be told that Party A is the "Right Wing" and favours big business, small government, the free market and trickle down economics. Party B is the Left and favours the working man (or woman), has it's big hairy nose into every facet of life and pushes a more regulated economy with a more structured distribution of wealth. Party C is in the centre and they really don't have policies they just want what YOU, the people want.
This is nice and simple and gives the stranger a grasp of what sort of political system the country operates under. However USia suffers from an advanced and debilitating phobia. It cannot,as a nation bring itself to say the word "socialist" without depositing a healthy gob in the nearest spittoon. As a result of this debilitating affliction American politics has had to evolve in a different direction. There are two parties which in the rest of the world would be a Left and Right but in USia there is the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party and the "Not-as-right-as-them-but-hey-we-are-not-socailists-you-hear-defin-fecking-tootly-not-socialist" party.
AS far as I can see these two parties comprise of very very rich people who have meetings and take lots of $'s from other very very rich people and manage their affairs so that over the last 50 years the status quo has remained the same. There was a fairly recent rally at which McCain compared Obama to a European Socialist Leader.The BBC found a "talking head" (who must have been totally unaware that the BBC was a European company) who went somewhat further by saying "A vote for Obama was a vote for America taking the first steps towards a socialist tyranny like they have in Europe."
[sarcasm]Oh woe is me! Living in this despotic hell , this arbitrarily oppressive purgatory run by socialist deamons ready to strip me of my things and feed me piecemeal to the plebs OH America save me from this curse! [/sarcasm]
That took me a little by suprise as the only tyrannical sort of behaviour I have come across recently was the TSA in Newark Airport who indeed brought to me a new understanding of the phrase "abitaryly oppressive despot".
So lets alienate all my USian "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party readership. Ms Palin or as I prefer to call her "The Anti-Strumpet" would appear to have eclipsed any grey haired gravitas that Mr McCain has brought to the proceedings. Worries about her underwear budget and whether her knicker gussets have been federally funded have rocked not only America but the rest of the world and the fact that contrary to good non-socialist policy she appears NOT TO HAVE GONE TO SPECSAVERS preferring the Dolci and Gabbana Joe Ninety/Chairman Mao look! That being said for my office party I am going to get my hair Palin'ed Never let it be said that I am not at one with the Throb and Ebb of modern fashion!
Still on the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" side. Has no one thought to ask OK you have had 8 years - what have you done? The government is exactly the same size, (**Update** Bob tells me it is bigger) the tax burden on the population is pretty much the same as it always is (**Update** Bob tells me it is bigger) your have allowed the economy to get fucked on a global scale, china now near as damn it owns the country, we are fighting 2 wars that show no signs of ending now tell me why the fuck I should vote for your lot again? It would be a question I would ask regardless of my politics. But like over here in Ulster were we have the "We Hate Catholics" party and the "Kill all Protestants" party the WORSE thing you could do is vote for the other side for the simple reason they ARE the other side and they eat babies and have forked tails and are very possibly closet socialists.
Ok t'other side
Obama is all for "change" HA! my fat arse he is. He is a politician and they no more like change than a Notes geek likes Exchange!
We have an MLA over here Caitríona Ruane who is all for change too, but has managed in 5 years to make absolutely NO DIFFERENCE WHAT SO EVER and she has only 1 thing to do. This is because everyone thinks change is a wonderful thing until they have to do it, then they don't like it.
Change is Paisley shaking hands with Adams, Mandella shaking hands with de Klerk That is REAL change. That is a sea change that you can feel as the hair on your neck stands up with anticipation. Does Obama herald that change? Bollocks he does! My hair is sullen in it's refusal to stand. "He will be the first black president" so fecking what? Is the amount of melanin in the skin a measure of a man's worthiness? I have a sister with loads of freckles perhaps she could run for President over here. Similarly I have heard "But she will be the first woman president!" when Hilary was around. So not only colour but the possession of ovaries, uterus and breasts are the defining paradigm of this brave new "changed" world we are being ushered into?
The change that Obama champions is as ethereal as pixie dust and in 4 years time people will be asking "so what did change?" and as usual the answer will be ...nothing, nada, not a thing, zippo. This is the way the world works and particularly it seems in modern America. In January in the vaulted halls of power it will (probably) be the same old whore wearing a different dress.
I hope it won't. I really do! So this time next year lets all meet back here and see what has happened in the intervening 12 months any bets that anything will have changed?
**Udpate** Down in the comments Bob informs me that the US government is a LOT bigger than it was 8 years ago, as is the annual budget deficit, not to mention the national debt. LOTS bigger and the tax burden on the middle class is WAY higher than it was 8 years ago... in that case perhaps things CAN only get better.. we shall see. ...oO(but wait isnt Bush in the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party which is the wee gov,low taxes party? Ah the sweet sickly taste of pure irony!)
I can't avoid it any longer, I have, for the sake of international politeness and Irish/American detante, not made mention of the imminent exercise of electoral manumission in USia. However I have just watched the news and the pointless strutting and posturing that is being beamed onto every TV in the world has incensed me and I am monumentally fucked off with the whole thing.
Now I make no bones about my total disrespect for politicians and for the political process. If you follow my twitter stream you will have no doubt seen my description of the legacy of Pericles thus :-
If Politics is shite then politicians are the very thin toilet paper through which your fingers are prone to slip
@duffbert thought this was "Ewwwwww...." and @andreaw_m "YUCK!" and whilst @BillMalchisky thought the metaphor somewhat earthy, he then posited that ".. the purchase of a better quality paper would avoid the experience". Hmmm I am not sure about the purchasing of a new and better legislative assembly. Isnt that what we in the free world have already? For what are lobbyists if not the political machine's purchasing department?
USia is when it comes down to it, a two party system. Fair enuff. In the rest of the world where there are 2,3,or 4 party systems a stranger can ask "Which is which?" and you will probably be told that Party A is the "Right Wing" and favours big business, small government, the free market and trickle down economics. Party B is the Left and favours the working man (or woman), has it's big hairy nose into every facet of life and pushes a more regulated economy with a more structured distribution of wealth. Party C is in the centre and they really don't have policies they just want what YOU, the people want.
This is nice and simple and gives the stranger a grasp of what sort of political system the country operates under. However USia suffers from an advanced and debilitating phobia. It cannot,as a nation bring itself to say the word "socialist" without depositing a healthy gob in the nearest spittoon. As a result of this debilitating affliction American politics has had to evolve in a different direction. There are two parties which in the rest of the world would be a Left and Right but in USia there is the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party and the "Not-as-right-as-them-but-hey-we-are-not-socailists-you-hear-defin-fecking-tootly-not-socialist" party.
AS far as I can see these two parties comprise of very very rich people who have meetings and take lots of $'s from other very very rich people and manage their affairs so that over the last 50 years the status quo has remained the same. There was a fairly recent rally at which McCain compared Obama to a European Socialist Leader.The BBC found a "talking head" (who must have been totally unaware that the BBC was a European company) who went somewhat further by saying "A vote for Obama was a vote for America taking the first steps towards a socialist tyranny like they have in Europe."
[sarcasm]Oh woe is me! Living in this despotic hell , this arbitrarily oppressive purgatory run by socialist deamons ready to strip me of my things and feed me piecemeal to the plebs OH America save me from this curse! [/sarcasm]
That took me a little by suprise as the only tyrannical sort of behaviour I have come across recently was the TSA in Newark Airport who indeed brought to me a new understanding of the phrase "abitaryly oppressive despot".
So lets alienate all my USian "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party readership. Ms Palin or as I prefer to call her "The Anti-Strumpet" would appear to have eclipsed any grey haired gravitas that Mr McCain has brought to the proceedings. Worries about her underwear budget and whether her knicker gussets have been federally funded have rocked not only America but the rest of the world and the fact that contrary to good non-socialist policy she appears NOT TO HAVE GONE TO SPECSAVERS preferring the Dolci and Gabbana Joe Ninety/Chairman Mao look! That being said for my office party I am going to get my hair Palin'ed Never let it be said that I am not at one with the Throb and Ebb of modern fashion!
Still on the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" side. Has no one thought to ask OK you have had 8 years - what have you done? The government is exactly the same size, (**Update** Bob tells me it is bigger) the tax burden on the population is pretty much the same as it always is (**Update** Bob tells me it is bigger) your have allowed the economy to get fucked on a global scale, china now near as damn it owns the country, we are fighting 2 wars that show no signs of ending now tell me why the fuck I should vote for your lot again? It would be a question I would ask regardless of my politics. But like over here in Ulster were we have the "We Hate Catholics" party and the "Kill all Protestants" party the WORSE thing you could do is vote for the other side for the simple reason they ARE the other side and they eat babies and have forked tails and are very possibly closet socialists.
Ok t'other side
Obama is all for "change" HA! my fat arse he is. He is a politician and they no more like change than a Notes geek likes Exchange!
We have an MLA over here Caitríona Ruane who is all for change too, but has managed in 5 years to make absolutely NO DIFFERENCE WHAT SO EVER and she has only 1 thing to do. This is because everyone thinks change is a wonderful thing until they have to do it, then they don't like it.
Change is Paisley shaking hands with Adams, Mandella shaking hands with de Klerk That is REAL change. That is a sea change that you can feel as the hair on your neck stands up with anticipation. Does Obama herald that change? Bollocks he does! My hair is sullen in it's refusal to stand. "He will be the first black president" so fecking what? Is the amount of melanin in the skin a measure of a man's worthiness? I have a sister with loads of freckles perhaps she could run for President over here. Similarly I have heard "But she will be the first woman president!" when Hilary was around. So not only colour but the possession of ovaries, uterus and breasts are the defining paradigm of this brave new "changed" world we are being ushered into?
The change that Obama champions is as ethereal as pixie dust and in 4 years time people will be asking "so what did change?" and as usual the answer will be ...nothing, nada, not a thing, zippo. This is the way the world works and particularly it seems in modern America. In January in the vaulted halls of power it will (probably) be the same old whore wearing a different dress.
I hope it won't. I really do! So this time next year lets all meet back here and see what has happened in the intervening 12 months any bets that anything will have changed?
**Udpate** Down in the comments Bob informs me that the US government is a LOT bigger than it was 8 years ago, as is the annual budget deficit, not to mention the national debt. LOTS bigger and the tax burden on the middle class is WAY higher than it was 8 years ago... in that case perhaps things CAN only get better.. we shall see. ...oO(but wait isnt Bush in the "Definitly-not-left-no-siree-we-are-very-right-but-not-right-enough-to-be-nasty" party which is the wee gov,low taxes party? Ah the sweet sickly taste of pure irony!)
Tuesday 29 July 2008
World trade talks collapse - are we surprised? are we F**K
Any chance of the world agreeing what a "fair" global market actually is evaporated as the trade talks in Geneva end in disarray.
WTO head, Pascal Lamy confirmed the collapse, which officials have blamed on China, India and the US failing to agree on import rules. The main stumbling block was the fine print which would allow developing countries to protect poor farmers by imposing a tariff on certain goods in the event of a drop in prices or a surge in cheap imports.
Seven fecking years and they are arguing about the same fecking thing they did in the first session of the first meeting in Doha in 2001! Euroland and USia are waggling accusatory fingers at each other each blaming the other for not doing enough about farm subsidies. It would appear that this pissed off Ms Schwabb (the US chief negotiator) who is reported as saying that that Washington was giving no more ground on lowering their farm subsidies, and attacked the EU, India and Japan for not doing their part.
[sarcasm]
Is it just me or does all this seem fucking ridiculously simple to resolve, everyone stops subsidizing and let the market define the price from the products? I do apologise! I forgot that would be that nasty economic "free market" theory nonsense that the USA and European governments are so keen to avoid and actively discourage at every opportunity. I have flagellated myself with a cat of nine tails made from shredded copies of the works of Milton Friedman.[/sarcasm]
Shite I would so love "set aside" to be part of my department policy next year. Here says the Gov you can have this suitcase full of cash but ONLY of you do NO work or be even a little productive for the next 6 months and if you are good at doing nothing we will give you another suitcase full of cash next year.
This whole protracted nationalist flag waving and finger pointing nonsense leaves a really bad taste in my mouth! They take 7 years to argue about what would be fair, can't figure it out and end up calling each other names. It really is a sad incitement that humanity as a species have fucked it up again.
I have the strongest suspicion that this failure to agree will benefit no-one in the long term.
WTO head, Pascal Lamy confirmed the collapse, which officials have blamed on China, India and the US failing to agree on import rules. The main stumbling block was the fine print which would allow developing countries to protect poor farmers by imposing a tariff on certain goods in the event of a drop in prices or a surge in cheap imports.
Seven fecking years and they are arguing about the same fecking thing they did in the first session of the first meeting in Doha in 2001! Euroland and USia are waggling accusatory fingers at each other each blaming the other for not doing enough about farm subsidies. It would appear that this pissed off Ms Schwabb (the US chief negotiator) who is reported as saying that that Washington was giving no more ground on lowering their farm subsidies, and attacked the EU, India and Japan for not doing their part.
[sarcasm]
Is it just me or does all this seem fucking ridiculously simple to resolve, everyone stops subsidizing and let the market define the price from the products? I do apologise! I forgot that would be that nasty economic "free market" theory nonsense that the USA and European governments are so keen to avoid and actively discourage at every opportunity. I have flagellated myself with a cat of nine tails made from shredded copies of the works of Milton Friedman.[/sarcasm]
Shite I would so love "set aside" to be part of my department policy next year. Here says the Gov you can have this suitcase full of cash but ONLY of you do NO work or be even a little productive for the next 6 months and if you are good at doing nothing we will give you another suitcase full of cash next year.
This whole protracted nationalist flag waving and finger pointing nonsense leaves a really bad taste in my mouth! They take 7 years to argue about what would be fair, can't figure it out and end up calling each other names. It really is a sad incitement that humanity as a species have fucked it up again.
I have the strongest suspicion that this failure to agree will benefit no-one in the long term.
Sunday 27 July 2008
Politicans about as useful as chocolate fire guard and 100 time more offensive
If you are of a religious bent or enjoy politics this post will prob offend so I would recommend you don't go any further.
Remind me someone, why we actually need politicians? Has anyone worked out what they
actually do other that (a) totally F**K things up by accident (b) F**k things up because God told them to or (c) narrowly avoid F**King things up because they were shagging/fellating/handcuffed* to their secretary/prostitute/horse/hand* (*delete as appropriate) at the time.
The spark for this particular rant is this: I was catching up on the news today and I came across this. Now this is not an earth shattering story it is just some ginger-haired-god-bothering-twonk that thinks gay people are comparable to child abusers. A common belief amongst god-bothering- twonks and preached from many a pulpit the world over and is the cause of a contention that threatens to split the Church of England ... I digress .. what pisses me off is that she is the Chairperson of the Health committee that formulates policy for the province of Ulster.
Now quite a lot of people complained when she came out with this particular bit of ignorant and dangerous shite and the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, the body that monitors MPs’ code of conduct, said that despite these complaints, nothing can be done as “the commissioner’s remit does not cover an MP’s reglious views or opinions”. (emphasis mine)
WTF? So she could get away with "Witches are an abomination let's burn them" because it says so in the Leviticus? Oh thats a religious belief! Better Pussy foot around that one! Can't offend those of faith, lets just quietly burn the witches they are probably Catholic anyway.
Is it just me or is that just plain wrong? If we have all got together and seen sense, making it legal to have a relationship with whoever it is we fall in love with, why can someone come along and say something like.. "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children" and get away with it, just because she believes in a particular deity that supports her own prejudices, we have to agree and let it pass without comment and her without official censure?
If for example she was a follower of Ballix the god of athletic supports who actually approved of gay people but really really despised dried-up-bigoted-ginger-haired-female-politicians. So much so that in the 3000 year old holy dictation of his views (the "Ballixgraffa") harridans of the aforementioned ilk were condemned to death ... would she rush out and kill herself? Perhaps she would just go and get some therapy (yes she believes a good talking to can cure homosexuality) and she would cease to be worse than a child molester and be able to once again be able to worship at foot of the holy jock strap of Antioch in the local temple of the two hairy oblate spheroids.
Iris, you and those like you who claim to speak "for the people of Northern Ireland" well you tight arsed, prune faced, arse wipe of a harpy YOU DO NOT!
You speak for the bigoted closed minded people that are scared of any thing, idea or person that is different. You speak for those that chained up the swings in parks on a Sunday when I was young, lest a child actually accidentally sin by enjoying themselves on the Lord's day. You speak for those that want to live in some born again Christian utopia where it is perfectly acceptable to call down both celestial and temporal judgment on those that aren't the same as you without fear of contradiction. Those same people that tacitly supported for 30 years the idea that all Catholics (who happen to worship the same f**king god as yourselves) were fair game for the Protestant Paramilitaries. Those who see no moral problem with singing "we are,we are, we are ,the billy boys. we are up to our necks in Fenian blood surrender or you die" on the way home from the pub on Saturday and going to worship a supposed loving god on the next.
But most of all you do not speak for me and I hate your assertion that you do!
**EDIT** Please note all references to "Ginger" and "Red-Headed" are purely descriptive and not meant to imply negativity on those who are blessed by having flaming locks!
Remind me someone, why we actually need politicians? Has anyone worked out what they
actually do other that (a) totally F**K things up by accident (b) F**k things up because God told them to or (c) narrowly avoid F**King things up because they were shagging/fellating/handcuffed* to their secretary/prostitute/horse/hand* (*delete as appropriate) at the time.
The spark for this particular rant is this: I was catching up on the news today and I came across this. Now this is not an earth shattering story it is just some ginger-haired-god-bothering-twonk that thinks gay people are comparable to child abusers. A common belief amongst god-bothering- twonks and preached from many a pulpit the world over and is the cause of a contention that threatens to split the Church of England ... I digress .. what pisses me off is that she is the Chairperson of the Health committee that formulates policy for the province of Ulster.
Now quite a lot of people complained when she came out with this particular bit of ignorant and dangerous shite and the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, the body that monitors MPs’ code of conduct, said that despite these complaints, nothing can be done as “the commissioner’s remit does not cover an MP’s reglious views or opinions”. (emphasis mine)
WTF? So she could get away with "Witches are an abomination let's burn them" because it says so in the Leviticus? Oh thats a religious belief! Better Pussy foot around that one! Can't offend those of faith, lets just quietly burn the witches they are probably Catholic anyway.
Is it just me or is that just plain wrong? If we have all got together and seen sense, making it legal to have a relationship with whoever it is we fall in love with, why can someone come along and say something like.. "There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children" and get away with it, just because she believes in a particular deity that supports her own prejudices, we have to agree and let it pass without comment and her without official censure?
If for example she was a follower of Ballix the god of athletic supports who actually approved of gay people but really really despised dried-up-bigoted-ginger-haired-female-politicians. So much so that in the 3000 year old holy dictation of his views (the "Ballixgraffa") harridans of the aforementioned ilk were condemned to death ... would she rush out and kill herself? Perhaps she would just go and get some therapy (yes she believes a good talking to can cure homosexuality) and she would cease to be worse than a child molester and be able to once again be able to worship at foot of the holy jock strap of Antioch in the local temple of the two hairy oblate spheroids.
Iris, you and those like you who claim to speak "for the people of Northern Ireland" well you tight arsed, prune faced, arse wipe of a harpy YOU DO NOT!
You speak for the bigoted closed minded people that are scared of any thing, idea or person that is different. You speak for those that chained up the swings in parks on a Sunday when I was young, lest a child actually accidentally sin by enjoying themselves on the Lord's day. You speak for those that want to live in some born again Christian utopia where it is perfectly acceptable to call down both celestial and temporal judgment on those that aren't the same as you without fear of contradiction. Those same people that tacitly supported for 30 years the idea that all Catholics (who happen to worship the same f**king god as yourselves) were fair game for the Protestant Paramilitaries. Those who see no moral problem with singing "we are,we are, we are ,the billy boys. we are up to our necks in Fenian blood surrender or you die" on the way home from the pub on Saturday and going to worship a supposed loving god on the next.
But most of all you do not speak for me and I hate your assertion that you do!
**EDIT** Please note all references to "Ginger" and "Red-Headed" are purely descriptive and not meant to imply negativity on those who are blessed by having flaming locks!
Friday 11 April 2008
A somber thought for this Friday evening
I was reminded this evening, when watching news of Zimbabwe edging closer
and closer to civil war, of a poem my father pointed me at years ago.
This was in the early 70's when Northern Ireland was in the middle of
a what would become a 30 year civil war (in every aspect but name) and
I was having problems with the concepts of of violence ever being "right",
death, war and patriotism.
I hope that common sense prevails in Zimbabwe and a resolution is found
that does not lead down the road to destruction.
A sad but poetic end to the week.
An Irish Airman Foresees his death, WB Yeats
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
and closer to civil war, of a poem my father pointed me at years ago.
This was in the early 70's when Northern Ireland was in the middle of
a what would become a 30 year civil war (in every aspect but name) and
I was having problems with the concepts of of violence ever being "right",
death, war and patriotism.
I hope that common sense prevails in Zimbabwe and a resolution is found
that does not lead down the road to destruction.
A sad but poetic end to the week.
An Irish Airman Foresees his death, WB Yeats
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
Monday 10 March 2008
Blogging - Not what the "right" people do
Or so thinks the UK Government ...
I was listening to the radio whilst being "daddy's taxi" and right at the end of the news came an article about a blogger, whose blog i visited on more than one occasion, whose blog has vanished.
The blog in question was Civil Serf and as of the 9th of march it has disappeared, and I mean gone.
She was a low ranking civil servant who , wisely it seems kept her identity secret. She gave full and frank views on government bureaucracy and incompetence. In fact if you are old enough to remember "Yes Minister" (Still a high point in BBC comedy) it is a pity you missed Civil Serf. The only problem being she was reporting on real life rather than a comedic construct.
She has gone, taken all her words and gone into hiding.
See here and here and here or just google civil serf
It is hard to guess what is going thru her mind right now. I hope she isn't craping herself too much. It is a scary place to be when the steamroller of government is out looking for you
the big boss of the UK's civil sevice Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, is poised to release guidlines that will govern how giov employees use social networks and blogs (see here)
Sir Gus will base his guidelines on a report, The Power of Information, published in January 2007, called for the Government to clarify by last autumn how officials should respond to “the online debate” while keeping within the civil service code. Only certain civil servants, such as those dealing with the media, are expected to make public statements ... so basically if you are a civil servant keep your mouth shut and for gods (and the queen's sake) don;'t have an opinion!
I accept that there has to be some things that can't be blogged about, but calling the current PM "Velcro Gordon" cos bad news stuck to him like velcro, for me thats OK.
I for one hope that if she has been uncovered that she is not made a public victim and held up as an example of the evils of blogging. Both for the damage it could do to her as a person and the damage it could do to business or professional blogging in the UK and Ireland. Local CEO and CIO's will see the news and think "Can't have that OH NO!" and basically throw the baby out with the bath water.
I for one, stand behind Ms Civil Serf, who ever you are. Well done!
Steve
I was listening to the radio whilst being "daddy's taxi" and right at the end of the news came an article about a blogger, whose blog i visited on more than one occasion, whose blog has vanished.
The blog in question was Civil Serf and as of the 9th of march it has disappeared, and I mean gone.
She was a low ranking civil servant who , wisely it seems kept her identity secret. She gave full and frank views on government bureaucracy and incompetence. In fact if you are old enough to remember "Yes Minister" (Still a high point in BBC comedy) it is a pity you missed Civil Serf. The only problem being she was reporting on real life rather than a comedic construct.
She has gone, taken all her words and gone into hiding.
See here and here and here or just google civil serf
It is hard to guess what is going thru her mind right now. I hope she isn't craping herself too much. It is a scary place to be when the steamroller of government is out looking for you
the big boss of the UK's civil sevice Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, is poised to release guidlines that will govern how giov employees use social networks and blogs (see here)
Sir Gus will base his guidelines on a report, The Power of Information, published in January 2007, called for the Government to clarify by last autumn how officials should respond to “the online debate” while keeping within the civil service code. Only certain civil servants, such as those dealing with the media, are expected to make public statements ... so basically if you are a civil servant keep your mouth shut and for gods (and the queen's sake) don;'t have an opinion!
I accept that there has to be some things that can't be blogged about, but calling the current PM "Velcro Gordon" cos bad news stuck to him like velcro, for me thats OK.
I for one hope that if she has been uncovered that she is not made a public victim and held up as an example of the evils of blogging. Both for the damage it could do to her as a person and the damage it could do to business or professional blogging in the UK and Ireland. Local CEO and CIO's will see the news and think "Can't have that OH NO!" and basically throw the baby out with the bath water.
I for one, stand behind Ms Civil Serf, who ever you are. Well done!
Steve
Saturday 8 March 2008
ILUG 08 a guide to Irish Idiom for our non-irish guests Part 6 (A Serious Post)
Gentle readers,
now in this series of posts I am going to be serious for a while because we move away from Dublin and up to the north. The home of the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills Whiskey, Antrim Glens Poitín a land of mists and legends and up until about 10 years ago "the troubles".
"The troubles" is a topic that is best avoided in normal conversation. The wounds are still a bit raw and it is a big, century spanning topic where blame is equally spread around all concerned.
On the other hand ignoring things in the hope they go away is not a good thing to do... OK.. a quick spin thru my view of the 600 year history of Ireland.
Lots of Irish people were Roman Catholic while lots of English people were Protestant.This was fine when the Irish sea kept them apart. Then Queen Lizzie the first felt that there were far to many Catholics in Ireland and that was a bit risky so she sent loads of Protestants over to Ireland to balance things a bit (this was called "the plantation"). Several other Kings chose Ireland as a good spot to play out some dynastic squabbling. Most notable was William of Orange (a Protestant) who gave King James (a Catholic) a good thumping at several big battles in Ireland in the 1690's.
Now the native Irish Catholics and the Planted Protestants didn't really like each other. This dislike was inflamed by the fact that they were told that the other side had horns, where the forces of the anti-Christ and ate babies. Not forgetting the old saw that "you are poor and downtrodden cos of them" finger pointing. Oddly the people doing the pointing an finger waving were mainly either the people with the £'s or it was coming from their priests and pastors. These prejudices became ingrained as "truth" as they were passed down the generations.
They starting doing some bad stuff to each other and oddly this led to more bad stuff. The people with the £'s and the people in the churches sat back and let them get on with doing the bad stuff, which was fine unless it stopped the £'s rolling in or the congregations didn't tow the line. Things where made worse because government after government did some very stupid things, but then no-one was really surprised about that.
There were several big famines which the people with the £'s did nothing about, so large numbers of the poor irish (from both sides) either died or buggered off to the new world (taking their prejudices with them) ... and back home in Ireland the bad stuff kept on happening.
Then someone had the idea of an Irish republic, Ireland run by the Irish! Lots of Irish Catholics thought this was a good idea, the Protestants up north didn't. So the Protestants in the 6 northern counties were allowed to stay British whilst the rest of the island became the Irish Republic. This didn't really help cos not everyone was happy with the border. So the bad stuff continued to happen and started to increase in intensity. A whole new school of non-critical thinking evolved called "whataboutery", when a spokesperson was asked about a particular atrocity their side perpetrated the reply would start "well what about...." followed by examples of some of the other side's atrocities. So "my atrocities aren't as bad as your atrocities, so therefore mine are excusable QED" became a sort of acceptable form of reasoning. This sort of sloppy thinking was the reason it has taken around 600 years for the majority to discover that bad stuff stops when you start both talking and most importantly listening to the other side
The bad stuff has, near as damn it, stopped. There is still finger waggling and name calling on occasions and there are people who will just never get on with one another but there is a general consensus that at long last we are learning the lessons of the past and that we are stopping the sacrifice of our children to feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday.
I applaud all concerned :)
Steve.
now in this series of posts I am going to be serious for a while because we move away from Dublin and up to the north. The home of the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills Whiskey, Antrim Glens Poitín a land of mists and legends and up until about 10 years ago "the troubles".
"The troubles" is a topic that is best avoided in normal conversation. The wounds are still a bit raw and it is a big, century spanning topic where blame is equally spread around all concerned.
On the other hand ignoring things in the hope they go away is not a good thing to do... OK.. a quick spin thru my view of the 600 year history of Ireland.
Lots of Irish people were Roman Catholic while lots of English people were Protestant.This was fine when the Irish sea kept them apart. Then Queen Lizzie the first felt that there were far to many Catholics in Ireland and that was a bit risky so she sent loads of Protestants over to Ireland to balance things a bit (this was called "the plantation"). Several other Kings chose Ireland as a good spot to play out some dynastic squabbling. Most notable was William of Orange (a Protestant) who gave King James (a Catholic) a good thumping at several big battles in Ireland in the 1690's.
Now the native Irish Catholics and the Planted Protestants didn't really like each other. This dislike was inflamed by the fact that they were told that the other side had horns, where the forces of the anti-Christ and ate babies. Not forgetting the old saw that "you are poor and downtrodden cos of them" finger pointing. Oddly the people doing the pointing an finger waving were mainly either the people with the £'s or it was coming from their priests and pastors. These prejudices became ingrained as "truth" as they were passed down the generations.
They starting doing some bad stuff to each other and oddly this led to more bad stuff. The people with the £'s and the people in the churches sat back and let them get on with doing the bad stuff, which was fine unless it stopped the £'s rolling in or the congregations didn't tow the line. Things where made worse because government after government did some very stupid things, but then no-one was really surprised about that.
There were several big famines which the people with the £'s did nothing about, so large numbers of the poor irish (from both sides) either died or buggered off to the new world (taking their prejudices with them) ... and back home in Ireland the bad stuff kept on happening.
Then someone had the idea of an Irish republic, Ireland run by the Irish! Lots of Irish Catholics thought this was a good idea, the Protestants up north didn't. So the Protestants in the 6 northern counties were allowed to stay British whilst the rest of the island became the Irish Republic. This didn't really help cos not everyone was happy with the border. So the bad stuff continued to happen and started to increase in intensity. A whole new school of non-critical thinking evolved called "whataboutery", when a spokesperson was asked about a particular atrocity their side perpetrated the reply would start "well what about...." followed by examples of some of the other side's atrocities. So "my atrocities aren't as bad as your atrocities, so therefore mine are excusable QED" became a sort of acceptable form of reasoning. This sort of sloppy thinking was the reason it has taken around 600 years for the majority to discover that bad stuff stops when you start both talking and most importantly listening to the other side
The bad stuff has, near as damn it, stopped. There is still finger waggling and name calling on occasions and there are people who will just never get on with one another but there is a general consensus that at long last we are learning the lessons of the past and that we are stopping the sacrifice of our children to feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday.
I applaud all concerned :)
Steve.
Saturday 9 June 2007
Now here is a thing
3 (ironic) Cheers for the MLA minister for equality.. Mr I Paisley Jrn (yes son of BIG IAN) who with a ministerial portfolio for "equality" has said that homosexuals "repulse" him and that they "harm" society ... only in Ulster would we put up homophobe as a minister for equality and then wonder what the fuss is about when he effectively comes out and says that he doesn't like "poofs"!
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