Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Should the IRA apologise for past atrocoties?
http://www.thejournal.ie/mcguinness-...05871-Jul2012/
Maguinness has effectively said that there is not going to be an apology . But should there be for the crimes that were carried out or should we just forgive and forget? It is a contentious issue. If an issue like this was raised on other forums it would descend into trolling and sniping so at least I know on PW the topic will be treated with respect
If you cant beat them, join them...
This was an idea I bandied about on other political forums a few years back and was met with derision but to me its unconventional but outside the box thinking. Orange marches are marches in which the marchers are celebrating the Battle of the Boyne and seek to further alienate nationalist tenants in estates in Northern Ireland every July 12th. We being the fighting Irish tend to protest and year in year out there is always clashes of sorts with fighting and bottle throwing and other sorts of trouble. Could we not change all that and have a joint Orange/Nationalist march. The lodges do not allow Catholics to join I understand but if we cannot beat them then why not join them? Nationalists ask be allowed to join the parade but under the banner of celebrating all things Irish . This is extending a hand of friendship to the Orange order and Unionist community and is essentially love bombing them . The end result will be that the tenets of the organisation will essentially be undermined so much so that they are killed with love. Im well aware of the animosity between the Orange Order and the Nationalist community so perhaps this unorthodox thinking outside the box method may actually work?
Friday, 29 June 2012
Sirius B - The Dog Star
Sirius B is close to us , putting this in the context of the galaxy being infinite this means it is more or less our next door neighbours. These are trivial though in comparison to some of the links that star has to various aspects of culture here on Earth.
The Native Americans and the the Chinese both referred to Sirius B as the dog star or the wolf star. The native Americans believed that the dog star was a protector while the Chinese looked upon as a "celestial wolf". The most interesting information comes from though the Dogon and the Sumerians whom both had an advanced understanding of the star before modern astronomy would have touched it. The Dogon knew of the existence of a second star that was Sirius B before modern astronomy discovered it. In Sumeria , this is the best, the star descended for the hero Gilgemesh and he and fifty people descended into the heavens in a ship to the heavens.
Quote:
In the Sumerian Civilization, predating the Egyptians, their epic poem Epic of Gilgamesh describes a dream of Gilgamesh where the hero is drawn irresistibly to a heavy star that cannot be lifted despite immense effort.
This star descends from heaven to him and is described as having a very 'potent essence' and being "the God of heaven". Gilgamesh had for his companions, 50 oarsmen in the great ship, Argo, a constellation bordering Canis Major, where Sirius is found.
Links and References
http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html
http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/s...usgodstar.html
http://www.badarchaeology.com/?page_id=585#
The Native Americans and the the Chinese both referred to Sirius B as the dog star or the wolf star. The native Americans believed that the dog star was a protector while the Chinese looked upon as a "celestial wolf". The most interesting information comes from though the Dogon and the Sumerians whom both had an advanced understanding of the star before modern astronomy would have touched it. The Dogon knew of the existence of a second star that was Sirius B before modern astronomy discovered it. In Sumeria , this is the best, the star descended for the hero Gilgemesh and he and fifty people descended into the heavens in a ship to the heavens.
Quote:
In the Sumerian Civilization, predating the Egyptians, their epic poem Epic of Gilgamesh describes a dream of Gilgamesh where the hero is drawn irresistibly to a heavy star that cannot be lifted despite immense effort.
This star descends from heaven to him and is described as having a very 'potent essence' and being "the God of heaven". Gilgamesh had for his companions, 50 oarsmen in the great ship, Argo, a constellation bordering Canis Major, where Sirius is found.
Links and References
http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html
http://www.souledout.org/cosmology/s...usgodstar.html
http://www.badarchaeology.com/?page_id=585#
A Reason to change the law on abortion?
http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/migration/ireland-has-worlds-highest-number-of-anencephaly-cases-669196.html
This is a case where there should perhaps be legal abortion. The child would have been carried to full term suffering from a condition called anencephaly in which the child is born with a brain stem and some parts of the brain but the rest is missing. At most the child can just carry out basic functions such as breathe and is just existing on the very peripherals of life. Morally for a situation like this to exist is completely wrong, this is the doing of the church and other fringe groups whom are intent on keeping the status quo. The child is suffering and the mother is suffering until she reaches England for the termination. This is not a case to further the pro choice cause in Ireland but to make a point that in even the most limiting of circumstances, issues like these warrant legal abortion here in Ireland.
This is a case where there should perhaps be legal abortion. The child would have been carried to full term suffering from a condition called anencephaly in which the child is born with a brain stem and some parts of the brain but the rest is missing. At most the child can just carry out basic functions such as breathe and is just existing on the very peripherals of life. Morally for a situation like this to exist is completely wrong, this is the doing of the church and other fringe groups whom are intent on keeping the status quo. The child is suffering and the mother is suffering until she reaches England for the termination. This is not a case to further the pro choice cause in Ireland but to make a point that in even the most limiting of circumstances, issues like these warrant legal abortion here in Ireland.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Dublins Gay Pride
This weekend marks Dublin's gay pride and it's well into its older years having started out in the early 80's when several members of the gay community started it up and since then it has grown into a phenomenal success. Pride itself has its origins in the gay rights movement starting in the summer of '69 when police forced members of the LGBT community to disband from gay bars in New York in the Greenwich area, one of these bars , the Stonewall Inn, later became one of the flashpoints. Fast forward forty odd years later and now Dublin is holding its pride but who does it represent?
My fellow members of the LGBT community have taken it upon themselves to throw one hell of a party and what a party it is. This is one thing that can be done brilliantly is have a party but marching for rights? The world is a whole lot different than it was forty years ago we must admit. As per the Barons discussion with myself in the gay rights threads, his lesbian friends and I and others in the gay community cringe at the thoughts of glitter and Kylie representing us as is proclaimed by a wide section of the LGBT community. From skinny lads beat into jeans to bears pretending to be butch and everything in between, Pride has become synonomous with silliness as much as it has become to represent gay rights. Pride , it could be argued sets us back in society. The gay community seeks so much acceptance yet a march that seeks to only appeal to a minority and not the majority will never do that. Creating a bad impression of people like myself and others whom are quite happy to admit are gay but for whom being gay is only one of many aspects of our life. Straight people do not have straight pride do they?
I propose gay pride bring itself bang up to date and seek to change its attitude and mature itself. Gay marriage will not be achieved by waving glow sticks and endless amounts of Kylie are not going to bring us equal inheritance rights. By all means have the marches, I have joined you all in the past but this is a plea, take a look at the bigger picture. Become a part of active political and social life. Money spent on the parade could be used to fund a hostel for young LGBT people fleeing life from torture or persecution, it could be used to get more LGBT reps into the Dail, it could be used to open the gay switchboard for longer. Every pride I find myself repairing damage from the image portrayed which while fun makes life that little bit harder for me. Pride they say is about embracing our inner gay and being secure to do so but is it not stemming from an insecurity that we must show we are here and queer? Why not throw a concert and invite everyone from civic leaders to community organisations? We can gain acceptance more so through engagement on a more mature level.
My fellow members of the LGBT community have taken it upon themselves to throw one hell of a party and what a party it is. This is one thing that can be done brilliantly is have a party but marching for rights? The world is a whole lot different than it was forty years ago we must admit. As per the Barons discussion with myself in the gay rights threads, his lesbian friends and I and others in the gay community cringe at the thoughts of glitter and Kylie representing us as is proclaimed by a wide section of the LGBT community. From skinny lads beat into jeans to bears pretending to be butch and everything in between, Pride has become synonomous with silliness as much as it has become to represent gay rights. Pride , it could be argued sets us back in society. The gay community seeks so much acceptance yet a march that seeks to only appeal to a minority and not the majority will never do that. Creating a bad impression of people like myself and others whom are quite happy to admit are gay but for whom being gay is only one of many aspects of our life. Straight people do not have straight pride do they?
I propose gay pride bring itself bang up to date and seek to change its attitude and mature itself. Gay marriage will not be achieved by waving glow sticks and endless amounts of Kylie are not going to bring us equal inheritance rights. By all means have the marches, I have joined you all in the past but this is a plea, take a look at the bigger picture. Become a part of active political and social life. Money spent on the parade could be used to fund a hostel for young LGBT people fleeing life from torture or persecution, it could be used to get more LGBT reps into the Dail, it could be used to open the gay switchboard for longer. Every pride I find myself repairing damage from the image portrayed which while fun makes life that little bit harder for me. Pride they say is about embracing our inner gay and being secure to do so but is it not stemming from an insecurity that we must show we are here and queer? Why not throw a concert and invite everyone from civic leaders to community organisations? We can gain acceptance more so through engagement on a more mature level.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Do not legitimise Brevik..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...k-lawyers-sane
Breviks lawyers are preparing a defence which seeks to legitimise his actions somehow through his actions being of a political nature. They will claim that his actions were part of a wider opinion of right wing thinking that is very prevalent. Does anyone think that if this defence is accepted that it will set up a dangerous sort of precedent? Right wing groups will think that any action against immigrants is seen to have validated as its part of a wider opinion?
Quote:
Lippestad used his closing arguments to try to prove to the court that Breivik's claims of being a resistance fighter in a struggle to protect Norway and Europe from being colonised by Muslims were not delusional, but part of a political view shared by other rightwing extremists.
Dangerous precedent if this is accepted as a defence...
Breviks lawyers are preparing a defence which seeks to legitimise his actions somehow through his actions being of a political nature. They will claim that his actions were part of a wider opinion of right wing thinking that is very prevalent. Does anyone think that if this defence is accepted that it will set up a dangerous sort of precedent? Right wing groups will think that any action against immigrants is seen to have validated as its part of a wider opinion?
Quote:
Lippestad used his closing arguments to try to prove to the court that Breivik's claims of being a resistance fighter in a struggle to protect Norway and Europe from being colonised by Muslims were not delusional, but part of a political view shared by other rightwing extremists.
Dangerous precedent if this is accepted as a defence...
An Irish Socialist Utopia Project
This occured while thinking of how we could set up a model for humanity to co exist and this idea popped up. Its off the wall but just go with me. Punch holes in the idea and add or subtract from it and improve as you see fit.
Take an uninhabited island off the West coast. Supply them with seeds , solar panels, high speed internet access and the means for self sufficiency.
-First off build housing that is low cost and self sufficient, the houses are powered by solar power and use membranes off the tides and wind power. There will always be a source of energy to power the house .
-Ensure that that the island is connected up to high speed broadband to allow conncection with the outside world.
-Set up (and this is the most important part) a Co-op which is a viable business. Use this to gain a profit which is then put in to building up the commune and supply finances for another co-op business. Each of these should exponentially grow.
-The land becomes self sufficient to grow blight resistant potaotes and other hardy crops .
If we have people here on the asylum list , offer them Irish citizenship and a home o n the island or others here whom are facing hardship. Its a chance for a new beginning and a chance to see if this model could work overall.
Am I missing anything?
Take an uninhabited island off the West coast. Supply them with seeds , solar panels, high speed internet access and the means for self sufficiency.
-First off build housing that is low cost and self sufficient, the houses are powered by solar power and use membranes off the tides and wind power. There will always be a source of energy to power the house .
-Ensure that that the island is connected up to high speed broadband to allow conncection with the outside world.
-Set up (and this is the most important part) a Co-op which is a viable business. Use this to gain a profit which is then put in to building up the commune and supply finances for another co-op business. Each of these should exponentially grow.
-The land becomes self sufficient to grow blight resistant potaotes and other hardy crops .
If we have people here on the asylum list , offer them Irish citizenship and a home o n the island or others here whom are facing hardship. Its a chance for a new beginning and a chance to see if this model could work overall.
Am I missing anything?
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