Breaking news from Blanchardstown in Dublin.
“Could some of our Dublin Friends make it to the following address to help,this is happening now,,,,no 17 Woodrun,Verdemont,Blanchardstown Dublin 15,”
River Feale in Listowel.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Fr John Fahy (1893-1969) Radical Republican and Agrarian Activist
A new book about Fr John Fahy.
http://www.columba.ie/Fr_John_Fahy_(1893_1969)/417/
Fr John Fahy was ordained a priest of the diocese of Clonfert in St Brendan's, Loughrea, in 1919. He very quickly earned himself the reputation of being a 'rebel priest'. His close affiliation with Sinn Fein throughout the war of independence stayed with him all his life and led to many a confrontation with the authorities of both church and state. He also took a vigourous and uncompromising interest in the various agrarian disputes of his time.
He was a man of very strong opinions, opinions which he was not at all slow to voice, as forcefully and publicly as occasion permitted. The string of letters between himself and state authorities, and also with his bishop, add a depth of colour and credibility to this lively and convincing review of his life, his mission and his times.
Fr Fahy was included in Denis Carroll's famous book, Unusual Suspects, which gave accounts of many of the most radical priests in the history of the Irish church. This volume is the first full length biography of Fahy and is a labour of love for its author, Jim Madden, who knew and still knows and associates with many of the men and women who are named in the work, both as friends and critics of this fascinating character.
Jim Madden is a native of Banagher, county Offaly. He graduated with a BA and Higher Diploma in Education from University College Dublin where he also completed a Diploma in Career Guidance. He was awarded an M.Litt. by Trinity College Dublin. Jim has worked as a teacher, guidance counsellor and school principal. He has published widely on aspects of education and local history and has had a lifelong involvement in community affairs.
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Workers to have property tax taken from wages - confirmed
Opposition continues to a tax on a family home.
FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan is facing a series of major headaches in his urgent drive to get the new property tax introduced on time.
Mr Noonan admitted for the first time last night that PAYE workers will have the tax deducted direct from their pay packets.
But the prospect of wages being targeted at source raised a whole new series of problems, including:
- Concerns that farmers and the self-employed may be able to work the system to avoid paying the controversial new tax.
- Questions about how the tax might be collected from pensioners and others who are not earning a wage.
- Uncertainty about how the Government will measure the value of a person's land or property.
- Fears that if the tax is not introduced in January, then it will be backdated so taxpayers face higher payments during the second half of 2013.
- Opposition from city dwellers who may face a higher rate of tax for smaller houses than those in the country.
Mr Noonan yesterday said the Cabinet had yet to decide on the exact nature of the new tax, but he made it clear that wages would be targeted.
"All that has been decided is that there will be a property tax on family homes, and that property tax will be collected by the Revenue Commissioners by
Experts said collecting the tax "by deduction" meant workers would have the new property tax taken straight out of their pay packets.
It is understood the Government is planning to deduct the tax at source so as to avoid the level of non-payment it is experiencing with the household charge.
But this is expected to add to the unpopularity of the new measure, with workers likely to see a new line on their pay slips showing a deduction for property tax.
This will be in addition to deductions for income tax, PRSI (pay related social insurance), and the universal social charge.
Employers would be told by Revenue how much to deduct each week or month for property tax, while the self-employed and farmers will be required to declare and pay the tax as part of their annual tax return.
But there were indications last night that people on low incomes are set to be exempted from the new tax.
This could see some of the self-employed and some farmers avoiding the tax as their income may be below the threshold -- even though they have large homes.
This is similar to the current system of awarding third-level grants, where only the income of the farmer or self-employed person is assessed and not the value of assets like land.
Some tax practitioners claim the self-employed and farmers can manipulate their income to make it seem low.
Experts said that if the Government goes down this route, a retired farmer who no longer farms but has 200 acres could escape the property tax as his income would be very low. Leading property economist Ronan Lyons said this could lead to huge problems.
If the tax was not carefully designed, it could create a "two-tier" system, he said.
"Even if there was a perception that some people could play the system, it would make it very difficult to sustain the property tax. People would end up voting for anyone who promised to get rid of the tax."
Financial adviser Karl Deeter said a two-tier system would be created if salaried workers had no choice but to pay the tax, while others could get out of it through exemptions.
The property tax will be the successor to the current €100 household charge, which has some one million properties registered so far.
But 600,000 properties have yet to be registered by owners. In some counties, nearly half of homeowners still refuse to pay.
Details
Mr Noonan said the Cabinet had yet to fully discuss exactly how the property tax will work. The details will be announced in December's Budget.
But this means it could be next summer before all the details are finalised, with a year's worth of tax having to be paid in six months, said Feargal O'Rourke, head of tax at accountancy firmPricewaterhouseCoopers.
"This will mean that people will find that they are paying the tax in full some time in the second half of 2013," he said.
Meanwhile, a new report by Mr Lyons warned that imposing a property tax on the value of houses rather than on the value of the site they are built on will delay economic recovery.
He said such a "value-based" property tax would mean people would have no incentive to renovate or insulate their homes.
But a site-value tax would aid economic recovery, the Oxford-based economist said. "The fairest form of property tax is a site value tax."
- Charlie Weston and Fiach Kelly
Monday, 27 August 2012
Bishops set to lobby politicians in abortion campaign
It is a revolutionary time in Ireland to be Catholic and Catholic Action is vital. Whilst Thought and Action would support the call for Sean Cardinal Brady to resign, the Bishops and clergy are to be commended for speaking out against this murder of the innocent in the womb. There should be no separation between Church and State. Catholics should never forget the words of Christ “Go: Behold I send you as lambs among wolves”.
We cannot depend on these Bishops as they are very much Vatican II men.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2012/0827/1224323033714.html
The Irish Times - Monday, August 27, 2012
DÁIL DEPUTIES and Ministers will be lobbied by bishops and priests as part of a full-scale campaign of opposition if there is any attempt by the Government to legislate for abortion.
The Church’s position was confirmed by the Catholic Primate of All-Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, yesterday who suggested another referendum on abortion was possibly the only solution to deal with the controversial issue.
His comments drew a swift response from Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte, who said it would be a retrograde step if the Catholic Church went back to dictating to elected representatives how to address the issue of abortion.
Previous referenda on the issue proved extremely divisive and involved often bitter clashes between Church and State figures.
The Government last year established an expert group, chaired by Mr Justice Seán Ryan of the High Court, to examine how best to implement the 2010 decision of the European Court of Human Rights that the State had violated the rights of a woman who had cancer who said she was forced to travel abroad to get an abortion, and to provide a legislative basis for the Supreme Court’s ruling in the X case.
A report from the expert group has not yet been delivered to Government but if it is seen to recommend legalising abortion, the Catholic Church has made clear a strong drive will be launched to persuade the Government not to take any such action.
As to the form this campaign would take, informed church sources told The Irish Times priests would be equipped with ample, high-quality “pro-life” material for preaching and personal contact with parishioners.
The church would also co-operate with lay organisations, including non-Catholic ones, in such a campaign. Church members, the source said, would be “encouraged to contact their local public representatives to say they do not want abortion in Ireland and pointing out that this country is recognised as the safest place in the world to have a child”.
Priests and laity would lobby public representatives with a view to “raising awareness among the political class with material consisting of reasoned argument and correct facts”. Bishops would also speak to politicians.
“Why not? They are citizens like you and I,” the well-placed source close to church thinking said.
A Fine Gael Government TD, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed lobbying on the issue by priests and laity, as well as the bishop of the diocese, had already been taking place for about six months.
A number of Fine Gael TDs have already made clear they would also oppose abortion legislation.
When asked yesterday how the church would react if the Government decided to legalise the carrying out of abortions, Cardinal Brady told RTÉ’s This Week radio programme that the response would include a “media campaign” and “lobbying public representatives”.
Mr Rabbitte, on the same programme, said he would be “somewhat surprised at the cardinal’s reference to lobbying and engaging with, canvassing, public representatives and so on, on the matter.
“I don’t have any objection to any of the churches stating its position and making it clear, but I think it would be a retrogressive step if we were to go back to the days of the Catholic Church dictating to elected public representatives how [they] should address an issue,” he said.
Responding to the remarks, Dr John Murray of The Iona Institute said: “It is Minister Rabbitte’s comment that is actually retrograde. First of all, lobbying is not the same as dictating.
“Secondly, why should business organisations or farming organisations or trades unions be allowed to lobby politicians but the churches cannot do this?”
No Tax on a Family Home
Looking at the natural law theory of St Thomas Aquinas, humans understand, desire, and act for the goods of human nature (food, drink, clothing, shelter, creative activity, knowledge, friendship, etc. With a property tax being proposed, there should be no tax on a family home. It doesn’t generate wealth and provides shelter.
Earlier in the year a A5 size leaflet was circulated and it is hoped to build on this in the coming days. There is strong opposition to a property tax in Ireland.
Savills attempting eviction in Kildare right now
In breaking news it is reported the English Savills Estate Agents are attempting an eviction in Kildare at the moment. It appears the successful protest at their office in Dublin last Friday has angered them and they seek reprisal.You are encouraged to travel to Kennycourt Stud, Brannockstown, Co. Kildare.
It’s a bank holiday in England as people have tried phoning the offices of Savills in London. A recorded message states their office will reopen tomorrow (Tuesday). Plans are already underway for a protest outside their London offices.
Their office in Dublin is open where the phone has been busy all morning.
See the following for updates.
http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce
“As is our DEMOCRATIC right. We the citizens of this supposedly free state. Protested at the office of Savllis Estate agents and evictors to name and shame them for their roll in evicting a Kildare Farmer...It appears this protest upset Savllis. And to teach us ordinary peasants a lesson. SAVLLIS ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT DOWN AT THIS MANS FARM IN KILDARE. PREPARING TO EVICT him and his family from their home. Ben Gilroy is there and is looking for support.. Please please share this with all your friends.”
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Lunching Rabbitte gets an ear-bashing for dessert
The reality is the politician will not stand up to the banks. How can they when they and their parties benefit from the modern banking swindle?
MINISTER Pat Rabbitte was on the receiving end of verbal abuse while having lunch in Buswells Hotel in Dublin on Friday afternoon, which led to a man being arrested by gardai.
The Communications Minister was enjoying a business lunch with another suited gentleman in the hotel opposite Leinster House when he was castigated by a member of the public.
The man in his 50s had been protesting earlier that day outside Savills auctioneers on Molesworth Street over the sale of a Kildare stud farmer's land because he could not repay an Anglo Irish Bank loan.
Following the demonstration organised by People for Economic Justice, the protesters moved to Buswells Hotel for refreshments and encountered the minister and another businessman in the hotel's bar.
Video footage of the incident shows a man in his 50s verbally berating the minister for issues ranging from the sale of gas and oil to mercury levels in water.
The enraged protester continually asks Mr Rabbitte, who remains calm and aloof throughout the barrage of abuse, if he thinks he is "following in the footsteps James Connolly".
He then shouts: "Four suicides a week in this county by people who have been robbed and pillaged by the banks", to which he receives a rapturous applause.
Mr Rabbitte's friend tries to reason with the man, only to have his English accent mimicked by the demonstrator.
A hotel staff member then tells the protester she would call the gardai if he did not leave the premises and he does so while still shouting abuse at the minister.
The demonstrators continue to question Mr Rabbitte over whether his lunch was going to be put on expenses and ask if he would intervene on various eviction cases. Tensions had reportedly eased by the time gardai arrived and the man who had been berating the minister had long since gone.
However, John Rogers, another protester who had also spoken with the minister but had not abused him, was asked to leave the bar by gardai.
Mr Rogers, who was previously arrested while taking part in the Occupy Dame Street protest, would not leave the bar and demanded to know why he was being singled out. Eventually, gardai led him from the building while he shouted: "Read me the legislation", and "Abuse".
The crowd then turned their attentions to Mr Rabbitte, who was sitting a couple of feet from the incident, and shouted: "Why didn't you intervene, Pat?" and "You sat idly by, Pat."
The businessman who was dining with Mr Rabbitte told protesters that Mr Rogers had asked the minister a question but had "spoke politely".
He was then asked if he would appear as a witness for Mr Rogers if it went to trial, to which he said: "Yes, I'd say that he didn't harass him in any way."
Mr Rogers was bought to Pearse Street Garda Station, where he was charged under the public order act and is due to appear in court next month.
- Philip Ryan
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Adare, Co. Limerick
A few miles outside Limerick city is the village of Adare. The River Maigue flows through the village which is on the main Limerick to Tralee Road. The large volume of cars makes a strong argument for the need to return to the days of the donkey and cart, and for more use of bicycles. Public transport connects Adare to the nearby villages and towns.
A few photographs from a recent visit.
This water fountain was erected by Caroline, Countess of Dunraven.
A grotto to Our Lady on the roadside outside the Trinitarian church. This was the only Trinitarian Abbey founded in Ireland. Today, the church serves as the parish church in Adare.
The Washing Pool is where the women of the village used to wash clothes. It was also used to water the horses.
The local park.
A stream in the village.
A popular village, it has many craft shops. A criticism though is things seemed to be overpriced.Value for money is a factor when it comes to tourism in Ireland. A positive is it is far more healthier to live in a village than in a city. With mass-immigration and rising crime in Limerick, many are leaving the city, and returning to a rural way of life.
No to Abortion
Our own leaflet on abortion is on display in many places around the country. Many thanks to those who have assisted in the distribution of the simple A5 leaflet in recent weeks.
Our resources doesn’t allow for glossy leaflets. Other leaflets on other aspects of our ideology are also distributed in the community. Feel free to send an email if in a position to assist with distributing leaflets.
See also this article whilst on the topic of Abortion and Ireland.
Cardinal warns of battle over plan to change abortion law
Thursday, 23 August 2012
No More Evictions!
Protest tomorrow in Dublin.
“No More Evictions.
British company Savill's Estate Agents and Evictors are in the
process of evicting a Kildare farmer at the moment. This married man with 5 children has ended up in hospital with a nervous breakdown due to the enormous pressure being put on him and his family by this british company Savills. If you have any compassion for your fellow man. Then please join our protest tomorrow Friday 24th. At the offices of Savills, 32 Molesworth St. Dublin 2.”
123 abortions took place in North from 2008 to 2011
There are no circumstances where an abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. This intentional murder of the innocent must be investigated.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0823/1224322767702.html
GERRY MORIARTY
The North’s Minister of Health, Edwin Poots, has clarified figures for abortions that have taken place in Northern Ireland.
Following a query by the Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister, Mr Poots asked for an updated audit of abortion information from the North’s Health and Social Care Board.
Under legislation in Northern Ireland, abortion is permitted only where the life of the mother is endangered.
Mr Poots, in a written statement to the Northern Assembly yesterday, acknowledged that there were doubts over the previous data because there was no distinction between medical abortion and the more specific termination of pregnancy.
The new figures, according to Mr Poots, under the termination of pregnancy distinction, showed that there were 44 such abortions in 2008-09, 36 in 2009-10 and 43 in 2010-11.
Mr Allister said these figures remained surprisingly high, given that termination of pregnancy could only legally take place when the life of the mother was at risk.
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
War breaks out in Labour over means test for student grants
The pro-abortion Labour party continues to divide. It’s ironic they oppose a means test for student grants but are strongly regarded as a pro-abortion party. Abortion kills our future generation. There are widening divisions in the Labour party.
A BITTER local battle has broken out in the Labour Party over contentious plans for a new means test for student grants.
It comes as a growing number of rural Labour figures voice their opposition to plans to include farms and businesses in any new means test.
Labour senator Lorraine Higgins has firmly come out against means testing farm and business assets.
She took a barely concealed sideswipe at her party and constituency colleague in Galway East, Labour chairman Colm Keaveney, who has been one of the proposal's strongest advocates in recent weeks.
While not naming Mr Keaveney, Ms Higgins last night told the Irish Independent: "Unfortunately, some politicians who have weighed into this debate in recent weeks would be better off getting a more rounded view of daily life on either a farm or in a small family-run business."
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn is already facing strong opposition from Fine Gael backbenchers over the plan.
Savings and second homes may also be included in the means tests and Mr Quinn is due to receive a report from an expert group on the issue next month.
But the new means test marks another flashpoint in the fraught relationship between Ms Higgins and Mr Keaveney.
Earlier this year, Mr Keaveney told his local newspaper, the 'Tuam Herald', that the height of Ms Higgins's achievements in politics was securing a position in the Oireachtas golf society.
There was also controversy over newly registered party members in the Galway East constituency in advance of the election for a new Labour chairman at this year's party conference.
Mr Keaveney won the election, despite rival Derek Nolan being widely seen as the favoured candidate of Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore and the party leadership.
Mr Keaveney could not be contacted for comment last night.
Ms Higgins said: "It would be a mistake to take farm and small business premises into account in proposed changes to the college grant system, as it is too simple a measure, without taking into account several other factors.
"Sadly, a growing lack of familiarity by the general, urban population with the practices of modern-day farming and small-town businesses can lead to confusion and misunderstanding, leading then to the introduction of unfair legislation."
Labour's Kerry TD Arthur Spring said he hadn't heard if farm or business assets would be included, adding that people should wait until Mr Quinn has received the expert report.
However, Mr Spring said: "If you're going to tell people to sell small viable businesses in order to put their kids through college, well then it's not a very equitable step.
"I will be advocating for small business people, including small farmers. Without those assets, they'd be on the dole."
Assets
Another rural Labour senator, Roscommon's John Kelly, said he was "totally against" using farmland as assets in any means tests.
"There is a hell of a difference between a farmer in Co Meath and a farmer in Roscommon or Galway," Mr Kelly, a former welfare officer, said.
"Most of the farmers I deal with are very small farmers, lots of them are on farm assistance.
"If the minister wants to go after the big farmers in Meath, he could find a way of getting something more out of them.
"The Labour Party should be connecting with rural Ireland, not isolating itself further -- but I genuinely believe Ruairi hasn't his mind made up."
However, Limerick senator James Heffernan said he was in favour of including assets in a means tests.
Turf cutters in Galway vow to continue until neighbours have fuel for winter
Tradition and Culture continues in Ireland. The EU can sod off.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0822/1224322661109.html
DECLAN ROONEY
TURF CUTTERS in Co Galway have vowed to continue to cut turf until everyone in their area without fuel is supplied, after they returned to Clonmoylan bog yesterday and defied an EU directive not to cut turf there.
Between 50 and 60 locals restarted their turf cutting yesterday morning as they claim “six or seven” local families do not have sufficient fuel to last the winter.
Already, enough turf for four or five of those families has been cut, and, according to Dermot Moran, spokesman for the Barroughter and Clonmoylan Bog Action Group, they will be back at the first chance to cut the remainder.
“As this week is heritage week, we were determined to mark our heritage by cutting this turf,” said Mr Moran.
Clonmoylan bog in south Galway, near the town of Woodford, is one of 53 raised bogs that was designated for protection under the EU habitats directive.
Already, more than 1,000 turf cutters nationwide have received compensation for the loss of their turf-cutting rights, but the Clonmoylan natives insist they are not breaking any laws.
Members of the Barroughter and Clonmoylan Bog Action Group were involved in an 18-hour stand-off with gardaí and the National Parks and Wildlife Services two months ago after a row over the seizure of turf-cutting machinery on the site.
A Garda spokesperson confirmed they are investigating reports of illegal turf cutting in the area.
Update regarding Seamus Sherlock
More and more people are standing up to the Banksters and are winning.
http://www.facebook.com/AntiEvictionTaskforce
See also these songs
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Protest at Savills Estate Agents and Receivers in Dublin
A notice about an upcoming protest in Dublin.
“Please guys don't forget--Protest this Friday outside outside Savills on Moles worth st Dublin 2 this Friday at 11:30 until 4pm with Ben Gilroy
If you can be there for the whole protest great,if not whatever you can do will be welcomed.Get out there, bring your placards and your friends,your voice.This is the time to make your presence felt to those who are taking homes from you,your families,your neighbors.
Friday -Molesworth st Dublin 2 --11:30 until 4pm”
Monday, 20 August 2012
Students and Finance
With students returning to college or starting for the first time, this post deals with students and finance. Many of those wonderful financial institutions will be offering these eighteen year old loans or a credit card.Of the financiers A.K. Chesterton wrote ‘Financiers have no mother country, no decency, only greed’. This is certainly true.
There is nothing wrong with a loan but the charging of interest on a loan that is unproductive is pure usury. A Credit Card is pure usury. Christianity like Islam prohibits usury. Usury is making money from lending money.
Jews, in the middle ages began to specialize in money lending and many Christians found themselves bled dry by these usurers. It has to be remembered there was no paper money and an accepted token of exchange was precious metal minted as coins. With a limited amount available, the economics of the country was regulated.
At the time gold coins, jewels and other valuables were deposited and held by goldsmiths and money-lenders. They charged for these deposits and used to make loans to other people using these deposits. They charged interest.
A custom began of issuing a note, a type of credit note and instead of carrying around the gold, the money lender kept the deposited items. These credit notes began to be used in transactions. Paper money had come in to being.
Like today, these money swindlers used other people’s money for their own financial gain. Of course it must be remembered money is created and uncreated out of nothing.
The principle of modern banking came in to being. Money is created from nothing, put in to circulation and a demand to pay back a loan. The Hidden Rulers of the nations are those who control the money.
The current system is built upon usury.
Earlier it was stated that a Credit Card is pure usury. Indeed it is and the plan is to get rid of cash altogether. In ways to have this type of card is to be at the mercy of the bank. An example is if you don’t have a card in this new cashless technology mad society, you won’t be able to buy food,clothes, and other necessary items.
The International Banking families are the secret rulers of the Nations. These are tyrants, who have brought about misery, war, high taxes, unemployment, emigration, death,poverty.
Students about to start in university need to realise the modern banking system is a swindle.
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Contracts,Rates, Invoices,Charges
An extract from a seminar held last year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qmGXQDjxPQ
Next Seminar: 29 September 2012
Details: www.LayDay@eventbrite.com/
Farmer sets up barricade after bank's eviction notice
The modern banking system is a swindle and is crumbling. People are still arriving to the farm in large numbers.
A FATHER of five has barricaded himself into his home after receiving an eviction notice.
Seamus Sherlock says he will not let sheriffs evict him and his children from their home in Feohanagh, Co Limerick.
The 'Life After Debt' campaigner made national headlines in 2010 when he chained himself to the railings outside ESB headquarters in Dublin after his power was cut off.
Yesterday, he blocked the main driveway to his home after he was served with an eviction notice on behalf of Bank of Scotland because of outstanding mortgage repayments.
The Co Limerick farmer had 40 bales of hay wrapped in black plastic and piled up behind the main gate into his property.
Surprised
A sign on the gate read 'No Trespass'.
Mr Sherlock claims he was surprised to receive the eviction notice on Thursday, as he has been trying to reach a settlement with his lender, Bank of Scotland.
He would not reveal exactly how much was outstanding but said it was a "couple of hundred thousand euro".
The separated father says he has lodged a significant amount of his money with his solicitor as part of a rescue package he has been trying to work out with the bank.
Bank of Scotland said it does not comment on its banking relationship with customers.
"My message is I'm not for moving. I want to pay my loan back but I just need some extra time," he said.
Mr Sherlock, who ran as an independent candidate in Co Limerick in the last general election, has been unemployed for the last two years.
He previously worked in the fuel business and as a farmer.
"I've never been unemployed in my life. I've never missed a day's work. The last two years have been hell. I'm trying to build up a business again," he said.
"I haven't left my house since I received the eviction notice but I am receiving huge support from people who I've helped over the last 18 months as part of the Life after Debt campaign. People have been bringing me food and provisions."
- Kathryn Hayes
Stating facts on household charge
A letter published in the Irish Examiner asks many excellent questions. What do these local authority councillors actually do? Local people need to be doing things for themselves in their local community. A proposed tax on a family home is certainly in doubt given how the household charge issue has been dealt with. This Irish tax revolt has been witnessed around the world. It’s time to scrap these councils and for local people to look after their own community themselves. In many places, people have very minimum or no contact at all with local councils. When something needs to be done, locals do it themselves.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/letters/stating-facts-on-household-charge-204396.html
Stating facts on household charge
Friday, August 17, 2012
I am trying to find out how many local authority tenants registered for the household charge so they could be exempted from the charge?
I have good reason to believe these figures are being used as fact and added to the numbers that have ‘registered and paid’ when they have only just registered.
How many multiple properties under the one landlord are being counted as individual households when in fact they have only one owner? We all know how spin, confusion and misuse of facts are used to make a compelling argument.
So we can all see the true picture of the numbers, rightly refusing to pay for the same service twice.
Also, since they privatised the refuse collection how many taxpayers and rate-payers have received a refund in the post to go towards the private service they must now avail of?
There are 883 councillors and 34 councils that must be paid for yearly. All they do is pass budgets and bye-laws, show up to claim expenses/wages and that’s it for the year.
Please come out publicly and justify you are worth the expense and tell us what you do all year?
Emmet Murphy
Bawnmore
Kanturk
Co Cork
Friday, 17 August 2012
Limerick people rally around farmer Seamus Sherlock threatened with eviction
It is more accurate to state people from all Ireland are arriving to the farm in support of Seamus. Do keep updated to these pages.Updates will be added in our comments section.
Anti-Eviction Task force 2012 People for Economic Justice - Dundalk Co Louth IE
SUPPORT Seamus Sherlock Appletown
Feohanagh village
Co Limerick
Five miles out the Drumcollager Rd
driving from NewCastle
(353) (0)834166136
http://www.facebook.com/pages/LIFE-AFTER-DEBT-Seamus-Sherlock/172617749477662
County Limerick people are rallying around Seamus Sherlock who has been given notice of eviction from his home.
The 'Life After Debt' campaigner says he and his five children will fight the eviction all the way and have barricaded themselves into the house in Feoghanagh.
Dozens of messages of support have been posted on Seamus' Life After Debt' facebook page, many of them say they will go to the house to help keep the Sheriffs out.
Joe Bray from Rathcannon in Kilmallock was evicted from his home in May last year.
On Live 95FM's Limerick Today programme Joe offered advice to Seamus while Caroline Enright from Adare also offered her support to Seamus Sherlock:
"Rebuilding Christendom" in Washington D.C. , Aug. 24th to 26th
A final reminder regarding the upcoming conference.
August 15
Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady
Dear Fellow Catholic and Concerned Citizen:
In just a few days, under the patronage of King St. Louis IX, eleven of the U.S.A.'s most respected Catholic activists and scholars will meet at the Dulles Airport Marriott in Washington, D.C., for a bracing and inspiring weekend. If you count yourself among those dedicated to the Cause of returning our broken and bankrupt modern world to the moral, social, political, and cultural norms that prevailed during the Age of Faith - or at the very least to keeping the idea of that Age alive during the phase of barbarism and amorality that is upon us, and which looks to become worse week by week - then this is an event that you cannot afford to miss.
Are you:
- Tired of the sham left-vs.-right dichotomy in today's "politics"?
- Wondering what happened to the genuine Catholic witness in the public square, based on the social doctrine of the Church?
- Ready to think about how we can return to the Age of Faith while modernity crumbles about us?
- Prepared to unite with all Catholics and others of good will in defense of the temporal ideal of Christendom as well as of the spiritual and supernatural realities of the Faith?
- Eager to hear Drs. David Allen White, Peter Chojnowski, Robert Sungenis, Messrs. John Vennari, Jim Condit, Jr., Gary Potter, Gerry Bruen, Douglas Bersaw, and others discuss the social, political, economic, financial, and cultural principles of the Catholic Faith?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions - or would do so to others like them – then make plans now . . . it is not too late . . . to join us from August 24th to August 26th in Washington, D.C.
It is not too late to register to attend.Register today and you will still save $50 off the price at the door. What's more, the discounted event-specific hotel rate of $71 per night is available through August 23rd, so that anyone registering today will be assured the same, bottom-line accommodation rate as all other registrants received. (Rooms at this conference rate can be booked directly with Marriott, at 703-471-9500.)
Can you afford to miss this opportunity for 48-hours' worth of camaraderie, networking, and collaboration, for the common ideal of Christendom, which will include among its features the following:
- 5 professionally catered meals, at absolutely no extra cost
- 13 talks on Catholic social teaching and the Catholic approach to politics, economics, finance, international relations, and the arts by activists, scholars, and men of letters, plus one "speakers' roundtable" to wrap it up and send you off to the trenches for further active work
- a taste of Christendom with two Gregorian Sung Masses in the traditional Roman rite, as well as a "mini-workshop" in the traditional Western Christian liturgy, which includes the common recitation of theAngelus and the singing of the Veni Sancte Spiritus and Salve Regina?
And with all of the above, do you want to miss the weekend's "lighter" features and entertaining sidelines, such as the raffles, jokes, and a Catholic "social, historical and political trivia" contest offering fine religious-art prints of the works of the great masters and hand-designed, pewter Catholic "miniatures"?
The answer is "no." Do not miss it.
Register now to attend. Save $50 off the price at the door.
Visit www.rebuildingchristendom.com. Call 877-IHS-PRES (877-447-7737). Emailconference@ihspress.com.
And plan to join us for the King St. Louis IX "weekend festivities" at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott, when, on the 24th of August, together, we begin Rebuilding Christendom.
Yours affectionately in the patronage of King St. Louis IX, and under the Banners of Our Heavenly King and Queen.
The Rebuilding Christendom
Conference Committee
www.ihspress.com
www.rebuildingchristendom.com
877-IHS-PRES
conference@ihspress.com
Thursday, 16 August 2012
No to Household/Septic Tank Tax Meeting in Portumna
Apologies for the short notice but a reader alerted Thought and Action to a meeting taking place in Portumna. Portumna is in County Galway. The meeting is this evening (Thursday 16th August) at 8pm in O' Meara's Bar. There is strong opposition to a property tax in Ireland.
West Celebrates as Dark Age Descends over Egypt
An article here by Tony Cartalucci. It should be remembered though that this “Muslim Brotherhood” was created by MI5.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32338
Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood begins rounding up outspoken journalists as Egypt arrays itself with West against Syria and Iran.
US State Department's Voice of America boldly proclaimed "Egyptian Media: Military Shakeup 'Revolutionary'," airing proclamations from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood that, "Egyptians have been “dreaming of a fair democratic system for more than 60 years." It is unlikely that Egyptians have been "dreaming" of an end to their secular system of governance, or "dreaming" of a sectarian extremist political party coming to power, notorious for thuggery, violence, and for being a stalwart pillar of Western machinations.
And already, Egypt's "democratic dreams" are vanishing like the last wisp of morning mist as the ruling Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt begins rounding up critics amongst the media. AFP recently reported in their article, "Egyptian journalists to be tried for insulting Mursi," that "television boss Tawfiq Okasha and newspaper journalist Islam Afifi will be tried for "incitement" and insulting Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi."
Strangely, while similar actions around the world beget howling indignation from organizations including Freedom House, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and IFEX - not to mention the US State Department itself which underwrites each of these faux-human rights advocates - there is not only absolute silence regarding this assault on "freedom of expression," but instead, a collective chorus of support from the Western media, hailing Morsi's increasingly despotic dismantling of Egypt's checks and balances through an increasing aggressive consolidation of power, as a "
Morsi's assault on Egypt's press has coincided with "mysterious" sectarian extremist attacks on Egyptian security forces on the Sinai Peninsula, most likely the collective work of Israel and Hamas. Of course, Hamas, an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, is a direct creation of Israel (and here), and like the Muslim Brotherhood, is a pillar of US-Israeli machinations throughout the region.
Morsi quickly used the convenient attacks as a pretense
Fortune 500-funded think-tanks including the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institution would gush over Morsi's move to extra-legally procure more power - with CFR's Steven Cook declaring Morsi as "extraordinarily powerful." Cook would concede however that "in theory," this is a "more healthy place for Egypt to be in a democratic transition, but you have to raise questions about the democratic credentials of the Muslim Brotherhood."
So What are the Brotherhood's "Democratic Credentials?"
Raise questions about the Muslim Brotherhood's "democratic credentials" indeed. The Muslim Brotherhood is a theocratic sectarian extremist movement, and not only that, but a regional movement that transcends national borders. It is guilty of decades of violent discord not only in Egypt, but across the Arab World and it has remained a serious threat to secular systems from Algeria to Syria and back again.
Today, the Western press has decried Egyptian and Syrian efforts to hem in these sectarian extremists, particularly in Syria where the government was accused of having "massacring" armed Brotherhood militants in Hama in 1982. The constitutions of secular Arab nations across Northern Africa and the Middle East,
And while sectarian extremists taking power in Egypt and attempting to take power in Syria may seem like an imminent threat to Western (including Israeli) interests - it in reality is a tremendous boon.
Morsi himself is by no means an "extremists" or an "Islamist." He is
Already, despite a long campaign of feigned anti-American, anti-Israel propaganda during the Egyptian presidential run-up, the Muslim Brotherhood has joined US, European, and Israeli calls for "international" intervention in Syria. Alongside the CIA, Mossad, and the Gulf State despots of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood's Syrian affiliates have been funneling weapons, cash, and foreign fighters into Syria to fight Wall Street, London, Riyadh, Doha, and Tel Aviv's proxy war.
In a May 6, 2012 Reuters article it stated:
"Working quietly, the Brotherhood has been financing Free Syrian Army defectors based in Turkey and channeling money and supplies to Syria, reviving their base among small Sunni farmers and middle class Syrians, opposition sources say."
The Muslim Brotherhood was nearing extinction in Syria before the latest unrest, and while Reuters categorically fails in its report to explain the "how" behind the Brotherhood's resurrection, it was revealed in a 2007 New Yorker article titled, "The Redirection" by Seymour Hersh.
The Brotherhood was being directly backed by the US and Israel who were funneling support through the Saudis so as to not compromise the "credibility" of the so-called "Islamic" movement. Hersh revealed that members of the Lebanese Saad Hariri clique, then led by Fouad Siniora, had been the go-between for US planners and the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.
Hersh reports the Lebanese Hariri faction had met Dick Cheney in Washington and relayed personally the importance of using the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria in any move against the ruling government:
"[Walid] Jumblatt then told me that he had met with Vice-President Cheney in Washington last fall to discuss, among other issues, the possibility of undermining Assad. He and his colleagues advised Cheney that, if the United States does try to move against Syria, members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood would be “the ones to talk to,” Jumblatt said." -The Redirection, Seymour Hersh
The article would continue by explaining how already in 2007, US and Saudi backing had begun benefiting the Brotherhood:
"There is evidence that the Administration’s redirection strategy has already benefitted the Brotherhood. The Syrian National Salvation Front is a coalition of opposition groups whose principal members are a faction led by Abdul Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian Vice-President who defected in 2005, and the Brotherhood. A former high-ranking C.I.A. officer told me, “The Americans have provided both political and financial support. The Saudis are taking the lead with financial support, but there is American involvement.” He said that Khaddam, who now lives in Paris, was getting money from Saudi Arabia, with the knowledge of the White House. (In 2005, a delegation of the Front’s members met with officials from the National Security Council, according to press reports.) A former White House official told me that the Saudis had provided members of the Front with travel documents." -The Redirection, Seymour Hersh
It was warned that such backing would benefit the Brotherhood as a whole, not just in Syria, and could effect public opinion even as far as in Egypt where a long battle against the hardliners was fought in order to keep Egyptian governance secular. Clearly the Brotherhood did not spontaneously rise back to power in Syria, it was resurrected by US, Israeli, and Saudi cash, weapons and directives.
Likewise, its rise into power in Egypt was facilitated by Western-backed and funded destabilization, sometimes referred to as the "Arab Spring."
US-backed Sedition, Not Revolution Has Seized Egypt
In January of 2011, we were told that "spontaneous," "indigenous" uprising had begun sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, including Hosni Mubarak's Egypt, in what was hailed as the "Arab Spring." It would be almost four months before the corporate-media would admit that the US had been behind the uprisings and that they were anything but "spontaneous," or "indigenous." In an April 2011 article published by the New York Times titled, "U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings," it was stated (emphasis added):
"A number of the groups and individuals directly involved in the revolts and reforms sweeping the region, including the April 6 Youth Movement in Egypt, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and grass-roots activists like Entsar Qadhi, a youth leader in Yemen, received training and financing from groups like the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House, a nonprofit human rights organization based in Washington."
The article would also add, regarding the US State Department-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED):
"The Republican and Democratic institutes are loosely affiliated with the Republican and Democratic Parties. They were created by Congress and are financed through the National Endowment for Democracy, which was set up in 1983 to channel grants for promoting democracy in developing nations. The National Endowment receives about $100 million annually from Congress. Freedom House also gets the bulk of its money from the American government, mainly from the State Department. "
It is hardly a speculative theory then, that the uprisings were part of an immense geopolitical campaign conceived in the West and carried out through its proxies with the assistance of disingenuous organizations including NED, NDI, IRI, and Freedom House and the stable of NGOs they maintain throughout the world. Preparations for the "Arab Spring" began not as unrest had already begun, but years before the first "fist" was raised, and within seminar rooms in D.C. and New York, US-funded training facilities in Serbia, and camps held in neighboring countries, not within the Arab World itself.
In 2008, Egyptian activists from the now infamous April 6 movement were in New York City for the inaugural Alliance of Youth Movements (AYM) summit, also known as Movements.org. There, they received training, networking opportunities, and support from AYM's various corporate and US governmental sponsors, including the US State Department itself. The AYM 2008 summit report (page 3 of .pdf) states that the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, James Glassman attended, as did Jared Cohen who sits on the policy planning staff of the Office of the Secretary of State. Six other State Department staff members and advisers would also attend the summit along with an immense list of corporate, media, and institutional representatives.
Shortly afterward, April 6 would travel to Serbia to train under US-funded CANVAS, formally the US-funded NGO "Otpor" who helped overthrow the government of Serbia in 2000. Otpor, the New York Times would report, was a "well-oiled movement backed by several million dollars from the United States." After its success it would change its name to CANVAS and begin training activists to be used in other US-backed regime change operations.
The April 6 Movement, after training with CANVAS, would return to Egypt in 2010, a full year before the "Arab Spring," along with UN IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei. April 6 members would even be arrested while waiting for ElBaradei's arrival at Cairo's airport in mid-February. Already, ElBaradei, as early as 2010, announced his intentions of running for president in the 2011 elections. Together with April 6, Wael Ghonim of Google, and a coalition of other opposition parties, ElBaradei assembled his "National Front for Change" and began preparing for the coming "Arab Spring."
An April 2011 AFP report would confirm that the US government had trained armies of "activists" to return to their respective countries and enact political "change," when US State Department's Michael Posner stated that the "US government has budgeted $50 million in the last two years to develop new technologies to help activists protect themselves from arrest and prosecution by authoritarian governments." The report went on to explain that the US "organized training sessions for 5,000 activists in different parts of the world. A session held in the Middle East about six weeks ago gathered activists from Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon who returned to their countries with the aim of training their colleagues there." Posner would add, "They went back and there's a ripple effect."
That ripple effect of course, was the "Arab Spring" and the subsequent destabilization, violence, and even US armed and backed warfare that followed. While nations like Libya and Tunisia are now run by a BP, Shell, and Total-funded Petroleum Institute chairman and a US NED-funded "activist" respectively, Egypt had managed to ward off and expose the US' first proxy of choice, Mohammed ElBaradei, who's own movement was forced to denounce him as a Western agent.
The Egyptian military would then strike at seditious Western-funded NGOs, seeking to undermine the source of destabilization, the conduit through which US money and support was being funneled through to "activists," and expose the true foreign-funded nature of the political division that has gripped the nation for now over a year.
A February 2012 AP article reported that Egypt's generals declared, "we face conspiracies hatched against the homeland, whose goal is to undermine the institutions of the Egyptian state and whose aim is to topple the state itself so that chaos reigns and destruction spreads." Clearly, this was an accurate observation, not a political ploy to undermine "opposition" activists, with similar US-hatched conspiracies documented and exposed from Tunisia all the way to Thailand.
With the more "blunt" instrument of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood taking the reins in the wake of ElBaradei's fall, the West will inevitably face a reckoning in the distant future after the Muslim Brotherhood has served its purpose. Until then, it seems to be doing a masterful job disassembling the institutions, checks, and balances of Egypt's secular government. Egypt's "revolution" has gone from a quasi-pliable proxy dictatorship, to one both more hardline and brutal domestically, and more pliable and willing in terms of serving Western interests abroad.
A Dark Age Descends Upon Egypt
For the average Egyptian, a dark age has begun to descend - one where freedom of speech is still curbed, the press still muzzled, an autocratic despot still holding the reins of power, but also one where the largest military in the Arab World is commanded by hardline theocratic sectarian extremists with regional ambitions and affiliations along with a proven track record of shedding blood within and beyond its own borders.
With the NATO-created terrorist safe-haven of Libya to Egypt's west, and the epicenter of Arab World despotism, Saudi Arabia to its east, a corporate-financier underwritten terrorist empire is rising from the barren north of Mali, to the oil rich shores of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
There is no revolution. Instead, a violent, extremist multinational front has been assembled, as it was planned since 2007, to array sectarian extremists against the collective influence and interests of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the government of Syria, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
By consequence, this brazen geopolitical conspiracy targets both Russia and China as well, setting the stage for even greater global conflict. It is a conspiracy that will be paid for with secular, moderate Muslim, and non-Muslim blood across the region, the destruction of ancient culture and traditions, and the regression of all social and economic progress made since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Power plays
A letter published in the Irish Independent. A recommended book is
Irish Independent, Tuesday August 14 2012
When evolution falls behind, or when the majority of a society is ruled by a minority, changes tend to take a more abrupt course, taking society into entirely new directions.
Revolutions have one thing in common-- the masses no longer want to be governed by those in power at the time. Do I sense a familiar deja vu scenario here? Have citizens of our land been satisfied with the way our country has been governed by a succession of governments over the last few decades or so? I suspect that answer is most likely to be a definite no.
Government here is motivated by the desire of a party to gain or remain in power and not by what might be the best for the country and its population. Needing to be in the position of power overrides any other considerations.
Thus, lies become normal political tools in the evolution of putting down revolution.
Anthony Woods
Ennis, Co Clare
New blight
A letter published in the Irish Independent newspaper. See below. Two recommended booklets are:
Irish Independent, Tuesday August 14 2012
• Our current economic position is not unlike the potato famine in Ireland.
Over-reliance on one product (debt-backed currencies) has led us to the point where everyone is left stunned and paralysed as they look despairingly at the fields of blighted produce. What to do? Where to go?
Our politicians reckon if we continue to starve the children (austerity) then fresh growth will surely kick in.
Our economic commentators vary in their analysis. Some believe if we just plant a whole heap of more blighted spuds (more debt) then we'll be grand.
Others reckon a particular corner of the field is getting better sunlight and is pampered (public sector). Finally, some think that if we could just weed out part of the crop (reduce social welfare remittances) then the remainder would thrive.
Lads, I hate to tell you but the fields are all dead. There is no hope in this system. A great burning of the field (outlawing of debt-backed currencies, and a wiping out of the majority of debt as it is unlawful under common law) is going to happen.
The critical mass of change is upon us. Once scorched, the soil needs to be re-tilled and this time it needs to be planted with multiple produce.
Instead of debt-backed currencies owned by private bankers (blighted spuds) the land will yield a cornucopia of empowering solutions for the people.
This will include, but will not be restricted to: the outlawing of usury on borrowed money; adopting digital bartering of time and services thereby bypassing the need to avail of centrally issued money; governments printing the money the people need; a major reduction in taxation as it will be no longer needed by governments to service debt to bankers; and to the release of Nikola Tesla's suppressed free energy technology etc.
Our only task is to let the fields of rotten spuds burn and trust all will be well. The longer we cling to desperate hopes of the crop being saved, the hungrier we become.
The earth, thankfully, will sustain us in perpetual abundance once we save ourselves.
Barry Fitzgerald
Lissadra, Co Cork
Summer coat for Southill wall defaced by graffiti
A good example of local people working in their community.Local people should not be waiting for these councils to act.
By Mike Dwane
Published on Wednesday 15 August 2012 14:00
SOUTHILL is brushing up its image as residents capitalised on Tuesday’s fine weather to paint over graffiti that had long defaced a wall at De Vere Court.
White spirits were in short supply locally last night after a crowd of over 30 children got their hands dirty to pitch in for the community effort.
The work was made possible through Limerick City Council’s €10,000 environmental grant awarded to the Carew Kincora estate management group this year. For that modest amount, the community has seen a new stone nameplate erected at the estate entrance, beautiful flowerbeds set, rubbish removed prior to the May bonfires and other general improvements.
Funds also went to buy the paint, rollers and brushes distributed for Tuesday’s voluntary effort at De Vere Court.
“The old De Vere Court bungalows were standing on this spot until they were knocked around seven or eight years ago. So the graffiti dates from back then and people living around the green were tired of looking at it and came together,” explained community officer Patricia Boylan.
Mariah Moran, Carew Park, said residents were now pushing Limerick City Council to provide a playground on the green.
“You can see all the excitement with the kids here today just to be doing a bit of painting. There is nothing for them to do here and there has been no money spent in this area for the children,” said Ms Moran.
Approaches to the Council to fund a playground have met without success to date with officials suggesting children can use play facilities at O’Malley Park.
But that is not an option, according to Mariah.
“We feel that the children deserve facilities in their own area where they can be in a supervised and safe place. The parents are often stuck in home minding the younger children but would be able to look out and see they’re safe,” she said.
Youngsters, she added, couldn’t be expected to cross the busy road into O’Malley Park.
Meanwhile, a remembrance garden is being laid around the corner at Rathbane Terrace as part of ongoing improvement works being undertaken by estate management. Ms Boylan said trees and shrubs were being planted while artwork on a wall would include vine leaves on which bereaved families could write messages to loved ones who have departed through natural causes, suicide or other tragedies.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
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