I had to talk to my kids over breakfast about the bombs on a bus in Maynooth and on the LUAS this morning, they were worried about going to school, our friends in Maynooth and family members who work in Dublin city.
WTF this is not the Ireland they know and it is one which I hoped we would never return to.
Those carrying out these pointless terrorist attacks on Irish people need to stop.
NOT IN MY NAME!
I really really don’t like this ad.
Actually I am pretty horrified by what it’s portraying.
It shows a woman who is almost save home, to the point she has is at her hall door, with her keys, being waylaid, held against her will by a figure bigger then she is and having an someting forced into her mouth.
It’s part of the Knorr beat the slump advertising campaign.
But the ad with the woman is it just does not compare or contrast equally with the other’s in the series.
The blurb that does with the images are.
http://www.facebook.com/knorrquicksoup?sk=info
Knorr QuickSoup Ireland
Slump-busting? Meet Mr. Slump. You’re probably familiar with him already. So you know that he has a away of sneaking up on you when you’re at your most vulnerable, like mid-afternoon or mid morning.
He takes advantage of your hunger-induced daze and he makes you do stupid stuff that you’d really rather not.He’ll tell you to chomp that whole bar of chocolate right now, that it’s just what you need.
Or he’ll order you to take a nap at your desk and not to worry if the boss is hovering at the desk beside you.
You get the picture. You know the story. So don’t let your Slump get the better of you. Get Knorr QuickSoup instead.
So the guys are studying and at work and being made sleep or slack off but the women is in the ‘traditional’ role, of out getting the shopping to be at home to make dinner, that’s annoying enough with out the enactment of oral rape with an object and implying it’s her fault.
Yup for double bonus this ad has victim blaming,
that there was something she could have done and as she didn’t it’s her fault she is vulnerable and that Mr Slump has taken advantage and is force feeding her chocolate.
Something you may like on occasion, being forced on you with out your consent, is scary and should not happen to anyone never mind it be used as an ad for something as common place and trivial as a cupa soup.
Knorr is a Unilever brand food and yes I have already lodged a complaint with them and with the advertising standards authority.
We now live in an age were we expect more information then ever.
Online, interactive and instant. We have gone in a pretty sort space of time from being used to idling time away at bus stops with the bus to be along sometime in the next half hour or even hour if you live out side a city or big town, to not wanting to wait more then 15 minutes.
This is changing, it’s not been that way in many countries in Europe for the decades and it seems that we have always been behind the curve.
I don’t think we will ever get to the same efficiently as the German or Japanese transport systems, esp when trains arriving into Dublin city train stations can be 10 – 15 minutes late and still considered to be ‘on time’. It’s also crazy that you can’t book a train ticket for more then 4 weeks in advance on intercity routes.
But for many people in Dublin it is Dublin bus which they use the most grudgingly, most people will if they can get the Dart, train or luas rather then get the bus, paying more and working their day around less frequent departure rather the suffer the bus.
There has also been the rise of private bus routes for those who live in some of the gather suburbs and again people will prefer to get a bus which takes a more direct route then sit on a bus which goes too far out of their way.
One way to try and combat this is I guess it to give people what they have wanted, which is to know when their bus is due. The next bus to the stop they are at, for the route they want.
Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? and such systems are in place in other cities but just not here.
Well the signs are slowly being rolled out, they all having still in testing on them but they seem to work.
I know that if I am having to wait at a bus stop in a quiet area at night alone, it’s reassuring to know when the bus is going to get there, and that even if the next bus due at the stop is not the route I want there will be a bus passing where I am soon.
Information doesn’t just inform it connects people and the more information and connection we have to others the less alone and vulnerable we feel.
Not quiet sure where April went,pretty sure it was lost with being and doing and recovering. And now it’s May and Summer.
I guess I haven’t’ had either the time or the need to write about things.
While occasionally the notions would occur that I could write about something which took my interest happened there wasn’t any urgency to do.
Things simply remained bubbling in the background and just like that the urge was there again and just like buses you wait for ages and 3 come at once.
It’s funny the challenges that come with having a kid on the spectrum but with them also come victories and hope.
Yesterday as I am swamped with this cold, and my co parent was gone out, I made a list of bits for D to go and get for me at the local shop. It’s only 5 mins away and he is 13; but on the list was something he’s not bought before and would be a challenge for him. Due to his ASD (Aspergers Disorder) I do have to push his comfort levels to get him to do things he’s back out of otherwise.
In this case it was to go to the fresh baked bread display and get one of the Vienna rolls he likes so much. Thinking about it made him nervous, he has in his head all the things which can go wrong and people might be looking at him. This sort of stuff is par for the course with him. He came back with out it, but with everything else on the list, so I was happy enough.
The he said ‘Damnit, Mam can I go back over and get the bread? I failed last time and I really like that bread, so I want to go try and get it again’. I was so proud, of him and even if he didn’t come back with it, the fact he pushed himself to go over and even to pass by the people he just passed by on the road and to see the shop assistants again in such a short space of time is a huge step for him. A year ago the idea that people would think it odd to see him going back over the shop or that they would think he failed and so had to go back was too much for him to bear.
So off he went and he came home with the loaf and after two slices settled down to do his homework. I am so pleased and proud, I know it’s just a loaf of bread but the fact he choose to go back over and did it with no fuss or no prompting means a lot to me, makes me more hopeful for him living a fuller life and not being stuck in the same routine all the time.
My Grand Dad used to say, we don’t own our children, we are entrusted with them for a short time and we teach them their first steps and one day they will walk way from us to their own lives.
I pretty much take the fact that I have to prepare and skill up my kids to be able to walk away and start their own lives independent of me as my mission statement. It was before I knew my son was on the autism spectrum, and it hasn’t changed. Yes it means that it’s more complicated, there are slightly more hurdles and certain things are harder on him and us as a family but days like yesterday give me hope and let’s me know I am getting it right, well at least some of the time.
Ok very shortly I will be leaving the house to get the bus to Galway and then will be getting the mid night bus back from Galway, and well such a caper isn’t that unusual for me, I’ve done it before, popped over to The Salt house for a friends birthday. The bus back from Galway will have me getting home 3am and then tomorrow I will be going back to Galway for Itzacon. A 3 night stay isn’t possible due to parental obligations, need to be here to get the kids to school Friday morning.
But I have to be in Galway tonight, Warren Ellis is getting an aware and doing an audience with. I will save my fangilr squeeing for later, but writers are my rock stars, they open worlds to me, their words delight and haunt me and stay with me, and a round trip to Glaway isn’t that much of an ask to go to a 3 hour gig.
This is part of me making things happen for me, part of being constructively selfish and just doing it and as I contemplate my to do list for ‘go go plan crazy’ which includes packing for my kids to stay in my parents over the weekend and all that entails, and leaving the house in smart conditions as I now my Mother will find some reason to pop in even if it’s just to check on the house, it’s stressful but I am worth it.
The universe I think agrees with me, and in my rss feeds today I was gifted with a new Amanda Plamer song and words on her blog about making things happen.
blog.amandapalmer.net/post/3631846280/new-video-for-in-my-mind-shot-ninja-style-by-jim
They are by Jim Batt who shot the video
On the train home after the shoot, I found myself thinking about what it takes to to make things happen. That it’s not enough to just know what you want. You have put yourself in the path of opportunity, to be bold and quick enough to seize the moment when it happens, but most of all you have to be prepared, so when it does happen you’re ready to go. No excuses.
The world is full of people talking about what they’d like to do ‘if’ or ‘when’. Pick up your tools and make something with what you have. It may not be the best thing you ever create, but it will make you feel good. And it will make the next thing you do better. So do it. Go make things.”
Today is international women’s day, it’s been a 100 years from the first one in 1911.
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp
1911
Following the decision agreed at Copenhagen in 1911, International Women’s Day (IWD) was honoured the first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland on 19 March. More than one million women and men attended IWD rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. However less than a week later on 25 March, the tragic ‘Triangle Fire’ in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working women, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This disastrous event drew significant attention to working conditions and labour legislation in the United States that became a focus of subsequent International Women’s Day events. 1911 also saw women’s ‘Bread and Roses’ campaign.
A lot has changed for women over the last 100 years, so much progress has happened re rights and equality and it’s wonderful that so much of the day is now about celebrating achievements but it’s also about raising awareness about where women have been left out of history and where there is still inequality.
Some of those are where equality has been legislated for but it doesn’t happen in practice or that culturally we still have a gender bias in how we treat people and what we expect from them and how we judge them.
The stats on over 50% of women who have been murdered ere killed by their current or previous partner unfortunately applies also to Ireland.
100 Years of International Women’s Day – Feminism shouldn’t be an F-word – Annie Lennox
It shocks, disappoints and angers me that in a world where man has travelled to the moon and where we can connect to people anywhere on earth instantly online, men and women are still not equal.
The statistics are sobering. Across the globe, gender-based violence causes more deaths and disabilities among women of child-bearing age than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. Even in the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s safer to be a soldier than a woman. Women do two-thirds of the world’s work for a paltry 10 percent of the world’s income and own just 1 percent of the means of production.
As the centenary of International Women’s Day approaches, I urge you to stop and think.
Last year, I did just that. I participated in one of 119 bridge events for International Women’s Day involving 20,000 women across four continents. It was a moving and powerful show of strength. I saw many wonderful women there, standing up for equality, justice and peace. But I was struck by how many other amazing women weren’t there.
It seemed to me that some people must think we already have equality. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, huge gains have been made since 1911, but we still have a mountain to climb. We need to persevere with this for the sake of our daughters, our granddaughters, and the generations to come.
Motivated and inspired, I became convinced that collectively we could make a loud noise. I want this year’s centenary celebrations for International Women’s Day to be a turning point, a catalyst for tangible and positive change.
Despite the fact that half of the world’s population is female, women’s rights have become marginalized as a ‘minority issue’. Many young women feel that the label of ‘feminist’ is, at best, irrelevant to their lives and, at worst, a stigma to be avoided at all costs.
Sullied by stereotypes of hairy arm-pitted man haters, the concept of feminism and its principles of equality and anti-sexism need to be refreshed and reclaimed by a new generation. Feminism shouldn’t be an F-word. We should embrace it.
Change only happens when we see the need for it and set about making it happen.
So how are you going to celebrate today?
There are events happening all over the world, two of which are.
08 March · 20:00 – 23:00 L
Location The Mercantile Bar 28 Dame st Dublin, Ireland
Created by:
Irish Fem-Net, Madeline Hawke
More info
We’re casting off the shackles of election day blues and kicking out the jams suffragette style!Join the Irish Feminist Network in celebrating 100 years of International Women’s Day with a bevvy of talented musicians!
Suffragette City is aimed at not only celebrating IWD but also the talent of indie female musicians from around Ireland. Men and women alike are welcome!
The gig will feature music from:
Marianne Lee
Lauren Guillery
and
Isobel AndersonIncluded on the night will be a raffle where you could have the chance to win one of our delectable prizes. You gotta be in it to win it!
Doors open at 8pm.
Tickets €5
And if you prefer a giggle
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158316944223816&index=1″]The Humorous Feminist
08 March · 19:30 – 22:30
Location The Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson st., Dublin 2Created by: The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI)
More info
Join us for our International Women’s Day with a host of hilarious female comedians such as The Nualas, Meave Higgins, Eleanor Tiernen, Sonya Kelly, Margo Carr, Lisa Joyce, Aileen Ivory, Sharon Mannion and Gaby Tzsechloch.Doors open at 7.30
5 euro unwaged 10 euro unwaged
All proceeds go to raising money for a rape crisis centre in Leitrim
How ever you day goes to day have a good one.
Catholic bishops wash feet of abuse victims
Monday, 21 February 2011
Victims of paedophile clerics made their presence felt yesterday at a forgiveness service in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral where two senior Catholic Church clergymen washed the feet of eight victims.
Boston-based Cardinal Sean O’Malley and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin — in “an act of humble service” — washed the feet of “a representative group” of those affected by the sexual abuse of priests. The group included prominent victims Marie Collins and Christine Buckley.
On behalf of the Pope who asked him to conduct an external probe into the scandal-ridden Archdiocese of Dublin, Cardinal O’Malley asked for forgiveness for the horrendous abuse cases catalogued in the Murphy Report, and for the systematic cover-up by church authorities.
But the one hour-and-40-minute service was interrupted twice by two victims who walked on to the altar and spoke of their failure to receive justice.
Both men were allowed to have their say by Archbishop Martin, and their contributions were applauded by the congregation.
Robert Dempsey, who said he was speaking for all victims, spoke of how he was placed in a mental institution when he was only three, and later of how he was raped by a cleric in another institution when he was 15.
Claiming that a court case that he had taken to obtain justice had been stalled for 10 years, Mr Dempsey handed Archbishop Martin a file of legal documents and urged him to use his influence with the judiciary to have his case heard and settled.
The second intervention came from Christopher Heaphy, who spoke of receiving “the lash and the whip” when he was aged five as a resident of Greenmount, run by the Presentation Brothers in Co Cork.
Speaking later, Mr Heaphy said that victims, many now elderly, still wanted justice and compensation, which he claimed had not been given by the hierarchy and religious orders.
A third victim, Paddy Doyle, a disability activist, approached the precincts of the sanctuary, before directing his wheelchair out a side exit. Referring to the presence of two gardai, Mr Doyle said: “Cardinal O’Malley is the most protected man in the building.”
But Ms Collins said she was pleased to have taken part in the service as one of those who selected and contributed to the prayers.
“It was a clear and definite expression of repentance by Archbishop Martin on behalf of the Dublin archdiocese,” said Ms Collins.
In his address, Archbishop Martin said that the service was only the first step toward healing, and warned against an attitude of “now we can get back to normal”.
“The archdiocese of Dublin will never be the same again,” said Archbishop Martin.
Unnoticed among the congregation was Cardinal Desmond Connell, the former Archbishop of Dublin, whose 16-year reign from 1988 to 2004 was “devastated” by the abuse scandals.
It is a start, it is over a decade over due and too late even as a gesture to those who died and those who’s lives were destroyed or effected due having a child abused or a partner or a parent who endured such abuse but it’s a symbolic start and none of the Irish papers covered it.
