The last two weeks have been listening to who killed Amanda Palmer pretty much on a loop and doing what needs doing (essentials like cooking, washing and the cleaning up after cooking) in the house and a bit of painting to make me feel like I am not in some weird sort of limbo.

I have been doing a lot of reading, worked my way through all the 40K black library Eisenhorn books and then I thought I would take a break from scifi to alternate history fantasy, which I have a soft spot for and very much enjoyed The Queens Bastard but that weirdly turns out to be scifi also, sort of, I am still scratching my head at the twist on that one.

I have been briefly out of the house, as far as the shops and I did get out last weekend to the annual Santa Strike Force comedy fundraiser gig.There was a good turn out despite the weather and more money was raised then last year which is great.

The acts who all preformed for free were good and I laughed a lot more then I expected and there were good jokes about the internet and sites and online communities which were not having a go. I did how ever feel that night that I am now old/older. There are now groups of people who are 10/15 years younger then I and the cultural gap I find is growing.

One of the comedians make a joke about the pinball machine in the corner in reference to the movie the accused and a whole section of the room didn’t get the reference. I guess over the last year being 35 and susposedly properly grown up is being reinforced a tad by that gap. It’s just a bit odd.

Wednesday I was lucky enough to get tickets to go see Tron:Legacy in Savoy 1 thanks to a competition which ran on boards.ie and brought the kids with me. We got home work done and then sat for an hour on the bus into town. I had promised the kids sushi the next time we were in town so it was was off to Kim chi on Parnell street where we had dinner and then on to the Savoy.

Neither of them fidgeted through out the movie, which means they really were engrossed. Daft Punk do a lot of the music for the sound track and they would be my daughters favourite band, they also appear in the movie, so there were huge grins when they were on screen.

The movie has caused some very intresting conversations with my kids, on a whole range of topics which to my mind means it is proper scifi.

Getting out I guess has been pretty important as over the last 2 weeks with the weather how it is and no sign of it shifting and the lack of sun light it had started to feel like I was in a dream or limbo or some sort of hell where it is always winter but never Christmas.
But hopefully we will get out again to go see the new Narina movie shortly enough.

Nothing like a bit of coddle to warm you on a winters day.
Easy to make, filling and damn tasty.

1lb of bacon pieces
1lb of sausages
1 large onion
4 large carrots
1 tblsp of barley soup mix
6 large potatoes
2 tsp of corn flour
3 black pepper corns
1 bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay leaf, basil, sometimes rosemary)
1 litre of pre boiled water.
1 knob of butter

Cook off the bacon in the butter and then add in the chopped onion ( if you wish or leave and put in whole when the water is added ) when it is sautéed add in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the corn flower and then simmer for an hour. Then add the cornflower to thick over the next 1/2 hour eat then or leave for as long as you wish.

Often its even better the second day.

Fecking 39a.
I got one this evening at 17:30 on Suffolk street and thought, nice once it should reach the centre in about 30/40 mins. The bus went around the corner to the stop on the quays and sat there.

I thought, ok maybe it’s staged times, so it has to wait 10 mins, that can happen.
After I had been sitting there for 30 mins, with people still boarding the bus I went down to find out what the hell was going on, esp as a 39 passed the bus by.

The driver informed me that he was ending his shift and had to wait for a replacement driver who had not shown up yet, I asked him why he had not announced it and he said he didn’t’ know how long it was going to be.

I asked how much longer it was going to be and he said he wasn’t sure he was waiting for an inspector to get back to him. Que people who had heard the converstaion getting off.

He said I could get on the next 39/a which pulled in and I asked him for a transfer ticket but he said he could not do that as the bus was not going out of service just waiting for a driver.

Needless to say I was pissed off, 2 euro 20 to travel one stop?

I ended up sharing a taxi home as I could not get on the next bus which arrived as it was full enough reaching the stop and was mobbed by those who got off the 39a I was on.

In the end 50 mins after I had first got on the bus and with the fall temp I shared a taxi home to blanch with a couple who were as pissed off as I was.

Labour shortage…how many people I wonder were paid money who came here but never worked 1 day.

I had wondered how long it would be before we had cases like this happening in Ireland.
they are already the case in the UK and the USA, where rape and sexual assault victims
(who are only witnesses in criminal cases), would start taking civil cases which are pressed
on their behalf and they direct the proceeding rather then the DPP running the show.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1124/1224284025980.html

A MAN who sexually abused a female singer and another man when they were children has been ordered by a High Court jury to pay his victims €830,000 and €945,000 damages respectively.

Majella Murphy (37) told the jury yesterday that the five-month prison sentence served by her abuser Michael Butler (87), was less than some people had served for failing to have a television licence.

Butler, Maudlin Street, Kilkenny, had pleaded guilty at Kilkenny Circuit Court to six counts of indecently assaulting Ms Murphy on dates between April 1983 and October 1984.

Ms Murphy had waived her right to anonymity when Butler was sentenced last year to two years’ imprisonment, with 18 months suspended. He served five months after remission.

The second victim of Butler, a man now aged in his 30s, was awarded €945,000 after the jury found Butler had abused him between 1984 and 1991.

Butler was previously given a two-year sentence for abusing that man – whose identity cannot be disclosed by court order – and the entire two-year term was suspended.

Both victims had taken High Court proceedings against Butler, seeking damages for sexual assault and battery.

He did not defend the proceedings.

The jury was told both plaintiffs suffered horrific abuse at the hands of Butler who, it was stated, also preyed on other children.

Both plaintiffs said they found it difficult to return to their home town because Butler still lived there.

The man said he was particularly upset Butler still went to Mass every day as he thought this was “a kind of blasphemy”.

The court was told yesterday by Michael Gleeson SC, for Ms Murphy, that judgment in default of defence had previously been granted against Butler, who was not represented yesterday, and the case was before the jury for assessment of damages only.

The jury of six men and six women took about 45 minutes to find Butler had sexually assaulted Ms Murphy and about 40 minutes to find he did the same to the second victim before awarding them their respective damages.

Psychiatrists called on behalf of both victims said the abuse was the major factor in problems both had experienced afterwards. Ms Murphy developed an eating disorder and became an alcoholic, while the man also became an alcoholic, developed a drug problem and contemplated committing suicide, the court was told.

In evidence, Ms Murphy said Butler, a single man, regularly invited children to his home.

She said the abuse started when she was just eight years old.

Her parents were good people and did the best they could, but were under pressure at the time and she was having trouble at home, she said.

The abuse stopped when she was about 13 but she had never been able to tell her parents and it was not until she was about 22 that she told a friend about it, she said.

Butler intimidated her and went crying to neighbours telling the “most horrific lies” about her to such an extent that she was ostracised by neighbours and her family, she also said.

Ms Murphy said she had undergone a number of treatments for her eating disorder and alcoholism and today was a singer-songwriter and had been nominated two years ago for a Meteor award.

She had also written a book which she hoped to have published and was starting her second book, she said.

Ms Murphy added she thought it was “atrocious” Butler had only served a five-month sentence. The only way to stand up to the likes of Butler was to “shine a big bright light on them”.

In the man’s case, the jury heard Butler’s abuse of him started when he was aged five or six and continued until he was aged 13 or 14.

The man said he then started taking drink and drugs and had travelled extensively to “get away” from what Butler had done to him.

He was disgusted by Butler and could not believe his abuser was “still walking around” and had the audacity to continue living where he does, he said.

With how screwed up the justice system is and the issues with sentencing in these cases, I think we will see a lot more people taking civil cases.

http://www.shelltosea.com/content/gas-valued-%E2%82%AC420-billion-west-coast-ireland-while-fianna-f%C3%A1il-speeds-us-towards-imf

Gas valued at €420 billion off the west coast of Ireland, while Fianna Fáil speeds us towards the IMF
By:
Conor McCabe – Dublin Opinion

Just a quick post to highlight the Shell to Sea factsheet, that there is €420 billion worth of natural gas of the coast of Ireland – all of which has been given for free to Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil, Exxon Mobil.

Ministers Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern changed Irish law in 1987 & 1992 so that multinational oil companies:
• own 100% of the oil and gas they find under Irish waters;
• pay no royalties on it;
• can write off 100% of their costs against tax, even costs incurred in other countries;
• have profits taxed at 25%, compared to an international average of 68% for oil-producing countries;
• can export the oil or gas outside Ireland;
• can sell to Bord Gais at full market rates.
Green Party minister Eamon Ryan has continued to issue licences to multinationals on these terms.

Now, call me old-fashioned, but I would have thought that the current situation would constitute a game-changer as regards that deal.

Anyway, have a read of the Shell to Sea leaflet, and have a think about it the next time someone tells you that the IMF is our only option.

This is just a short extract, the entire piece is linked below.

*The figures in detail

€420 billion is a lot of money. However, the true value of Ireland’s gas and oil is probably much higher. Our figure is based on the estimate, issued by the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources (DCENR) in 2006, that the amount of gas and oil in the Rockall and Porcupine basins, off Ireland’s west coast, is 10 BBOE (billion barrels of oil equivalent). Based on the average price of a barrel of oil for 2009 of $60, this works out at $600 billion, or €420 billion. This does not take account of further oil and gas reserves off Ireland’s south coast. The total volume of oil and gas which rightfully belongs to Ireland could be significantly higher. The DCENR has also published much higher estimates at various times. Also, as the global price of oil and gas rises in the coming years, the value of these Irish natural resources will rise further.

++++++++++++++

A better deal is possible

Several countries have recently changed their laws to reclaim a greater share of gas and oil wealth

Even supporters of the Corrib Gas project rarely try to defend the outrageously generous terms of Ireland’s gas exploration laws in public. Instead they rely on the myth that the deal, once done, cannot now be changed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The existing deal already allows Ireland to halt work on the Corrib Gas field. The licensing terms state: “The Minister may … require that specified exploration, exploitation, production or processing activities should cease … in any case where the Minister is satisfied that it is desirable to do so in order to reduce the risk of injury to the person … or damage to property or the environment.”

In fact, there is a worldwide trend of governments reclaiming ownership of privatised gas and oil reserves. In 2006 in Russia, the state-owned Gazprom took back control from Shell of the largest integrated oil and gas field in the world, Sakhalin-2, after Shell was accused of breaking environmental laws.

Bolivia nationalised its entire gas industry in 2006. At first, the reactions from the corporations and international markets in both cases were furious, with dire warnings given about how the countries would suffer from lost investment. But these warnings came to nothing: in the end the oil giants simply went along with these changes when they realised there were still enormous profits to be made.

There are many examples of successful nationalised oil and gas industries. Norway is one of the best examples of state-controlled extraction of gas and oil. Ironically, a significant chunk of the Corrib Gas profits will benefit the Norwegian people through Statoil, as it is majority-owned by the Norwegian government and has a 36% stake in Corrib.

Venezuela has begun nationalising the industry within the past two years. Most Venezuelans lived in degrading poverty throughout the 20th century, while enormous revenues from oil and gas went to foreign companies and a tiny Venezuelan elite. The government has redirected oil wealth into public spending, bringing health, education and dignity to the poor.

Even if Ireland’s gas and oil fields were not nationalised, hundreds of billions of euro could be raised if Ireland took a similar share in its own gas to that which applies in other countries.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/how-the-stimulus-package-really-works-2406920.html

IT IS a slow day in a dusty little Irish town. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.

Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

On this particular day a rich tourist is driving through the town, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the pub.

The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.

The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note. The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the stimulus package works.

Anthony woods
Ennis, co clare