http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0402/ahernb.html?
“Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has announced that he will tender his resignation to President Mary McAleese on 6 May.”
About bloody time too.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Earth hour.
It started with a question: How can we inspire people to take action on climate change?
The answer: Ask the people of Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour.
On 31 March 2007, 2.2 million people and 2100 Sydney businesses turned off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour. This massive collective effort reduced Sydney’s energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour, which is the equivalent effect of taking 48,000 cars off the road for a year.
So far, as well as Sydney, there’ll also be Chicago, Tel
Aviv, Manila, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Brisbane and Toronto all turning off their lights for an hour. And I’m sure there’ll be more cities by March.
Sign up for Earth Hour by visiting http://www.earthhour.org sign-up and join the movement.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhojojaucwgb/
Dublin is taking part.
Diners at the Four Seasons in Dublin will be digging into their food by candlelight tomorrow night as the hotel’s restaurant switches off its lights for a major global environmental campaign.
Between 8pm and 9pm the capital will join dozens of cities across the globe taking part in Earth Hour to raise awareness about climate change.
The eatery will be plunged into darkness for the entire evening save for candles on the tables while lighting at numerous city landmarks will also be powered off.
Galway and Limerick City Councils as well as 15 town and county councils around the country have also signed up for the initiative
Over 1/3 of people say a victim of rape is partly responsible
Isn’t it wonderful to live in a city were there are still such high numbers of people who think that
rape victims are to blame ?
Esp when last year there was such a high number of rapes.
During the month of July, 39 women attended the Sexual Assault and Treatment Unit (SATU) at the city’s Rotunda Hospital, while 31 women were examined there in June.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhcwkfidojmh
The recent poll in the Irish examiner shows we have still a very long way to go.
An Irish Examiner/Red C national opinion poll on people’s attitudes to sex crimes found a core section of our society think rape victims are totally or partially responsible for being attacked.
It found:
* More than 30% think a victim is some way responsible if she flirts with a man or fails to say no clearly.
* 10% of people think the victim is entirely at fault if she has had a number of sexual partners.
* 37% think a woman who flirts extensively is at least complicit, if not completely in the wrong, if she is the victim of a sex crime.
* One in three think a woman is either partly or fully to blame if she wears revealing clothes.
* 38% believe a woman must share some of the blame if she walks through a deserted area.
The results also show that defence barristers, looking to swing the deciding three members in every 12-person jury, can exploit misgivings in certain demographics about the perceived responsibility of female victims.
Dramatic differences in empathy towards victims based on age and social class are revealed. Gender, however, had little impact.
In every category, widowed, divorced and separated people took the harshest view on the role of the female victim, compared with married or cohabiting couples.
The results of the poll support the results of the ground-breaking Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland (SAVI) report in 2002, which found 15% of the population believed a raped woman was not an innocent victim.
The SAVI report, which was published in partnership with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, also found 6% of women were raped at some point as adults.
Only a fraction reported the crime, as they feared they would be blamed or their claims would not be believed.
Chief executive of the DRCC Ellen O’Malley Dunlop said the findings of the Irish Examiner poll justified victims’ reluctance to come forward and further explained why less than 10% of rape allegations lead to a conviction.
Council of Europe calls for abortion rights
Council of Europe calls for abortion rights
Tuesday, 18 March 2008 17:57
http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0318/abortion.html?rss
The Council of Europe has called on Ireland to decriminalise abortion.
The Council’s Committee on Equal Opportunities says all member states should guarantee women the right to abortion.
The report calls for abortion be decriminalised, saying a ban does not reduce the number of abortions but can lead to more dangerous and clandestine procedures.
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The committee says it is concerned about conditions that it says restrict the effective access to safe abortion in member states.
The report recommends that all 47 countries, which make up the Council of Europe, should guarantee women the right to have an abortion and promote cheaper contraception, along with improved sex education, to try to reduce the number of women who seek abortions.
The recommendations will be discussed by the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly next month.
The Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association, Niall Behan, says there has been a big shift in opinion on the issue of abortion in Ireland in the last 20 years.
He said it would take time to achieve a consensus on the issue but that today’s report was a step in the right direction.
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It’s about time.
And yes I am prochoice and yes ideally there would be free contraception, proper sexual education
and a proper non stigmatized support system for those who give up thier child for adoption,
so that the chance of a woman facing the decision about abortion are less.
As it stands we are exporting the problem and causing undue stress and hardship on women in having to travel and find the money needed.
How many ? 1999 to 2006 the numbers are just over 6,000 women a year to the UK this does not include those that went to holland or any where else in europe.
http://www.positiveoptions.ie/index.php
http://www.ifpa.ie/abortion/index.html
“Good grief!”
found here http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/03/15/cool-stuff-charles-schulz%e2%80%99s-the-watchmen/
And is by “http://explodingmoose.blogspot.com/”
And just in case people don’t know The Watchman movie is in production
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/
Yes That ‘The Watchmen’, href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen”
And again Alan Moore is having nothing to do with the venture.
Moments of parental bliss.
Upon both my off spring not being under my feet for over 30 mins and after hearing no dissent or disagreement from them in that time I went to investigate and found them giggling and playing chess on the pc.
The game would plot the possible moves so that the 7 year old didn’t feel quiet so lost.
They were happily on their 3rd game so I told them they were good kids for playing so well together
and went back to preparing dinner. About 5 mins later the ten year old came down for a drink and grinning broadly informed me that he had P(a)wned his sister winning 2 out of 3 games…..
From living to legend.
American Gods, free to read online..
Matrimony.
No, no, no, not mine.
4 dice owning dudes are getting married this year.
I am tempted to get them all a holding bag to retire their dice into…
Each of them have been part of some of the most fun and intresting games I have taken part in,
be it in college, in my home, at Gealcon and online playing epoch.
So in order of their impending doom; Guy, Anto, Ed, and Mike
May you have more joy in your marriage as a husband then you have had as a gamer,
May you your luck and love save you from any critical fails,
May you never suffer npc’s interfering in your partnership,
May you learn each other’s stats and working together over come all that comes your way,
Much love and best wises as you start your new adventures.