Irish politics: they're special!

From That's Ireland

1. In October 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern became the highest paid Prime Minister in the democratic world at €310,000, more than US President George Bush at €279,000. Fianna Fail Ministers such as Willie O’Dea are paid more than US Vice President Dick Cheney.

7. In September 2007, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, while being questioned at the Mahon Tribunal, said that he must have given £30,000 to somebody else (to make a transaction that the bank had no record for), but he didn’t know who he gave the money to.

11. In July 2007, after a strenuous seven days of work since being elected in mid-June, the Dail adjourned for a three-month summer holiday.

14. In June 2007, Fianna Fail changed the law to create three new Junior Ministers with salaries of €150,000 a year. They had previously done this in 1977 and 1980. When Fine Gael did the same in 1995, Fianna Fail called it an abuse of the taxpayer and an act of hypocrisy, and Bertie Ahern vowed to abolish the new posts.

And so much more. Read the whole post.

Why do they keep getting voted in? Truly incomprehensible. Enough to make one stew in impotent rage, being so far away.

Irish expats have no voting rights. Prisoners can vote. Non nationals can vote. Almost every other developed country (France, Finland, Sweden, Germany, UK, US...) has an overseas voting system; Fins can even vote any Swedish embassy if there is no Finnish presence. Poles can vote in the UK.

Irish abroad have no voting rights. It is a shameful state of affairs for a developed democratic society. The Irish I know would travel to vote. There are Irish embassies in Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Singapore. If the citizens of so many other countries can manage then why cannot the 'second most globalised country in the world', as we so proudly boast, get the finger out and organise voting for its citizens abroad?

Interesting facts

There are 325 kilometres between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore

There are 171 kilometres between Dublin and Cork

It costs US$15 to travel by train from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (that's with a bed).

It costs US$104 to travel by train from Dublin to Cork.

Does not compute unless one factors in the general incompetence of the public transport in Ireland

V Day

V Day is an alternate to the diabetes-inducing cringe-fest that is Valentine's Day. V Day is a global movement that campaigns for an end to violence against women and girls. It is fitting to use today, 14 February, for something other than an excuse to buy pretentious tack masquerading as romance.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most serious issues globally. As I have mentioned before, the number one set of people at risk of violence are women and girls. The simple fact of being born a woman puts one at risk of violence. That is over fifty percent of the planet's population before one discusses poverty, ethnicity, religion, terrorism etc. That is unacceptable.

In Cambodia, violence against women and girls is reported daily.

'Violence against women, minors up in 2007', Cambodia Daily 2-3/2/2008

'Woman doused with acid after seeking divorce', Cambodia Daily 5/2/2008

'Personal disputes spur rash of acid attacks', Cambodia Daily 7/2/2008

'Second victim dies from Jan 16 acid attack burns', Cambodia Daily 8/2/2008

Not to mention the violence against women all over the world

Rape Is Weapon in Kenyan Violence

Now in a shelter, a battered wife tells her story

Controversy over abortion rights for rape victims in Egypt

Our bodies - their battle ground: gender-based violence in conflict zones

GUINEA: Children exploited, abandoned, sold into slavery

Women 'bearing the brunt of war'

Liberia's child rape victims

Gang-rape victim says she and others silenced by Halliburton

Woman raped in park at knifepoint

Gender based violence is pervasive and present all over the world, regardless of culture, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or socio-economic status. It must stop.

Say no to violence against women. Don't laugh at rape jokes. They are not fucking funny and only serve to reinforce the rape culture. Liss on Shakesville is collecting examples. And to those who deny that we are living in a world where rape is part of society, I suggest you read this and this and this and this and this and this and this and this. There are plenty more.

Today is Valentine's Day.It is appropriate that today people reflect on gender and violence because isn't today the day we act out the an incarnation of traditional gender roles. Most violence against women and girl is committed by an intimate partner or relation. How many women will get a token of commercial love today and get the shit kicked out of them tomorrow? Too many.

Condemn Israel's human rights violations

Israel violates human rights while Gazans starve

UNRWA has almost depleted the stocks of emergency food aid it had previously built up in Gaza. Only thirty-two truckloads of goods have been allowed to enter Gaza since Israel imposed its total closure on January 18; 250 trucks were entering every day before last June, and even that was insufficient to meet the population's needs.

On January 30 UNRWA warned that unless something changes, the daily ration that it will distribute on the 31st to 860,000 destitute refugees in Gaza will lack a protein component: the canned meat that is the only source of protein in the food parcels--which even under the best of circumstances contributes less than two-thirds of minimum daily nourishment--is being held up by Israel, and the stock of those cans inside Gaza has been exhausted. The World Food Program, which feeds another 340,000 people in Gaza, has brought in nine trucks of food aid in the past two weeks; in the seven months before that, it had been bringing in fifteen trucks a day.

Gazans have been ground into poverty by years of methodical Israeli restrictions and closures; 80 percent of the population now depends on food aid for day-to-day subsistence. With the aid, they were receiving "enough to survive, not to live," as the International Red Cross put it. Without it, they will die.

When Israel limited commercial shipments of food--but not humanitarian relief--into Gaza in 2006, a senior government adviser, Dov Weisglass, explained that "the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet but not to make them die of hunger."

Israel's "diet" was taking its toll even before last week. The World Food Program warned last November that less than half of Gaza's food-import needs were being met. Basics including wheat grain, vegetable oil, dairy products and baby milk were in short supply. Few families can afford meat. Anemia rates rocketed to almost 80 percent. UNRWA noted at about the same time that "we are seeing evidence of the stunting of children, their growth is slowing, because our ration is only 61 percent of what people should have and that has to be supplemented."

By further restricting the supply of food to an already malnourished population, Israel has clearly decided to take its "diet" a step further. If the people of Gaza remain cut off from the food aid on which their survival now depends, they will face starvation.

They are now essentially out of food; the water system is faltering (almost half the population now lacks access to safe water supplies); the sewage system has broken down and is discharging raw waste into streets and the sea; the power supply is intermittent at best; hospitals lack heat and spare parts for diagnostic machines, ventilators, incubators; dozens of lifesaving medicines are no longer available. Slowly but surely, Gaza is dying.

Patients are dying unnecessarily: cancer patients cut off from chemotherapy regimens, kidney patients cut off from dialysis treatments, premature babies cut off from blood-clotting medications.

Why is there not condemnation from all around the world? Israel is starving Gaza. And for what? To catch militants. Have they considered that directly attacking a civilian population that they are committing crimes against humanity? There are rules to engaging in combat. Israel is breaking those rules, so where is the condemnation?

Stupid Nokia

I'm trying to buy a 3G phone. I generally like Nokias. However Nokia's website is so very very irritating. Why the stupid flash menus and animations. Just design an easy navigable website. I ended up having to go to CNET to get any decipherable info.

So with regard to 3G, which is best?

• 6680
• N95
• E61
• 6233

Anyone got a notion?