Blogging from the Bog

   The character and integrity of the Irish and European politicians will be on display next week as they meet in Brussels to explore the ramifications of Ireland’s rejection of the referendum.  The Treaty of Lisbon had to be approved by every member country to come into force on January, 1st, 2009.  At least that is what we were told initially, it now seems there may be yet another democratic deficit within the Uber Union.

   As previously agreed, by all nations concerned, the rule was set that if one country rejected the Treaty that it was dead.  Will the politicians of Europe stand by this decision or will the rule be changed?  Will the Irish election results be ignored?  It seems so as the remaining eight countries are being encouraged to continue the ratification process.  In the coming weeks and months Ireland’s "NO" vote will do more than just send a message to Brussels, it will shine a democratic light on the institution itself in a way that a "YES" vote could never have done.

   Our own fledgling leader, Brian Cowen, who asked us to rubber-stamp this referendum without bothering to read it himself, will be facing his European counterparts next week with a democratic dilemma.  Will he respect the people of his nation and declare to the Union that the Treaty of Lisbon is a non-runner?  Or will he conspire with them to circumvent due process?  Barroso, Merkel, and Sarkozy are in denial.   Sarkozy, who will ascend to the EU Presidency on July 1st, is going full steam ahead with his plans for a European navy!  Do you think they are going to let a simple thing like the Irish democratic process get in their way?

 Tell ‘em Brian!

   What is all the fuss about?  What is there to know about the Lisbon Treaty referendum?  The answer to this Euro-riddle is as plain as Irish stew!  And for all the eejits out there having a great auld chinwagging session on the pros and cons of our future economy, neutrality, or our small voice in the greater European scheme of things answer me this one question will ya?

   Why, if voting yes for this treaty will make the EU 27 a more democratic union, are they not allowing all citizens to vote in a democratic electoral process throughout the member States?  If this passes in June do you think they will ever allow us to vote on anything again?  Why should they?  For Heaven’s Sake people wake the feck up will ya?

   Only a flock of bloody sheep would vote yes for this shite.  Off ya go!

   View this video, posted by Jazz Biscuit, before you vote!

   It seems we can expect a campaign of fear in the upcoming debate on the pro’s and con’s of the EU Treaty Referendum.  Dick Roche, TD and European Affairs Minister, will be spearheading the governments propaganda onslaught, it appears, with the remarks he came out with a few hours ago.

   In the past two weeks he has predicted a two-to-one YES vote for the referendum to be passed in Ireland, and has mentioned our indebtedness to Europe for our recent economic successes.  Today however he has come right out and said that our economy would suffer greatly and we would be "damaging" our standing within the European Union if the government fails to get the Irish people onboard.  In this Press Association article he is given credit for saying the new booklet launched today is "clear and unbiased".  Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to say that in light of the fact that he also says that a NO vote "could spark job losses"?

   All this before we have even seen page one of any information whatsoever on the referendum or have even heard of when it will be held.  The best guess is mid-to-late June.  The website Free Europe is hosting a poll, or online "mock election", in which just under 1500 people have cast their votes.  There is a resounding turnout so far in the YES camp that shows 86% want the referendum passed.  The poll is broken down by country, gender, and several age brackets.

   Since Ireland is the only country that matters in this poll and the actual referendum, as we are the only people in the EU to get the opportunity to voice our choice, I looked at the results for the votes cast from here.  Amazing!  Use the button below to see the results and to cast a vote while you are there.                                                                                                                                                               YES? or NO?  You have the vote!

   The beauty of blogging is in it’s diversity, irreverance, honesty and accessibility.  It is a new art form that is only beginning to crawl from the cradle of keyboards the world over.  Whether they are written from a humourous point of view, a sarcastic one, or an informative one, the fact that voices from around the blogosphere have instant publishing capabilities is fascinating. 

   Freedom of thought and expression is wonderful to see and to read.  Although the quality of the writing varies, as do the topics, each voice has a place in the chaotic choir that is the web, and regardless of the grammar and punctuation, the sentence structure, or the spelling, to criticize the blogging art form is an attempt to crush the free exchange of ideas.  It is a shallow and petty pursuit.

   A psuedo-intellectual columnist from the Irish Times, and "That’s Ireland’s" pick for "Eejit of the Year 2007", John Waters is just the kind of shallow and petty pundit who would consider blogger bashing, if only to get the spotlight to shine on himself for a time, something that his writing usually fails to do.  No word wizard himself, his frequent dicacious diatribes demeaning blogs and bloggers in particular, and the internet in general, is in character coming from this bellicose bellows.  It is without a doubt a farcical attempt at free publicity.

   Journalists of every ilk and order have never before been so open to criticism and commentary.  Some can take it, some can not.  No longer are the readers limited to the small spaces of the Letters to the Editor page for their expressions of congratulations or contempt.  Blogging has arrived. 

Blog On!

   In just about two weeks and two hundred days the opening ceremonies of the XXIX Olympic Games will take place in Beijing, China.  It is a great opportunity for the Chinese government to show itself on the world stage as a nation, a people, and a leading world power.

   There is a simmering undercurrent of activism however, among many groups and organisations, that is calling for a boycott of these games as a protest to the human rights atrocities, by the Chinese leadership, in their own country and around the globe.  This sentiment is being highlighted in the blogs of Jana and Makina, two expatriates living in Australia and Canada respectively.

   Senator David Norris spoke in Dublin back in October, with Senator Joe O’Toole, about the persecution of the Falun Gong and of the organ harvesting going on in the prisons. This was brought up in the Dail in November. We all have heard about the tragedy of Darfur but do we realise what China’s involvement is?  What of their Tibetan policies?  Why does Justin Kilcullen from TROCAIRE ask for a boycott of Ireland’s participation in these games because of Burma?  Inside China itself they harass, imprison, or evict bloggers who report on the pre-Olympic mischief going on there, before the worlds’ cameras show up.  John O’Shea from GOAL, an independent aid-agency from Ireland, is in agreement with a boycott and with the use of the term "Genocide Olympics" as opposed to the ironic official slogan "One World, One Dream".

   Ireland is hoping to do big business with the People’s Republic in the near future and Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald’s, General Electric and Microsoft are among the sponsors of the event.  What are the odds of Ireland boycotting these games?  20-1 is my guess.  We complain about Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Iraq and Afghanistan; but, we don’t dare buck the buck$, never have, never will.

   The lads from Reporters Without Borders, based in Paris, have found that there are borders (for them) surrounding China.  They were denied entry and in protest displayed their version of the Olympic flag, with five handcuffs instead of rings, in Hong Kong for the world to see.  These reporters should be allowed into China don’t you think?

     from Makina’s site.

   If there hasn’t been a conspiracy going on in the house building industry these past few years then at least some evidence of collusion is becoming apparent.  There are too many faces looking at the plans and architectural drawings, too many architects, engineers, and tradesmen with their fingers in the pot, too many solicitors, auctioneers, and of course the developers, with a lot to gain, or lose, for the sorry excuse of the so-called "quality home" in Ireland today, and to have the finished product go unnoticed and unchallenged?  Remarkable!

   The developer hires an architect that will put as many dwellings on a piece of land as is feasible and still get planning permission.  The Planning Crowd cannot be scrutinizing the individual house drawings very carefully!  The developer next gets the cheapest builder he can find, who then subcontracts the work, where possible, to save himself even more money.  When it comes right down to it nobody knows what the lads with the tools are doing and as long as "progress" is being made, no one cares.  Progress is defined as speed and profit in the building industry, otherwise known as best practice.  Every shortcut, whether safe or not, is used to speed up the works, and put more money in the pockets of those involved, and there are no inspectors monitoring the workmanship along the way to check for potential hazards or structural integrity.

   The concept of square, level, and plumb is unheard of on the jobsite.  Each tradesman has to contend with the previous dodgey craftsman and has little or no time to correct those mistakes to leave his own work looking right.  "Leave it to the painter", they all say!  There are Building Regulations on the books, if any homeowner cares to check them out, and if you follow this link you can read for yourself that, "Building Regulations are set out by the government to ensure that each house built in Ireland is to a minimum standard…", and minimum is exactly what you get, not even mediocre, minimum!  But then again what else would you expect?

   More than 95% of what is in the Regulations gets covered up during the actual construction.  If you think the rigid insulation was put in between the cavity blocks with care think again.  Roof rafters and collar ties, floor joists (often too far apart which is unsafe), door and window frames, and all other woodwork is installed with a very high moisture content (wet), and will warp, bend, and twist.  You can see the effects in your own residence: ceiling and wall cracks, doors don’t shut properly or open fully, gaps between the skirting and walls are all evidence of the haste in which these structures are put up.  Not to mention exposed water pipes and electrical wiring, gaps at the wall on stair landings, mis-shapen architraves, and what kind of wood butchers put in the kitchen and bedroom presses? 

   Thomas and Deidre paid a lot of money for a house that will have to undergo major renovations, not because they want to, but because they have to.  From the faulty plumbing to the dodgey wiring, bring on the kangoes!  They can hear their neighbours bounding up the stairs and even the flushing of the toilet next door, when they are home that is, Thomas and Deidre have to work all the hours God sends in order to pay for the pleasure of this high maintainence nightmare.  They had hired an "engineer" to snag the property before they took possession, €600 worth, and he inspected absolutely no engineering of the structure, he couldn’t, it is all hidden in the walls and ceilings!  He spotted a few wall scratches and rough untreated wood under the windows boards and ran away to cash the cheque!  The builder claims best practice and won’t return their calls, he has no one competent enough to sort the mess, and besides the bank owns it now, Thomas and Deidre are just paying for it.  Thomas claims his name is an acronym for the plight of many: The Home Owner Must Always Suffer, Deidre of the Sorrows needs no further explanation.

   Most of the sloppy workmanship doesn’t lend itself to pictures very well; however two scary representations of dangerous wiring are included here.  Electric wiring and the proper installation thereof is critical considering it is potentially lethal, have a look see at the two pics and ask yourself  "Is this best practice?"

   The one on the left was an undercounter appliance installed before the house was purchased, on the right is the handywork of a RECI electrician who replaced a one year old faulty boiler, 3 years ago, and won’t come back to sort it out!

   As the current political establishment is busy filling their own pockets with pay increases, while the going is good and before the new budget is announced early next month, it doesn’t seem as if this generation of politicians has any chance of showing any conscience or inclination to work for the common good.  All they are interested in is their own selfish greedy ambitions and corrupted aims.

   The kind of political correctness we need in this country is the kind that comes from politicians acting correctly, and it looks as if we will have to wait until the next generation of politician comes into their own.

   The Political Princess of the Kingdom of Kerry, and former Mayor, Councillor Toireasa Ferris, has left a group of politicos, who were meeting to try to get some answers out of the Health Service Executive, because of the frustration in dealing with the stonewalling and evasive representatives of the HSE.  Commenting in the Evening Herald she said that the committee was "all mouth and no teeth" and that she felt guilty accepting the €400 per meeting when no answers were forthcoming from the HSE.  Herself and other councillors walked out of meetings as far back as February in protest of the farcical and dysfunctional nature of the situation and now suggest that the monies  be better put to use providing medical services for those in need.

   The future is looking bright.  Fair play to ya Ferris!