tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127951422024-03-13T10:57:33.137+00:00where's me country?Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.comBlogger440125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-8300914698588617902007-01-29T20:08:00.000+00:002007-01-29T20:09:54.183+00:00Ireland's Media Lens?From <a href="http://www.mediaforum.ie/index.php">mediaforum.ie</a> comes news of an Irish experiment akin to the UK's <a href="http://www.medialens.org/">medialens </a>project. Mediabite has the look of 'still under construction' about it but should become an interesting place to go.<br /><br />Impression is the best form of <a href="http://www.tuppenceworth.ie/paperroundwiki/index.php/Main_Page">flattery</a>?Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-77736079884777837162007-01-27T19:29:00.000+00:002007-01-27T19:30:55.413+00:00Radio ReminderIf your around with nothing to do listen to Newstalk's Taste programme tonight at 8:45. Ill be on reviewing tomorrow's papers.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-89428344493535887942007-01-26T20:22:00.000+00:002007-01-26T20:31:44.866+00:00Critical PhilosophyIn this final semester of my final year, the philosophy and politics courses are weighted toward the recent developments in philosophy etc. Which translates into lots of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrida">Derrida</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foucault">Foucault</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricouer">Ricouer</a> and "radical" philosophy generally.<br /><br />I have only been reading it for a week and I wonder (not originally I'm sure) why, for a philosophy of mass emancipation from power and life as a subject, it is so bloody impenetrable to the folk supposed to benefit from its very existence.<br /><br />I realise that the ideas themselves are never easy as such and their power is in their popularisation by others. I am quite interested in some of these ideas and up for the read, but as a recent review of the Verso series of "Radical Philosophy" suggested, between Jargon and possible western-centric outlook it borders on inaccessible and irrelevant.<br /><br />Which is a pity.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-17941132317760062722007-01-26T15:43:00.000+00:002007-01-26T15:46:41.649+00:00Radio AppearanceIts getting regular now!! On Newstalk tomorrow on Taste with Fionn Davenport looking at Sunday's front pages. Check it out from 8:45Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-49610953597194610912007-01-25T18:50:00.000+00:002007-01-25T18:59:18.389+00:00New LookThe new look is done, thanks the <a href="http://www.philpankov.com/-/philpankov/">Philip Pankov </a>for the beautful picture. Check his <a href="http://www.philpankov.com/-/philpankov/qna.asp">blog</a> out as well as his pictures.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-71241716315299806222007-01-19T22:10:00.000+00:002007-01-19T22:12:34.857+00:00Radio AppearanceI'm due to be on the Wide Angle tomorrow morning on <a href="http://www.newstalk.ie/">Newstalk</a>. I'll be discussing the politics of the week at around 9:15 with other savoury characters.<br /><br />Listen live from a Newstalk website.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-30737662835635298852007-01-19T03:40:00.000+00:002007-01-19T03:42:41.068+00:00Shut it you slagIf you havent <a href="http://www.themightyboosh.com">met them</a>, they are possibly the funniest comedy going. Get it.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1167712812132931292007-01-02T04:28:00.000+00:002007-01-02T04:57:47.686+00:00Rely on the YouthTwice this week, it has been driven home to me the value of trusting your youth programme to deliver the goods. Sport is about bringing new talent to the top as much as buying up others top talent and for two massively diverse reasons Munster and Newcastle have done that.<br /><br />The former, through the pride and confidence of Munster Rugby, has relied on a few new local lads to work out results against Leinster and Connacht. Hurley, Coughlan and (arguably) Manning have show the quality that can be bestowed on a youth system by simply trusting it. Give the young lads the confidence of a team and managers belief and watch the world fall at their feet. I've taken the squids advice and herself (biggest fan I know) has a great present all going well.<br /><br />Newcastle have a whole team out through injury and the lad David Edgar has come in from the youth team as a right-footed left-back to play fantastically against <span style="font-style: italic;">the </span>in-form winger Ronaldo and score the goal which gave us a 2-2 draw against the Reds. I would have taken it before kick off and after a disappointing Christmas programme, it was a great tonic. Roeder is doing good work with a decimated side and UEFA cup qualification is the best hope for the premiership. He has been forced to trust Huntingdon and Edgar before time (a fate which saw <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chopra">Chopra</a> leave for Cardiff in the long run). Yet alongside Ramage and Taylor the boys suggest that Newcastle may enjoy in a few seasons (for the first time in a decade) a defence worthy of the name.<br /><br />Youth is where teams are made. While transfers may get you a trophy, youngsters get you success.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1167711642276432392007-01-02T04:19:00.000+00:002007-01-02T04:20:43.066+00:00West Ham 'Ammered<a href="http://www.football365.com/preview/0,17033,8741_1810385,00.html">Predictable</a> headline of the dayCianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1167708569754331882007-01-02T03:21:00.000+00:002007-01-02T03:29:30.196+00:00Rough ol' TownI'm a Tralee man myself. Don't know the poor fella who got <a href="http://newsnow.co.uk/cgi/NGoto/179506997?-2810">stabbed</a> but I know the area. I have to say though that I have been travelling back and forth from Dublin to Tralee for nearly three years now thanks to UCD's fabulous Arts programme and I have felt that this place is increasingly dangerous while I haven't felt threatened in the city in ages.<br /><br />It's hardly just this stretch of countryside that is feeling rougher?<br /><br />Surely other country towns are becoming typified by violence. Tralee was the first town to have opening hours curtailed by the courts thanks to late-night violence. I have no idea why its happening and as time goes on I have become more distant from the place but nights out here get rougher and news stories get worse.<br /><br />I am sure a long pontificating post on rural social psychology beckons but I am simply confused by the rapidly changing complexion of my (and presumably others) town as the economy continues to grow. The aggression seems to have turned much nastier. Or am I just getting older?Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1167527521360503872006-12-31T00:22:00.000+00:002006-12-31T13:31:09.970+00:00The Death PenaltyI cant say I have ever been madly disposed to the death penalty, and for me the execution of Saddam represents the most extreme test of the logic of those for and against it. It should transcend the issues which divide people on the Iraq war itself, it goes beyond the questions of legality, ethics, foreign policy and any other angle that people take on the war itself.<br /><br />Those are big questions, agreed, but the idea behind the death penalty is, at heart, far more important. It occurs to me that within the death penalty, we have the general capacity to wage war made particular. As a polity, we are generally seen as conferring on our states the right to wage war in our defence, as far as non-democratic regimes are concerned the lines of authority are quite short and the right to wage war is quite liberally engaged irrespective of the considerations of the wider population. So far nothing new.<br /><br />Consider for a moment though, that in effect the state is given the right to kill as many (or, less often, as little) people as it sees fit in order to achieve its (or our) aims. The relationship however between the killing within the war and the legitimation that is notionally conferred on such wars is often quite blurry. Rarely are we confronted by the lost life, the relatives of the dead or the people who live through the dreadful reality of warfare (and that includes soldiers, press and officers).<br /><br />The state's capacity to dispense death in a war is so broad, so general, that our legitimation of its acts rarely impacts upon us as an act we have sanctioned. Rather it comes to be seen as an inevitable act, in which we merely have observer status. There are surely deep psychological tomes on whether this is a necessary response to the gruesome reality of death or, perhaps more likely, the accurate grasp of reality.<br /><br />The core point remains however that the right to wage war passes from the multitude to the elite in such a fashion that the multitude feel almost no involvement in decisions resulting in war and death. The diversity of casualties and the gravity of war makes it the most contentious thing a democracy can consider engaging in. Yet at the same time it is wrapped in concepts so abstract and practices so general that the translation between the field of battle (be it a city, plain or village) and the people can often break down. The whole thing is simply too big.<br /><br />Yet in the death penalty, the difficulty which surrounds the whole notion of war is neatly transcended thanks to a number of key issues. Foremost among them is the fact that only one is intended to die. In this we now put a face on that which we are allowing the state to destroy. It is impossible to "know" Iraq in any personal sense, it is an entity comprised of a network of people, acts, institutions, cultures etc, yet we may know Saddam. (At this point I want to make clear I'm not defending him, just exploring the issue)<br /><br />Here is where we employ all of the ideas of 'other-ness' and empathy for which human nature is so rightly famed. Within this situation we have distilled the states right to wage death away from the general, unknowable realm of complex entities such as nation-states, to a person. We are not here dealing with the issue of bombing a whole country but of putting a person to death and for that it is almost as powerful an idea.<br /><br />The one who stands before an executioner faces a states power as much as the person caught in a missile attack. It has been decided that today is their day to die and it is has notionally been our function to sanction this. We have done so broadly, committing to the idea. In the case of war it is rare that the idea becomes flesh to any full extent. There are snatches of personality, snatches of stories but almost as a rule, war remains abstract and general. It is discussed in general terms with general words and the rare penetration of personhood.<br /><br />The complete opposite is the case in the death penalty. The state has the power to institute death, that much is the same, yet the one who dies is the specific. The particular. The idea of sanctioning death has been brought before us in the flesh and blood of the one who will die.<br /><br />We do not spend every waking minute thinking of how right it is for a state to kill, yet at any given moment there is likely to be a war somewhere (and you can be guaranteed that the majority of people living there don't want it). The death penalty has that capacity to slam full force into our consciousness like no other issue. It has the power to make us ask, how and why we allow the state a right to kill.<br /><br />While it is a stretch to begin to extrapolate from an aversion to the death penalty to an aversion to war, one must consider the value to a government of the consistent right to kill in general and particular. A state will reserve the right to be consistent so as to make the jump from killing one to killing many all the more easier. Societies 'softened' by post-war social-liberalism are likely to be squeamish about the paradox of sanctioning general killing while banning particular killing. Perhaps it is one reason why the US views Europe as unreliable in these matters.<br /><br />The death penalty has the power to distil all of the elements which are present in war-making into a manageable scenario for humans. In this it is exceptional and instructive. It makes us think whether we will sanction this particular death, whether it is in agreement with our moral, social or religious principles but it also sets a precedent upon which a drive to war draws.<br /><br />I had hoped to arrive at a conclusion somewhere about here, however all I can do is think that perhaps the death penalty is a necessity if a society is to go to war, the logical consistency makes the whole process easier. The whole idea of the death penalty though, I find abhorrent.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1166057864455574622006-12-14T00:53:00.000+00:002006-12-14T00:57:44.913+00:00Reading Contemporary BooksI am planning on doing one of the reviews for <a href="http://dublinopinion.com/2006/12/11/christmas-books-review-of-the-review/">Donagh</a>, but <a href="http://disillusionedlefty.blogspot.com/2006/12/last-christmas-books.html">I too </a>struggle to recall the books read this year printed in recent times. As soon as exams finish I cant wait to read something contemporary.<br /><br />If any family are reading this, the <a href="http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/buying-for-lefties/">Cedar Lounge</a> has a wonderful list of items to choose from.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1165533747755207452006-12-07T23:17:00.000+00:002006-12-07T23:44:59.096+00:00Everyone's Doing the Oxfam Thing(As <a href="http://www.mulley.net/2006/12/06/oxfam-ireland-promote-christmas-shop-via-youtube/">noted</a> <a href="http://www.infactah.com/2006/12/oxfam-insist-you-dont-buy-your-6-year.html">elsewhere</a>) They have done a viral marketing video for their <a href="http://www.oxfamireland.org/christmas">shop</a>. It might not be viral but it's a good idea.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tx9cPiTJdoo"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tx9cPiTJdoo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="350"></object><br /><br /><br /><br /><span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Oxfam" rel="tag">Oxfam</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Shop" rel="tag">Shop</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Christmas" rel="tag">Christmas</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Youtube" rel="tag">Youtube</a></span>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1165529326362918542006-12-07T22:08:00.000+00:002006-12-07T22:09:08.710+00:00Theme In ProgressUpdating the theme, any major bugs let me know.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1165527301369730372006-12-07T21:28:00.000+00:002006-12-07T23:02:01.173+00:00Like Returning from a Long JourneyI arrive home again. You'll no doubt have noticed this place is up on blocks, can't be helped, and that my contributions to <a href="http://www.irishelection.com">irishelection</a> are of the negligible kind.<br /><br />I reckon its time to dust this place down since studying for finals is driving me mad. My brain is just about melted and I haven't even begun to get rid of my own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliminative_materialism">mind</a> yet. For all of you deeply concerned at my absence from here, study is going ok. I finished lectures on friday, have two weeks to my first exam (3 in total-all in politics).<br /><br />Looking forward to some sleep.<br /><br />This place is likely to become a small respository of thoughts and rantings over the coming months, hopefully I can keep it off mothballs for a while.<br /><br />ALSO, thanks to <a href="http://www.philippanakov.com">Philip</a> for the use of the above photo, I promise to fix the lettering soon.<br /><br /><span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Return" rel="tag">Return</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/UCD" rel="tag">UCD</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Politics" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Study" rel="tag">Study</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Photographs" rel="tag">Photographs</a></span>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1163872825976797832006-11-18T17:59:00.000+00:002006-11-18T18:00:26.326+00:00On the RadioTonight at around 8:45 on Newstalk reviewing tomorrow's papers.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1162384637116463982006-11-01T12:31:00.000+00:002006-12-07T22:56:32.076+00:00Iraq InquiryThe want an <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6104834.stm">inquiry</a> into Iraq, let me just save them a little bit of effort.<br /><blockquote><br />"The high commanders, drawn from the aristocracy could never prepare for modern war. The have always clung to obsolete methods and weapons because they inevitably saw each war as a repetition of the last. Before the Boer war they prepared for the Zulu war, before 1914 for the Boer war and before our present war for 1914. Event at this moment, hundreds of thousands of english men are being trained with a bayonet, a weapon entirely useless except for opening tins"<br />George Orwell, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/lion-unicorn-Socialism-English-Searchlight/dp/B0006D9IUY/sr=8-1/qid=1162384142/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2555223-8516103?ie=UTF8&s=books">The Lion and the Unicorn</a>, 1941.<br /></blockquote><br />One could fairly suspect little has changed and that the US could be just as bad.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1160434847867511422006-10-09T23:37:00.000+01:002006-12-07T22:53:16.703+00:00What Can Bloggers Do?<a href="http://www.mulley.net/">Damien </a>has responded to my own post at <a href="http://www.irishelection.com/10/wcbd-what-can-bloggers-do/">irishelection.com</a>, I like the idea of getting Damien Blake to number one on Google for <a href="http://www.damienblake.com">Fianna Fail</a>, we ought try that. Or the Disillusioned Lefties to number one for the <a href="http://disillusionedlefty.blogspot.com">Progressive Democrats</a>. He also has some great ideas for what we can do, and I'll be honest I am only now beginning to realise that bloggers can, and most likely will, have some impact on the next election (although quantifying the impact is not really possible at this stage).<br /><br />Here are some of my own ideas and I would like others to weigh in here, what if anything, can the actions we prosecute here achieve? Personally I see two levels at which Irish blogging should operate, transparent journalism-reportage of bias and with a point of view. We have opinions and we believe in certain things, our strength is wearing this on our sleeves. We can autocritique reporting because we know things. Blogs are tool for transparency which anyone can use. And the fact-checking element of blogs is something key. I think we are hampered here by two things;<br /><br />1) There is a great deal of recent data online relating to Irish politics and affairs, but a dearth exists on historical material (unlike the US for example). This hampers some attempts at information gathering.<br /><br />2) Second is broadband rollout, this affects consumption and participation with blogs and we ought recall what <a href="http://podcasting.ie/podcast/richard-delevan-blogging-the-election/">Richard Delevan</a> told us on Saturday-broadband corrodes everything it touches. It can mobilise that critical mass required to garner momentum and strip away the sclerosis of old politics, making both old and new mobile and responsive.<br /><br />There is a lot of interest (on my end and on the part of politicians) in live blogging. Following them around for a day may not seem all that fun but liveblogging the day brings to light what is truly being said on the doorstep and as <a href="http://www.mulley.net/2006/10/09/so-what-can-bloggers-do/">Damien</a> points out, we get to assess the time-poverty of politicians. I think it offers huge scope for all of our bloggers in all parts of the country.<br /><br />What use can organised parties make of this? Is there a Howard Dein out their waiting to mobilise an entire party behind one or other cause? I dont doubt there is a few. Its more than intention though, he has to have luck and timing. The best response in this country has clearly been from <a href="http://www.labour.ie">Labour </a>(close call with the <a href="http://www.greenparty.ie">Greens</a> also good) though that could all change if the other parties got their act together. None have truly gotten on the bandwagon full-time. <a href="http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie">PDs</a> are badly advised to consider this a waste of time, unless they are deliberately fostering that image of aloofness from the <strike>heaving masses</strike> body politik.<br /><br /><span class="technoratitag">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Blogging" rel="tag">Blogging</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Irishblogcon" rel="tag">Irishblogcon</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Politics" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Irishpolitics" rel="tag">Irishpolitics</a></span>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1158529849619991332006-09-17T22:49:00.000+01:002006-09-17T22:53:01.580+01:00The All Ireland. Another Kerry Victory<img src="http://forum.football365.com/images/smiley_icons/Badger.gif" border="0"/><br /><br><br /><img src="http://forum.football365.com/images/smiley_icons/banana.gif" border="0"/><br /><br><br /><img src="http://forum.football365.com/images/smiley_icons/adore.gif" border="0"/><br /><br><br />Hur...Hic...HurrahCianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1156365122267137582006-08-23T21:29:00.000+01:002006-08-23T21:32:02.323+01:00Roy Keane - New Sunderland Manager?<p>So sayeth the ever crap Rob Macafferty on Sky Sports. </p><p> And the excellent F365 Forummers, any chance of the ol Mackems singing "who was Mick McCarthy"? Just for the irony?</p><p>Didnt read the book, sure I remember him slagging Quinn off though</p><br /><span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Roy" rel="tag">Roy</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Keane" rel="tag">Keane</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Soccer" rel="tag">Soccer</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Sunderland" rel="tag">Sunderland</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Mackems" rel="tag">Mackems</a></span>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1154383681475597282006-07-31T23:06:00.000+01:002006-07-31T23:08:01.536+01:00Wagging The DogNew blog on the <a href="http://wagging-the-dog.blogspot.com/">block</a>-not another politics blog!!!Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1154278418018778942006-07-30T17:36:00.000+01:002006-07-30T17:53:38.046+01:00I want to Write About the Leb<p>I really do. Every night the heart and soul is getting ripped out of the middle east. Last night raises the horrors of past atrocities in Lebanon. We are <a href="http://clickhere.blogs.ie/2006/07/30/israel-lebanon-violence-qana-massacre-relived/">seeing</a> dangerous willingness to use massive, devastating force against civilians. Innocent women children and men. I refuse to accept that their proximity geographically to Hezbollah makes them in some way complicit. That was the same argument that the black and tans used to terrorise this countryside.<br /></p><p><br />I, like <a href="http://unitedirelander.blogspot.com/2006/07/indefensible.html">others</a>, want to link to the pictures of children being carried out of their homes, their beds. The last image of a life that has been snuffed out. I cant do it. Their deaths stand as testimony to the worst excesses of war. The complete destruction of the human spirit which occurs in both the victims and the soldiers. Human nature is completely deformed by violence.<br /></p><p><br />Its madness, its criminal and it has to stop.<br /></p><p><br />That we need <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5208838.stm">more violence</a> to ensure a "lasting peace" is both an abuse of logic, morality and language. You need peace to have lasting peace. </p><p>I was <a href="http://clickhere.blogs.ie/2006/07/30/israel-lebanon-violence-qana-massacre-relived/">kindly</a> quoted earlier for a point I want to reiterate over and over;</p><blockquote><p>I think the following from <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=73914" target="_blank" class="blines3" title="Link outside of this blog">the Beirut Daily Star</a> should be borne in mind by everyone who is watching in horror the unfolding attacks on the civilians in Lebanon.</p> <ol> Lebanese civilians, who have absolutely no control over the events that are unfolding, and who once again find themselves in the eye of the storm, are now bracing for the very worst. Their darkest fear is that as they helplessly repeat the act of watching history unfold on their land, this time the promise of Lebanon’s resurrection will itself become history. </ol> <p>The soldiers have been taken by Hamas and Hizbollah. Now it is the citizens of both countries that are paying the price. Collective punishment is illegal under Geneva Conventions. In refusing to accept the premise that by simply being lebanese or palestinian one is a terrorist, we must accept that the path to peace lies nowhere near the escalation of violence. </p></blockquote><p><span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Lebanon" rel="tag">Lebanon</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Israel" rel="tag">Israel</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Hezbollah" rel="tag">Hezbollah</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Qana" rel="tag">Qana</a></span><br /><br /></p>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1152666652396201802006-07-14T23:11:00.000+01:002006-07-14T23:14:46.080+01:00Question for the Arty Bloggers: Cultural ConsumptionSounds like Im about to get arty and intellectual, well its a challenge to the genuine <a href="http://www.sineadgleeson.com/blog">culture</a> <a href="http://www.disillusionedlefty.blogspot.com">vultures</a> <a href="http://www.infactah.com">of</a> <a href="http://www.fustar.org">this</a> <a href="http://www.tuppenceworth.ie">blogosphere</a>. Is culture consumed? Or is it existed. Personally I hate the notion of cultural consumption, as if it is some static bought-off-the-shelf commodity rather than the historical emergence of people, ideas, materials, life and contingency.<br><br /><br><br /><br />To all bloggers with an interest in culture etc (not just the ones above since they fit the number of words) I am challenging you serious types to give me a better answer.<br /><br><br /><br><br /><B>EDIT:</B> To satiate your curiosity, its inspired by the blurb for this article at <a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article.jsp?id=1&articleId=3719">opendemocracy</a>.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><br><br /><br><br /></span> <span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Culture" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Consumption" rel="tag">Consumption</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Ideas" rel="tag">Ideas</a></span>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1152797671214061642006-07-13T14:22:00.000+01:002006-07-13T14:34:31.246+01:00Lebanon and PalestineI think the following from <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=73914">the Beirut Daily Star</a> should be borne in mind by everyone who is watching in horror the unfolding attacks on the civilians in Lebanon.<br /><BR><br /><blockquote>Lebanese civilians, who have absolutely no control over the events that are unfolding, and who once again find themselves in the eye of the storm, are now bracing for the very worst. Their darkest fear is that as they helplessly repeat the act of watching history unfold on their land, this time the promise of Lebanon's resurrection will itself become history.</blockquote><BR><br />The soldiers have been taken by Hamas and Hizbollah. Now it is the citizens of both countries that are paying the price. Collective punishment is illegal under Geneva Conventions. In refusing to accept the premise that by simply being lebanese or palestinian one is a terrorist, we must accept that the path to peace lies nowhere near the escalation of violence.<br /><BR><br />Thoughts too with MacDara in the Leb.Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12795142.post-1152409831319765022006-07-09T02:41:00.000+01:002006-07-09T02:51:30.016+01:00This Deliberative Democracy Lark<p>A while back I<a href="http://www.irishelection.com/03/is-voting-all-we-ought-to-do/"> spent</a> some time writing about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deliberative_democracy">deliberative democracy</a>. A lot of what i was writing was prompted by the work of James Fishkin. <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a5ad89d0-0cb9-11db-84fd-0000779e2340.html">The FT Magazine</a> had a piece on his work bringing democracy back to the people and decentralising it in a meaningful and effective way today. If your not familiar with his work or notions of democracy <a href="http://www.bostonreview.net/BR31.2/fishkin.html">beyond voting</a> give it a go.<br /></p><p><br />Im hoping for a longer post later on how we might use it in Ireland. Promises promises.</p><P><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span> <span class="technoratitag" style="font-size:78%;">Categories: <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Deliberation" rel="tag">Deliberation</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Politics" rel="tag">Politics</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Democracy" rel="tag">Democracy</a>, <a href="http://del.icio.us/progressiveireland/Fishkin" rel="tag">Fishkin</a></span></p>Cianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14103748028384262474noreply@blogger.com1