Ireland – Page 7 – Infinite Unknown

House Committee on Homeland Security Seeks Cooperation from Max Keiser on Financial Terrorism

May 22, 2010 by Infinite

Can’t make this up!

Here is an email from a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security to Max Keiser regarding Financial Terrorism. Both the email and Max Keiser’s response had me laughing my head off.

Hi Mr. Keiser,

My name is Chris Beck and I work on the staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security in Washington, DC. I have been reading and listening to you regarding the May 6 stock market plunge and the likelihood that this was an act of financial terrorism. I think this is a huge issue that has not been given enough attention, and may warrant oversight by our committee. I would greatly appreciate the chance to talk to you to make sure I understand the nuts and bolts, and to figure out what avenues may be available to correct what appears to be a massive fraud that could undermine U.S. National Security. Can you please contact me and let me know if you are available to talk?
Thank you,
Chris

Chris Beck, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor for Science and Technology
House Committee on Homeland Security

I asked Max Keiser how he responded.

Max Replied “I told him to investigate this financial terrorist crime happening right now! in real time!”

Max went on to say …

I think it’s really incredible how clueless these people are.

Given the recent track record of corrupt regulators in D.C. it’s not hard to imagine that Chris Beck is wittingly or unwittingly just bird dogging intelligence that will be fed to Goldman and used to package ever more exotic Financial Terrorist weapons.

My position is the government IS Goldman and any info gleaned by this type of thing will end up helping no one BUT Goldman.

Here is the video that Chris Beck was responding to. Play the first few minutes of it. It will have you rolling on the floor.

I am also told that homeland security was interested in talking with David DeGraw about his post on Market Oracle Financial Terrorism Operations: 9/29/08 & 5/6/10.

This reads like a spoof straight out of The Onion, but I have phone numbers and email address and a chain of emails to verify.

Ireland: Protesters Attempt to Storm Parliament

June 24, 2010May 12, 2010 by Infinite

Protesters angry at Ireland’s multi-billion efforts to bail out its banks have tried to storm the entrance of the Irish parliament and several have been injured in scuffles with police.

Gardai Clash with protestors marching against government cutbacks outside the Gates of Leinster House in Dublin Photo: PA

Police say officers staffing the wrought-iron gates drew batons and forced back several dozen protesters. They said the protesters’ injuries were minor and none were arrested.

Tens of billions’ worth of dud property loans are being transferred from five Irish banks to a new government-run “bad bank.” The government also has bought multi-billion stakes in Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland.

Gardai said one officer received a minor facial injury during the scuffle.

The march was organised by the Right to Work Campaign, sponsored by the Unite Trade Union.

As the scuffle broke out organisers appealed for calm, which was restored after around a dozen gardai stood at the large iron gates at the front of Leinster House.

Several speakers hit out at the Government’s handling of the economic crisis.

Richard Boyd Barrett, of the People Before Profit Alliance, said there had to be a movement of opposition to the Government.

“They (the Government) are bailing out the banks and the institutions and the elite that caused the crisis and they are asking ordinary people, senior citizens, young people to pay the price with brutal cutbacks and it’s just not acceptable and people are here to say we’re going to stop this and we want an alternative,” he said.

“And an alternative that puts people and jobs and our services and a decent quality of life for everyone at the heart of the economic solution to this crisis.”

Mr Boyd Barrett said he did not see the scuffle and called for peaceful protest.

UK budget deficit to surpass Greece’s as worst in EU

May 5, 2010 by Infinite

European commission’s spring forecasts put UK budget deficit this year at 12% of GDP – the highest in the European Union and worse than Treasury estimates

The European commission forecast for the UK budget deficit is higher than Alistair Darling’s. Photograph: David Levene

Whoever wins the election must make sorting out the public finances the top priority, the European commission warned on the eve of the poll, as it predicted the British budget deficit would swell this year to become the biggest in the European Union, overtaking even Greece.

The commission’s spring economic forecasts put the UK deficit for this calendar year at 12% of GDP, the highest of all 27 EU nations and worse than the Treasury’s own forecasts.

The country’s budget shortfall was the third largest in the EU last year but will overtake both Greece and Ireland this year, according to the forecasts. Greece’s measures to tackle its public finances problems are projected to cut its deficit to 9.3% of GDP.

Ghost Estates: Unwanted Brand New Homes in Irish Republic Could Be Soon Demolished

April 30, 2010 by Infinite

(BBC NEWS) — They have been called the ‘ghost estates’ of the Irish Republic – about 300,000 homes built in the frenzy of the property boom that no-one wants to live in now.

Soon, many brand new houses could be demolished.

Ireland Archbishop Stunned by Archbishop of Canterbury’s Criticism of Catholic Church

April 3, 2010 by Infinite

The Archbishop of Canterbury made the comments during an interview with Andrew Marr for the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week, to be broadcast on Monday. (Times)

The Archbishop of Dublin today said he was “stunned” to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury declare that the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland has lost all credibility because of the child abuse scandal.

Diarmuid Martin, the second most senior Catholic in Ireland, responded to a rare breach of ecumenical protocol by Dr Rowan Williams in an interview with BBC Radio 4.

Mr Martin said he had “rarely felt personally so discouraged” as when he woke to hear Dr Williams’ comments. Those working to renew the church did not deserve the remarks, which “will be for them immensely disheartening and will challenge their faith even further”.

Dr Williams criticised the Catholic Church over its handling of the paedophile priests crisis and made plain his anger over the Pope’s plans for

It comes after Dr Williams said the paedophile priest scandal had been a “colossal trauma” for Ireland in particular as he commented for the first time on the crisis.

“I was speaking to an Irish friend recently who was saying that it’s quite difficult in some parts of Ireland to go down the street wearing a clerical collar now,” he told Andrew Marr for the BBC Radio 4 programme Start the Week, to be broadcast on Monday.

“And an institution so deeply bound into the life of a society suddenly becoming, suddenly losing all credibility — that’s not just a problem for the Church, it is a problem for everybody in Ireland.”

Irish Catholic Church Paid Child Sex Abuse Victim To Keep Quiet

March 18, 2010 by Infinite

Reports of settlement overseen by bishop of Derry adds to abuse scandals surrounding Catholic churches in Europe

The Catholic church in Ireland was today embroiled in another child abuse scandal after allegations that a victim was paid to keep quiet in a deal overseen by the bishop of Derry.

Bishop Seamus Hegarty was named as a party in a confidential civil settlement after a woman claimed she was abused by a priest for more than a decade, according to a report in today’s Belfast Telegraph. According to the newspaper, the claim was settled without admission of liability but with a payment of £12,000 to the alleged victim. The settlement between the archdiocese of Derry and the woman, who was eight when the abuse began, reportedly contained a confidentiality clause preventing her from discussing the case.

See also:

– Catholic Church Child Abuse: Nuns Now Also Accused (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)

– Church: Pope Had Role in Moving Molesting Priest (Bloomberg)

– Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry (Times)

– Pope will struggle to survive abuse scandal (Irish Independent)

– Benedict’s involvement ’shows extent of cover-ups’ (Irish Independent)

– Sinead O’Connor: I’d help Jesus to burn down the Vatican (Irish Independent)

– RIGHTS-GERMANY: ‘Catholic Church Protects Paedophile Priests’ (IPS)

– Child abuse claims sweep Catholic Church in Europe (AP)

Her ordeal allegedly began in 1979 and lasted for a decade before she revealed at her 18th birthday party that she had been repeatedly abused by the priest.

The allegation came as further developments in similar abuse scandals in Germany and Austria compounded the woes of Pope Benedict XVI. In Germany, the archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, said Catholic bishops in Benedict’s home state of Bavaria felt “deep consternation and shame” at the reports of abuse.

Ireland: NAMA Chairman to Get 70% Pay Increase

March 13, 2010 by Infinite

Related articles:

– RBS banksters dumping toxic assets on Ireland

– EU allows Ireland to keep the cost of funding the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) off its budgetary balance sheet

Frank Daly Getting 70% wage increase

It has been confirmed that board members of the National Asset Management Agency are to receive higher fees for their work than originally planned.

Chairman Frank Daly will receive €170,000 this year, up 70% from €100,000.

The other six members of the board will receive a 32% increase in their fees, up from €38,000 to €50,000.

The information is contained in a reply from the Minister for Finance to a parliamentary question asked by Sinn Féin Finance spokesman Arthur Morgan.

‘They should receive the remuneration that was indicated originally. The Government cannot justify pay cuts for some people but incredible an 70% pay increases for others,’ Mr Morgan said.

Greece: ‘Ouzo crisis’ escalates into global margin call as confidence ebbs

February 9, 2010 by Infinite

For the third time in 18 months the global financial system risks spinning out of control unless political leaders take immediate and radical action.

A driver stands near parked trucks on the road leading to the Kulata border crossing between Bulgaria and Greece. The roadblock was set up by farmes protesting higher taxes.

Flow data shows an abrupt withdrawal of German and Asian capital from Club Med debt markets. The EU’s refusal to offer Greece anything beyond stern words and a one-month deadline for harsher austerity – while admirable in one sense – is to misjudge how fast confidence is ebbing. Greece’s drama has already metastasised into a wider systemic crisis. The world risks a replay of the Lehman collapse if this runs unchecked, this time involving sovereign dominoes.

Barclays Capital says the net external liabilities of Greece are 87pc of GDP, or €208bn (£182bn). Spain is worse at 91pc (€950bn), and Portugal worse yet at 108pc (€177bn); Ireland is 68pc (€123bn), Italy is 23pc, (€347bn). Add East Europe’s bubble and foreign debts top €2 trillion.

The scale matches America’s sub-prime/Alt-A adventure and assorted CDOs and SIVS of the Greenspan fling. The parallels are closer than Europe cares to admit. Just as Benelux funds and German Landesbanken bought subprime debt for high yield with AAA gloss, they bought Spanish Cedulas because these too had a safe gloss – even though Spain’s property boom broke world records. They thought EMU had eliminated risk: it merely switched exchange risk into credit risk.

A fat chunk of Club Med debt has to be rolled over soon. Capital Economics said the share of state debt maturing this year is even higher in Spain (17pc) than in Greece (12pc), though Spain’s Achilles’ Heel is mortgage debt.

The risk is the EMU version of Mexico’s Tequila crisis or Asia’s crisis in 1998. This Ouzo crisis is coming to a head just as tougher bank rules cause German lenders to restrict loans, and it touches on the most neuralgic issue of our day: that governments themselves are running low. Britain, France, Japan, and the US are all vulnerable. All must retrench. The great “reflation trade” of 2009 is over.

Pope Benedict XVI Summons Irish Bishops Over Child Abuse Scandal

January 20, 2010 by Infinite

Three decades? Sounds like the most horrible cult that ever existed.

And let’s not forget that the Roman Catholic Church has done much, much worse things in the past.

(AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI has summoned Irish bishops to the Vatican for a meeting next month over a child sex abuse scandal that has shaken Ireland, a spokesman said Wednesday.

“The meeting comes in the context of the problems in the Irish Church,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP, referring to revelations that Roman Catholic authorities in Ireland concealed abuse of children by priests for three decades.

National Irish Bank moves to cashless banking in all its branches

December 29, 2009December 29, 2009 by Infinite

LOL!

IT MIGHT sound like a contradiction in terms, but for the first time one of the main Irish consumer banks is moving to cashless banking in all its branches.

National Irish Bank has written to thousands of its customers this month informing them of a “new style of banking” in which branches will not handle over-the-counter cash transactions.

The letter says branches will no longer handle cash withdrawals and lodgements, night safe lodgements and foreign currency cash. Branches will continue to lodge cheques, drafts and postal orders and issue drafts.

Customers are advised to obtain cash from “ATMs nationwide” or to seek “cash-back” on their debit cards.

A spokesman confirmed that cashless banking was being introduced across the entire NIB branch network over the next 18 months, and had already been introduced successfully in a number of branches. He said the feedback from customers was positive with few complaints.

“These branches provide better security for staff and allow us to spend more time, in a better setting, with our customers . . . Customers like them, as our staff have more time to discuss customers’ overall needs.”

However, NIB customer Frank Barry from Malahide described the change as hilarious and ridiculous: “A bank refusing to accept cash . . . I thought that’s what they are for?”

Mr Barry contacted The Irish Times after his wife Catherine Gralton received two letters informing her that the local branch would stop handling cash from next February.

“If I did have a cash lodgement, I would have to go to another bank, buy a bank draft and then go to NIB to lodge it,” he said.

Irish Catholic Bishops Resign Over Church Cover-Up of Child Abuse

December 27, 2009 by Infinite

Dublin Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field issue joint statement announcing their resignation in wake of damning investigation

Two Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland resigned on Christmas day in the wake of a damning investigation into decades of church cover-up of child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese.

Dublin Bishops Eamonn Walsh and Ray Field offered an apology to child-abuse victims as they announced their resignation during Christmas mass. Priests read the statement to worshippers throughout the archdiocese, home to a quarter of Ireland’s 4 million Catholics.

Earlier this month two other bishops, Donal Murray of Limerick and Jim Moriarty of Kildare, resigned following the publication on 26 November of a three-year investigation into why so many abusive Dublin priests escaped justice for so long.

The government-ordered investigation found that Dublin church leaders spent decades shielding more than 170 paedophile priests from the law. They began providing information to police only in 1995 – but continued to keep secret, until 2004, many files and other records of reported abuse.

In a joint statement Walsh and Field said they hoped their resignations “may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims (and) survivors of child sexual abuse. We again apologise to them.”

Famous Investor Jim Rogers: Incompetence In Washington, Abolish The Fed And The Treasury

December 13, 2009 by Infinite

“Mr. Geithner has been wrong about everything for the last 15 years.”

Added: 12. December 2009

Standard Bank: Ireland, Greece May Leave Euro

December 12, 2009 by Infinite

Pedestrians walk past Greece’s central bank in Athens, on Dec. 10, 2009. (Bloomberg)

Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Greece and Ireland are among countries in an “intolerable” economic situation, which may lead to bailouts or even an exit from the euro area by the end of next year, according to Standard Bank Plc.

The absence of a mechanism to permit so-called fiscal transfers within the 16-nation region may undermine the exchange-rate system, said Steve Barrow, head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange strategy at the bank in London. Concern some nations will need to be rescued may drive the premium investors demand to hold 10-year Greek debt instead of benchmark German bunds to 400 basis points next year, from 214 basis points today, he said. The Irish premium may also jump, he said.

“Countries like Ireland and Greece may not be able to grow out of the current crisis,” Barrow said in a telephone interview today. “With interest-rate cuts, exchange-rate depreciation and significant fiscal support all off limits for these countries, bailouts or even pullouts from EMU may happen next year.”

The Irish Finance Ministry called the suggestion it might leave the euro area “uninformed comment,” and Greece said there was no chance it would leave.

80 new cases of child abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland: Inquiry

November 29, 2009November 29, 2009 by Infinite

“What You Have Done Unto The Least of These, You Have Done Unto Me”

What you have done unto these children, you have done unto me.

The Catholic church abused, raped and murdered people through all the centuries.

Why are you still giving your power and your children away to those criminals?

“Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

… or by their (hand-) signs …

Pope Benedict XVI remained silent over the devastating abuse report

Eighty files are to be sent to the Republic’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) by a garda team investigating fresh complaints of clerical child abuse.

The complaints were made after publication in May of the Ryan report, which detailed horrific physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by members of religious orders.

The revelation comes as gardai turn their attention to investigating priests in the Dublin Archdiocese who are the subject of the Murphy report, which was published this week.

Bishops who served in the Dublin Archdiocese while children were being sexually abused were desperately resisting calls for their resignations last night.

Pope Benedict XVI remained silent over the devastating abuse report, which accused the Church of “denial, arrogance and cover-up”, with survivors saying there was no regard within the Catholic Church for child welfare.

The Pope’s representative in Ireland gave an assurance to the Irish public that Pope Benedict was committed to rooting paedophile priests from the ranks of the Irish clergy.

RBS banksters dumping toxic assets on Ireland

November 23, 2009 by Infinite

Here is what I said in October:

“Fear won! The New World Order won. The people will lose.”

It was an absolute insult that the people had been forced to vote again:

– What part of Ireland’s ‘no’ does the EU not understand? (Guardian)

Aren’t you glad that you’ve got the ‘correct answer this time’ and voted ‘YES’ Ireland?

– Ireland Votes 67% In Favor Of Lisbon Treaty -Final Count (Wall Street Journal)

Now you will pay!

Hester stirs diplomatic row by using EU rules to force Dublin into accepting £7bn bad loans

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND is poised to spark a diplomatic row with Ireland by attempting to dump £7 billion of toxic loans into the Irish “bad bank”.

Stephen Hester, the RBS chief executive, is expected to lodge an application to join Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (Nama) within the next few weeks through its Ulster Bank subsidiary.

Irish officials are said to be furious about the plan, however. The Treasury had previously reached a “gentleman’s agreement” with its Dublin counterpart over their bailout plans.

The Treasury had agreed that no British banks would apply to use the Nama as long as no Irish banks tried to join the parallel UK programme, the Government Asset Protection Scheme (Gaps).

This was agreed to make it easier for taxpayers in both countries to stomach the deal. Under EU rules, Ireland is legally obliged to consider RBS’s application to join the scheme.

The Irish officials had no idea RBS was considering using the Nama scheme until Hester alluded to the possibility in a conference call with analysts two weeks ago. His comments came after the bank confirmed plans to place £282 billion of assets into Gaps — some £40 billion less than originally planned.

EU allows Ireland to keep the cost of funding the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) off its budgetary balance sheet

October 21, 2009 by Infinite

WTF! What is the point of having a balance sheet then?

Related articles:
– Ireland says “bad bank” to be off balance sheet (Reuters)
– NAMA’s €54bn purchases won’t be counted as national debt (Irish Independent)

Nama to fall outside national debt

NAMA: EU stats body makes decision

The European Commission is to allow Ireland keep the cost of funding the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) off its budgetary balance sheet, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said today.

Mr Lenihan said the Commission had accepted that Nama should be recorded outside the general government sector in the national accounts.

The decision by Eurostat means Nama will not increase the general government debt ratio and Ireland’s budget balance will not be directly affected by Nama.

“The preliminary decision of Eurostat means that the acquisition of the assets from the financial institutions by Nama may be treated as off-balance sheet in the budgetary arithmetic under European national accounting rules,” Mr Lenihan said in a statement.

Tony Blair to be named EU President if Irish ratify Lisbon Treaty

October 3, 2009October 2, 2009 by Infinite

– Ireland Votes 67% In Favor Of Lisbon Treaty -Final Count (Wall Street Journal)

Fear won! The New World Order won. The people will lose.

– Flashback: What part of Ireland’s ‘no’ does the EU not understand?:

“As soon as the Irish people’s ballots were counted in June, their rejection of Lisbon was treated as the “wrong” answer, as if they had been taking part in a multiple-choice maths exam and had failed to work out that 2+2=4. Now, they will be given a chance to sit the exam again, “until [they] come up with the right answer,” says George Galloway, attacking EU elitism. The notion that the Irish “got it wrong” exposes gobsmacking ignorance about democracy in the upper echelons of the EU. The very fact that a majority of Irish people said no to Lisbon made it the “right answer”, true and sovereign and final. “No” really does mean no.”

“Asking the Irish to vote again on the Lisbon treaty is arrogant, insulting and undemocratic.”

“Such an appointment would restore him to the world stage as well as boost his long-term income.”

Tony Blair – the same criminal that lied the U.K. into an illegal war – as EU president?

A ‘NO’ would also be a blow for the ‘New World Order’.

Pole position: Tony Blair is set to become EU President within weeks if Ireland votes ‘Yes’ in its referendum on the Lisbon Treaty tomorrow

Tony Blair is set to become EU President within weeks if Ireland votes ‘Yes’ in its referendum on the Lisbon Treaty tomorrow.

The former prime minister’s candidacy for the new post will be rushed through as quickly as possible, according to government sources.

Mr Blair is among the favourites to become the first President of the European Union, a role that is chosen by the EU’s 27 leaders and not by voters.

Such an appointment would restore him to the world stage as well as boost his long-term income.

Ireland Makes Blasphemy Illegal: The Death of Free Speech

July 11, 2009 by Infinite

Irish atheists are horrified by new legislation making blasphemy illegal, and punishable by a 25,000-Euro fine. Christians of all stripes should be, too.

As part of a revision to defamation legislation, the Dail (Irish Parliament) passed legislation creating a new crime of blasphemy. Update: The bill went to the Seanad on Friday, July 10, passing by a single vote. This attack on free speech, debated for several months in Europe, has gone largely unnoticed in the American press.

The text of the legislation is provided at the end of this post.

How does this impact free speech? Just don’t be rude.

Atheists can be prosecuted for saying that God is imaginary. That causes outrage.
Pagans can be prosecuted for saying they left Christianity because God is violent and bloodthirsty, promotes genocide, and permits slavery.
Christians can be prosecuted for saying that Allah is a moon god, or for drawing a picture of Mohammed, or for saying that Islam is a violent religion which breeds terrorists.
Jews can be prosecuted for saying Jesus isn’t the Messiah.

Is it really THAT big a deal?

Ireland’s Blasphemy Bill not only criminalizes free speech, it also gives the police the authority to confiscate anything deemed “blasphemous”. They may enter and search any premises, with force if needed, upon “reasonable suspicion” that such materials are present.

The local Freethinkers society, with its copies of Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.
The video store, with copies of The God Who Wasn’t There.
The history teacher, who uses The Dark Side of Christian History to teach her class.
The library, with its collection of books deemed blasphemous.
Even the homeowner who lets the wrong person know he has a copy of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses could find his door broken in by the Thought Police, his bookshelves ransacked, and his books burning in the front yard!

Satirizing religion in any way, shape, or form, if it “causes outrage”, is now a prosecutable offense in Ireland. Saying anything negative about a religion, if it “causes outrage”, can now be prosecuted as a crime. Just like in Muslim countries.

Witness the return of the Dark Ages.

Update: The bill passed the Seanad on Friday, July 10, by a single vote. From the Irish Times:

Seanad deputy leader Dan Boyle (Green Party) indicated his party’s preference for a constitutional referendum in “the mid-term” on the issue of blasphemy. However, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said he would hazard a guess it was unlikely they would come back to this issue for some time.

The Minister rejected Mr Regan’s contention that the matter of blasphemy could be adequately dealt with by an amendment to the Incitement to Hatred Act, saying what was blasphemous did not necessarily constitute incitement to hatred.

During exchanges with Ivana Bacik, the Minister said he had never in his political career received so many e-mails expressing outrage as he had on this issue. Ms Bacik said under the proposed legislation, Fr Willie Russell from Rathkeale, Co Limerick, a critic of those in his parish who appeared to be worshipping a tree with the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, could be open to a charge of blasphemy because he had stated that no one could “worship a tree”.

Let’s see if he gets charged.

The text of the legislation:

36. Publication or utterance of blasphemous matter.

(1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000. [Amended to €25,000]

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if (a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and (b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

(3) It shall be a defence to proceedings for an offence under this section for the defendant to prove that a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates.

37. Seizure of copies of blasphemous statements.

(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 36, the court may issue a warrant (a) authorising any member of the Garda Siochana to enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) at all reasonable times any premises (including a dwelling) at which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that copies of the statement to which the offence related are to be found, and to search those premises and seize and remove all copies of the statement found therein, (b) directing the seizure and removal by any member of the Garda Siochana of all copies of the statement to which the offence related that are in the possession of any person, © specifying the manner in which copies so seized and removed shall be detained and stored by the Garda Siochana.

(2) A member of the Garda Siochana may (a) enter and search any premises, (b) seize, remove and detain any copy of a statement to which an offence under section 36 relates found therein or in the possession of any person, in accordance with a warrant under subsection (1).

(3) Upon final judgment being given in proceedings for an offence under section 36, anything seized and removed under subsection (2) shall be disposed of in accordance with such directions as the court may give upon an application by a member of the Garda Siochana in that behalf.

July 09, 2009
by Pastor Mike

Source: Paliban Daily

v-for-vendetta

Ireland Passes Blasphemy Law: The End of Free Speech

July 11, 2009 by Infinite

jesus-guinness

On Friday July 11th, 2009, Ireland passed the Defamation Bill by one vote. One of the aspects of this bill would make it illegal to criticize religion… any religion under penalty of fines up to 25,000 Euros. That is the equivalent to nearly $35,000.

When I first heard this story on the internets, I was certain that it was a false story. I read the story, googled it, checked out legitimate Ireland news sites, and double checked more Ireland news sites. The story checks out. It seems that the Blasphemy Clause of the Defamation Bill was challenged in the legislature by an amendment which would delete such a clause. The amendment to delete the clause initially passed by one vote, but a request was made for a “walk-through vote.” During that time two more Senators came in and voted against the amendment to delete the clause. This meant that the clause would stay in the bill. The bill then passed by the same margin.

Here is an excerpt from the Blasphemy Clause:

Section 36

(1) A person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000. [Amended to €25,000]

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person publishes or utters blasphemous matter if (a) he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion, and (b) he or she intends, by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage.

This part of the bill makes it illegal to criticize any religion either verbally or in writing. Saying anything in which a “substantial number” of followers might find offensive would now be a crime in the Ireland. But the bill goes even further. Here is another excerpt:

Section 37

(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 36, the court may issue a warrant (a) authorising any member of the Garda Siochana to enter (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) at all reasonable times any premises (including a dwelling) at which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that copies of the statement to which the offence related are to be found, and to search those premises and seize and remove all copies of the statement found therein, (b) directing the seizure and removal by any member of the Garda Siochana of all copies of the statement to which the offence related that are in the possession of any person, specifying the manner in which copies so seized and removed shall be detained and stored by the Garda Siochana.

The Garda Siochana is the Irish police who can now (under this law) break into people’s homes and confiscate copies of any book which might be critical of any religion. I keep trying to point out that any religious criticism is a crime, because many Christians are critical of differing religions. Atheists are not the only ones being targeted here. Simply claiming that the Pope is not infallible might be considered blasphemous to many Catholics. Claiming that the prophet Joseph Smith was not really visited by angels and given magic golden plates would be blasphemous to Mormons. Mentioning the prophet Mohammad without adding the phrase “peace be upon him” would be considered blasphemous to Muslims. And claiming that Scientology is a sham and that Tom Cruise is crazy would obviously be blasphemous to Scientologists.

What if a Christian claimed that if someone was not saved through Jesus Christ, he or she would spend eternity in Hell? An argument could be made that such a statement and even the Bible itself might be considered blasphemous to other religions. In fact, most religious are blasphemous to other religions. Maybe the Irish police will fine everyone.

July 11, 5:53 AM

Source: The Examiner

v-for-vendetta

Ireland set to go bust, claims Harvard professor and author Niall Ferguson

June 1, 2009June 1, 2009 by Infinite

A dire warning that the Republic is a prime candidate to go bust has come from one of the world’s leading economic historians.

“The idea that countries don’t go bust is a joke,” said Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor and author of The Ascent of Money.

“The debt trap may be about to spring” he said, “for countries that have created large stimulus packages in order to stimulate their economies.”

His chosen prime candidate to go bust is “Ireland, followed by Italy and Belgium, and UK is not too far behind”.

Argentina is top of his list of shaky countries but “the argument that it can’t happen in major western economies is nonsense”.

Professor Ferguson believes the economists are ill qualified to analyse the current economic situation since they lack the overview of historians such as himself.

“There are economic professors in American universities who think they are masters of the universe, but they don’t have any historical knowledge. I have never believed that markets are self correcting. No historian could.”

The historian does not subscribe to the theory of the “Great Depression” repeating and says this scenario is unlikely because the Federal Reserve has “massively expanded the monetary base which is the opposite of what happened in the 1930s”.

Final report: Endemic rape and abuse of more than 30.000 Irish children in Catholic care

May 20, 2009 by Infinite

Beatings and humiliation by nuns and priests were common at institutions that held up to 30,000 children, Ryan report states

Henry McDonald on the long-awaited report on abuse in Ireland’s schools

Rape and sexual molestation were “endemic” in Irish Catholic church-run industrial schools and orphanages, a report revealed today.

The nine-year investigation found that Catholic priests and nuns for decades terrorised thousands of boys and girls in the Irish Republic, while government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rape and humiliation.

The high court judge Sean Ryan today unveiled the 2,600-page final report of Ireland’s commission into child abuse, which drew on testimony from thousands of former inmates and officials from more than 250 church-run institutions. Police were called to the news conference amid angry scenes as victims were prevented from attending.

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families – a category that often included unmarried mothers – were sent to Ireland’s austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last facilities shut in the 1990s.

Dublin archbishop: Sex abuse report will shock

December 2, 2017April 10, 2009 by Infinite

And how many were abused since the dark ages? This report did not shock me at all. Such behavior can be considered “normal” within the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church also killed millions of innocent people in the name of Christ.

He says it will show that thousands of youths were abused from 1975-2004

DUBLIN – The Archbishop of Dublin said Thursday that an upcoming report on child sexual abuse involving Catholic priests will likely reveal that thousands of youngsters were abused from 1975 to 2004.

The report “will shock us all,” said Diarmuid Martin, during Mass at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral.

The archbishop said the report, compiled by the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation, is expected to show that “thousands of children or young people across Ireland were abused by priests in the period under investigation and the horror of that abuse was not recognized for what it is.”

The government-appointed commission was set up to investigate abuses within the Dublin archdiocese in 2006, the same year the diocese admitted that up to 102 of its priests were suspected of abusing children. The report is studying how complaints of child sexual abuse were handled.

The commission has also now begun an investigation into the Diocese of Cloyne, in County Cork. Commission member Ita Mangan said that could potentially delay the publication of the Dublin report which had been planned for this summer.

Celtic Tiger tamed as economy collapses

March 27, 2009 by Infinite

The Celtic Tiger’s unwelcome status as among the European economies hardest hit by the global downturn was confirmed yesterday with the publication of exceptionally depressed data on the Irish economy.

The Irish Central Statistics Office reported that the nation’s GDP contracted by 7.5 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2008, as consumer spending dropped and industrial output was severely damaged. Capital investment was especially affected. The figures left Ireland with an annual GDP growth rate of minus 2.3 per cent in 2008, its worst year since 1983.

And worse is to come. The governor of the central Bank of Ireland has forecast GDP will fall by more than 6 per cent this year and the unemployment rate will average more than 11 per cent.

Britain has the world’s biggest fall in property prices after only Latvia

March 6, 2009 by Infinite

Britain saw some of the steepest house price falls in the world last year, collapsing by 14.7 per cent, with only Latvia performing worse, research showed yesterday.

More than three-quarters of the 42 countries surveyed recorded falls in the value of property in the final quarter of 2008, compared with just 27 per cent in 2007.

Dubai was the strongest performer, with house prices soaring by nearly 60 per cent in 2008, but much of this gain is expected to be wiped out this year.

Latvia saw the steepest slides on an annual and quarterly basis, with prices dropping by 16 per cent in the final quarter of the year and by 33.5 per cent during the whole of 2008.

Iceland also suffered badly, with prices falling by 14 per cent during the year. The US and Ireland were also near the top of the losers’ table with annual price drops of 12.1 per cent and 9.1 per cent respectively.

Breaking point for the eurozone?

February 28, 2009 by Infinite

Ireland’s ‘miracle’ economy has turned terrifyingly sour – and as it strains against the inflexibility of the euro, its next crisis may shake the entire EU.

Thousands of public sector workers protest on the streets of Dublin Photo: NIALL CARSON/PA

They can barely let the words pass their lips, but some of the EU’s most important policymakers were forced this week to discuss what was once unthinkable: that at least one of the 16 eurozone countries might be on the brink of ditching the single currency.

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, admitted that the 10-year-old eurozone was under “extreme strain”, with weaker countries struggling to keep their economies afloat in the face of the devaluation of other currencies, such as sterling and the dollar.

Joschka Fischer, Germany’s former foreign minister, darkly suggested that we would soon find out whether the eurozone would turn out to be “a disaster”, while the German finance ministry is vacillating on whether it would be prepared to bail out insolvent states.

The current thinking is that Germany and France, as the strongest economies in the zone and “lenders of last resort”, would have to bail out failing states: the prospect of the eurozone breaking up would bring the future of the EU into question.

But the most startling fact to emerge this week is that the country which is seen as the most vulnerable, and therefore the most likely to ditch the euro, is not Slovenia, or Cyprus, or Greece, but Ireland.