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			    <title>Irish Blog log</title> 
				<link>http://irishbloglog.com/</link> 
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			<title>“That’s a Cracker…”</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/%E2%80%9CThat%E2%80%99s+a+Cracker%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D</link>
			<description><![CDATA[

So a waiter walks up to Frank and asks him if he would like his pizza cut into 6 or 8 slices.
&quot;Six&quot;, says Frank &quot;I don&#039;t think I could eat eight&quot;
Ha, that&#039;s a cracker. It really was the way he told them.
Frank Carson, funny man...
Rest in Peace old chap.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>The President used the ‘s’ word</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/The+President+used+the+%E2%80%98s%E2%80%99+word</link>
			<description><![CDATA[The archived speeches on the site of the President, www.president.ie go back only as far as 1997 (Mary McAleese&amp;#8217;s inauguration speech), and even in a group that consists of nine members, a sample of two is not a good representation. That said, it is worth noting that this week, President Higgins caused the words socialism and socialist to appear on that site for the first time, by using them in a speech yesterday on Tuesday in London.
When the L.S.E. was founded in 1895 by the four leading Fabians, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, George Bernard Shaw and Graham Wallas, its founders were convinced of the power of education in not only lifting their fellow citizens out of poverty but also of such citizens understanding, participating, and in time, offering an alternative form of society, one that would be egalitarian, democratic, tolerant, one which would extend and deepen democracy in every aspect of life. Such an achievement would also constitute, they felt, the establishment of socialism as an alternative to capitalism.
He also said
the great founding texts of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, Croce and others
and, quoting Frederick Powell,
&amp;#8220;Privatisation is the road back to autocracy, in which a hollowed-out state is bereft of anything meaningful to attract the support of the citizen – especially the marginalised, excluded from the mainstream of society.&amp;#8221;
and
Standing in support of unregulated markets, of unaccountable capital flows, of virtual financial products, are scholars who frequently claim the legitimation provided by a university. The university is at times put under pressure to demonstrate its utility as the seat of the single hegemonic model of society and economy that prevails.
I believe universities are challenged now not only to recover the moral purpose of original thought, emancipatory scholarship,
and
Weber, of course, could not have envisaged the consequences of the journey intellectual thought would make from reason to rationality, but then on to calculable rationality, and finally, in our own time, to the speculative gambling that is at the heart of so much global misery with its view of those humans who share our fragile planet, not as citizens, but as rational choice maximizing consumers.
We are in such a winter as Weber foretold. For example, we have arrived at quite widespread acceptance by policy makers of a proposition rejected by the majority of serious economic historians, that markets are rational. This, on occasion, leads, in the extreme, to the suggestion, absurd and all as it may sound, that it is people who are irrational, the markets rational
and
The mid-twentieth century constituted an atmosphere where social capital emerged and social democracy mediated conflict. The twentieth century saw too a public debate about the role of the State, the rights of the individual and social policy, of the balance between these areas.
In succeeding decades political philosophy and social theory gave way to issues of administration analysis of the role of the State faded and gave way to applied studies, in an administrative sense, of the State&amp;#8217;s actions.
A discourse based on solidarity interdependency, shared vulnerability, community, gave way to a discourse on lifestyle and individual consumption. A society of citizens gave way to a disaggregated mass of individual consumers.
and
There is not, for example, any better future for economics as a subject and discipline than as political economy within a system of culture.
Wow. That won&amp;#8217;t go down well on Merrion Street.
See the video here: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=1362
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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Top 8 News</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/Top+8+News</link>
			<description><![CDATA[There were 2 games played in the Top 8 this week.
In the plush surroundings of Bewley&amp;#8217;s hotel John took an early lead against Colin on Saturday. John maintained the lead until well into the middlegame but was later forced to resign after losing points in several areas of the board.
Noel and Colin also played on Wednesday night amidst the psychedelic backdrop of the Tea Garden. Both players appeared to forget about the clock and were well into byo-yomi during the most crucial moments of the game. After Noel started a massive ko in the upper right corner, Colin responded badly and a huge dragon was killed.
[Embedded SGF File: Top 8 League]
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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>It gets longer at moontime</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/It+gets+longer+at+moontime</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The longer version of the always excellent (apart from one album which was muck) GusGus session that I posted recently. Y&amp;#8217;think could Adele just fuck off or sumthin?
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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Single Battles 2 - The Dirty 9s Vs The Frank  Walters</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/Single+Battles+2+-+The+Dirty+9s+Vs+The+Frank++Walters</link>
			<description><![CDATA[
This is the first of a regular feature where I&#039;m going to compare and contrast two very different singles from current Irish Artists.

Battle #2



The Dirty 9s released a new single from their soon to be released second album. Straight away I hear a clear difference between &#039;Hey&#039; and their earlier debut album. The indie edge is still there but there&#039;s a freshness about &#039;Hey&#039;. This fun three minute pop song epitomizes what the band are about. Fergal&#039;s vocals arepivotalto the song and along with it&#039;s all round catchiness makes this song one of the best new Irish releases of the year.



There&#039;s a wonderful video for it too!



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The Frank &amp; Walters have released another fine pop song called &#039;Indie Love Song&#039;. The lyrics remind me of the single from The Divine Comedy last year &#039;At The Indie Disco&#039;. While Neil Hannon&#039;s song was brilliant I felt an unease with the lyrics in the same way as it doesn&#039;t make much sense to me to have a band with their &#039;Hey Day&#039; two decades ago singing about writing &#039;Indie Love Songs&#039;! The single is pure to the Frank &amp; Walters sound and will please their fans. There&#039;s also a really cute video to accompany the song!



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In many respects The Dirty 9s could be the modern day version of The Frank &amp; Walters! They both have vocalists with distinct styles and have the ability to write three minute pop wonders. I would hope however that the song themes develop with time for The Dirty 9s which on the basis of &#039;Indie Love Song&#039; can&#039;t be said about The Franks!

The Dirty 9s - Hey [11 out of 12]

The Frank &amp; Walters - Indie Love Song [8 out of 12]






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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Prayer Book Virtues</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/Prayer+Book+Virtues</link>
			<description><![CDATA[Time was when you could have easily spotted the Protestants today, we were the ones without black marks on our foreheads. In days when even the Taoiseach would have appeared in public with the mark of the penitential ash, Protestant brows remained resolutely clear.
Times have changed, there are even Church of Ireland bishops who now engage in the imposition of ashes. Some of us still hold to the conviction that such public displays are contrary to Jesus&amp;#8217; words, but we have moved on from such arguments.
Were all our old ways  so bad, though? I was once in conversation with a man who thought Protestants odd.
&amp;#8216;I met this man one time and we agreed to meet for a drink after work and we had one drink and he said, &amp;#8216;We must meet again sometime&amp;#8217; and he put down his glass an headed for home.  Can you understand that?&amp;#8217;
&amp;#8216;Yes&amp;#8217;, I said.
Protestants have not been great at parties.  Brought up to sobriety; careful with money; and literal in recounting stories;  we were not the best company for those looking for merriment, lavishness and laughter.  Meeting for a drink after work meant meeting for a drink after work, had the man intended to go out for the evening, he would have said so.
Perhaps younger generations, with a looser connection to church, will be more relaxed and open-handed, perhaps their stories will be as lively as those told by others. Older generations, nurtured on the Book of Common Prayer and stern Church of Ireland services, would have been shaped by the catechism which was relentless in placing responsibility upon individuals:
My duty towards my Neighbour, is to love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me: To love, honour, and succour my father and mother: To honour and obey all that are put in authority over me: To submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters: To order myself lowly and reverently to all who are set over me: To hurt no body by word or deed: To be true and just in all my dealing: To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart: To keep my bands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering.  To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity: Not to covet nor desire other men&amp;#8217;s goods; but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in that state of life, unto which it shall please God to call me.
There was no real option in the Church of Ireland to go to confession and be absolved of one&amp;#8217;s sins; if you had failed to live up to the standards set down in the Bible and taught in the catechism, then it was God to whom you would answer, and no clergyman could get you off the hook.  It&amp;#8217;s not that the Prayer Book did not provide for confession, it did:
And because it is requisite, that no man should come to the Holy Communion, but with a full trust in God&amp;#8217;s mercy, and with a quiet conscience; therefore if there be any of you, who by this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned Minister of God&amp;#8217;s Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of God&amp;#8217;s holy Word, he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with spiritual counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness.
It&amp;#8217;s just that it is hard to imagine the sober and upright congregations who filled the pews each Sunday would ever have contemplated going to the Rector with anything but the most serious of concerns.  It was much easier to have a simple bluntness in the first place, than to get mixed up with things that troubled the conscience.
The old Protestant mindset included many vices, selfishness, a lack of charity, spiritual arrogance and  snobbery among them, but there were good qualities &amp;#8211; qualities which it would be a pity to lose.

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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Greased 2</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/Greased+2</link>
			<description><![CDATA[&#039;All political thinking for years past has been  vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it  coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can  be ignored when they are unwelcome.&#039;  George OrwellIt&#039;s getting a little more difficult finding material online these days.  It would appear that those i mingle with mostly on the net are the ones  not appearing where they once were. Nothing about any of the occupation  movements appears on the new Facebook &#039;timeline.&#039; It&#039;s strange to say  the least.There was a flurry of activity late last year where it appeared masses of people were connecting up in voicing the ills going on at this time - and now very little.Like people are being deliberately being kept from sharing information - which ultimately has to be what the Internet has to be about. For without knowing about a situation, people can&#039;t do anything to change the situation. And change is still very much needed.The latest act in the tragedy unfolding in Greece happened over the weekend when the ECB installed prime-minister  Lucas Papademos signed up for more austerity in exchange for another bailout to keep things ticking over for a few months more. As a result, The Troika (EU, ECB &amp; IMF) will now be a permanent Athens feature to make sure the economy-imploding austerity is implemented.Can-kicking has become the name of the game - but it can&#039;t continue much longer. Greece is doomed to default. It&#039;s only how it&#039;s going to happen - and when!The Greek rioted over the new package. Hard to see how anyone could keep a clear head given what has been going on over there this past few years. It&#039;s the same here in Ireland - barring a miracle we&#039;ll eventually default ourselves with an unsustainable debt. By then we&#039;ll have nothing left. We&#039;ll be stripped of our assets and resources by then. Do our politicians - across the board care? It damn well appears not. My voting days are over. 39-years it took to come to that conclusion. What can I say. I&#039;m as slow as a wet week!While Greece has fought austerity all the way, we have been meek and compliant. Our reward? Nowt!Greece gets write-offs and haircuts. It&#039;s hard to figure out.It&#039;s just how it all plays out is what&#039;s fascinating. It&#039;s like a modern day tragedy being played out before our eyes. &#039;They&#039; appear to be stupid - but they are far from that.Ordinary people appear stupid too, for letting it all happen. There&#039;s a lot of people not standing by though and letting the fist of Frankfurt knock twelve bells out of them.But the media aren&#039;t covering it. They take away any alternative by not speaking about one. They just cover the news in their own self-interested way. And from where I&#039;m sitting right now there&#039;s no change in that on the way anytime soon. If only planet-hopping was a reality!&#039;And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.&#039; Friedrich Nietzsche

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			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>writers cant talk about writing without sounding really up themselves</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/writers+cant+talk+about+writing+without+sounding+really+up+themselves</link>
			<description><![CDATA[NOTE TO THE WORLD:FOR LENT I GAVE UP THE COMMA.IF YOU SEE ANY COMMAS PLEASE ALERT THE AUTHORITIESIt&#039;s such a relief to be able to talk to people about stuff you&#039;re writing and not sound like a poncy git.The reason I never talk about &#039;my work&#039; - if it can be called that - is because the discussion quickly degenerates into tropes and style and stuff and it just sounds so..................................faffy.People ask me to explain my stories. I mean.What am I meant to say.Here are two options:this story is meant to express my deep yet unrecognised need for financial securitythis story is about a guy who&#039;s followed by his brother who sits on the wall of his garden and pretends to be a catIt&#039;s not like I sit down and am all oh yeah okay I really need to write this whole menstruation thing out of my system.&#039;My work&#039;. &#039;My pieces&#039;. Come on now. It&#039;s just text. Just call it text. It&#039;s just...letters.quick aside: people who call themselves &#039;wordsmiths&#039; are silly.So I talk to some people I just found online about stuff and it&#039;s funny and relaxed and nobody mentions tone or colour or existentialism (actually that&#039;s untrue as I am nothing but existential). It&#039;s like sitting in the pub having a cuppa tea or a pint with friends.I just wanted to post to say thank you to the people who listen to me rant and put up with my exclamation marks and sentences that suddenly GO. LIKE. THIS.I also want to say that this place here is nice. I&#039;m not making you go there. I&#039;m just saying that it&#039;s like a cup of cold water.In a good way.ampersand.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>A Rift in the German-Speaking Catholic Church</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/A+Rift+in+the+German-Speaking+Catholic+Church</link>
			<description><![CDATA[A call by reform-minded Catholics in the  German-speaking world for the church to soften its stances on  homosexuality, divorce and celibacy among priests and to end its ban on  women in the clergy is drawing loud criticism from conservatives.They  argue the group is threatening to create a schism within the Catholic  Church.With its often more progressive stances on some controversial issues,  the arm of the Catholic Church in the German-speaking world has long  posed problems for Rome.Now a modern day schism is threatening the  area&#039;s priestly establishment.The brewing split exposes a rift in the  German speaking world between more liberal reform minded and  conservative Catholics regarding the future of the church. The stakes  are high, with the number of men applying for the priesthood in decline  as the church loses appeal among younger generations. The liberal Pastors&#039; Initiative wants to reverse that trend, which has  forced parishes to close, by making priesthood more accessible. Last  June it put out a &quot;Call for Disobedience,&quot; calling for a rewrite of the  church&#039;s long standing views against homosexuality, divorce and  celibacy.The group wants the priesthood to be opened up to women and to allow  priests to marry.It says that communion should be more accessible,  including to members of other churches and to those who have divorced.  They want qualified laity to be able to give sermons and believe that  churches should have a stronger local presence, rather than relying on  sermons from traveling &quot;celebrity&quot; priests.The movement has its roots  in Austria, where it counts more than 400 priests and deacons as  members. But it is gaining ground across Europe with sympathetic clergy  in France, Ireland and other countries expressing support.The Austrian  group even has its own German Facebook page, with more than 900 likes.&#039;On Its Way To Building Its Own Church&#039; The conservative Network of Catholic Priests, founded in Frankfurt in  2001, claims the movement is &quot;on its way to building its own church.&quot;The reformers are &quot;creating a schism in the German speaking Catholic  world, which has long since happened under the eyes of the bishops,&quot;  said a spokesperson for the network, which represents more than 500  clergymen. Together with priests from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the  network is calling for Catholic Bishops to intervene in a decisive  manner. They say that the Initiative&#039;s reform efforts are doubtful and  in direct opposition to Catholic Church doctrine.The head of the German  Bishops Conference and Freiburg&#039;s archbishop, Robert Zollitsch, has  threatened that the actions of the reformers will have serious  consequences.&quot;Whoever continues to take up the fight is committing a  sin against the unity of the church,&quot; he said.The Catholic Church has yet to weigh in on the Austrian rebel movement.According to the Vatican Insider,  Pope Benedict XVI, who is German, is very worried about the growing  schism and has been calling secret high level meetings over how to  handle the group.Helmut Schüller, head of the Initiative, told the Vienna Review  that because their numbers are so high, they aren&#039;t worried about being  kicked out of the church.The &quot;Call to Disobedience&quot; has been  translated into nine languages and Schüller believes that it will gain  support in much of the emerging world where the priest shortage is even  more acute.In the end, he has said his goal isn&#039;t to create a separate  church, but to modernize the existing one. ]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title>Churchs behaviour labelled bizarre</title>
			<link>http://irishbloglog.com/news/Churchs+behaviour+labelled+bizarre</link>
			<description><![CDATA[A West Auckland Catholic Church has been dubbed the &quot;neighbour from hell&quot; after a stoush with a medical centre escalated.The church has employed a security guard to stop the medical centre&#039;s  patients and staff using a right of way at the centre of the scrap.The access connects the Westview Medical Centre in Glen Eden and Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes with Glendale Rd.The church says it owns the land where the right of way is built and  wants a payment of $3000 a year from the medical centre for staff and  patients to use it.GP Eric Horn says the right of way was used for years before the medical centre opened in 2004 and should remain as that.&quot;We think it&#039;s rather bizarre behaviour by the church. They are the neighbours from hell. We don&#039;t own the building, we are simply tenants.&#039;&#039;              Horn believed the medical centre was granted use of the right of way in 2003 when resource consent to build it was granted.The site where the centre is built was previously  home to  the Glen Eden library, which used the right of way.Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes chairman John Whitcombe wants an  official agreement  with the medical centre, like it has with the Glen  Eden RSA, over use of  the right of way.&#039;&#039;All we&#039;ve asked for from them is for them to negotiate to pay an amount of money.&#039;&#039;Parish priest Bernard Dennehy says the church isn&#039;t stopping people  from using the medical centre but is redirecting them to another  entrance on West Coast Rd.Auckland Council spokesman Glyn Walters says the medical centre and  Glen Eden RSA jointly obtained approval from the legacy Waitakere City  Council for a right of way easement over 7 Glendale Rd in 2003.&#039;&#039;Our check of the title shows that although the application was  approved, the parties did not complete the registration of the easement  on the title. That approval has since lapsed and therefore it appears  there is no right of way easements over 7 Glendale Rd.&#039;&#039;The church and medical centre are meeting to try to reach an agreement.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:00:08 GMT</pubDate>
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