Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from coconnor (see all)

coconnor has commented 29 times (0 in the last month).

1. Comment on Have our parents and leaders screwed up the country?
   on 31 March 2010 at 10:55 pm

   It’s not that young people are disengaged from politics, it is that they are disengaged from the political party system.

   There are large numbers of young people getting involved in grassroots protest groups, particularly on environmental issues, but most are thoroughly unconvinced by the ability to effect fundamental change through the parliamentary political system that merely provides an illusion of choice.

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2. Comment on The MI5 problem is real
   on 31 March 2010 at 8:23 pm

   I’m confused Michaelhenry, do organisations need to have killed both a “cop” and a “brit” to achieve full “physical force republican” status?

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3. Comment on McFarland leaves UUP
   on 31 March 2010 at 7:07 pm

   I’m wondering what the implications are for those UUP types who all thought d’Hondt was a great idea. Now that the SDLP and UUP have the same number of MLAs, I wonder how that works ?

   D’Hondt is worked on the results of the last election, so this will not have any real effect upon it.

   Although perhaps it should?

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4. Comment on “the reference … would not appear to be based on sound historical fact.”
   on 26 March 2010 at 3:37 pm

   Why does it matter if she made a slip up on this?

   It’s not like she said “I was under sniper fire as I landed in Bosnia” or “There are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq” or “I knew nothing about the child abuse allegations”.

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5. Comment on “the reference … would not appear to be based on sound historical fact.”
   on 25 March 2010 at 10:34 pm

   Alias, the aid provided by Cuba to Haiti has been vastly more helpful to ordinary people there than the billions pumped into private companies by the USA.

   http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/201013195514870782.html

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6. Comment on A scare? Its serious
   on 22 March 2010 at 7:32 pm

   My point, as quoted, was not a commentary on the ability of these groups to cause disruption or even kill.

   My point was that a day comprising primarily of hoax bomb scares intended to cause widespread traffic disruption can’t really be said to be moving us even one step towards Irish unity.

   In fact, it probably alienates potential supporters whose businesses suffered as a result of this strange campaign.

   Of course, I don’t think shooting at the police or military, or detonating bombs outside courthouses bring us towards unity either.

   The only legitimate way we can achieve a successful united Ireland without a British state presence is through a democratic process which seeks to reassure the unionist community that such an outcome is not a threat to them.

   Shootings and bombs (hoax or otherwise) will not help one bit in that regard.

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7. Comment on Healthcare bill teeters towards enactment…
   on 21 March 2010 at 7:46 pm

   The SDLP don’t run in the south because they are a member of the Party of European Socialists. PES member groups do not run against other PES members (i.e. Irish Labour), this is also a significant factor in why British Labour don’t run candidates in the north.

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8. Comment on Security alerts in Londonderry and Belfast
   on 20 March 2010 at 6:20 am

   Sorry for interrupting your breathless regard for the brave freedom fighters, but it takes a couple of twats five minutes to phone in a bunch of bomb warnings. The state can’t ignore them, as the people phoning in the warnings have form when it comes to actually blowing up civilians. This is the same organization that likes to blame the state for the deaths of the people as a result of the bomb they themselves planted.

   Agreed.

   I must say, the ‘traffic jams for Irish unity’ campaign isn’t doing much for me.

   I’m quite unclear as to how making my journey home take longer is going to move Ireland one step closer towards unification, or achieve anything other than increasing the level of moaning I could legitimately do about my day at work.

   Hasta la victoria siempre, comrades… sigh.

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9. Comment on Yes boss
   on 17 March 2010 at 1:00 am

   There is hardly any difference between any group that uses violence to achieve its aims.

   Where are the justifying conditions for armed struggle in contemporary Ireland?
   “The British presence”, I hear them cry. Well engage in democratic republicanism and work to achieve a united Ireland through a referendum.

   It is much harder to suggest that the democratic will of the people is illegitimate, than it is to argue against a campaign of political violence.

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10. Comment on “Nothing shows more clearly the scientific illiteracy that prevails in the House of Commons”
    on 13 March 2010 at 6:00 pm

    Incidentally, if Goldacre is a big pharma shill, then he’s going about it in a strange way:

    “But drug companies have repeatedly been shown to bury unflattering data.

    Sometimes they bury data that shows drugs to be actively harmful.
    [...]
    Alongside these deep-rooted, systemic problems with the pharmaceutical industry, the single issue of SSRI antidepressants, and these new findings, becomes almost trivial. Biased under-reporting of clinical trials happens in all areas of medicine. It wastes money, and it costs lives. It is unethical, and it is indefensible. But most damning of all, it could be fixed in a legislative trice.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/27/pharmaceuticalindustry

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