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Stay out of Libya: counterinsurgency doesn’t work
A moment of some significance in journalism perhaps, as the New York Times reviews the current talked about book, The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan by Bing West. The author is no bleeding heart but a former assistant Defense Secretary from the Reagan era who stomped his way round the Afghan [...] read our review »
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A New Vision for the Catholic Church – Book Review
The oft-quoted verse from the book of Proverbs, ‘where there is no vision, the people perish,’ (chapter 29, verse 18) opens a new book by Gerry O’Hanlon, A New Vision for the Catholic Church: A View from Ireland (Columba Press, 2011). That verse could be considered an apt summary of the current state of the [...] read our review »
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Douglas Murray – Bloody Sunday: Truth, Lies and the Saville Inquiry, Book Review
The aftermath of the Saville Inquiry into the events around Bloody Sunday has left me, and I suspect many others, with one enduring image: Prime Minister David Cameron’s apology in the House of Commons, where he says that the actions of the British Army were ‘unjustified and unjustifiable.’ But there’s a lot more to the [...] read our review »
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Comment on Charge against the French over Falklands Exocets part of a pattern of Anglo-French myths
on 4 November 2010 at 9:22 am
Wow, you can see the future 70 years after the event, and ‘speak’ for 3 billion people based on your own little flag saluting ways, you should get yourself on one of those televised ‘talent’ shows.
Thats a no from me Heinz, making it three.
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Comment on Charge against the French over Falklands Exocets part of a pattern of Anglo-French myths
on 4 November 2010 at 12:50 am
” tell us what the brave Eire were doing at the time of Dunkirk ?? ”
Laughing at the Worlds greatest empire™ getting their arses handed to them when faced by something other than ‘darkies with spears’?
Just a guess.
“Neutral,in a World War,against the most heinous dictator in history ? ”
Hitler was the most heinous dictator in history in 1940?
Do tell dear boy.
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 19 October 2010 at 9:30 am
Nor is it mine if you can’t think 2 steps ahead.
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 10:42 pm
Your hole?
Intersting arguement and nice over-simplification of what a CCMS’s Irish ethos entails.
Your parents picked a CCMS school, why not methody or the academy?
” but to present this process as the state marching in to kick the priests out, as you are doing, is highly disingenuous.”
I didn’t, in fact you should know that as you quoted me before calling me a liar and getting your knickers in a twist. I said
“Robinson isn’t suggesting a mixed education system, he wants Catholic schools under state control.”
Firstly, I don’t consider Robinson to be ‘The State’, he’s just local middle management with a popularity problem looking for an easy way to gain back some support.
Now given that Robinson is on the record in his opposition to integrated schools and also on the record in saying he wants catholic pupils and obviously the teachers in state schools and therfore under state control and would like to pull funding from ‘faith schools’ in what way am I lying?
If you’re gonna call me a liar, explain where I’m lying, or just fuck off and yap at someone else’s heels, either is fine with me
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 9:54 pm
CCMS schools are more than ‘faith based schools’
They have an Irish ethos that ensures those parents who don’t ‘darken doors’ will still fight for them. You don’t understand the majority of ‘catholic’ parents if you think otherwise.
Now, as I was saying, a school’s core is more it’s pupils/teachers than it’s buildings. St Columb’s and Lumen Christi being a top notch example of this, how exactly is forcing teachers and pupils into state schools by denying them funds otherwise not bringing catholic schools under state control?
I only ask because if you are going to call me a liar, at least have the decency to show where I’m lying
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 8:48 pm
“No, it isn’t. The schools will go private and, as is the case across the UK and Europe, parents who want the “Catholic ethos” will pay the necessary premium to obtain it”
If you remove funding for CCMS schools (not that he actually can mind you) the schools cannot pay the wages of the teachers, pupils dont get taught and therefore have to switch to state schools, closely behind the newly unemployed teachers ofc. Now whilst a minority of parents may be able to afford to fund their own schools, the vast majority cannot.
So schools (ie pupils and teachers), in order to continue functioning will come under state control.
So explain how this doesn’t bring catholic schools under state control given that we wont see 1000 Lumen Christi’s spring up overnight?
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 8:23 pm
“please stop lying :”
So basically, taking control for the teachers and schools from the CCMS by removing funding (as if its actually his choice hoho) isn’t moving catholic schools under state control?
How exactly does that work eh?
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 5:27 pm
Their own versions of history?
Wouldn’t they all fail their GCSE’s and A-Levels then?
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 5:26 pm
No a guy comes in with a bodhran and teaches the rhythm method.
‘Sex education’ in my school was tackled from two angles, in general science/biology, sex ed was taught from a ‘scientific’ standpoint. Reproduction, contraception (of all types right upto abortion) and STDs etc.
Sex ed was also tackled in parallel in RE, where you got the church’s slant.
That was twenty years ago, the obvious thing missing for a complete picture was homosexuality or other ‘moral’ discussions from a more secular standpoint.
My neice tells me that is pretty much covered in her school now however.
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Comment on Education: A Benign Form of Apartheid?
on 18 October 2010 at 3:40 pm
No it’s not, following the protests of some teachers and parents, it was pulled. The compromise was to offer it to 6 formers only through a local lesuire centre.
Given that out of the 30 pupils who signed up to play, only 3 were six formers the ‘compromise’ killed the possibility of a school team.
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