Slugger O'Toole According to Peter Hain, that is.. After months, and months, and months, of dithering, Secretary of State Peter Hain has formally [eventually? – Ed] accepted that the UVF ceasefire is non-existent, a move he described last week as a quick procedural fix.. of course, it would be more than procedural if it was followed up by arrests and charges against members of said specified organisations.. but that would require Peter Hain et al to be on the side of law …
FURTHER to Mick’s post about Robert McCartney’s friend Geoff Commander being badly beaten up by a gang (said to include a someone involved in McCartney’s murder) in the Short Strand, I understand that a group held a protest outside his widow’s home. They were reported to have said they will be back every day until she leaves. The beating was reported to have followed “an altercation between a member of the McCartney family and the gang”. The Irish News reported …
Okay, it was last but one. That Jimmy Sands has been mischeiveous, again. As I’ve said previously, I’m no fan of online petitions, but this skit has produced a few gems. Not least Jimmy’s apposite strapline – Slugger: the thinking man’s riot! We think he has got it in one. Unless, of course, you know better!! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Last post of the evening. The (London) Times reports an attack in which it alleges that men involved in the murder of Robert McCartney have severely beaten his friend Geoff Commander. His sister Catherine McCartney further alleged that: “The same men who were involved in Roberts murder are walking around this area in a show of strength. Theyre demonstrating that, in spite of all the talk that they have been put out of the IRA. They havent”. Update: McKittrick believes …
As Ireland is due to make a decision on whether to hike its foreign aid budget, Morning Ireland had a fascinating interview with John McArthur of the Millennium Project (sound file). He has some interesting things to say about the way the Republic’s overseas aid is targeted and its role in pressurising the G8 countries to keep to their own committments. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
That’s the Grand Master of the Orange Order, Robert Saulters verdict on the three nights of violence. Good to see a recognition of the problem from that source.. Eh? He wasn’t referring to the rioters?.. he was referring to the police?!? *sheesh* and he thinks the Order are blameless?!? *sheesh* [again] Oh, and I’ll just draw your attention to this snippet at the end of the BBC report – The North and West Belfast Parades and Cultural Forum, a loyalist …
Spiked have just published Brendan O’Neill’s observations on the recent unrest. He argues that apportioning blame to one side or the other is a distraction from the collusion from both sides towards mutual cultural emnity and a culture of victimhood. The recent violence is the product of this divisive and degraded politics of identity. Having created a society based on the idea that there are two irreconcilable communities – whose relations need to be permanently monitored and managed and where …
Google’s just launched its blog search. The big advantage is it is quick and easy to use. Here’s what a search for Slugger brings up. Just keep scrolling! As you’ll see Newton Emerson on Katrina gets the credit for the rise in Slugger numbers, not our own (comparatively) little difficulties of the last week. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Blogging from me will be slow today. I’ve to keep my eye on one or two other projects. I hope my blogging colleagues will hold the fort in my absence! Should be back tomorrow as normal. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
EVERYONE in Northern Ireland has now been blamed for the weekend riots by someone, so why not the Kaiser Chiefs too? Their lyrics certainly suggest they have more of a handle on the situation than those in charge (supposedly). Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Newton Emerson is unimpressed with the negative light which Unionist politicians have been throwing on the general Unionist future. Thanks to Feismother for the heads up! Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
FACTOTUM go to court later today, claiming that Belfast City Council has curtailed its right to free speech through The Vacuum, a free arts magazine that the council sponsors. Factotum believes the Council is in breach of the Human Rights Act, by trying to impose conditions on magazine content. Looks like someone will be saying Sorry at last! Good backgrounder here at mediawatchwatch and a more balanced one with the BBC here. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily …
If you can face nothing else on Slugger this week, read this. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
The Levee breaks blog, believes Mitchell Reiss got in one when he suggested that there has been ‘an abdication of responsibilty’. He’s particularly annoyed with the apparent inaction of Unionist politicians as shops and small businesses were destroyed in Newtownabbey, with little serious comment from senior Unionist politicians. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
I want to come back to the scientific backdrop to the human and economic tradegy in New Orleans, Lousiana and Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In the meantime, here’s an interesting piece which warns environmentalists not to venture too much on backing global warming link to increased number of hurricanes. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Interesting feature piece from Kevin Smith at Reuters on the latest disturbances from Northern Ireland. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
From yesterday’s Guardian. Jonathan Freedland asks why no one expected something like the Belfast riots when no one was even asking the Loyalist paramilitaries to mirror the IRA’s expected decommissioning. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.
Managed to pick up a copy of the new Guardian today. It’s a triumph of patience over fashion. They’ve got the right size (Berliner), and the design is good. But a bit like the Independent when it first kicked off in 1986, it feels like the subs are a bit at sea with the new proportions. Presumably that will ease with time. The paper is now in new territory. By beefing up its hard core news and snipping a few …
As a much younger man, Maurice Hayes was in the thick of the early conflagration in Northern Ireland. Although, as he points out, things at the moment could have been much worse if Republicans at the interface areas had chosen to react to some of the rioters, there is little comfort to be taken from the fact that some sections of the Protestant working class feels as alienated as Catholics once did. The fact is that it is now working …
One of the advantages of the net is the ability to drill into off pitch opinions. Something Slugger was reasonably adept at at the beginning. But as we’ve got closer to mainstream sources, we may not have been so good at in recent times. So I’m grateful to the guys at Innate for a heads up to their online magazine. Here’s an extract from this week’s editorial on the pessimist/optimist theory: There are two major options as regards optimism and …