We've just gone through a general election where the governing parties were rejected. We had two groups proporting to be center left but were in fact ultra right.
In Ireland we have an odd split. We have two centre right parties with flexible conviction. Perhaps it's better to say we have far right wing parties forced by political reality to move to the centre. But in this last government we had a so called socialist labour party which was little more than a savage fascist orientated bunch of racists willing to empty the place to keep their members in jobs. I will never vote for them again.
On the US election. I'm both worried and glad Trump is doing as well as he is for he's gripped not just the Reps but the Dem's by the throat and gave a good rattle to self serving position people who've squatted on power for so long. We saw in Mass. a gigantic number of registered Dems moving to the Reps to vote for Trump. And we'll see the reverse going the other way. Only further up the food chain.
It's hard to credit though that the males of a republican bent are so unprepossessing that Trump, Rubio and Cruz are the best the could've come up with. I read one comment that Cruz has that feel off him that kids have on first seeing snakes.
But how on earth after 8 years of Dem's in the Whitehouse the little person could be not one iota better off than they were in 08. Leaving a utterly gigantic number underemployed and outright unemployed in ever single State. Such that the usual migration patterns of past recessions/depressions was utterly pointless giving a fryingpan or fire option.
The Irish situation on this is similar. Similar if you are thinking of say Vermont or Maine. We've been hijacked by a bunch of idiots far worse than the idiots they replaced. At least the former crew were trying to make things better. The last lot didn't even try. It got to the point about 2012 that I simply stopped writing about politics and economics for not one darn thing made one iota of sense. Well, beyond that of the wealth of the State being used to cushion insiders.
Where in the US all of 08 and 09 you saw perp walks of Wall St bigshots while we are still trying to extradite from the US one of the CEO's of the failed banks that cost this State 40 billion. Note our GDP last year was 240 billion, but our GNP is a better and more real number at 180 billion. However the entire bail-out for our banks was 140 billion give or take. AND NO ONE IS IN JAIL.
OK pretty pictures.:-D
These two are of Kiltinan police barracks. I was in it when it was a home. It now marks the old gate of Kiltinan Castle, Andrew Lloyd-Webbers home.
In Ireland we have an odd split. We have two centre right parties with flexible conviction. Perhaps it's better to say we have far right wing parties forced by political reality to move to the centre. But in this last government we had a so called socialist labour party which was little more than a savage fascist orientated bunch of racists willing to empty the place to keep their members in jobs. I will never vote for them again.
On the US election. I'm both worried and glad Trump is doing as well as he is for he's gripped not just the Reps but the Dem's by the throat and gave a good rattle to self serving position people who've squatted on power for so long. We saw in Mass. a gigantic number of registered Dems moving to the Reps to vote for Trump. And we'll see the reverse going the other way. Only further up the food chain.
It's hard to credit though that the males of a republican bent are so unprepossessing that Trump, Rubio and Cruz are the best the could've come up with. I read one comment that Cruz has that feel off him that kids have on first seeing snakes.
But how on earth after 8 years of Dem's in the Whitehouse the little person could be not one iota better off than they were in 08. Leaving a utterly gigantic number underemployed and outright unemployed in ever single State. Such that the usual migration patterns of past recessions/depressions was utterly pointless giving a fryingpan or fire option.
The Irish situation on this is similar. Similar if you are thinking of say Vermont or Maine. We've been hijacked by a bunch of idiots far worse than the idiots they replaced. At least the former crew were trying to make things better. The last lot didn't even try. It got to the point about 2012 that I simply stopped writing about politics and economics for not one darn thing made one iota of sense. Well, beyond that of the wealth of the State being used to cushion insiders.
Where in the US all of 08 and 09 you saw perp walks of Wall St bigshots while we are still trying to extradite from the US one of the CEO's of the failed banks that cost this State 40 billion. Note our GDP last year was 240 billion, but our GNP is a better and more real number at 180 billion. However the entire bail-out for our banks was 140 billion give or take. AND NO ONE IS IN JAIL.
OK pretty pictures.:-D
What kind of trees are those in the second shot? They look like some type of evergreen or fir. It's a lovely view.
ReplyDeleteI find the word "creepy" best describes Cruz. Ugh.
I believe they are Scots pine, but I could be wrong on that.
DeleteWe don't get too much of anything other than the media playing Trump on a loop.
Sadly, most of the "Throw out the rats" campaigns that are successful end up disappointing everyone.
ReplyDeleteThey emptied the place of between 70 and 90,000 a year, each and every year since 08. Our outflow of high school grads is around 55,000.
DeletePeople are furious. We paid bond holders of private banks in full. And our youth are in Alberta, Vancover and Sidney.
The whole mess makes me want to cry, actually. Every single thing that comes out of the mouths of these "candidates" is so awful and full of hate. The fact that this ding dong is doing so well, makes me sad for our future. Because, let's face it, not one of these candidates on the right have said what they actually will do to fix things. They've resorted to name calling and threats and they are cheered for it. It's like the damn Jerry Springer show at this point.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to disagree that things are worse off with Obama in office. From where they started (after 8 years of GOP) when he took office to now, the numbers show a different story. But the one thing that hasn't changed...those in charge and their "friends" aren't hurting at all. And as you said, it's still happening and no one is in jail. Those who caused it are making more many than before. But if the regular guy/gal think that any one of these candidates want to change that and help them, they are delusional. And the candidates pull the wool over their eyes by appealing to their hate instead. It's just gross. There's been a joke going around that Canada is the one that is going to have to build a wall if Trump gets elected to keep all the horrified Americans out. We've done a lot of embarrassing things as a country, but if this man gets voted in, I don't know. I'm still hoping it's all a hoax and when his name is on the ticket for the GOP he bails and says, "Just kidding!" and we have to all vote for Clinton. :)
You're covered in snow!?!?! Is this still up the mountain, or are you getting some your way as well? Brrrrrrr
Wow! That would have been quite a home. Was it private and ALW purchased it and turned it into his gate or was it always part of the gate?
Chuckle. It was the snow and ice on my face that I thought amusing. And yes it was on the mountain. Same day, yesterday, as the image of the gatehouse. And maybe an hour-an-a-half later with the gatehouse first.
DeleteAnd yes. Always private. A family called White from the States had it for about 20 years from 1980. Before a woman called Joan Grubb (1918ish). Then the Cooke family (1660), before that the Butlers, Dunboyne I believe was the branch of that family that had it then.
Ohh I think the little fellow knows none of them really has their back. But Trump speaks to that low level racism that comes with immigration. I say low level for it bubbles below the controls of the social norms until released by a figure like Trump. You see I don't actually think Trump is himself racist. But once that nasty animal is out of it's box it's really really hard to return it.
Yep, really bad scripted reality TV! Entertainment at its worst.
DeleteI wish my beard iced up like yours. I tend to get them in front under the nose where they don't look so fetching.
ReplyDeleteI am fascinated with politics and like to follow and predict but oddly that doesn't carry through to foreign countries. I'm guessing that is because the only foreign politics we hear on our news cycle is after someone has been elected. I can't remember the last thing I heard about Irish politics other than it was almost bankrupt a handful of years ago. But judging from your writings and other foreign blogs I follow, it isn't the reverse and our political news makes regular rounds overseas.
Although I don't like Obama and think he hasn't done well for our country these last eight years, if I had to say which was the worse president of the last two, I would say Bush was worse, and I vote Republican! Something about the power of the position just seems to bring out the worst in everybody. What frightens me more is not who gets elected next but after the last two presidents, how much more the next president can destroy our country's reputation overseas. That assumes there is something left to destroy further. I want to go back to the days when our nation was respected instead of being the current laughing stock we are now.
I read this and had to think on it a bit.
DeleteIf I put it like this. Almost all the allies of the US had been hit by savagery of one sort or the other since the second world war. Few were spared. When the US was hit at the time of the Twin Towers she had the sympathy of the world and the world was watching to see how she'd deal with it. And were with her wholly with clearing out that rats nest that was turning the Hundu Kush into a poisonous ugly void. They, by their actions had not lost one iota of the soft power the US had cultivated around the world at that point.
But by 05, all that was gone. When the US approaches now in the corridors it's not with a genuine smile her diplomats are met. Her soft power has gone. The fools around Bush 2, too darn thick arrogant and stupid, didn't know, or care, what a treasure they were pissing away so carelessly.
Won't comment on the politics but love the photos. Really want to visit Ireland. What would recommend for a first timer with about ten days?
ReplyDelete