Stephen Spillane's My Opinion

Good Bye!

2009-03-20T12:41:00.005Z

No do not fear, I am not stopping blogging, I am simple moving the blog. Blogger has been very good to me for the last number of years, but it is time I moved on from this little blog of mine and it is moving on bigger and better things (hopefully).

So where can you find me?

Its easy! At StephenSpillane.com!

My new RSS Feed is here.

Blogroll and few other things still need to be added, but we will get there!

7th Think Post: Finding Your Candidates Online

2009-03-18T20:17:00.003Z

Below is my 7th Thinkaboutit.eu post. I have posted it in full so dont forget to rate it on the competition website!

A problem for me during the last European Elections in 2004 was finding out about candidates running for election. Although I couldn't vote and was sitting my Leaving Certificate I was interested in who was running and finding out more about the candidates in my constituency. In my constituency, Ireland South, there were ten candidates running for three seats. Of the ten, four were independents and not all of them campaigned in Cork so it was hard to find out much about them.

This year elections will be different thanks to two websites based and set up in Ireland. The first is Eurvote, which is just aimed at Irish voters. Eurvote have pages on all the candidates in the Irish Constituencies. Of course they are a bit behind as they already are missing Sean Kelly from the list for Ireland South, but they do have Declan Ganley on the list for Ireland North-West. Eurvote has a page on each candidate (here's Marian Harkin's (Ireland North-West) page as an example) with a link to their website which is handy. They also plan on doing events and are looking for constituents to write analysis in each constituency. Unfortunately I don't know who runs EurVote.org, as their about page is blank!

The second website is miCandidate.eu, which hasn't launched yet, but will in the next month. This is based on the MyCandidate.ie website which ran during the 2007 General Election here in Ireland, that website now redirects to miCandidate. MyCandidate.ie was described as "an exciting and crucial addition to democracy by putting useful information at the fingertips of citizens young and old." by Joe Zefran a News Editor with RTE.ie (received via email), so they are hoping that their European venture will have a big impact. MiCandidate.eu are currently putting together their database on candidates in all 27 member states, but not all seams to be right with them. According to Suzy of Mamanpoulet miCandidate.eu are putting pressure on candidates to sign up and pay up to have their information on this website. This is an example of an email sent to candidates.

We are very concerned that you are one of only a few remaining candidates who has not completed the information form that we sent you. Your profile will appear across dozens of Ireland’s busiest websites from RTE to the Irish Times. Failing to return this form to us in the next 48 hours may result in your profile being entirely empty. Given that candidates profiles were viewed nearly 4 million times in 2007 on RTE and the Irish Times you are giving your competitors in your constituency a huge advantage over you.

This is a free service, but we cannot stress the urgency that we need you to fill out your details. Seats are won and lost by a handful of votes, your competitors profiles will be viewed tens of thousands of times. Your profile will be empty.

Will the web have this type of impact on the European Elections? I don't think so. So should miCandidate be the top of your priority, probably not. Of course there is a paid version, which the Irish Green Party have signed up to for their candidates. Will it be worth the mone only time will tell and I hope that Fine Gael candidates wont spend money which could be spent on leaflets, which as Suzy points out can have the url to your blog/twitter/whatever and get people that can actually vote for you to engage with you. miCandidate are hyping up the net a bit too much in my opinion.

So there you have two websites one free and one free for us the voter, but possible not for the candidate, trying to inform us about the elections. Will they succeed? Will they actually inform people and get them to vote in the European Elections? Will they have an big impact or will they just be link farms to candidates websites, blogs, facebook/bebo pages and twitter accounts? Only time will tell.

Dont forget to rate it!

Yea, another think post

2009-03-17T18:56:00.002Z

Image via Wikipedia

Yup, I've gone on posted my 6th post over on thinkaboutit.eu. This one is about the EPP-ED and their new tag-line..

I got a press release today from the EPP-ED Group of the European Parliament. In it they inform me of an event to launch their new tag-line. The tag-line is “Europe’s Driving Force” (now you see why the UK Conservatives left them).

Read Full Post, dont forget to rate it! Thanks! :)

2009 European Young Journalist Award

2009-03-17T16:46:00.003Z

The European Commission's DG Enlarement is running the 2009 European Young Journalist Award.

From 2 February 2009 – 31 May 2009 young journalists aged 17 - 35, citizens or residents of the 27 member states of the EU or the candidate and potential candidate countries, are invited to participate in the 2009 European Young Journalist Award

So what do you have to do?

The 2009 European Young Journalist Award invites print, online and radio journalists from the 27 EU member states, the candidate and potential candidate countries to participate and share their vision of the European Union’s enlargement

The rules?

Entries should be or should have been published or aired between 2007 and 2009. The main editorial office of the media in which the entry was published must be based in one of the above mentioned countries. All entries should be written in the author’s native language as long as it is an official EU language or language from the candidate countries and potential candidate countries. The article can be a maximum of 2.000 words. An abstract of 200 words needs to be provided in English.

The article must be written in a journalistic style and represent the personal perspective of the writer in the context of his or her country.

The Prize?

All national winners of the 2009 European Young Journalist Award will be invited to an all paid for cultural and historical trip to the capital of Germany, Berlin, at the end of August / beginning of September 2009.

You can submit your entry here! Good Luck if you enter!

5th Think Post - "What Women Want"

2009-03-17T15:25:00.003Z

Image by stephen.spillane via Flickr

Well I seam to be getting used to blogging over on the thinkaboutit.eu blog becuase I just published my 5th post on it! Its on women and European politics.

Eurobarometer recently did a Flash survey on Women and Politics in the EU. It found that 79% of Irish Women and 78% of women in the United Kingdom think that politics is male dominated.

Read Full Post, dont forget to rate it!

Lá Fheile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

2009-03-17T14:47:00.004Z

I hope you are all enjoying your St. Patricks Day. I for one have spent most of the actual day in bed. I had to get up early this morning and bring the Macoaimh (Cub Scouts) to mass. So I went back to bed afterwards.

So whats the point of this post? I was going to do a post like this but then decided, why should I be posting about that on what is our National Day as well as being Lá na Gaeilge?

We Irish have a stereotype, of being drunk on St. Patricks Day, but something the priest said at mass today had me thinking. Today is day we celebrate the acheivments of forefathers, the acheivments of the Irish Nation, which we we can be proud of. Ireland can stand tall has a modern, diverse country. It is progressive and (slowly but surely) moving forward. While he went on a bit about religion and faith (I zoned out, the boys must thing Im an awful heathen but Im not bothered) I couldnt get those points out of my head. Why are we as a nation going out and getting drunk on a Tuesday? We have work tomorrow people! Let us instead look at teh acheivements of our ancestors and think, right if thay can do that, we can do more!

Cheannaigh mé Buntás Cainte Cuid a hAon agus Cuid a Dó sna Eason de hAoine seo caite agus tá sé ar fheabhas! Foghlaim a lán rud a fágach mé i na bliana seo caite. I do recommend it for people who want to learn a smattering of words that can be used everyday day! It does need updating though as it goes on about Pounds, Shillings and Pence!

The Running Order

2009-03-16T18:11:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

The Draw for the running order for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest took place today in Moscow and the results are as follows.

The first Semi-Final (May 12th)

1. Montenegro
2. Czech Republic
3. Belgium
4. Belarus
5. Sweden
6. Armenia
7. Andorra
8. Switzerland
9. Turkey
10. Israel
11. Bulgaria (chosen with a wildcard)
12. Iceland
13. FYR Macedonia
14. Romania
15. Finland
16. Portugal (chosen with a wildcard)
17. Malta (chosen with a wildcard)
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina

The second Semi-Final (May 14th)

1. Croatia
2. Ireland
3. Latvia
4. Serbia
5. Poland
6. Norway
7. Cyprus
8. Slovakia
9. Denmark
10. Slovenia
11. Hungary
12. Azerbaijan
13. Greece
14. Lithuania
15. Moldova
16. Albania
17. Ukraine (chosen with a wilcard)
18. Estonia (chosen with a wildcard)
19. The Netherlands (chosen with a wildcard)

The Final (May 16th)

1. Semi-Final qualifier
2. Semi-Final qualifier
3. France
4. Semi-Final qualifier
5. Semi-Final qualifier
6. Semi-Final qualifier
7. Semi-Final qualifier
8. Semi-Final qualifier
9. Semi-Final qualifier
10. Russia
11. Semi-Final qualifier
12. Semi-Final qualifier
13. Semi-Final qualifier
14. Semi-Final qualifier
15. Semi-Final qualifier
16. Semi-Final qualifier
17. Germany
18. Semi-Final qualifier
19. Semi-Final qualifier
20. Semi-Final qualifier
21. Semi-Final qualifier
22. Semi-Final qualifier
23. United Kingdom
24. Semi-Final qualifier
25. Spain (chosen with a wildcard)

The draw for the running order of the voting in the final also took place. Spain, Belgium, Belarus, Malta, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, Iceland, France, Israel, Russia, Latvia, Montenegro, Andorra, Finland, Switzerland, Norway, Bulgaria, Lithuania, United Kingdom, FYR Macedonia, Slovakia, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ukraine, Turkey, Albania,Serbia, Cyprus, Poland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Portugal, Romania, Ireland, Denmark, Moldova, Slovenia, Armenia, Hungary and finally Azerbaijan.

Ireland has been drawn in the "unlucky" number 2 slot in the second semi. The last time we started at that position was in 1995 with Eddie Friel and we ended up 14th. Though both countries in the number 2 slot qualified from last year, one was from televoting alone (Israel) and the other was by Jury (Sweden). I wonder will it be unlucky for us.

An opportunity not to be missed!

2009-03-15T21:38:00.003Z

Do you blog? Are you free on March 27th and 28th? Fancy covering the European Greens Congress in Brussels and have it all paid for? Then check out their blog and find out how!

(H/T: Jan’s EUblog)

Changes are coming

2009-03-15T21:08:00.003Z

Wow, Did you know I started blogging nearly four years ago? Well I did. I started blogging on the 21st of March 2005. On that day I had two posts, one about China and one about the Environment.

Four years is a long time to dedicate something, granted at times this blog has fallen to the wayside, but I do always come back, and now I am nearly blogging daily!

To Celebrate four years of blogging look out for anniversary posts running up to Saturday and (hopefully!) on Saturday this blog will take a new turn!

Offical Video - Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy - "Et Cetera"

2009-03-15T20:54:00.004Z

The official video for the Irish Eurovision entry is online and the song is really growing on me! Check it out!

To quote a friend who just heard the song "Holy crap, that song is awesome!" (He does mean in comparison with previous years!)

In other news Georgia has withdrawn from the Eurovision Song Contest this year. It was claimed that the lyrics infringe the rules of the contest.

I think most of the songs have now been been chosen and that means the running order will decided shortly and that means preview time for me! I am looking forward to that.

4th Think Post!

2009-03-12T21:39:00.003Z

So yea I just stuck up my fourth post on the Think About It Blog. This one is on how I got involved in Politics and I have given it an EU slant. It was inspired by a converstaion at Cork OpenCoffee so do please check it out and rate. I have reprinted the first paragraph as a teaser:

I am a rare one, I mean among my peers, that not only am I interested in politics but I am actively involved in politics. The EU and European Politics has played a large role in this, especially in me becoming aware of politics, both nationally in Ireland and in the EU of 15 member states as it was then.

Read the rest and let me know what you think!

Taoiseach Answers Our Questions

2009-03-12T18:01:00.002Z

Image via Wikipedia

Well, Brian Cowen did answer some of the questions posed by the public to him in his online Q&A, try and keep your eyes open during the video's. I think that is the harder task, I didn't realise he was that boring, and people give out to me that Enda is boring (he is but Cowen is worse in these videos). And if you are wondering, he didn't answer my "loaded" question. The videos are all below.

Welcome and Thanks

The Economy

The Pension Levy

The Political Situation

The Smart Economy

Are you still awake? Fair play? I wonder will they try this again?

My Use of Irish - Úsáid na Gaeilge

2009-03-11T19:14:00.003Z

Image by jimmycurn via Flickr

Today those on twitter and Facebook would have noticed a rise in my use of Irish online. This is due to two things. One is catching a bit of Ryan Tubridy on Saturday Night where they were encouraging people to use Facebook as Gaeilge and my last two Facebook Updates have been as Gaeilge. The second is my radio listening. This morning I tuned into Raidio Rí Rá and mentioned that on twitter and guess what? They engaged with me on twitter (Anseo agus anseo).

Now we all know of Raidio na Gaelteachta and its boredom inducing programing (for me it is anyway) and it basically does not encourage young people to use Gaeilge. Raidio Rí-Rá on the other hand is a great change and uses Gaeilge is a fun way and I must say I loved listening to it during my breakfast this morning. While I didnt understand everyword said, I caught the idea of what the presenters were saying and I think it will be my station of choice in future. I think it is only on FM for Seachtain Na Gaeilge but hopefully it will be for much longer, mar tá sé ar fheabhas!

Tá Raidio Rí-Rá ar fhail i Baile Átha Cliath (100.3FM), Corcaigh (106.7FM), Gallimh (99.1FM) agus Luimneach (105.5FM). Tá Raidió Rí-Rá ag craoladh ar-líne 24 uair a chloig sa lá 365 freisin.

I hope to increase my use of Irish on the internet, so watch out for #gael tweets and Facebook updates as Gaeilge from me!

FF split on joining ELDR??

2009-03-11T18:06:00.003Z

Image via Wikipedia

According to John over at Semper-Idem splits seam to be developing between the National Party and the MEP's in Brussels. I wonder why that is?

This of course was announced with great fanfare at the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis by an Taoiseach Brian Cowen. He said in his opening speech the following:

Given the changing role of the Parliament and the new structures of its groups, Fianna Fáil has no alternative but to reconsider current arrangements. We need to strengthen our work with others who share our basic approach while insisting on the right to vote in accordance with the views of the people we represent. To that end, we will soon advance a proposal to join, for the first time, a pan-European party - the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party. Our representatives have been part of that party's group in the Council of Europe for some time and this has worked out well - particularly because it is a group which works hard to respect the views of smaller countries.

Following June's election, should everything progress as expected, we will then consider joining the parliamentary group to which the ELDR is affiliated. I am confident that we can negotiate a position that will strengthen our voice and that of all people who believe in a Europe of states working closely together.

Yet in yesterdays Irish Times Brian Crowley MEP insisted that ""no deal had yet been done" on whether the FF MEPs would join the ALDE Group in the parliament. I wonder why he said that? Is it because he knows that he will lose many of his perks if FF leave the UEN? What perks you ask? Well as co-president of the UEN (A position he is unlikely to attain in the ALDE Group) he is entitled to a car! He doesn't seam willing to give that up.

All know that my prediction of the end of the UEN being in 2009 seams to be accurate enough.

This is posted on the Thinkaboutit.eu website aswell! Do read and rate it there!

5 things UK Conservatives need to learn about European Parliament

2009-03-11T17:44:00.004Z

This is inspired by yet another post on ConHome where they get things wrong. Not sure if this would qualify as one off Joe's Five Things?! would it Joe?

Number 1: They are not members of the EPP.

Number 2: They are members of the ED - European Democrats, who are seperate to the the EPP.

Number 3: Because of this distinction they do not take the EPP whip.

Number 4: They sit as part of the EPP-ED Group in the Parliament which is completely seperate to the EPP apartus as a political party.

Number 5: They can leave quite easily and the EPP wont miss them that much, I would say.

This as also been posted on thinkaboutit.eu. Please rate it over there! Thanks

FG Ard Fheis

2009-03-09T09:59:00.002Z

The Fine Gael Ard Fheis will be taking place on the 3rd-4th of April in City West in Dublin and as I said on twitter last week, Bloggers will be given Media Accreditation. I have no information about who to contact specifically at the moment about it, but when I do I will post it. All I can suggest is calling the Fine Gael HQ at (01) 6198444 and asking them about it.

I found out via the National Youth Officer on Thursday Night as she was attending a YFG AGM in UCC (which I have a post in draft about which (hopefully) will be done by the by end of week)

i have booked the time off work for Ard Fheis so hopefully will be there!

(PS Blogging has been light as himself is up!)

Don't

2009-03-06T20:39:00.002Z

Just found this on youtube. It is a novel and simple HIV/AIDS video. I think its a really good one. I hope it does effectr some people

Paddy's Day Junkets

2009-03-06T19:18:00.005Z

So RTÉ have the list of ~~visits~~ junkets for St. Patricks Day. Because of cut backs, some Ministers have to visit two or even three places. Don't you feel so sorry for them. This of course does not include Local Councillors heading off for it. Here is the full list.

Taoiseach (Brian Cowen) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Micheal Martin) – New York and Washington D.C.

Minister for Finance (Brian Lenihan) – London

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Brendan Smith) – Munich, Berlin & Dusseldorf

Minister for Transport (Noel Dempsey) – Toronto

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Eamon Ryan) – San Francisco and New York

Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (Éamon Ó Cuív) – Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne

Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (Martin Cullen) – Houston

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Hanafin) – Philadelphia and Atlanta

Attorney General (Paul Gallagher) – Seattle

Minister of State Pat Carey (Chief Whip, Defence, special responsibility for Active Citizenship) - Boston

Minister of State Barry Andrews (Health and Children) – Mumbai and New Delhi

Minister of State Trevor Sargent (Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) – Paris

Minister of State Jimmy Devins (Education and Science, Enterprise, Trade and Employment) - Chicago

Minister of State Peter Power (Foreign Affairs) – Birmingham

Minister of State John McGuinness (Enterprise, Trade and Employment) – Edinburgh and Glasgow

Minister of State Billy Kelleher (Enterprise, Trade and Employment) – Rome and Milan

I hope to find out what local reps are off for St. Patricks Day Junkets as well.

And we are off!

2009-03-06T19:02:00.002Z

So I have just finished dinner and am now officiallt fasting for the next 24 hours. So far I have raised €100 and am delighted!

Dont forget you can still donate online and increase the amount I rasie.

Thank you to all who have donated! Dont forget to follow the #24fast tag on twitter to see how im getting on!

I am annoyed! - Gov't to cut Sucide Funds

2009-03-06T13:12:00.003Z

I just read a piece on Irishhealth.com that points out the the Government are to cut funds to the National Office for Suicide Prevention by 12.5%. The cuts will come to funds availible to mental health support groups.

This is a terrible time for this. Mental Health is underfunded in this country and the fact that the government is to do this is highly annoying. This is aswell a highly stressful time for people with job losses and wage cuts and higher taxes meaning people are under pressure and things will only get worse.

According to Dan Neville TD, the Fine Gael Spokesperson with special responsibility for mental health said

Research into suicide since the 1890s shows that there is an increase in suicide rates and mental illness during times of economic recession. The Minister for Health and the HSE should be responding to this need in the present economic crisis. They are doing the opposite and justifying it on the back of saving a relatively small amount of money

He hits the nail on the head when he says "Government cutbacks in this area at a time of financial crisis amounted to a decision to save money at the expense of lives."

It is well known and documented that suicide rates increase during recessions, especially if foreclosures are on the increase. As deputy Neville says,

The high rate and threat of home foreclosures is of concern. For most Irish, our homes are our primary investment and the locus of our identities and social support systems. When combined with the loss of employment, home loss or the threat of home loss, has been found to be one of the most common economic strains associated with suicides

Rising unemployment will see a rise in suicide rates, that is a well known and documented fact. Deputy Neville points out the Kelleher/Daly Cork Study in the 1980s, in which two thirds of the men who took their life, were out of work at the time.

As usual the Government will blame the economic crisis for all this, but just like the attempted cut in the disability area in the budget was reversed because of the paltry savings, this should be reversed aswell!

Cork Blogger Tweetup!

2009-03-06T08:56:00.002Z

Are you a blogger or a tweeter in Cork? Then check out Joe's blog as he is organising a little getogether next Thursday or Friday in the Thirsty Scholar.

Do come along!

Simon Harris - asking for Volunteers online

2009-03-04T18:01:00.002Z

The above is a video by Simon Harris (FG Candidate for Greystones Town Council) asking for volunteers in Greystones to help out with his campaign. Would love to know how many sign up due to a video on youtube.

Would it make you call him up and volunteer? I wouldnt, from the video alone.

Also that Vote Harris number one sticker looks mightily familiar, I believe I wore one of those back in 2004 in Ballina when he ran for YFG Vice Presidency (Which he didnt win).

Gender Parity? What about voters choice?

2009-03-03T22:03:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

The Labour Party published its Electoral (Gender Parity) Bill today (See RTÉ for details) which will cut state funding to party who dont put forward a certain percentage of female candidates. From what I see from my expeirence in political parties, that when women put themselevs forward for candidature they invariable get selected, not because women vote for them but because men vote for them! I attended conventions for three electoral areas for the upcoming local elections and a woman did not put herself forward for election.

Its not for lack of support within Fine Gael, there is a strong womens group within Fine Gael and there is a large number of female officers on the various boards in Cork FIne Gael (As well as two female Councillors on Cork City Council) so to me there is very little political opposition to women candidates. The biggest downfall for women candidates is actually the female vote. Women dont vote for women, according to a study I read before Older Men are more likely to vote for women then women are!

Gender quota's wont work, they lead to token women candidates who have no opportunity to get elected. Also bringing in a bill like this challenges how parties select candidates. For example in Fine Gael, it is members in the constituency that get to vote and choose the candidate, this bill will take that power away from locals and put in the hands of head office. Something which hasn't worked to great effect for Fianna Fail.

Any gender parity is a no hoper in my opinion.

Yet another budget!

2009-03-03T21:40:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

So the PR early budget didnt work and it seams it is time we had a new budget. The current budget has only fully been in force for two months!!! If thats not FAIL I don't know what is.

Fine Gael are calling for massive "overhaul" - read cuts - in the public sector and they have a point that there is a lot of waste that does need to be cut out at the top not the frontline where Nurses, Teachers, and Junior Doctors (among many more!!) seam to baring the brunt of the strategies used so far (1% "Lenihan Levy" and Pension Levy) These onviously arent working and the Government need to look at this carefully to avoid an all out strike in our public services.

In the same day we are told there will be new taxes (read new budget) and that we face a €20bn deficit, Mary Hanafin, Minister for Social and Family Affairs, axes the National Carers’ Strategy. Talk about trying to bury bad news. This actually goes against the Programme for Government which promises this exact strategy. I wonder how the Greens will react to that? Probably not at all.

These figures, cuts and the talk of more tax rises do not bode well for Fianna Fail and will probably see them suffer at the polls come June. Also these deficits will see us in trouble with the EU as we are supposed to be taking actions to curtail the deficit and the opposite is happening! Some hope we have of getting out of this recession first.

FG Gains a Councillor

2009-03-03T21:20:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

So Cork County Councillor Deirdre Forde (Carrigaline/Harbour Electoral Area) has switched from Fianna Fail to Fine Gael. She has many reasons to do so, but the on that isn't mentioned in the Press Release is her main reason for changing.

In the PR she gives her reasons as follows:

Over the last number of months I have sensed that the current Government were moving in a direction that I was not happy with. The Budget in October was the first time that this really struck me when I saw the attempt to take the medical card off OAPs. Subsequent decisions on education supports for special needs children and the provision of cervical cancer vaccination for teenage girls confirmed for me that the wrong people were being asked to pay the price for a faltering economy.

"Having made numerous attempts to speak to senior Party figures about my concerns it became obvious to me that I was not going to be able to effect the type of change that both I, and others, would have liked to have seen.

But is that really the reason?? No.

The real reason is that Fianna Fail have selected Michéal Martin twin brother (whos name escapes me) to run in the same ward. Cllr Forde felt that he was being goven more help and support by head office then she was. This boils down to her taking these personally and then seeing what way the wind was blowing and jumping ship.

This has actual all been played out in the Cork Eveing Echo over the last few months and I was not surprised that she switched. I am surprised that it took this long! Any way best of luck to Cllr Deirdre Forde and to the other Fine Gael Candidates in that ward Cllr John Collins, Cllr Timothy Lombard, and Mr David O'Byrne.

Recession Diary - 2nd March 2009

2009-03-02T20:54:00.004Z

Welcome to my Recession Dairy, these will be a series of posts on how the recession is hitting me and my observations on it hitting other people. These are unstructured rambles of the moment like most diary's are!

So, I have two jobs now. One of them is my former 40 hour a week job which is now down to a 30 hour week job. The other is a part-time job, which normally is only covering my sister working the door on a club (taking the money on the door, not being a bouncer).

Last Saturday night I was working and I could really see how the recession was hitting people. One guy came up to me with the entry fee in coins!!! €10 in €2, €1, 50c and 20c pieces, I was like Jesus Christ! I have to count all those! But working the club is grand, I know a lot of people that frequent the club so its a laugh. My sister is thinking of giving up the job, so it could be me there every week.

I have noticed, even before my hours were cut I had taken steps to rein in my spending. I stopped buying a daily newspaper. I used to buy one at least 4 times a week. I started cutting down on the amount of coffee I bought in coffee shops. I try to limit myself to one day a week, normally Saturday. I have started buying monthly bus tickets. I worked out today that if I use the bus twice a day for 5 days a week it will cost me €64, while the monthly ticket only costs €62 (I get the bus 6 days a week, so I save more!). What I have noticed since I got that ticket that I am getting less taxi's as I am getting the bus into town, meaning I am getting moneys worth from that ticket and saving on taxi money!

I am drinking less. I wasn't a huge drinker before, but lately when I go out I am noticing that I am drinking less and therefore spending myself. I also find myself availing of offers to get into clubs, for example my usual Friday night haunt is normally half price before 11:30, I normally get there for 11:20!!

So that is some of the ways I am noticing the recession hitting. I will try and do one of these posts very week, but no promises!

Steve's Five-A-Day 2/3/09

2009-03-02T20:26:00.000Z

Monday, five sleeps to when my boyfriend arrives in Cork! So I shall be excited for the week and will have a spring in my step! On with the links!

1. Corklangerdan sends word of Obama's message of thanks to the people of Cork. (hattip to Elfinamsterdam for this one!)
2. GayPatriot tells us that legislation to repeal "Don't ask, Don't tell" has been introduced.
3. European Voice wonder if the UK COnseratives will replace Fianna Fail in the UEN
4. Suzy has that video from Saturdays Nine O'Clock news on RTÉ
5. Joe tells us that Curious Wines have won Best Commercial Website at the 7th Annual Digital Media Awards! Well done lads! :)

enjoy your night all!

Im doing the Trócaire 24hr Fast

2009-03-02T18:50:00.001Z

From 7pm on Friday the 6th of March untill 7pm on Saturday the 7th of March, no food will pass my lips. I am doing the 24 hour fast in aid of Trócaire. It will be an interesting expeirence for me as I dont think I have done a 24 hour fast before. I have done 12 hour fasts before in hospital in stuff. So why am I blogging about this? Maily to alert you all to the fact that I will be fasting and that I will be blogging and tweeting during it to keep you all updated on my progress. My sister is doing the fast as well.

Just to give you an idea of what the money raised can do.

€20 can provide an olive tree to a family in Palestine to replace one destroyed in during to conflict. This will allow the family to earn an income.

€35 would provide seeds and trees for a family left impoverished in Uganda by the recent conflict.

€60 would help a widow from the conflict in Uganda to set up her own business

€100 would buy enough rice to feed a family in India for a whole year

€200 would proved eight people with 30 hours of literacy training each. There are 876 million illiterate adults in the world and this one of the main factors that keep people poor.

If you want to sponsor me you can do in person, or if you would like you can sponsor me online and donate via a website with a Credit or Debit Card! Donate here. Also I plan to be at Open Coffee on Friday (I think its on this week) and I hope to be at it!

On the day follow my tweets which will have the hash tag #24fast. You can follow me on twitter

(Im actually hungry at the thought of Fasting, this will be hard!)

Ask Brian Cowen!

2009-03-01T22:40:00.000Z

Image via Wikipedia

So Ireland, and mainly Fianna Fail, is on its way to following the UK the US into Web 2.0 land. Brian Cowen will be answering questions posed to him. I suggest that he actually starts answering questions in the Dáil first then answer our questions. But anyway, you can ask questions here, I have an awful feeling that my question wont be answered, as it will be a scripted affair with all the nice questions being asked.

My question is

When will the Government admit they made a mistake in nationalising Anglo Irish Bank considering the investigation and raids by Gardaí?

I wonder how it will go...

Steve's Five-A-Day 1/3/09

2009-03-01T20:15:00.000Z

Image by 96dpi via Flickr

Sunday and the first of March. A new month and a new week. Its like a blank canvass. Anyway on with the links!

1. Damien Says Political Parties will need more people online and gives some tips on how to deal with online citizens.
2. Suzy has a few thoughts on the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis and has some tips for parties yet to hold theirs!
3. Sam. I. Am. sums it up on pride and being proud of who you are despite on what some people think. (some strang language! I did wanr you Mum!)
4. Andyaz has a Q&A on Blackout Ireland
5. Conchur over on MassaModa tells us some uses for ties and how it can dress you up and dress you down!

Enjoy your evening all!

Aged 16-18? Win a trip to Africa!

2009-03-01T18:40:00.002Z

Thanks to Eoin Ryan MEP for highlighting this on twitter. Vist www.dyp2008.org/ to see how you could win a trip to Africa. One person from Ireland has to win! Check it out! Best of luck if you enter!

Steve's Five-A-Day 28/2/09

2009-02-28T19:30:00.001Z

Image by night86mare via Flickr

Its Saturday! Slightly wrecked from last night but Im off to a friends 21st tonight! Should be fun! If you are staying in, here is somethings you might want to look at. Also today is the last day of Voting in the Think About It competition, please read and rate my post! Thanks

1. All Kinds of Everything take a look at the four national shows happening tonight.
2. Suzy has a look at the Status of Politics online and thinks the Irish Times left out some important things.
3. European Voice show us where FIFA and the EU Commission are at odds on Football quotas
4. ToryDiary have the Thank You email from David and Samantha Cameron for all the messages and support, its hard not to have tears in your eyes reading it.
5. Daily Referendum asks if he is Conservative (Tory) or just right? A good question!

Enjoy your evening!

Poll in Tomorrows Sunday Business Post

2009-02-28T18:03:00.007Z

Image by jaqian via Flickr

I have been sent the results of a poll that will be published in tomorrows Sunday Business Post. The headline figures are:

Fianna Fail: 23 (-5)
Fine Gael: 30 (-3)
Labour: 22 (+8)
Greens: 6 (-2)
Sinn Fein: 11 (+2)
Independents: 8

There has also been a small change in the figures on support if the Lisbon Treaty which now show a 70-30 split in favour.

When this poll is compared with Fridays poll in the Indo, the numbers are largely similar. Fine Gael and Labour sit on the same, while Fianna Fail are lower in this poll.

The big winners in the latest opinion polls are Labour and Sinn Fein who have both increase their vote share consistently. Fine Gael, have come down in the polls marginally and seam to be hovering around the 30% mark. The Greens are starting to suffer from Collateral damage and are loosing ground in the polls. It is interesting to see if this will continue and if the party leadership will move to stem this.

The elections this year will be quite interesting if these patterns continue and looking back, I think they will.

UPDATE: I had this up ten Minutes before RTÉ sweet! :) Look at publish times (18:03 to 18:15!)

Steve's Five-A-Day 27/2/09

2009-02-27T19:35:00.001Z

Image via Wikipedia

The Five-A-Day returns! I got my laptop back, it has new motherboard and is work like a dream! Yayz! Anyway, links for today!

1. Grandad is giving out about the Paddy's Day Junkets. Cant help but nod my head.
2. Darragh tells us about 4FM, something which I hadnt heard of and launched today. It can be gotten in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Clare.
3. GayPatriot tell us more about the Log Cabin Republicans being funded by Democrats! They also have exclusives! This is a must read for political junkies!
4. Julien Frisch has the results of a few European Parliament Elction Opinion Polls. Interesting results.
5. Slugger tells us that Fianna Fail are to join the European Liberal, Democratic and Reform Party.

Followers are Back!

2009-02-26T23:10:00.002Z

Image via Wikipedia

So yay, the followers count is back to where it was! I spent the last good few minutes trying to public follow all the blogs I follow and google/blogger sure dont make this easy! You have to change the settings for each blog individually. Either by visiting each of the Blogs or going to the "Manage" page below the Reading List on the Dashboard page.

This is very easy to change either as when you change the setting on each page it refreshes the entire page! I had a list of 95 blogs to go through so I just concentrated on blogs that I do follow and are on blogspot, otherwise I would be there all day! Come on Google make it easier for us to change it!

Is it right that a Political Party Owns LGBT.ie???

2009-02-26T21:40:00.001Z

Image via Wikipedia

I was contacted after a tweet by Mark Coughlan about the ownership of a .ie domain. The Domain in is LGBT.ie and it is, according to the IE Domain Registry owned by the Irish Labour Party and is registered as a "Discretionary Name"

If you visit the site you get redirected to Labours homepage? Now is it right that a political party owns this and redirects it to their site? I don't think so? I am not saying that as a party political hack (what use would Fine Gael or Fianna Fail have for that site) but as a former Gay Activist (I've toned it down an awful lot, most of my activism is by me for me now a days). No political party should own that domain.

While I agree Labour LGBT and the Labour Party in general have been a fantastic supporter of the Gay Community and Gay Rights, but does it give them the right to this domain? I don't think so!

GLEN or the NGLF or some sort of Gay community or a website to co-ordinate all the other ones should be on that domain. It should not be a redirect to the Labour Home Page!

PS: You can follow me on Twitter here

Indo Poll Results

2009-02-26T21:00:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

There is an IMS Poll in the Indo tomorrow and the Results are quite interesting. The headline figures are: Fine Gael are on 30%, Fianna Fail are on 25%, Labour are on 22%, Greens are on 5%, Sinn Fein are on 7% and Independents are on 10%.

In terms of Government satisfaction only 10% of respondents are satisfied compared with 86% dissatisfied with the Government.

On the question of a General Election 52% of people want an election while 40% do not one.

This is the first IMS poll to show FG ahead and the 6th poll to show FG in the lead. More interesting times ahead.

Irish Euovision Entry 2009

2009-02-26T19:29:00.005Z

So I finally get around to listening to the Irish entry for Eurovision Song Contest, yes I know it was selected LAST Friday, and I like it! in fact I like it alot actually. It is called "Et cetera" and is performed by Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy. The song was composed by Niall Mooney, Jonas Gladnikoff, Daniele Moretti and Christina Schilling. Brilliant song that will do us proud in Moscow! You go Girls!!!

Steve's Five-A-Day Shall Return

2009-02-26T16:04:00.002Z

Some regular readers will notice I stopped doing the five-a-day posts recently, that is mainly because of criticism form the Mother who prefers me actually posting then posting links and the fact that my laptop has gone in for repairs and when it is back so shall the Five-A-Days return also! No idea as of when yet as I haven't heard anything about the laptop being fixed :(

New Blog/Project

2009-02-26T15:25:00.002Z

Well after a talk with my boss and a few people on twitter and stuff I started off a new fashion blog: MassaModa

Its a group blog and I am always on the look out for authors so if you are interested let me know! email me stephen(dot)spillane(at)gmail(dot)com

I have Joined Blackout Ireland #blackoutirl

2009-02-26T14:29:00.006Z

Have you? Those who follow me on twitter will have noticed my avatar has changed. Why? because I support the BlackOut Ireland Protest. Cian of Viewfromthequad.com started this off on twitter and his site the other day and says it needs to start now

The website for the campaign will be launched later today.

So what is it about? Eircom have gotten into bed with the IRMA and the music companies. The IRMA have sent threatening letters to Irish ISPs and sent one to Blacknight also (Note: Blacknight is a hosting company NOT an ISP). This was picked up by the Register. The IRMA want to block access to sites like Pirate Bay, something Damien Mulley writing on the Blackout Ireland blog describes as creating a "digital Guantanamo". He writes

A digital Guantanamo has been created with all these sites being locked away along with our freedom to surf on the rare chance that an act of copyright infringement could happen. Like many locked away in orange boiler suits in cages, now our freedoms are doing the same thing. We are not criminals, we are not pirates, we are not threats to security, yet we are being treated as such.

Next Thursday (March 5th) has been designated as Black Thursday and the campaign will run for one full week from then. It is hoped that that week people will contact their ISP's and the Minister of Communications on this issue.

Lets hope it works and the other ISP's dont follow Eircom and actually have a backbone

UPDATE: Anyaz has an excellent post with background and international context on his blog.

More Politicians tweeting and one not...

2009-02-26T11:10:00.003Z

So since I did my post about Fine Gaelers on twitter I have come across some more on Twitter!

One is a Senator and the other two are councillors. Fist up is the Senator Jerry Buttimer who is FG's spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltach Affairs. Cork City Councillor Laura McGonigle is also on twitter, she represent the Cork South West Ward in the city. The other Councillor is Cavan County Councillor (and FG National Executive member) Seán McKiernan (his tweets are protected but he might let you follow).

The Polictcian not tweet is Graham Watson an English MEP who Tom Harris MP tells us does not twitter! But in fact his wife does!!! Should we unfollow politicians who do this? Well really those admit to doing this?

Do you know more Irish Politicians on twitter??? Let me know! Either in the comments or on twitter or via email stephen(dot)spillane(at)gmail(dot)com

I shall leave you with a Video from a Local Election Candidate who is embracing social media (sic??) and whom I mentioned in the previous post...

Have we missed our chance on adoption?

2009-02-25T18:51:00.004Z

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

In a year that hopefully sill see a Civil Union bill passed in Ireland, Suzy highlights the new adoption Adoption Bill which EXCLUDES Same Sex Couples! Has the Gay community been so obsessed with the issue of Gay Marriage/Civil Unions that we have left this one fly under our noses?

The legislation will limit Adoption to Married Couples and Single Applicants of "good moral character". I wonder will a gay person be able to adopt as a single person?

This legislation does not mention Civil Partnerships and the current draft of the Civil Partnership bill does not mention amending this legislation.

This is another fight on our hands so I think it is time that Ireland took the leap and got in line with Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, England and Wales, who all allow gay adoption!

Time to get contacting TD's and Senators as this was passed to second stage in the Seanad lase week!

Please do contact your public representatives and let me know their response! I shall be doing the same. Let us not lose the fight over this due to focusing on Gay Civil unions!

IBA Post

2009-02-23T19:42:00.004Z

I attend the Irish Blog Awards on Saturday and what a night! It was brilliant orchestrated by Damien Mulley and his army of helpers. The Cork International Airport Hotel was amazing!!

Congratulations to all the winners well deserved.

For me the best part of the blog awards was getting to meet bloggers who I enjoy interacting with. I managed to get to meet the following:

Grannymar
Grandad
Elf In Amsterdam
McaWilliams
Suzy of Maman Poulet
FontFiddler
RedMum
Walter
Gavin and Ciara
Robin Blanford

I met others too but my mind has gone blank!! Please remind me! I also met a few people I know from TeenCamp and OpenCoffee so it was great to meet them all again!

I am still recovering from the twister! But again a great night! Well done all involved!

I've Lost followers

2009-02-23T19:31:00.002Z

Yesterday I had 17 followers on this blog, today I have 15 :(

What did I do to offend two people? I dont know, but I dont think they unfollowed because Gamma recently asked in a comment why I unfollowed him (I didnt) and when I went to check I wasnt a follower but the only option there was to unfollow him! Hmm When I checked the blogger twitter account I found the reason, they are integrating it with friend connect and things have been hidden for privacy reasons. Hopefully it will all sort out soon.

Laptop is definately Borked

2009-02-23T17:58:00.003Z

Well my laptop, "Liam" is truly borked according to the shop and has been sent off for repairs, I love gaurentees. I am back using the "Monster" as I call the PC in my room which after it sorted out all the updates (it hasnt been used online since October) its back running at normalish speed so blogging may happen this week!

Thoughts on the IBA's and more coming soon (basically after dinner unless I get distracted! :P )

Dont expect too much blogging this week!

2009-02-22T11:09:00.002Z

Hey all! Dont expect to much blogging this week as my laptop "Liam" has decided not to work, and I hate using the PC fpr blogging tweeting. Going to drop it in to the shop tomorrow and hope for the best and that it will be fixed.

Twitter hand signal

2009-02-20T20:07:00.002Z

Phil Jupitus gives us twitterers our own hand signal! Thanks phil!

h/t:@mcawilliams

Steve's Five-A-Day 19/2/09

2009-02-19T22:00:00.000Z

Image by ViaMoi via Flickr

Kölle alaaf! Its Karneval time! I am very jealous of anyone reading from Germany especially in Cologne!!

1. The Local explains some Karneval terms
2. Slugger thinks Sinn Fein faces its Stalingrad in the Dublin Euro Constituency.
3. Maman Poulet gives advice to Bord Gais, but I think any company doing online work should read it
4. European Voice tells us of the rection to Klaus's speech to the European Parliament
5. Lords of the Blog explain Judicial Sittings in the House of Lords

Thats all from me!

La Chinosie - Vietnam

2009-02-19T19:34:00.003Z

This is an interesting video a friend sent me. It was filmed in 1967 and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It made me think alot about Vietnam and how it was percieved. Really powerful stuff.

Fine Gaeler's on Twitter

2009-02-19T18:40:00.003Z

Image via CrunchBase

I was recently asked about official Fine Gael stuff on Facebook and twitter (I seam to be the go to person) and I must say there isn't any that I knew of! That remineded of my FineGaelNews bot on twitter and I checked out its followers and I found three Senators and a TD who use it properly as well as a Local Election Candidate.

The Senators are Senator Fidelma Healy Eames from Galway, Fine Gaels spokesperson on Education in the Seanad; Senator JP Phelan from Kilkenny and Fine Gaels spokesman on Enterprise, Trade & Employment in the Seanad; and Paschal Donohoe fromn Dublin who is persumed FG Candidate for Dublin South byelection.

The TD is Lucinda Creighton, she is Fine Gaels spokesperson on Europe and she is T.D. for Dublin South East.

The Local Election Candiate is Simon Harris who is running in Greystones, Co Wicklow for the local council.

Also to be fair I did find a Fianna Failer on twitter too it's Eoin Ryan MEP for Dublin. Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party is also on twitter, also Green Party Senator and Dublin Euro candidate Deirdre De Burca is on twitter!

Do you know of more Irish Politicians on twitter? Let me know!

Steve's Five-A-Day 18/2/09

2009-02-18T19:00:00.003Z

Image via Wikipedia

Hello all! Wednesday, the middle of the week, Mittwoch in German. Tomorrow is Weiberfastnacht and the start of Karnival season in Germany, I am missing out on five days of partying!! Ah well, I have the Irish Blog Awards to look forward to on Saturday! on with the links!

1. The Local has a guide to Carnival.
2. Maman Poulet wonders what Enda knows about the "Golden Circle".
3. Euractiv tell us about Czech lower house Parliament passing the Lisbon Treaty.
4. Julien Frisch informs us about Opinion Poll for the European Elections in France.
5. The European Citizen tells us about Sarkozy being childish about a NATO conference.

Enjoy your evening!

Steve's Five-A-Day 17/2/09

2009-02-17T16:24:00.002Z

Image by Matthew Stewart | Photographer via Flickr

Its Tuesday and my Day off for this week! So spent most of the day in the Library and now getting this done early!

1. The finalists of the 2009 Irish Blog Awards are announced. Congrats all!
2. GayPatriot takes issue with defining arguments agaisnt gay marriage as hate speech.
3. Tony Barber tell us about the Eastern Partnership, I wonder will it die like the Union For the Meditterean
4. Polling Report tell us of the Tories 20 point lead in a Ipsos MORI poll.
5. Guido defends Draper.....

Laters all, time for dinner and Scouts

Steve's Five-A-Day 16/2/09

2009-02-16T19:39:00.002Z

Monday, Mid-term here in Ireland so lots of kids wandering the streets, or are they writing blog posts??? I doubt, but some of them might be! Some reading today

1. Anthony of Public Inquiry explains what a "caputured regulator" is. Have to agree with him that the Irish bank watchdog is one!
2. Slugger tells us that Senator Cannon (former PD Leader) could end up in Labour! WTF?!?!
3. Panti has an excellent piece on activism (or lack thereof) in the Gay Community and support from others.
4. Julien Frisch tells us why the French are pushing French as a working language... Sarkozy no speaky english.
5. Guido points out that the curse of Jonah Brown is not going away!

Burke gets it wrong on Lisbon

2009-02-15T20:21:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

According to RTÉ, Colm Burke MEP (FG - Ireland South) wants us to vote on Lisbon Treaty in April. But how can we??? The European Council have not agreed the text of the "necessary guarantees" that will, supposedly, get us to change our minds on the treaty.

Colm seams to be showing the effects of working in Brussels, you lose your connection to the people and only want to get your name in the paper, especially considering it is an election.

While Burke has a point when he says "It is not alarmist to state that were we not inside the Union our economic plight would mirror that of Iceland, with double digit interest rates and reliance on an International Monetary Fund bail-out"

But then he goes wrong again by suggesting the Cownen, Kenny and Gilmore should work together, but it has been stated before that, that shouldnt be done in public!

While ideas about Lisbon catch headlines, especially on a Sunday, but sometimes I wish people would think before they speak to the media.

Ireland South will be a tough battle for everyone and making suggestions that are easily rebuffed is not the way to get your name out there.

Best of luck though to Colm Burke and Sean Kelly though in the European Elections.

Normal Service Resumes tomorrow (hopefully)

2009-02-15T20:00:00.002Z

Image by HuNo (On & Off) via Flickr

Apologies for not doing the Five-A-Day in the past few days but a combination of RAG Week, himself arriving up and two jobs this weekend, nothing gone done online! Normal Service should resume tomorrow after work and dinner and stuff!!

Hope you all had a good weekend! I am off to bed!

Steve's Five-A-Day 11/2/09

2009-02-11T19:08:00.002Z

Wednesday the middle of the week and normally one of my favourite days of the week. Unfortunately I feel like shite so here is todays reading.

1. OmaniBlog has an idea of what we should do to the bankers, not halfbad!
2. Unarocks has a Sad/Uplifting post, it brought a tear to my eye, also that is the name of the post.
3. GayPatriot wonders if CNN ignores Democratic scandels.
4. FP Passport tell us that Lech Walesa, former President of Poland is banned from Venezuela.
5. The NY Times have an excellent piece on the future of UN peacekeeping

Im off to try and feel better!

Steve's Five-A-Day 10/2/09

2009-02-10T21:26:00.005Z

Image via Wikipedia

Tuesday, that second day of the working week, and my first day back to work. So here is some interesting stuff I have been looking at this evening.

1. Alan Costello introduces TeenCoffee, best of luck. Looking forward to a Cork one
2. Sully reminds me why I never log into bebo.
3. Irish Election looks at banks loaning each others - tut tut Irish Life And Permament
4. GayPatriotWest on GayPatriot tells us why he is not supporting Obama's Stimulus.
5. EurActiv looks at problems in Belgium with some Flemish Municipalties refusing to hold European Elections. The commission is threatening them with Court actions unless it is resloved.

Shock: A Politician that wants to be fired?

2009-02-09T18:10:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, you read that right, A Politician that wants to be fired. A rare thing? Well I have found one in Cheboygan County in Michigan, USA. His name is Dennis Lennox a Republican from Topinabee. He was elected as a County Drain Commissioner. Why does he want to be fired? He has nothing to do.

“There is nothing for the drain commissioner to do in Cheboygan County except waste taxpayer money,” said Lennox, who defeated a two-term Democratic incumbent in November on a platform of reforming local government and abolishing the office. “We simply don’t need a drain commissioner — we don’t have any drains for the office to oversee and manage.”

Michigan law mandates the election of drain commissioners in counties with a population over 12,000. In smaller counties, the office can be abolished with statutory duties, responsibilities, obligations and requirements devolved to the county’s road commission.

Under Lennox’s proposal, the population exemption would be boosted to 35,000 — allowing rural, cash-strapped counties to save taxpayers money and eliminate unnecessary expenditures. Something every level of Government should be doing.

“Taxpayers deserve public servants who will put their constituents ahead of themselves,” said Lennox. “This proposal is a commonsense reform that saves money and makes government more efficient.”

Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) and Representative Kevin Elsenheimer (R-Kewadin) have both committed to drafting and introducing legislation, and it’s hoped that Representative Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) — whose district includes part of Cheboygan County — will support the proposal.

The Board of Commissioners will meet on Wednesday to discuss the proposal. The text of the proposal is as follows

WHEREAS, Section 280.21 of Public Act 40 of 1956, commonly known as the Michigan Drain Code, requires a County Drain Commissioner be elected in counties with a population over 12,000, as determined by the last United States decennial census.

WHEREAS, many counties having population in excess of 12,000 may find it more expedient, economical and in the best public interest to have the duties of the County Drain Commissioner vested in the Board of County Road Commissioners.

WHEREAS, because of the population quota of 12,000 here in before mentioned, certain counties, including the County of Cheboygan, are electing County Drain Commissioners only because of said statutory regulations.

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners request for the third time since 1955, that the Michigan Legislature amend said section of Public Act 40 of 1956 to allow counties under 35,000, as determined by the United States decennial census, to abolish the office of County Drain Commissioner and transfer statutory duties and responsibilities to the Board of County Road Commissioners if the duly registered electors vote in the affirmative in a general election.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners hereby requests its legislators, Senator Jason Allen and Representatives Kevin Elsenheimer and Gary McDowell, to introduce the legislation providing for such amendment.

I wonder how many positions we can do without in Ireland? I also wonder how many would put themseleves forward to be fired like that? I know the Junior Ministers kind of did, but they didn't put forward an actual proposal, they just mentioned the idea..

Best of luck to Dennis. Check out his website firedennis.com to keep up with developements and media coverage.

Steve's Five-A-Day 9/2/09

2009-02-09T11:51:00.003Z

Image by $ ÅĻ мîĹĻЎäяÐєR $ via Flickr

Its Monday! The start of a new week and here are some interesting reads that have popped up for me.

1. Tony Barber of the FT's Brussels Blog wonders if the recession will test the public image of the EU.
2. Garry Kasparov writing for Speigel Online (English Edition) shows us the mess that the Russian Economy is in and asks that it is not helped.
3. Vlad of Etre moral, etre sincere reminds us that we need to be careful online.
4. Grandad thinks twitter is a headwreck, and he is kind of right
5. GapPatriot calls on Gay Groups to criticise angry Prop 8's "mean-spirited tactics"

PS: The picture is there cause I like it!
PPS: Have an article that you think would go in my five-a-day? Post the link in the comment section.

Swiss back extending EU Accord

2009-02-08T14:45:00.003Z

Image via Wikipedia

Near full results show 59% of voters in Switzerland back the extension of labour accords to cover Bulgaria and Romania. This was on a 52% turnout. The opposition won a majority in four cantons out of 26. If the Swiss had voted no, it would have ended a number of important treaties between the EU and Switzerland. For more see Swissinfo

Steve's Five-A-Day 8/2/09

2009-02-08T11:39:00.002Z

Image by dmcneil via Flickr

Here is soe reading for Sunday. (PS the pictre has nothing really to do with the post, its just something I liked that I found with Zemanta)

1. SwissInfo have an excellent article on the referendum yesterday in Switzerland. The results are due later today.
2. Slugger has an excellent piece on the Conservatives getting closer to the SNP in Scotland.
3. GayPatriot point out three states in the US with no need for a bailout. All of them Republican!
4. Strange Maps looks at the inflitration of foreign Euros into France.
5. Guido highlights more sleaze in the House of Lords, yet again it is a Labour Peer.

Do you have a blogpost that might interest me for my five a day? Then link it in the comment section!

Steve's Five-A-Day 7/2/09

2009-02-07T20:01:00.002Z

Image by nofrills via Flickr

Saturday is a day for reaading in my book, so here is five things that have popped up in my reader I think you should read.

1. Commentary Blog have an excellent piece on the upcoming Israeli Election. A definite read for political junkies! Also check out the Wiki page for the elections
2. Trust Tommy wonders what makes people happy.
3. GayPatriot show us the difference between a good staffer and a bad one.
4. Slugger points out some Irish Languae activisits who are unhappy with Sinn Fein
5. Polling Report have a post on tomorrows UK Poll for the Sunday Telegraph, which has the LibDems only 6 points behind Labour! This is another on for the Political Junkies out there!

Enjoy your evening!

A great night out for €10

2009-02-06T21:34:00.002Z

Image via Wikipedia

Last night I went to my first Magic: The Gathering Draft Night in UCC. It is organised by WARPS. This was quite an experience for me, actually meeting more Magic players, it was great. We actually got to play with Conflux cards which were only on sale from today so it was really cool.

How much does it cost? €10 for 3three booster packs! (these retail in Cork at €4 each and at €4.50 each in Dublin) so it is a bit of a money saver and you get to play people!

Two of the lads were great for me to play against as they showed me where I was going wrong. So I learned alot. They do this every Thursday so I am very tempted to go every week!

Tomorrow (Saturday) sees the release event for the Conflux set. It is starting at 11am. It will be really cool. You get 6 boosters (3 Conflux and 3 Shards of Alara) and some land or you get 3 Conflux boosters and a Shards of Alara Tournament pack and you then have to make a deck from that. I will be better at that then I was at drafting I think.

How Drafting works.

Drafting works like this: You open pack one and draft a card out of it. You then pass it to your right. You take the pack passed to you and take a card from that. When that pack is gone, you open the second pack, draft a card out and pass it left. The third pack is treated like the first. You end up with 45 cards to make a 40 card deck from.

The Launch Event will be sealed play which means you keep all the cards given to you at the start. You make a 40 card deck from it, but you are a (hopefully) allowed a sideboard with the remaining cards. You can change your deck between games during rounds but you must return the deck to its original layout at the start of each round.

I'm looking forward to the event tomorrow as it is the only launch event in Ireland!

Have Your Own Hallmark Day

2009-02-06T19:52:00.003Z

Image via Wikipedia

Lately I seam to be the go to person for advice, so some of my sages of wisdom will be reproduced on the blog

So as regular readers will know, I am in a long-distance relationship. I live about 144km away from himself and as we both depend on public transport it takes about 2hrs plus for us to travel to see each other.

So I was recently asked, by someone else in a long-distance relationship for some advice on Valentines Day. It was uncanny, but it was asked on Wednesday night, when Russell and myself were celebrating a "pseudo Valentines Day". Yes a pseudo Valentines Day.

Why did we do this? This was our first Valentines together so I wanted it to be something sspecial.Also before I saw him on Monday, the last time I had seen Russell was the 2nd of January which was a full month since I had seen him! As after thius week we didnt know when we would see each other again, so we decided that while he was up we would celebrate our Valentines Day. It was also a chance for me to spoil him after his exams.

We did the whole proper thing, we exchanged cards, we went out to dinner (Fenns Quay, divine!) and now to me if does feel like Valentines Day has passed.

Being in a long distance relationship is not easy, but planning and dedication (and of course love!) will help. So celebrating events like Valentines Day when you can get time together is how it should be done.

Russell and myself actually liked this idea so much we have decided that we will celebrate Valentines Day on the 4th of February every year. So that it will be our day.

So if your not going to be with your loved one on Valentines Day, have your own!

Steve's Five-A-Day 6/2/09

2009-02-06T15:41:00.002Z

Yes, I know this blog has turned into a bit of a linkdump, BUT normal service should return soon.. ish... no promises though, anyway here is some links for today.

1. Bernie explains the problems at Dublin Airport
2. WorldbyStorm on Cedar Lounge follows the sinking ship Libertas as it is deserted by supporters
3. GayPatriot have an interesting post highlighting that divorce (gay and straight) is a bigger issue then Gay Marriage.
4. Dialog International have a brilliant piece on Merkel and the Pope and reaction in Germany.
5. Guido updates us on the curse of "Jonah Brown"

Steve's Five-A-Day 5/2/09

2009-02-05T11:21:00.002Z

So back into this for another bout of reading. Someone commented lately that I read too much, I think its more that I spend too much time online!

1. All Kinds of Everything reflect on the songs selected for Eurovision so far
2. Gerard O'Neil warns of the dangers of calling for "Irish for Irish Workers"
3. EurActiv points out five EU Commissioners who may run for the EU Parliament, they would be a great asset to the Parliament if elected in my opinion.
4. European Voice look at the challenges in selecting the next European Commission
5. Guido calls on Dave Cameron to give the Hugh Grant Speech

Other Stuff:
Check out Loveyourcounty.com, brilliant video and also calling for support for the hurling players protest on Saturday.

Also on Saturday is a Book Swap Day all day in Cork City Library

Saturday also sees the M:TG Conflux Release event in UCC, which I will be attending. Starts at 11am

Steve's Five-A-Day 4/2/09

2009-02-04T12:00:00.002Z

Image by (nz)dave via Flickr

Apologies for not doing this yesterday but someone had me distracted. So here is some links for today.

1. Tallyman has a good post on Trade Unions and Social Partnership
2. Maman Poulet has a wonderful post on Cowen's "State of Nation" address and has some good reasons for why Greens went up in the polls.
3. GayPatriot calls on Timothy Geithner to resign as US Treasury Secretary.
4. Euractiv reports on a referendum taking place in Switzerland on giving Romanian's and Bulgarian's the same right to work as other EU Citizens.
5. Kosmopolit shows us on to use the EU Calender properly.

Enjoy

Steve's Five-A-Day 2/2/09

2009-02-02T11:51:00.003Z

Image by moriza via Flickr

Some reading for a Monday

1. Twenty Major wonders should we say something if our taxi driver farts
2. Darragh points to a brilliant site "Old Jews Telling Jokes"
3. GayPatriot highlight a disaster in Kentucky and Obama is doing nothing. (And the news networks arent reporting it either!)
4. The H.I. has a brilliant post on for nine pounds about Wii Fit that had me smiling
5. George has a good post on the Th!nk blog comparing the EU to Unilever. It makes ya think all right!

First Th!nk Post

2009-02-01T14:24:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

Well my first post is up on the Th!nk about it blog. It is on "How do we make Europe Sexy?". Please read, comment and vote!

Heres an excerpt from it:

One of the issues that kept coming up during the Launch event last week in Brussels was how do we make Europe Sexy? By Europe I mean the European Union. This is something that I have spent much time thinking about since getting back to Ireland.

I cannot think of any country in the world where politics is considered sexy except in the USA where Obama reinvigorated politics, but how can that work in a disconnected Europe?

Read the full post

Thanks
Steve

Dialogue TV - Help Shape the EPP's Manifesto

2009-02-01T13:36:00.003Z

Image via Wikipedia

The European Peoples Party have launched an online consultation on their draft manifesto (availible here in PDF). They have called it Dialogue TV. It is a multimedia site with video's on the major subjects in the manifesto.

The major subjects are:
1. Creating Prosperity for Everyone
2. Making Europe a Safer Place
3. Combatting Climate Change
4. Tackling the Demographic Challenge
5. Uniting Europe on the World Stage

What are the EPP hoping to get from Dialogue TV?

The EPP hope that Dialogue TV will approach and actively engage European citizens in a dialogue. A high aim considering how many EU citizens visit the EPP website? The EPP also want Dialogue TV to present the EPP's. program and ideas ahead of the European elections in June 2009.

This is going to be hard sell as it has to compete with the likes of Party of European Socialits "Yourspace" and also disinterestin the European ELections.

So people this is your chance to influence the EPP's (and therefore Fine Gael's if you are in Ireland) Manifesto. Take the Opportunity! Start the Dialogue!

Steve's Five-A-Day 1/2/09

2009-02-01T13:08:00.002Z

Hello! Welcome to the first five a day of February. The Th!ink About it Competition is on from today so furture five a days may include interesting links to that (but not to my posts!). So some reading for a Sunday.

1. Darragh Doyle takes a look at Alternative Miss Ireland.
2. Eurozone Watch take a look at the change of mood in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty
3. Eamonn has a lovely post on the start of spring, not sure if the weather here though is paying attention to the calender
4. TapMag looks at Germany's reaction to taking some of the Guantanamo detainees
5. Polling Report have an interesting post on the latest poll in Scotland.

Latest Opinion Poll and a bit of a Lisbon Rant

2009-01-31T22:32:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

Its been awhile since the last poll, but RTÉ report on a poll being Published in tomorrow's Sunday Business Post.

The headline figures are:

Fine Gael 33% (-2)
Fianna Fail 28% (-2
Labour 14% (NC)
Greens 8% (+3)
Sinn Fein 9% (+1)
Ind/Others 8% (NC)

The opinion poll also asked a question on the Lisbon Treaty. 58% of people back the treaty according to the poll. 28% are against and 14% don't now.

It is strange that in a week that some leading no campaigners claimed the treaty was flawed due to a case being LODGED against the treaty in Germany that the majority in Ireland come out for in it in a poll.

Yes you read that right the lodging of a case means something is flawed according to the Peoples Movement (PDF). That is like saying that if someone is charged with a crime then they are guilty without trial! At least let Lisbon go to a hearing before passing judgement Madam McKenna. No one can predict when the Court will give a verdict, after the Maastricht case it was the day after the hearing, will it be the same for Lisbon? Will the Court the cases separately? Nobody knows but as usual the Peoples Movement try to rush in and try to misinform people again.

Anyway back to the poll, Fianna Fail remain five points behind Fine Gael while the Greens seam to be on the up and are avoiding being tainted by this Government it seams. For a change the Fianna Fail tactic of blaming the smaller party doesn't seam to be working, and they are suffering.

The results of the Local and European Elections will be very interesting this year!

So who are up against? (Eurovision Post)

2009-01-31T19:52:00.004Z

Image via Wikipedia

So I have just finished watching the UK final for Eurovision and I think they made a good choice, but any way who are Ireland up against in the Semi's? We have been drawn to take part in the Second Semi Final. We will be up against the following (this is not the running order!)

Slovenia
Denmark
Azerbaijan
Netherlands
Latvia
Hungary
Serbia
Norway
Ukraine
Greece
Lithuania
Poland
Croatia
Estonia
Moldova
Cyprus
Ireland
Slovakia
Albania

Also voting in the second semi final will be Russia and France.

We have an okay chance in this group in my opinion. We normal pick up votes from a few of these countries (Albania, Netherlands and Denmark), the fact that the UK will not be voting in this Semi final will hurt us.

Just for those who are curious the Countries in the first semi-final are (again not the running order!):

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Sweden
Israel
Belgium
Andorra
Czech Republic
Montenegro
Iceland
Georgia
Bulgaria
Portugal
Switzerland
FYR Macedonia
Finland
Belarus
Turkey
Romania
Malta
Armenia

Also voting in the first semi will be the UK, Germany and Spain.

The first semi will take place on May 12th, the Second on the 14th with the final taking place on May 16th! Am looking forward to it now!

Steve's Five-A-Day - 31/1/09

2009-01-31T19:18:00.003Z

My last five a day for this month so here it goes.

1. Bock has one solution on how the Government could get back some money.
2. Gerard O'Neill, of Turbulance Ahead, thinks the Rating Agencies need to be downgraded, he makes some good points!
3. GayPatriot think the Senate should reject Tom Daschle as head of Department of Health and Human Services
4. ConHome have a good post on the "British Jobs for British Workers" Strike
5. FP Passport have a new weekly post looking at whats coming up in the following week.

1000th Post

2009-01-31T18:50:00.006Z

Image by Jacques Zammit via Flickr

So this is post number 1000! Wow, I've been blogging now for a month and a bit short of four years, but still, I feel like this is a bit of an achievement! That or I need a life, especially considering this is also post number 60 of 2009, yup definately need a life!

But in other news the Blogging Competition starts over on thinkaboutit.eu. It launches at midnight tonight and I plan to have my first post up on it at some point tomorrow and I hope then to start getting you all to vote (for me!)! So expect plenty of begging posts during the competition. I will be cross posting the entries during the competition so opinions can be given here or on the competition blog.

Anyway thanks for sticking with me over the last 999 posts! Heres to 1000 more!

Update: So yea, Gamma was right, this isnt my 1000th post, stupid dashboard was counting drafts aswell :(

Steve's Five-A-Day - 30/1/09

2009-01-30T21:01:00.002Z

Image via Wikipedia

Well the youtube clip I posted yesterday resulted in one destroyed keyboard so I think I'll refrain from posting them in future.

1. GCN updates us on when we can expect the Civil Partnership Bill.
2. Bernie has some ideas to dig out Ireland
3. XKCD newest comic is hilarious
4. CentreRight has a post explaining the Credit Crisis
5. Dizzy has an interesting take one a Hazel Blears quote

enjooy!

Brussels

2009-01-29T21:05:00.005Z

Well, I think I am finally recovered after my trip to Brussels and it was amazing. I met amazing people!

There was fantastic talks and I will share some of my thoughts on them in later blogposts.

My only problem with the event was the fact my baggage didnt arrive till Monday!! Luckily a friend of mine had recently moved to Brussels and actually had a shirt that fitted me!

The two days of the event were great (when I recovered from the dancing on Sunday night), i met some really interesting people, including the other two participants from Ireland.

I got to know really cool people from around Europe (who have all being adding me on Facebook! - thanks guys!) and have found about really cool events around Europe for the elections. Expect some interesting posts!

Oh and my baggage made it back home in one go thanks to the hepful ground crew in Brussels International Airport who put a priority sticker on my bag when I explained to them my situuation! - Huge thanks to them!

I still must upload my pictures and stuff and write posts on the talks but that will have to wait until atleast Sunday when I start my spring week - holidays yay!

The Picture is from the EJC, It was taken on the Monday

Steve's Five-A-Day - 29/1/09

2009-01-29T19:33:00.002Z

Yes, I know I promised I'd do this yesterday, but I fell asleep! So its back today and I have 1000+ posts to choose from! So here it goes.

1. Tony Barber of the FT's Brussels Blog experiments with Google Translate after talking with us at Think About It
2. Robin has a good post about Eircom giving into the Music industry
3. Meanwhile UnaRocks reports that other broadband providers wont be doing a similar deal.
4. CentreRight tell us of how a Labour Rebel, didn't rebel accidentally...
5. Iain Dale shows us what the Icelanders think of Brown.

and some light relief sent to me by a friend...

Steve's Five-A-Day - 25/1/09

2009-01-25T11:08:00.004Z

Image by Roger Smith via FlickrI didn't think I'd be doing this today, but as I have time I will. Though I doubt there will be any tomorrow or Tuesday! Wednesday is doubtful, but we will see! So for some Sunday reading.

1. Bernie has a post on the Irish Economy and is calling the recession here an "Econopalypse", I agree with him
2. There is a post on Slugger about a new Newspaper as Gaeilge
3. Joe G has an interesting post on Class and being gullible
4. Strange Maps have an interesting post on what could have happened in World War III if it happened in the 50's
5. Iain Dale has a post on the latest "cash for" scandel in the House of Lords

Steve's Five-A-Day - 24/1/09

2009-01-24T19:07:00.002Z

Image via WikipediaJust note, I doubt there will be a five-a-day tomorrow and there will definitely be none on Monday or Tuesday (unless I am very bored in the Hotel). Normal service will resume on Wednesday, now for today's recommended reading.

1. Anthony on Public Inquiry has a piece on Marian Finucane's reaction to what happened Brian Lenihan on newsnight
2. Gav has a brilliant piece on Young people and politics and raises the issue of lowering the voting age.
3. UCCLGBT's Rainbow week gets underway on Monday. Check it out if your around Cork during the week. Full line up here
4. Iain Dale thinks the BBC should screen the Aid Appeal for Gaza.
5. Guido hits back at Polly Toynbee on the issue of "fatcat bonuses"

What will I be up to in Brussels?

2009-01-23T22:00:00.003Z

This is one of the most asked questions about my upcoming trip to Brussels for the Thinking about it competition so here goes an idea of what I will getting up to.

Monday sees me in a hotel all day at talks from fascinating people. After a welcome, Tony Barber of the FT, Mark Mardell of the BBC and Stefan Happer of Politikportal (German) and Brussels Media (English), will be talking to us about blooging about the EU and the relavance of these elections. After that Piotr Kaczynski of CEPS will be telling us the hot topics of 09. The last talk before lunch sees a talk on Vlogging from Raymond Frenken of EUX.TV.

After Lunch sees a discussion around is Blogging Journalim involving Joseph Hennon, a Commission Spokesman and Michael Opgenhaffen, a Researcher. Then there is a talk by Julian Popov of the Bulgarian School of Politics, on how to blog about politics creatively. After that is a talk on Standing out in the bloggersphere by Clo Willaerts of the Sanoma Group.

After a coffee break we are told the rules of the competition! Then there is a talk by Mario Giuseppe, UK National Manager of AEGEE, on covering elections. Then there is a panel discussion on creating an award winning blog.

Tuesday sees us in the European Parliament. There we will start off with an introduction to the European Parliament by Ioannis Darmis. Then we well get talks on the European Parliament online and elections online from the Webcomm Unit. After that the Parliament's Press Office will give a talk on the electoral background. Then there is a talk on how the polilitical groups are following Obama with their online stuff. Then we have a tour followed by a talk by 3 MEP's Christopher Fjellner (EPP), Marianne Mikko (PES) and Alexander Alvaro (ALDE). Then I fly home.

It will be an interesting two days an dlots of paper and ink will be used. Think I will get a few ideas for blog posts too!

Steve's Five-A-Day - 23/1/09

2009-01-23T20:58:00.003Z

Image by andthenpatterns via FlickrMore reading from my reading list.

1. Sully has a great post about how to use your girlfriends. Does it work for boyfriends too?
2. Damien has a post about the National Broadband Scheme Launch. Hes a Broadband Commentator don't you know.
3. GayPatriot has an interesting post on how the "No on 8" Committee hid who was on the Committee so they could transfer the blame.
4. Guido wonders when the IMF will be called in to bail out Britain and also links to a fun game
5. Foreign Policy Passport Blog highlight Barack Obama's Cheese Problem

Enjoy!

EU News Sources

2009-01-23T11:25:00.000Z

In trawling through the Think About It blog, there is a interesting post on News Sources. I had heard of most of them before like EUobserver, International Herald Tribune Europe, Euractiv, BBC - Europe, Financial Times, European Voice and The Economist - Europe. Most of these I am subbed too or visit on occassion.

But the post also points in the direction of ones I didn't know existed! One of those is Euro¦Topics which presents a daily round up of news from around Europe. It translate them into English, French, Spanish and German. Its really interesting to see how stories are reported across Europe. EUFeeds is a project from the EJC (who are running the competition) and is a fascinating way to see headlines in each country. It covers national papers as well as local papers. It is really interesting! EUX.TV has interesting videos on the EU as of course does the Euronews website.

For those interesting in Business and what something to complement their reading of the Economist and the FT should check out EUBusiness. For politics heads like myself The Parliament is one to check out as is NewEurope. The European Media Monitor is also one to check out, this is funded by the European Commission and is a one stop shop for EU related news.

Do you have any that I (or others) may find useful?

Tune for the Weekend - Jan 23rd

2009-01-23T10:03:00.003Z

The tune for the weekend is a collanoration between two Belgian artists, Tom Helsen and Geike Arnaert. It is a song for Music For Life which is a charity intiative to support the Red Cross organised by the Flemish Station Studio Brussels. The Song is called "Home". Enjoy

Wow! That was fast!

2009-01-22T22:01:00.004Z

Remember the post earlier today about copyright extension? Will I got my first response. Its from Kathy Sinnott. She did her research she told me and will not be voting for the Directive. She also thanked me for my advice on the consumer side! So thanks Digital Rights Ireland for giving me the details!

Yes, I do consider the fact that I was emailed back five hours later to be fast, considering I have yet to hear from the other two MEPs, not even a holding email, this is an election year ya know? Anyone else get a response?

Survey on Irish Bloggers and Irish Blog Readers

2009-01-22T21:35:00.004Z

Sinead Cochrane is doing some research on Irish Bloggers and Irish Blog Readers (If you are reading this you are at least in the second category!). For the full scoop check out her post about it. If you couldn't be arsed, fill out the survey!

Picture by lastyearsgirl_ under an Attribution-Noncommercial Creative Commons Licence

Mulley Rocks - End Of

2009-01-22T20:58:00.003Z

From TeenCamp Ireland Jan 17th

Niall has an excellent profile of Damien Mulley and what he has done for the Irish Tech Scene. It is brilliant to see what everyone thinks of him.

What have gotten from Mulley? Not alot directly, but if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be blogging, I wouldn't be on twitter, I wouldn't have been at TeenCamp. To put it simple this man is IT when it comes to tech and has always pointed me in the right direction.

I have seen him give encouragement to so many people. I have been privileged in the past to receive posts from in advance. If you get a link from Mulley, you would want to hope your servers can handle it!

Mulley is a hard working chap, but if you do something good, he will tell you! Which is great! Of course, he will also tell you where you are going wrong which is equally great!

To put it simply. Mulley Rocks, he organsises great tech events (blog awards, web awards) and supports others (TeenCamp). The Irish tech scene would be alot poorer with out him!

So do us a favour, get him some business!

Keep on Rocking Mulley!

Email your MEP's! - Copyright Extension

2009-01-22T16:59:00.004Z

Image via WikipediaThe Issue of Copyright Extension is currently before the European Parliament. The Commission want to extend copyright for a further 45 years! This will mean copyright will last 95 years! Tell me what artists live 95 years after their first release? I can't think of any! This extension will only serve the interests of Recording Companies and make music more expensive for us - the consumers. The Digital Rights Ireland blog have a full post and more info on it! Do check it out.

Do email your MEP's the following (or something along these lines)

Dear …

I am a constituent of yours in … and the question of copyright is important to me.

The European Parliament is being asked to nearly double the term of copyright afforded to sound recordings. Industry lobbyists suggest that extending copyright term will help increase the welfare of performers and session musicians. But the Term Extension Directive, which will be voted on by the Legal Affairs Committee in a few weeks’ time, will do no such thing. Instead it will hand millions of euros over to the world’s four major record labels, money that will come direct from the pockets of European consumers. The majority (80%) of recording artists will receive between €0.50 - €26 a year.

Helping poor recording artists is a commendable aim. But the Term Extension Directive insults these good intentions. Andrew Gowers, former editor of the Financial Times, who conducted an independent review into the intellectual property framework for the UK Government in 2006, has called it out of tune with reality. Professor Bernt Hugenholtz, who advises the European Commission on intellectual property issues, has called it a deliberate attempt on behalf of the Commission to mislead Europe’s Parliament. If passed, the Term Extension Directive will have serious consequences for Europe’s IP policy.

* Any extension of copyright term will take money directly from consumers’ pockets. It will also consign a large part of Europe’s cultural heritage to a commercial vacuum.
* Europe’s leading IP research centres have clearly shown the proposal does not do what it purports to do - help the poorest performers. It is simply a windfall for the owners of large back catalogues and the top earning performers.
* The proposal will undermine public respect for copyright law and introduce an unworkable and unproven framework for copyright, at the very time when Europe’s copyright framework needs to be at its most robust.

I therefore ask you to vote to reject this directive.

You can find the email of the Irish MEP's here

Please do take the time to contact your MEP's on this as it could be fast tracked!

Hesse Election Results 2009

2009-01-22T14:05:00.003Z

Image via WikipediaFor some reason I am getting lots of hits on the blog for search terms to do with the recent election is Hesse so I better put them up! For last years result see here. This year saw the SPD's vote collapse from 36.7% to 23.7%. This reduces the number of seats they hold from 42 to 29. The CDU increased their vote share marginally going from 36.8% in 2008 to 37.2% in 2009. They now hold 46 seats, up from 42. The FDP are the major gainers in this election. They increased their vote share from 9.4% to 16.2%. Meaning they take 20 seats up from 11. Der Grüne also increased their vote share from 7.5% to 13.7% bringing their number of seats to 17 from 9, nearly doubling their representation. Der Linke also increased their vote share but only marginally from 5.1% to 5.3% and sees them stay on 6 seats.

It looks likely that the CDU and the FDP will form a governing coalition, as they will hold 66 seats out of the 110. This will help shore up Merkel's and the CDU's electoral chances as they face into the General Election later this year.

EU Election Stuff

2009-01-22T12:04:00.005Z

One of the great things about this Think About It Competition is that I find out about some really cool websites and Campaigns for the European Elections this coming June. This post is about two of these.

First up is the the European Parliaments own page about the Elections. This has lots of material on the elections. The picture above is in fact the English Logo from the campaign. I has links to the main groupings in the Parliament so you can find out more. It has fact sheets on each member state (heres Irelands). It also gives ten reasons why you should vote in Elections. It has a few pages on news articles from General ones to ones from National Angles. Overall an interesting site, maybe the layout could be a bit better, found they were putting too much on one page, buts thats just me.

The other Website is from Café Babel. Their website is EU Debate 2009. This webiste is trying to create a debate about Europe. It has interesting videos, like this one on how we can save money. It has interesting blogs where you can creat your own!. EUDebate also want to hear about any proposals you may have! Of course they link to the forums over on CaféBabel.com for a more interactive debate! This could be an interesting website as the campaign really gets under way, but it does need fixing. A few of the videos dont work and the main forum is down at the moment. Then agains this isnt properly launched yet, so maybe my expectations are too high, who knows?

Steve's Five-A-Day - 22/1/09

2009-01-22T10:34:00.006Z

Image by dhammza via FlickrWell here is installment number two of my five-a-day. Here is what I have been reading today.

1. WorldbyStorm has an excellent post on the recent "splits" in the Green Party over on the The Cedar Lounge Revolution Blog
2. Tom Cosgrave declares the Irish Republic dead over on Irish Election
3. Anthony on Public Inquiry has an excellent post on Fianna Fail protecting their freinds
4. Alexia has a good post on the Collison Course that happened yesterday
5. Meta Filter asks does the US President need to take the Oath to become President?

Think About It - Update

2009-01-21T20:00:00.009Z

Yes this, is the Blogging Competition thing that I am in. Im off to Brussels on Sunday for the launch. Will be back in Cork on Tuesday.

The organisers have a blog up with advice and stuff for us, but there is also information on the EU and other campaigns on it.

Some of the others taking part have linked to their websites, so here that are if you want to check out what I am up against. Not all the blogs are in English!

Making Things Happen - Italy
Kleita - Latvia(Its Martha that is in the Competition I think)
Jose Miguel Calatayud's websitt -Spain
Etan Smallman - UK
Paris Never Ends - Lithuania
Katrina Bishop Blogs - UK
AriRusila’s BalkanBlog - Finland
The International - Germany
(un)fencing the mind - The Netherlands
Блогът на Юруков - Bulguria
phat phred - Sweden
European Tribune Diary of Frank Schnittger - Ireland
pypiaus blog’as - Lithuania
Corina Murafa - Romania
AnTyx - Estonia
BORUT PETERLIN, a Slovenian photographer in a rabbit hole of photography - Slovenia
Thailand tur/retur - Denmark
Lehet, Más a Világ - Hungary
Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day - Ireland
Intialektualu - Lithuania

I will update the list as I get more links.

Sunday night sees a meetup in one of the hotels followed by a 9:30am start on the Monday in Sofitel. We will be having panel discussions on blogging on the like. It should be fun! Tuesday will see us visit the European Parliament. It will be my third visit. I am getting the full program tomorrow!

I am very excited!

Steve's Five-A-Day

2009-01-21T19:33:00.006Z

Image by Dunechaser via FlickrWell Joe has his little links, Alexia has her Red Links, Chris has his Random Shit and of course Damien has his fluffy links. So this is my stab at something similar. This wont be a daily post, but it will be something that is attempted when I am online. These are five blog posts that perked my interest today.

1. John on Semper Idem highlights that 13 out of 15 Irish MEP's want the EP to have one seat.
2. Darragh has a warning about feeding the ducks in St. Stephens Green
3. Joe tells us how to piss off twitter friends
4. eWriteblog have a post about trying out Windows 7
5. Mcawilliams has the latest TTQT post up.

Mid Week Tune - Jan 21st

2009-01-21T07:59:00.000Z

Image via WikipediaThis weeks Mid Week Tune is by Nik & Jay, It is their song "Kommer Igen". Its a class song! Enjoy!

Other songs by Nik & Jay
Når Et Lys Slukkes
En Dag Tilbage
Et Sidste Kys

Enda's Speech

2009-01-20T22:00:00.003Z

Image via WikipediaYes, Yet again I am impressed by a speech by Enda Kenny. It was overshadowed by someone elses speech though. The speech was given to commenerate the 90th Anniversary of the 1st Dáil.

Four score and ten years ago, on the 21st of January, the men and women of the 1st Dáil met here in this room. Their meeting sent out a message of independence, of courage and of hope to the peoples of the world. That message has been repeated by many leaders in many lands in the intervening decades. It will be repeated again today in another place by another young man carrying in his genetic make-up part of what makes our Irishness unique.

The first Dail's meeting here marked a revolution: a revolution in Ireland's relationship with Britain; a revolution in the history of Irish democracy, but, most of all, a revolution in how we saw ourselves as a nation. The first revolution in an era of revolutions throughout Europe.

Its membership read like a 'who's who' of the people who framed the twentieth century in Ireland - de Valera, Cosgrave, Mulcahy, O'Kelly and Collins, among many others. It also included the first woman elected in Ireland, Countess Markievicz.

I am moved by the spirit of those who preceded us in this place, particularly by those elected to that 1st Dáil who later became the leaders of the Cumann na nGaedheal Party and later Fine Gael over which I now preside as Leader.

The most striking characteristics of the First Dáil were its simplicity and its austerity. There was no fanfare, no pomp or ceremony, just a short prayer in Irish read by Fr Michael O'Flanagan and then the roll call of members. The majority of the 103 members returned in the 1918 election were not present - some by choice, others through force of circumstance, their absences recorded in the recurring phrase of that day 'faoi ghlas ag Gallaibh'.

Those who scoffed at this new Body - and there were many - totally underestimated the seriousness of purpose, the utter determination of this new emerging generation of Irish politicians. It was easy to be sceptical. The new assembly had no legal standing or international recognition, no building of its own, no government apparatus to direct or carry out its wishes. Its very calling said the Irish Times was 'a solemn act of defiance of the British Empire by a body of young men who have not the slightest notion of that Empire's power and resources, and not a particle of experience on the conduct of public affairs'.

And yet, in spite of its shadowy existence, in spite of the constant raids and harassment, and in spite of not having any real power or resources, this Dáil did establish the authentic credentials of modern Irish democracy. It was a clear signal that once the military campaign was over the people's parliament would be supreme.

But it was more than just symbolic. The new Dáil laid down the principles and guidelines on which an independent Irish parliament would evolve. And at the heart of these principles was the central role of a sovereign Dáil. It also gave us many of our rules and procedures which have persisted to this day. And crucially it insisted on full total accountability by Government to the Dáil - accountability as to how the people's money was spent and answerability for all the actions of government.

It would be good to recount that this principle of Dáil supremacy found its way into the life of the new State. Sadly it did not. It may have been the Civil War which created an atmosphere of mistrust among former colleagues; it may have been a too rigid system of party discipline; it may have been the diffidence of the Dáil itself, but for whatever reason subsequent years saw an inexorable strengthening of the position of the government over that of the Dáil, and saw the Dáil itself - except maybe in times of crisis - give up so many of the powers and functions - and indeed responsibilities - that should have rightly been its own.

We celebrate this anniversary at a time in the life of our country which is as unhappy and dangerous as any we have known. But if one thing is clear at this time it is that we need a Dáil as envisaged by the men and women of 1919 - a Dáil which is at the centre of our politics, not one at the periphery of events, a Dáil to which the government and all its agencies are openly accountable and most of all a Dáil which leads events rather than reacting to them.

But there are other things to reflect on today. There is for example the debt our democracy owes to those who were not present 90 years ago today - the old Irish party, the party of Parnell, Redmond and Dillon. It is easy to forget the enormous part they played in the shaping of Irish parliamentary democracy. For 40 years it was the voice of nationalist Ireland and for 40 years its goal was an independent Irish parliament. For all of this it got little thanks. The great Sean MacEoin, the 'Blacksmith of Ballinalee', expressed it well in 1938: "the old Sinn Fein members should apologise to the members of the old Irish Party...we blackguarded them up and down the country because we were not aware of the facts."

Sean MacEoin's words were not universally welcome in 1938, but today, and especially those of us in the two bigger parties who stem from old Sinn Fein should echo the words of Sean MacEoin and acknowledge on this very special day the contribution of the Irish Party to the establishment of our strong and durable parliamentary democracy.

We should remember too that just a few short years after the meeting of the First Dáil our country was split by Civil War - an experience that disfigured our politics for years to come. Those years of bitterness and sterility should remind us that while our politics should be tough and searching, and maybe rough at times, we should never forget the role of parliament as a unifying force in times of national difficulty and a source of leadership and solidarity rather than divisiveness.

But the most important memory today should be a positive one. The memory of the men and women who made the first Dáil possible. They were, it has been said 'politicians by accident', but by any standards they were an exceptional generation, rising to the challenges of independent statehood, establishing and sustaining democratic institutions and values. They were men and women of probity, of ability and most of all of simple and honest values. They led by example, living up to the values they preached. And this was true of all sides...Cosgrave and de Valera, Lemass and Mulcahy, McGilligan, Macentee and Tom Johnson. Let us remember them today with pride and take courage in their values as our country faces into days as difficult and uncertain as any we have encountered.

A good speech I think. Your thoughts?

More Tips for Bloggers

2009-01-20T10:25:00.001Z

Image by robinhamman via FlickrMy post about blogging tips got a good bit of comments and feedback so I have decided to try and think of a few more. Bock gave a few in his response to the post, so may be borrowing a few of them!

1. Link within your own site.
If you have other related posts, list them at the bottom or put links to them inside the post. Stop thinking of your site as something sequential and start thinking of it as three-dimensional. You want to persuade readers to dig wider and deeper into the stuff you've written.

2. List sites you Like
Post an occasional list of links to sites you' found and liked. This just shows your DO read other peoples blogs. Also shares the linklove

3. Get Stats!
Install something like Google Analytics or StatCounter. This allows you to see what is popular on your site and to see where people are coming from.

4. Post when you want!
As Bock says in his comment post "regularly" not frequently. In other words, do post when you feel like posting and don't force it!

5. Get Listed on Technorati.
Technorati ranks blogs by authority so it is to see what is happening around your blog!

I would like to meet - Blog Awards Meme

2009-01-19T11:38:00.000Z

Rick O'Shea has started a meme about who would you like to meet.

Name 5 bloggers you haven’t met in the flesh before that you’d like to say hi to at the Blog Awards, say why if you want, link to them. They then, in turn, link to 5 bloggers they’d like to meet and so on.

So who would I like to meet? Will a few of the names that pop into my head I met on Saturday and so I had to think long and hard.

So I would like to meet:
Grannymar - I so want to be a toyboy
Grandad - Just finished his book, its hilarious!
Gav Reilly - He seams cool!
Roy of Irish Taxi - Been reading his blog for ages. It would be nice to meet him.
McaWilliams - I tweet with John every morning on the bus so it would be nice to actually meet the guy!

Song of the Week - Jan 19th

2009-01-19T08:29:00.000Z

Well this is the start of another week and here is a song to get ya going. It is a song by one of my favourite Belgian Artists (she also took part in Eurovision representing Belgium). It is Kate Ryan. This is her new song "I Surrender"

Other Songs by Kate Ryan

Voyage, Voyage
Je t'Adore (Eurovision)
Libertine

Politics Social Network

2009-01-18T22:13:00.002Z

I came across a social network for political activists, its called "Politics Network" (Very imaginitive, no?).

It seams like a great tool for making contacts in the political world. Currently though I am the only Irish Member! I wonder will it take off here?

If you want you can add me!