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October 27, 2005
President Bush's SCOTUS nominee withdraws
Mick previously noted the increasing difficulties facing President Bush's nominee to the US Supreme Court, White House counsel, Harriet Miers. Today Harriet Miers announced she has withdrawn her nomination, sparing the President, potentially, further damaging displays of public opposition to the nomination from Senators of both parties. More here and at the SCOTUSblog. Or, as Ken puts it - "Yay. Our three minute national nightmare is over." State Department petitioned to lift fundraising ban Following Peter Hain's decision to restore Sinn Fein's allowances, seven members of the US House of Representatives have petitioned the State Department to lift the ban on Sinn Fein's fundraising in the US. October 25, 2005
Carroll: kidnap in his own words
Rory Carroll tells his own story of his kidnap in Sadyr City, Iraq in his current paper, the Guardian. It seems that prompt action and directly lobbying may have taken him out of the 'hostage system' before he was in too deep to be gotten out. Nice, calm and collected writing. Rosa Parks 1913-2005 Rosa Parks, whose brave and dignified act of civil disobedience in 1955 inspired the modern civil rights movement, has died at the age of 92. At It Comes in Pints, Emily links to CNN's obituary, and this one, and adds some thoughts of her own, as does Jo over at JoBlog. The Guardian, meanwhile, notes this quote, by Rosa Parks - "It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in." Update Also worth pointing to the Guardian's obituary of Rosa Parks, which notes the facts of that day, rather than the myth. October 21, 2005
Guardian journalist to tell his story
The Guardian's Newsblog is trailing Rory Carroll's own account of his abduction and subsequent release, with, for now, an extract and a brief audio report[mp3 file].. and it's worth pointing to the brutal contrast with Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi, defence lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendents, abducted and murdered yesterday, and Muhammad Haroon, 37, the editor of al-Hakeka newspaper, who was killed by unknown gunmen on Monday. Update From the Newsblog. Read Rory Carroll's full account here, also available seven minute audio file[mp3] Green Party et al seek bandwagon The Irish Times has a short report noting that Irish government Minister of State in the Dept of Foreign Affairs Noel Treacy told the Dáil that Irish Workers' Party President Sean Garland, currently on bail in Northern Ireland pending extradition proceedings to the US on counterfeit charges, had contacted Irish officials in the intergovernmental secretariat in Belfast since his arrest. [more] October 20, 2005
Guardian journalist released unharmed in Iraq
The Guardian are reporting that the Irish journalist Rory Carroll, kidnapped yesterday morning, has been released unharmed tonight into the care of Iraqi government representatives. Adams in South Africa... A very colourful account of Gerry Adams on tour in South Africa, which begins with the immortal words: Barefoot and still as the smoke which rose around him, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams marked the start of his visit to South African by meeting the ancestors. Thanks to reader Peter for the heads up! . October 19, 2005
Irish journalist kidnapped in Iraq
Rory Carroll, a former Irish News journalist who now writes for the Guardian and is a native of Blackrock, Co Dublin was kidnapped in Iraq this morning. He was the African correspondent until earlier this year when he began posting from Iraq. He filed yesterday in anticipation of today's trial of Sadam. October 13, 2005
Secret service goes online...
NOT only has the UK got a new James B(l)ond in the form of actor Daniel Craig, but his bosses have decided to 'go public' - MI6 has just launched a new website, obviously designed to be an online recruitment agent in the war against terror. Worker's Party president formerly indicted by US Several papers pick up on the developments since his arrest in Belfast on Friday - the Press Association report that Worker's Party president Sean Garland, along with 6 other men, has been formerly indicted by a US federal grand jury on charges he conspired with North Korea to circulate millions of dollars in counterfeit U.S. currency, and as reported in the Washington Post, Kenneth Wainstein, the U.S. Attorney in Washington has stated that prosecutors will be seeking extradition. [more] October 11, 2005
History of the Nobel Peace Prize..
Martin Walker with a review of some past winners of the Peace Prize. In the last 30 odd years there've been five familiar names amongst the winners. October 08, 2005
Irish Workers Party president facing extradition to US
Back in 1996 the US General Accounting Office discussed efforts to combat international counterfeiting of US currency, in particular the high quality counterfeit known as the superdollar. Last year the BBC's Panorama programme alleged that Sean Garland President of the Irish Worker's Party [formerly the Official IRA] was involved in its distribution in an investigation which highlighted North Korea's, and the former Soviet Union's, involvement in the operation. On Friday, at the party's ard fheis in Belfast, he was arrested, and today has been released on bail pending his potential extradition to the US on counterfeiting charges. October 06, 2005
Pope given a BMW X5...
You may not believe it, but BMW have given Pope Benedict a brand new SUV! Adds: Best joke arising gets a free ticket to the next Leviathan in absolutely! It's on next Tuesday week - 18th October - with David McWilliams hosting a panel of TDs including John Gormley, Barry Andrews, Arthur Morgan, Kathleen Lynch and others on who should form the next Government (of the "26 counties" that is!). And: That's in Dublin BTW. Anyone else want to put up a more flexible prize for those of us who can't make? October 05, 2005
David Vance goes west!
David Vance is wowing them over in the States. He now has a spot on Tech Central, on what he calls the Blair doctrine on terrorism. Is Bush losing the Conservatives..? Fascinating article on the state of George Bush's relationship with one of his key constituencies - the hard core conservatives. Caroline Daniel reckons he rode out the storm that carried in the wake of Katrina, but his appointment of a 'liberal' (ie insufficiently conservative) to the Supreme Court will test his mettle as a political operator. Far right 'imagination'... A FAR-right group linked to Combat 18 seems to have taken the inspiration for its name from the alphabet soup of loyalist paramilitarism. [more] October 04, 2005
Vox pop Onion-style
Spotted by the, allegedly, semi-retired Richard Delevan. The announcement of the IRA's final act of decomissioning, perhaps tellingly, merited only a brief mention by the satirical Onion - "I knew that Guns For Guinness trade-in program would work where so many other attempts had failed." September 30, 2005
Welcome to (African) reality...
Davy Adams with an important corrective to the view that Northern Ireland in any way represents the intractable harshness of reality. Adams pulling in alongside Clinton? Harry Browne is an ex pat American journalist who lectures in media studies at DIT. His views are often interesting because they are from outside that of the media establishment. In Counterpunch he has an interesting take on the changes in Adams's strategy in the US, and detects an allignment with Hillary Clinton's expected bid for the US presidency in 2008. [more] Italian hallians... IN the last issue of Fortnight (though this article isn't online), there was an eye-witness report of the Ardoyne riots on July 12. The anonymous author wrote that a group of Italian Fascists turned up on the nationalist side for a while. Strange one. Anyone know anything about this - or is it just further evidence of Paisley's global Catholic conspiracy?! ;o) [more] September 23, 2005
Storm surge breaches New Orleans levee
Although the BBC are reporting it as an overtopping of the levees, NOLA.com carries an Associated Press report stating that, as the storm surge from Hurricane Rita approached New Orleans, three significant breaches of the repaired Industrial Canal levee have caused flooding in some downtown areas of the city again - latest details here Galveston on verge of wipe out? Hurricane Rita has been downgraded to force 4. It's now heading towards the Texas/Lousiana coast, and expected to hit by first thing tomorrow local time. Galveston is right in the path and, despite an up-to-date re-enforced sea wall, is probably even more vulnerable to a major sea swell than New Orleans was. Check out this computer prediction from CNN. September 20, 2005
US Irish: enough of the knee jerk anti Americanism
Niall O'Dowd takes Vincent Browne to task for the latter's extraordinarily visceral attack (subs needed) on Irish efforts at providing aid for the victims of hurricane Katrina. Anti Americanism in Ireland he argues has lost perspective (subs): [more] September 14, 2005
Ireland and overseas aid...
As Ireland is due to make a decision on whether to hike its foreign aid budget, Morning Ireland had a fascinating interview with John McArthur of the Millennium Project (sound file). He has some interesting things to say about the way the Republic's overseas aid is targeted and its role in pressurising the G8 countries to keep to their own committments. September 13, 2005
Meanwhile, in the real world...
WITH the events of 9/11 still in the public mind, some will hail the jailing of a British arms dealer sympathetic to Osama bin Laden in an FBI sting as a small victory in the war on terrorism. But there are casualties on both sides, as Delta airlines - the third largest in the US - looks destined for bankruptcy. September 11, 2005
9/11- Four Years On
I know that the anniversary of the attacks has already been covered here, but I can't help but be astounded that the Belfast rioting takes precedence on the BBC News homepage over the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in America. The names of the 2749 victims were read out by their brothers and sisters at a ceremony at 'ground zero' - the site where the Twin Towers fell. A minute's silence was observed, and even New York Police helping in New Orleans are holding a ceremony to remember those lost in the attacks. Elsewhere, Pope Benedict XVI marked the anniversary by pleading for global renunciation of hatred and asking for people to work together for justice and peace. A feeling echoed by community leaders across Northern Ireland this morning. In memoriam Today marks the 4th anniversary of the terrorist attack on New York and I can think of no better way to commemorate those who died on that morning than to link to Sheila's post of former American poet laureate Billy Collins' "The Names". Worth noting also, that firefighters in Belfast held their own poignant memorial this morning September 08, 2005
Ill wind may not blow to the Whitehouse
Newton Emerson is on great form in the Irish Times today. Since it deserves a much wider play on the Internet. I have permission from him to republish it on the net. It's a rhetorical gem. [more] September 07, 2005
"This is not a safe environment"
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has again called for a complete evacuation of New Orleans. The move comes as the risk from fire and disease increases and while 60% of the city remains under water - which may take another 80 days to pump clear. This time, however, rather than relying on compliance from the citizens of the city, he has ordered the evacuation, by force if necessary, of the estimated 10,000 remaining residents. |
Slugger O'Toole records news, commentary and diverse opinion on Northern Ireland. Produced by Mick Fealty News, tips or crits here: mick.fealty -at- gmail.com Topics a long peace?books Britain Conflict Culture Economy Education election 2003 Election 2005 Enviroment environment Europe Gaeilge Glossary Government Highlights Human Rights Humour International Manifesto Media Nationalism Negotiations Parties Policing Soapbox Society Sport the south unionism
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