Labour's Mismanagement Led To Spending Cuts

Scotland's Predicament as a Vassal of the British State

Commenting on the Independent Budget Review and Labour's ridiculous demand for the SNP to publish a budget without any consultation and without knowing how much money there will be in the settlement from London SNP MSP Kenneth Gibson urged Labour to face up to their responsibilities and join with the SNP to minimise the impact on jobs and services.

Mr Gibson said:  “This report exposes the true scale of the cuts Scotland will face as a result of Labour’s mismanagement of the UK economy and the Tory and Lib Dems desire to cut too quickly and deeply.

“Labour’s pathetic response fails the test of opposition – never mind government.  They are responsible for two-thirds of the cuts, and are desperate to dodge saying what they would do.    Their ridiculous notion of publishing a draft budget in September before we know what the budget is in October – a daft idea which parliament specifically rejected in a vote on 1 July – would  leave  no time to consult on any of this with anyone!

“Labour crashed the public finances – and they are left with absolutely nothing sensible to say on one of the biggest issues of our times.

“Labour, the Tories and the Lib Dems have put Scotland’s public sector and our valued public services in real danger.   Labour in particular must lift their heads out of the sand, face up to the situation they created, and join a real discussion to minimise the impact on jobs and public services of Labour, Liberal and Tory cuts.

“When spending in Scotland is directly controlled by first Labour and now a Tory / Lib Dem Government in London they cannot escape responsibility for this situation.

“Labour’s long list of extra spending pledges – added to daily – must now be scrapped and they along with the other parties must set out where they stand on the review’s recommendations.

“The SNP has a long standing commitment to free personal care and concessionary travel as part of the debt we owe our older generations.

“Just as we opposed Tory plans to privatise Scotland’s water in the 1990’s we will not give way to Tory pressure to privatise Scotland’s water now – a damaging idea which the Review rejects.  The Scottish people have invested in Scottish Water and there is no good reason why the private sector should get billions of pounds in benefit from taxpayers investment.

“This report has very serious recommendations and puts the challenge Scotland faces into stark perspective.  It must be properly discussed and debated just as other parties must face up to the need for full financial responsibility in Scotland so investment in our public services is no longer left to the whims of Westminster politicians.”

End of an Era

Spain's Catalonia votes to outlaw bullfighting 

54 mins ago

 Vanessa Romeo

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The Catalan parliament dealt the death blow to bullfighting in the region on Wednesday, outlawing the centuries-old spectacle for the first time on mainland Spain.Skip related content

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Animal rights activists celebrate Catalonia's parliament decision to ban bullfights …MoreEnlarge photo

The result of 68 in favour, 55 against the ban was expected, after Catalonia's parliament in December accepted a petition by citizens to stop bullfighting, as activists concerned about animal cruelty battled devotees of the Spanish tradition.

In the debate, some lawmakers cited the declining popularity of bullfighting in Spain, where fewer people go each year to the arena to watch toreros in their elaborate "suits of lights" engage enraged bulls at close range with red capes and swords.

"There are some traditions that can't remain frozen in time as society changes. We don't have to ban everything, but the most degrading things should be banned," said Josep Rull, member of parliament for the Catalonian nationalist party (CiU).

Lawmakers denied the debate's outcome reflected separatist aspirations, but many Spaniards saw the vote as having more to do with Catalonia's drive to reduce Madrid's political influence over their region than with the protection of animals.

Nine lawmakers abstained from voting in the debate in which animal activists concerned about the bull's suffering argued against those who revere bullfighting, celebrated by U.S. Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway in the book "Death in the Afternoon."

Animal rights activists have pledged to spread the ban from the autonomy-minded region throughout the rest of the country, which would be difficult because some regions have passed laws protecting bullfighting as their heritage.

Anti-bullfighting groups gathered signatures from 180,000 Catalans, which forced parliament to vote on the tradition which dates back to 711, when the first bullfight took place in celebration for the crowning of King Alfonso VIII.

"They have heard the outcry of a society that is reinventing its traditions," said Anna Mula, of the group Prou! (Enough!).

Before the vote, animal rights activists, one drenched in red paint, and bullfighting aficionados gathered outside parliament to hear the result.

Highly ritualised bullfighting, in which the matador and his entourage use capes, lances and darts to subdue the bull which is killed at close quarters with a sword, was made illegal in Spain's Canary islands in 1991.

"DEATH IN THE AFTERNOON"

For fans, who shout "Ole" in chorus at the bullring to appreciate a daring or stylish move, the showdown is a moving display of fear and courage.

"It's not a cruel show. Completely the opposite. It's a show that creates art: where you get feelings and a fight between a bull and person, where the person or the bull can lose their life," bullfighter Serafin Marin told Reuters.

In Spanish newspapers, bullfighting reviews are found not in the sports pages, but in the arts and culture sections.

The drama of the bullring also inspired painter Pablo Picasso and poet Federico Garcia Lorca. But anti-bullfighting activists point out that it has disturbed many other artists, from Mark Twain to Hans Christian Andersen.

Under the ban, which would come into effect in 2012, the last active bullring in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, would shut down, as would the remaining few elsewhere in the region.

Some lawmakers cited Spain's ongoing economic crisis -- the country is just emerging from a deep recession -- as a reason to keep bullfighting alive.

A report by an industry group that lobbied against the ban said 100 million euros of tickets to bullfights are sold annually in France and Spain, and projected rising unemployment benefit payouts for Catalonia's government when bullrings shut.

Some lawmakers in France -- where bullfights are held in the south -- are pushing for a nationwide ban.

"Banning bullfighting at a time of economic crisis is madness," said Rafael Luna, member of parliament for the conservative Popular Party, during the debate.

The bullfighting industry includes manufacturing of the elaborate suits as well as specialized breeding of bulls, which can cost up to 10,000 euros (8,300 pounds) apiece.

"It's an attack on liberty, on a private economic activity. People are free to go or not go to the bullring," said Fernando Masedo, president of the International Federation of Bullfighting Schools, where initiates learn to face down bulls.

Although Spaniards are still passionate about the bullring and its matadors, today's heroes now include players on the World-Cup-winning soccer team, three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and tennis world number one Rafa Nadal.

(Additional reporting by Alice Tozer, Inmaculada Sanz and Tracy Rucinski in Madrid and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Peter Millership)

 Next on the agenda:

Catalunya secedes from Spain

To All Cymryphiles Around the World

The National Eisteddfod of Wales

Blaenau Gwent a Blaenau'r Cymoedd yw cartref Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru eleni. Yr Eisteddfod yw un or wyliau celfyddydol mawr y byd, ac fe'i chynheir o 31 Gorffennaf i Awst yn y Gweithfeydd, Glyn Edwy.

Blaenau Gwent and the Heads of the Valleys is the home of this year's National Eisteddfod - one of the world's greatest cultural festivals - held at The Works, Ebbw Vale, from July 31 to August 7.

Yn gerddoriaeth, dawns, celf, perfformiadau gwreiddiol, gwethgareddau teuluol neu'n gystadlaethau, mae rhywbeth i bawb o bob oed yn yr Edisteddfod Genedlaethol, a chyda thros 160,000 o ymwelwyr bob blwyddyn, mae'n lle arbennig o dda i gyfarfod a hen ffrindiau - a gwneud ffrindiau newydd!

Music, dance, visual arts, original performances, family activities..., there's something for everyone at the National Edisteddfod, and with more than 160,000 visitors every year, it's a great place to meet up with old friends and make new ones.

Tradition versus Morality

Comment


If Spain and Catalunya practise bullfighting should Italians hold gladiator fights and throw Christians to the lions?



by Raquel Castillo

MADRID — Catalonia could become the first mainland Spanish region to ban bullfighting in a local parliamentary vote this Wednesday that has pitted animal rights activists against fans of the centuries-old national symbol.
The bill went to Parliament after 180,000 Catalans signed a petition circulated by anti-bullfighting group Prou! (Enough, in English), which argues bullfights are cruelty to animals.
In December the parliament voted 67 for and 59 against to take the citizens' petition under consideration, and the final vote on Wednesday is expected to echo that outcome as lawmakers of all stripes, from Socialists to conservatives from the nationalist CiU party, support the ban.
"We understand it's a tradition but now is the time to rethink such a bloody act. There are other traditions we can hang on to," Silvia Barquero, spokeswoman for the small anti-bullfighting party, or PACMA.
In the bullring, the torero and his team use capes, lances and darts to master the bull and then eventually kill it with a sword in a highly-ritualized performance.
The bullfight was made illegal in Spain's Canary Islands in 1991.
Under the ban, which would come into effect in 2012, the last active bullring in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, would shut down as would the remaining few elsewhere in the region.

Catalunya Breaks with Spanish Culture

Catalunyans are voting today

Spain's Catalonia expected to ban bullfights

The vote is pitting animal rights activists against fans of national tradition

Opinion - the War in Iraq

Opinion


With his game of bluff, leading foreign observers to believe that he had hidden mass weapons of destruction when in fact he did not, Saddam Hussein signed his own death warrant.
(alanindyfed)

Irish Americans Urge for Unification

America in campaign for united Ireland

Suzanne Breen

Irish American Democrats have begun to campaign for a united Ireland, claiming that politicians at home have failed to pursue the aspiration.

Resolutions supporting Irish unity have been passed in 14 cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and in states including California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

John O'Riordan of the Irish American Democratic Club, which is leading the initiative, said: "If we cannot rely on political leaders in Ireland, then we will develop our own campaign."

He was particularly critical of Fianna Fáil: "According to its constitution, its goal is 'to secure in peace and agreement the unity of Ireland and its people'.

"But where are the initiatives? How many years of power do you need to develop a coherent strategy around the goal? Brian Lenihan referring to people shopping in Newry as 'unpatriotic' put the lie to 'the republican party'."

O'Riordan stressed the campaign was to achieve unity by purely peaceful means. He claimed partition hindered economic development both north and south. He believed US business leaders would be "more willing to invest in Ireland if the country is united".

A "one-country approach" would hasten recovery from the recession. It would also help agriculture by allowing for the negotiation of a "common Irish position". 

From Doneraile in Co Cork, O'Riordan has lived in the US for 17 years. He insisted the Irish American community had clout: "There are over 36 million people in the US who claim Irish descent. As a group, they maintain a powerful influence in all areas of American life, particularly within the political system.

"The goal of unifying the island is a long-held dream that has been handed down from generation to generation."

The united-Ireland campaign is supported by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, various trade unions, the GAA, and friends of Sinn Féin.

July 25, 2010

UNITED IRELAND
Northern Ireland would join with the Republic to create a new state.

A united Ireland is the overt goal of both Sinn Fein, who support the IRA’s military campaign to achieve it, and the SDLP, who want to achieve it by democratic consent. It is also enshrined in Articles Two and Three of the Irish Constitution, which the courts have interpreted as a ‘constitutional imperative’ to reunite the country. There are signs though that the Irish Government are prepared to see this changed to an ‘aspiration’ to be achieved only through peaceful means.

A united Ireland could not be achieved just by extending the Republic to embrace those counties left outside it at Partition. A new country would have to emerge which guaranteed the rights of the Protestant minority. The existing political parties in the Republic would all have to change to take account not only of a significant Protestant minority but also of an assertive Northern Irish Catholic community used to organizing to get what it wants.

There is not likely to be majority support in Northern Ireland for straight reunion within the next generation. The people of the Republic, too, once passionate about the cause, are now less enthusiastic about the prospect of a new country that would put them in bed with both the unionists and the IRA. Even the IRA seem to be prepared to settle for less. Recent hopes for peace burgeoned largely because there were hints that they might be prepared to accept something like a long interim period in which Britain and Ireland held joint authority.

Environmental Issues Top the Poll

In the run-up to the Scottish elections this Thursday, campaign group Friends of the Earth has carried out an environmental audit of the six main parties’ manifestos, with the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats at the top. 

FoE Scotland has been giving scores out of ten to the country’s political parties for their environmental policies. Since the last election in 1999, all the parties have improved, except for the Conservatives, says the group, although the Scottish Socialist Party was not included in the 1999 survey.

The Green Party scored nine out of ten, followed by the Lib Dems with eight, the SNP and SSP both with five, the Labour Party with four, and the Conservatives scored zero. The Lib Dems increased their score by the largest amount – four points – between 1999 and 2003.

With 86% of Scots saying that the environment is an important issue, it is not surprising that nearly all the parties have improved their manifestos, says FoE Head of Research, Dr Dan Barlow. “We have seen many positive policy announcements in recent months from the Lib/Lab coalition, for example on waste and energy,” he said. Nevertheless, the incoming Executive will need to step up a gear if it is to deliver sustainable development and environmental justice, he added.

FoE’s criteria for the Scottish parties included issues such as those on improving prosecutions for pollution, corporate accountability, information on chemical releases, and performance indicators for sustainable development.

The Green Party scored strongly with commitments on climate, third party right of appeal on planning, and waste. However, as with all the other parties, the Greens have failed to commit to producing an annual report on sustainable development or to establishing Scotland’s ecological footprint.

The Lib Dems have again integrated environmental policies into all areas of their manifesto (see related story). For the health service, this would mean the adoption of green energy, transport and procurement policies.

At the other end of the scale, the Conservative Party was described as “sadly lacking on the environment”, aside from unspecific comments on encouraging local recycling and promoting energy efficiency. It also proposes a major road-building programme and opposing congestion charging schemes. This year the party lost its one point awarded in the 1999 survey because its manifesto states that it plans to repeal important environmental legislation, including the Transport Act and the Climate Change Levy.

“It is important to note that many of the positive developments in the first four years of the Executive were not contained in the parties’ 1999 manifestos,” said Barlow. “However, neither were negative developments such as the current £1 billion road building programme.”

Source: edie newsroom

Sinn Fein's Marching Policy

RESOLVING CONTENTIOUS ORANGE MARCHES

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Reply

Friends of United Ireland

show details 22:14 (13 hours ago)

Dear Friends and Supporters,

 

 

Resolving contentious Orange Marches

Going Past Ardoyne shops
The street conflict which racked parts of the north over the 12th was largely a result of a small number of so-called dissident groups exploiting the tensions and fears surrounding Orange marches. Sinn Féin's opposition to these groups is unequivocal and a matter of public record.
However, the fact remains that it is the obstinate insistence by the loyal orders to march through Catholic areas, and their refusal to talk, that is at the heart of the perennial violence that marks the marching season.
Orange marches have been the cause of serious sectarian strife in the 19th century, the 20th and now the 21st century.
The first serious violence around orange marches occurred in Belfast in 1813 and each subsequent year brought more conflict. Besieged catholic neighbourhoods got some respite when the British banned orange marches between 1832-44 and 1950-72.
However, the latter part of the 19th century saw the Unionist business class and landed aristocracy, allied to the British Tories, encourage the growth of the Orange Order in opposition to Home Rule. As a result there were violent pogroms in Belfast in 1857, 1864 and 1872 against Catholic ghettoes.
After partition in the early 20th century the Orange Order and other loyal orders dominated unionism.
Most unionist politicians past and present are or have been active members of the Orange. For much of its existence many of the north's senior law officers, including its judges, as well as its most influential business leaders, were also members of the Orange.
James Craig, the north's first Prime Minister after partition, and whose stern faced statue overlooks the Great Hall in Parliament Buildings, once defined the northern state in terms of Orangeism: 'I have always said that I am an Orangeman first and a politician and a member of the parliament afterwards .All I boast is that we have a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State.'
In more recent decades it was an Orange march in Derry which led to the Battle of the Bogside and the pogroms in Belfast. And in the years since 1920 nationalist ghettoes in Belfast and areas outside the city have been annually besieged by thousands of Orangemen and their bands.
A report by a British government Commission 150 years ago, following the 1857 riots, provides an assessment of the Orange that could have been written this year. The Commission concluded that Orange events are responsible for 'violence, outrage, religious animosities, hatred between classes and, to often, bloodshed and loss of life.'
That is a view widely shared today by Irish nationalists and republicans and internationally.
It is a view that the Orange disregards at its peril as a seeks a new image. 　
Orange marches and their cost in human, financial and political terms is too high.
No accurate financial cost has been placed on this years violence but in a reply to an Assembly question from a Shinner a few months ago the PSNI estimated that the cost of policing the parades for the period June to August in 2009 was around £2,899,770.
Five years ago the policing of the Orange parade on the Springfield Road in West Belfast and the subsequent rioting cost £3 million. On that occasion scores were arrested and ninety-three police officers were injured.
This year several police officers were shot, a police woman was severely injured after being hit by a concrete slab, and scores more were hurt during the rioting. Local residents were attacked by rioters and cars and vehicles stolen and destroyed. Some young people were also injured in disputed circumstances by plastic bullets.
The financial cost of the disturbances for 2010 will clearly run into millions and this will be paid for out of the limited resources available to the Executive.
At a time when frontline services are being cut and more cuts are threatened; when schools cannot be built because there is no money; when accident and emergency services are being slashed; jobs are being lost; and the Chief Constable is required to make significant cuts in the policing budget, it is clear that the financial cost of contentious parades for society is too high.
In addition the media reports, photographs and negative television imagery which are reproduced around the world do incalculable damage to our efforts to attract inward investment.
This unresolved problem also has a huge adverse impact on the loyal orders. In recent years they have spent a lot of time and effort and money in trying to rebrand the marching season as 'Orangefest'. All of that is lost in the confrontations and violence around a very few number of marches.
There are almost 4000 loyal order parades each year. The vast majority pass peacefully. Only a handful result in violence.
Surely it is not beyond the wit and intelligence of all of us to find a resolution which can bring this to end. The proposals brought forward by Sinn Féin and the DUP are a means to do this which respects the rights of the marching orders and the rights of host communities.
In early May I wrote to the leaders of the main loyal orders and asked to meet them to discuss all of these matters. They have not yet replied.
I understand the difficulties that all of this presents for the Orange. But I believe that the vast majority of citizens want us to find a peaceful resolution to the marching issue.
I am appealing again to these leaders to meet with me. I am asking that they set aside past differences and engage in dialogue with Sinn Féin and local host communities affected by marches.

It is time that the issue of contentious marches was finally resolved. I am convinced that with good will and common sense we can succeed. And I believe that a proper dialogue between Sinn Féin and the loyal orders can reduce tensions and create a climate in which greater understanding can be encouraged.

 

 

Gerry Adams

 

 

Green Light for Cork Buddhist Temple

(the Cork News)


Cork County Council has granted planning permission for Ireland's first traditional style Buddhist temple, which will be built near Allihies in west Cork.
The Dzongchen Beara Trust are proposing to build a 14.5 metre high temple with three adjacent single storey buildings on the site of its Retreat Centre at Garranes.
Work will commence on the building once the required €1 million has been raised and the news was confirmed to visitors while spiritual leader Sogyal Rimpoche was at the Centre attending a retreat.
To date €100,500 has been collected through fund-raising efforts and donations with nearly €18,000 spent on initial plans including engineer and architect fees. A contribution to the Trust can be made at www.Rigpa.ie.

It has been announced that the Dzogchan Beara retreat centre will build a copper-domed traditional Tibetan Buddhist temple on the centre’s land.

The 14.5 meter tall temple will perch, by the retreat center, on top of the cliffs at Garranes, near Allihies, west Cork.  The retreat center, which was founded in 1992, sits on 150 acres.

Matt Padwick, the director of the retreat said “A number of fishermen returning to (Castletownbere) port tell us they love to see the centre because they then feel they are home. Maybe they will soon see a new building which will be like a spiritual lighthouse.”

The temple’s construction will follow Tibetan designs and will cost about €1 million. It is hoped that construction will get underway later this year and the temple will be completed within 18 months.

Padwick said “We need to fundraise the money before we can start. At the moment we have collected just over €100,000. In some ways it is the most difficult time to raise money because of the economy and we are taking on a challenge. But so far we have had a very positive response."

Each year 300 people come a visit the center for weekend retreats, to learn art and meditation.

“We have a wonderful view here. Many of the people who come here to learn meditation do so on the recommendation of family and friends and that’s very nice,” said Padwick “I think with the development of the temple we are looking forward to a very bright future.”

The name Dzogchen Beara means “great perfection” in Buddhist tradition. Tibetan masters have commented in the past on the beautiful surrounding of the center and the profound peace there.

“We welcome everyone, from all walks of life and of any faith or none, and offer many different ways to visit Dzogchen Beara,” said Padwick.

Breton Music to Die For

blog : http://duffdom.blogspot.com/		June 2010 # 20
Dom Duff is one of the most exciting and innovative musicians from Brittany, much sought after as a studio and concert guitarist and singer. He is also a wonderful singer-songwriter who started solo in 2000, after being driving force the infamous band Diwall. He was born in bro Bagan (Pagan county), a little place on the north-west coast of Brittany and, like his parents, speaks breton language fluently. Crossing breton influences and great guitar licks, all releases are in a cutting edge production. The new album ROC'H, is in a complete studio mode. It contains a repertoire of refreshing unusual songs inspired by or adopted from his native breton culture. Blending great breton guitar licks, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, words, rythms, melody with folk/rock energy. The result is inventive and no doubt something that falls into the rabidly developing category of "power folk". Dom first cd "Straed an Amann" (Butter street), as been awared best first breton cd 2004. "...when Dom sings his breton language, it sounds like an international one." Ouest-France. "I love those people who are revitalising breton music. Dom DufF for example is very personable, his music comes from the heart." Alan Stivell.Breton Magazine 08/06. After cooperation last year with Alan Stivell, Breton based singer Dom DufF is coming back with his new album ROC’H (Rock),  This brand new opus is in a complete Dom unique Power-Folk style. As usual, Dom is delivering the same energy, great voice, great guitars, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass, drums ...  to listen, follow the link : http://www.domduff.com/discography.html purchase : 15 € "Good stuff"                                                                                         WSLR 95FM Floride USA "International bewitchment"                                                                 Planet FM - Auckland NZ "la musique et le rythme sont génials, ainsi que cette jolie voix"     Radio Internationale Athènes "Songs with soul"                                                                                     Radio Varna Bulgarie
CONCERTS : - 05 juin Jour de fête Lanvaudan 56 - 19 juin Fête de la musique Molac 56 - 15 juillet Francofolies La Rochelle 17 - 25 juillet Aux Anges Guern 56 - 01 aout Celtival Guéméné Penfao 44 - 13 aout Guérande 44 - 14 aout Pénestin 56 + concerts  • acheter cds  • DEEZER • Last FM  • iTunes • facebook : here • Twitter : Follow me • MySpace : of course		about ROC'H :  12 songs : studio Boutou @ Lampaul Plouarzel (BZH) by Dom Bott, Gilles Kersulec, Patrick Péron. Rhondda Street Studio@Swansea by huw Rees Dom DufF : voice, acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, e-bow, banjoNicola Hayes : fiddle Dom Bott : bass Mourad Ait Abdelmalek : drums David Seité : bodhran, cajon, Huw Rees : drums Patrick Péron : piano
CONTACT : Arsenal Productions quai Nielly 29200 BREST FR