Church and State
PSALMUS 129: DE PROFUNDIS (Latin) — Read this because it is truly profound and transcends scepticism
PSALMUS 129: DE PROFUNDIS —
to be said while processing to the refectory
Why have a House of Lords if there’s not a single lord left in it? Think Seanad
The last thing we need is a second chamber filled with yet more professional politicos.
If there are no lords left in the House of Lords, what will it be called? – Why have a House of Lords if there are no lords in it?
By Charles Moore
06 Jan 2012
Dr Johnson said that “most schemes of political improvement are very laughable things”, and that was 250 years before Nick Clegg tried to reform the British constitution.
Enda Kenny – Number 1 in 2011.
Person of the year 2011. Enda has to prove his mettle still. The EU
financial mess and the bank debt will feature as the judgement calls.
He will also have to speak to the people again through television but
this time in a detailed explanation of strategy in the economic war.
And no bullshit. Leaders questions should be used to lead the country.
Never be afraid to state that you don’t know. Even Einstein didn’t
know everything. Mind you do you remember the taximan Fred Housego, I
think he was called on Mastermind?
Read more
Fake or not, the Turin Shroud is an article of faith
Pilgrims to the sites of religious relics are not searching for proof
that God exists.
The devout visit the shroud because it is a thing of holiness – Fake
or not, the Turin Shroud is an article of faith
The devout visit the shroud because it is a thing of holiness
By Peter Mullen
New investigations suggest that the Turin Shroud, the cloth which many
Christians believe to have wrapped the body of Christ, may be genuine.
This tentative conclusion by some Italian scientists contradicts
forensic trials of the Eighties, which declared the shroud to be a
medieval fake.
Inquiry finds thousands abused by priests in Holland
Dutch inquiry exposes clerical abuse
A Dutch inquiry into child sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests
said it found “tens of thousands” of victims since 1945.
An independent Dutch inquiry into child sexual abuse committed by
Catholic priests said it found “tens of thousands” of victims since
1945, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators.
Fintan O’Toole on the Promissory Notes. Ever break a promise Enda?????
The promissory notes for Anglo and Irish Nationwide total €31 billion.
The interest on these notes, as set out by Michael Noonan in
September, is €17 billion. We are to make annual payments of €3.1
billion up to 2024. The payments continue at smaller, but still
significant, levels until 2031. A child born in 2008, when the bank
guarantee was given, will (unless she emigrates) still be paying a
chunk of her taxes towards Anglo and INBS when she is 23. Actually,
even these mind-boggling figures don’t tell the whole story. The truth
is that the Department of Finance doesn’t actually know how much the
total cost of the promissory notes will be. Michael Noonan’s written
reply to Pearse Doherty on the subject in September contains the
phrase “It is difficult . . . to isolate precisely the exact cost of
the interest payments on the borrowing undertaken to fund the
promissory note payments.” We’re borrowing money to pay the interest
on the money we’ve borrowed to bail out Anglo and Irish Nationwide –
and we don’t know how much it is. But the official estimate is that in
2013, when the interest payments kick in, the annual cost will be €1.8
billion. To put this in perspective, the interest alone on the
promissory notes is nearly three times the annual yield from the new
23 per cent rate of VAT.
Colette Brown – I do not know this lady but she likes to hit the nail with the hammer and not her own fingers.
It’s not our fault, but we’re paying a heavy price for their economic mess
By Colette Browne
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
YOU’RE not responsible for the crisis — but you’re sure as hell going
to pay for it, is probably the most succinct way to summarise the
Taoiseach’s hotly anticipated state of the nation address.
Collins plays a blinder. If there is a Euro referendum, I will campaign every day in favour.
The Irish Times – Saturday, December 3, 2011 Whatever price we pay to keep the euro is worth it
STEPHEN COLLINS
INSIDE POLITICS: AS EUROPEAN leaders belatedly inch towards a deal to save the euro, the Irish Government and people are soon likely to be faced with a fundamental choice: what price are we willing to pay to stay in the euro zone. Logically, the decision should be a no-brainer.
More on Darren Scully
I expect the Fine Gael Central Council to confirm that the statements
of Councillor Darren Scully on KFM are incompatable with being a
member of Fine Gael. He said that he would not represent a group in
society distinguishable by the colour of their skins and possibly by
an African accent from somewhere on that vast continent.