August, 2011

CELTIC WHINE

NOEL FARRELL

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BOABAB
AUGUST 3, 2011

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It's not surprising that economics dominates everything to some degree. The threat of an American default has American politicians scrambling for a deal to stop that from happening. In an almost Hollywood type ending, Gabrielle Giffords, who just months ago survived an assassination attempt, returned to Washington to cast her vote in a deal which secured a raising of the US debt ceiling, pending the implementation of trillion dollar cuts to spending. Solely to come from austerity measures and not the raising of taxes on the rich. Sound familiar? Obama lost out on this, having vowed this scenario would not happen. No amount of burger buying is going to make voters forget all the false promises he made to get elected come next year. One would think that if the Republicans had someone to offer they might have Obama in a situation that even he couldn't talk his way so elegantly out of. But with Arnie going astray, Sarah Palin thicker than a Boabab and Americans tired of wars and social deprivation, it would just take a stroke from the Republican ranks to pull a hero from Hollywood and allow him/her to ride an F16 all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue, before hopping off and landing in the chair of the Oval Office via a jet pack. Don't bet against it happening. America once prided itself on its moral values. Leaders in direction in a world longing for freedom. That's what built America to the power it is today. Unless America can find a way back to that while not suppressing freedom the rot which has set in will only continue. One has to believe that humanity can find a way back. But given the modern state of play its hard to see where it may come from. With disaster avoided in America and the World saved - for a few weeks anyway - attention turned back to Europe where the Markets began playing about with Italy and Spain again, throwing Europe into disarray. All containment methods are being suppressed by market force. Will it all fall apart and if it does, does that mean The Lisbon treaty will be dead? When Ireland rejected it the first time around, 500 million Europeans seen it as a victory, not for the treaties demise, but for them, the people, a voice in a deafened arena. The arrogance of those to deny people the right to choose their countries direction is the cheapest form of Democracy yet. Of course Ireland was not to be denied a second opportunity, and under the stalwart credentials of Brian Cowen, we got the chance to put right that terrible wrong. And after the fear and the promises, the Irish succumbed to the bully, and 500 million voices went mute again. With that turnaround Ireland let go of the two things she was respected for the world over. Her courage and her rebellious attitude. Luckily we have the leprechauns and drink, hey! On Super Planet the goal at the inception of life is simple. You have to leave the Planet in better shape than that which you first came into it. However small. And guess what, it works. A common purpose devoid of Bullshit. But hey, that's Super Planet and even Hollywood won't go there...

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The world of Ponzi economics. It has failed. There's no new thinking. Politicians don't care what the lay man thinks. They are there to front the agenda of others. Those who do that best rise to the top. Excellent vocabulary required. And a few Bullshit of the Month awards wouldn't go astray either. Yes, it's a damning viewpoint, but when weighed up against fact and reality, it's also a correct one. One wonders now how long it will be before America and Europe come together and the move toward the fabled One World Currency begins. It's hard to see another way out really. The US.E? Get the Russians in also given their demographic and monopolize Western Hemispheric trade. Get a great big Army out of it too. Something needs to change. People are tired of being robbed. In broad daylight to. Reward - Austerity. Never going to work. When has anyone ever given people something and then got it back from them successfully? There's no evolution in that. But maybe that's the idea? It all sounds worse than it is, but I doubt it. There have been many breeze's since the second World War. Some turned to wind, and changes one not thought possible came about. You feel those breeze's again. That bore from the greatest of crisis, the humanity in everyone often shines brightest, and it is then we fulfill the potential of our species. Population is going boom and we're caving in on ourselves so 1% of the World can play with us like mice. The problems of today might be wishful thinking in the not to distant future, because we all know what happens the mouse when the cat stops playing. It all makes Ireland seem a little insignificant really. I think our chance to show leadership as a country died with Lisbon. We fell down the rankings on that one. All that came after in the form of bailouts and banks behaving sent us tumbling down even more. Throwing out our young once again to foreign shores, the romanticism once shared in towns and cities around the world now replaced with tales of disillusionment, because there is nothing romantic about being sold out by your very own. Image
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CAMPAIGNS
AUGUST 5, 2011

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As the clock ticks theres a possible conflict of interest arising.. Older readers of the blog know that from time to time a person strays across the Booker eye and after careful consideration is granted The Booker Endorsement. To date there have been a number of inductee's, with Thierry Henry the only Hall of Famer to have his Jersey retired for sins against the Irish. Last week I inducted two worthy Irishmen in the form of Christy Moore and Gay Byrne. I can only assume that after today's events and riding off the back of the endorsement, Gaybo might consider a run for the Aras. Great. Sure, why not? As good as anyone on the sheet at the moment, hey? Then whispers came down the wires that Fianna Fil were to offer him their nomination. Oh no!! Surely, not Gaybo! It would have been the cheapest of sellouts. But thankfully it appears from this article that Gaybo won't be taking the nomination. To lose another Hall of Famer for the reasons stated above would have mean that the endorsement feature of the blog would be under question at the next one-man board meeting. Booker's claim to fame - because let's face it, it isn't looking Tom Clancy anytime soon - will always be the 50 million big ones he cost the taxpayer last Winter, so we, as an island, could be warm. Failure by the mainstream media to pick up on the story sows up the thinking that this type of idealism needs to be kept where it is - on the dole - until the time comes to be thrown into an internship. But it can be used for political ends all the same. Was a good idea though, wasn't it? Of course the blogs biggest fail was the Vincent Browne for Prez Facebook campaign. I have to hold my hands up and admit - though i tried intermittently - Booker failed as a campaign manager, but will always have the distinction of being the first Irishman to launch a Presidential campaign with a fictional character. Not bad for a fictional dole-bird written by a real one. Image

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HIGHWAYS
AUGUST 6, 2011

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'And now the end is near,' goes the lyric from Sinatra's, My Way. The song popped into my head this morning for some reason as I rode out a dose of insomnia to the tune of Sky reporters commenting on the overnight news that Credit Rating Agency, Standard's and Poor's, had downgraded America's credit status to AA+, removing its triple A rating for the first time in American history. In justifying the move, the Agency stated that the 'downgrade reflects the view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policy-making and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.' I don't think many could argue with that. The Americans should not be too despondent. Ireland's status is junk. But it's the political commentary behind the downgrading that once again shows up the distinct lack of leadership, on both sides of the Atlantic foam. The Market response on Monday will tell more. But nothing suggests anything, but a continuance into an economic hell that nobody seems to want us out of. Not only is the US in trouble, China is now calling for the dollar to be removed as the world's stable currency and events in Europe threaten the nations involved in the single currency. Italy have vowed to implement austerity measures of historic proportions on its citizens in a move to try and stabilize market reaction against them for having a stagnant economy. But its doomed to failure on a number of fronts. Italians, like the French, like their standard of life. Good luck taking it away from them. EU leaders - most of whom are on holidays - are keeping in the loop with each other via conference and telephone calls. Cheaper on the tax payer I guess. The main problem is the markets are screaming austerity and when it does not go far enough it screams louder. It's like one of those hostage situations of old. Austerity will not get any economy moving again, yet this is the call? Why? Ireland this week announced another rise in people signing on to the live register. Add emigration and well, the proof s in the pudding. So how can anyone see any light at the end of the tunnel when those charged to lead are not the real leaders after all. The governments of the world have allowed for a state of play where bankers are allowed go unaccountable for heaping misery on people through any means they wish to invent, and are allowed that free reign by elected officials put on a ballot paper for us by political parties who get more and more capitalistic with each passing day, right or left, despite the escalating reality that Capitalism, in its present form, has failed and failed catastrophically. There is little or no divide in the political spectrum anymore. You get the feeling for that based on a number of things. When, say for instance, a left-wing party like Labour in Ireland go to bed with a right wing party like Fine Gael you know the fix is in. When probably the most powerful man in the world, Ben Bernanke, 'serves' under both a Republican and Democratic President you know the fix is in.

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Possible Presidential candidate Ron Paul once said of Bernanke 'there is something fishy about the head of the world's most powerful government bureaucracy, one that is involved in a full-time counterfeiting operation to sustain monopolistic financial cartels, and the worlds most powerful central planner, who sets the price of money worldwide, proclaiming the glories of capitalism.' When you take the relationships highlighted in Capitalism- A Love Story you know the fix is in. When you know that JFK took one from the knoll, you know the fix is in. When you research all the previous American Presidents who met with the same fate and their views towards bankers and banking methods, you know the fix is in. The wider connotations is none of this is taught in our educational system. Thinking for yourself is rarely encouraged. And perhaps through ignorance we are all complicit to some degree and will probably only care when it is too late. If there was any real will on the behalf of world leaders for the betterment of mankind all these problems could be gone tomorrow with debt forgiveness and longer terms to pay back outstanding debt after that. I'm sure those who play with digital money and profit from the interest on that while manipulating governments the world over would not want that. It's a disturbing feature of modern day society when sociopaths run the show. It's hard to describe them as anything else when they have such a lack of empathy for all those suffering the world over so the practice of greed can continue. I read about the Great Depression following the Crash of 1929 and if some accelerated radical thinking on an economic and political level does not come into play very soon, less than a century later, we could be back in the midst of one again. The words of My Way were given to me by my Dad on the morning I boarded a plane for New York back in 1999 for the summer. Best gift I ever got off anyone. It's an honorable thing to do, to give a child that sort of freedom of scope even if they are delivered via lyrics sang by an old swooner. Thinking for yourself should be encouraged. Going your own way also. Lifes way to short to think any other way. Image

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BLACK & WHITE

AUGUST 9, 2011

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I'm sure writers among us tend to draw from personal experiences or the tales of others to help shape their writing, especially when it comes to fiction. Some commentators have said that truth is stranger than fiction and perhaps it is when it comes to the stories flashed at us daily of a world in a terrible state with no apparent direction that is going to solve its mounting problems. I drew strongly from experiences in Booker's World in many ways, one inclusion being the months I spent working in London back in the 90's. Sure it's masked with a touch of Booker eccentricity - for who likes a bore rambling on about the state of affairs in a country drifting towards Iceland every single day. Ahem... I think disturbed and then shocked were my two main emotions over the past three days as I watched an area in Croydon I used to live in being burned to the ground by an element of society hell bent on nothing but mindless violence, destruction and providing the world with a first hand view of nihilism at work. I also worked in Brixton. Imagine a naive Paddy, walking the early morning streets of Brixton going to work, his only knowledge of the place the images he saw on a TV screen back in 1981 when this area of London was subject to something similar Londoners have been suffering through these past four days. As it turned out Brixton was and still is one of the nicest and friendliest places I have ever been. Not without problems, but problems faced and dealt with daily by a legion of youth workers who's buzz from life came from keeping the whole thing together. How deflated so many will feel over the past few days, as years upon years of hard, thankless and soul destroying work may have become undone by the violent reaction of youths hell bent on destruction at any cost. But to watch London on fire last night and Anarchy on the streets one suspects this runs a little deeper as Police were unable to manage a situation that stinks of some form of criminal minded organization using the times to snare vulnerable kids into a lair that only ends up in a body bag or a prison if they are lucky. Much will be written over the next weeks and months on this. It will be interesting to see who takes what view points. I do think Britain has an effective press once the tabloid is taken out of the equation. Watching Bill O' Reilly point his finger at America last night and tell Americans that Fox News was a spin-free zone made me glad I reside on this side of the Atlantic. Has David Cameron, once this melee has died down, the metal to address the fact and figures and research available, mostly assembled at the cost of his taxpayer, and come to the pretty straight forward conclusion, self interests aside, that austerity at the behest of corruption is morally and socially wrong. Address the question and go some way toward some form of equalization in the form of the social structure which is falling apart with each passing generation, not just in his country, but in many countries. One would hope that at some stage someone is capable of standing up and saying things need addressing. But will it happen?
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I think a lot of people would have respect for Martin Luther King. I personally am a fan of anyone who pursues some form of civil and social justice. I couldn't care less about their make-up if their viewpoint is one of equality and justice. King once said, When you cut facilities, slash jobs, abuse power, discriminate, drive people into deeper poverty and shoot people dead whilst refusing to provide answers or justice, the people will rise up and express their anger and frustration if you refuse to hear their cries. A riot is the language of the unheard. That was 40 years ago. That's insight from the past by a man who many historians would agree had his hand on the pulse of society as it was at the time. Except 40 years on, it's not about black and white anymore, its about people the world over. Britain will recover because they have that about them. I'm not sure America will though with their four-advertisement breaks every half hour and the bullshit of Bill O Reilly in between. Charlie Sheen has better things to be saying than that 20 mill a year Capitalist junkie. How people buy into every media driven consensus with the amount of untainted information available today shows the power of propaganda in the modern world. In most cities of the world 'the rogue element' have historically been squashed together like sardines in pressure cookers no human being should have to endure. It's a breeding ground for wayward ideologies perfected by the disillusioned. No form of life likes containment. You'd still hope for a day when the realities of Huxley's and Orwell's world and V- For Vendetta weren't beginning to have a sense of reality to them. The people who wrote our constitution in Ireland set standards for the Irish to follow once free to dabble in world affairs. Being Irish it is hard to escape that those words came from people who accepted their fates so that perhaps the world they yearned for was something to strive for as we matured as a country. I'd never rule out hope it will come about. We can hope we'll all see a little sense sometime in the future, but with the weight of a tragic human history on your back of the hope, even a little sense seems insurmountable at times.

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DIVISIONAL DIVERSIONS
AUGUST 16, 2011

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I love the blog if for little more than a chance to ramble for a half an hour, before a very basic edit, proofread and post. Not sure why I do it still, I thought I'd be well sorted work wise by now and with one thing and another, I'd lose interest in it. That's what usually happens, right? I'm pretty cemented now in my view on life being an absurdity, so best to roll with it, accept the freedom it gives and go about creating your own meaning, even if that means getting up certain noses at times. But sure life's an arena, what's a little banter every now and again. I wonder if the Americans will fall for another Texas governor in the form of Rick Perry. I'm beyond thinking that the impossible can't happen. Unfortunately it seems we see it more with each passing day. If democracys have a responsibility in choosing their leaders then a greater emphasis has to be placed on who those leaders are. But it would be a brave man, or woman, to stand up to corporate America. Obama could very well be a one-term President if he's not careful. I often wonder if we could go back to the scenes at his inauguration and leave him in that moment, but move the crowd up to today, would those iconic pictures be as inspiring? His back-room team will have to pull out every stop on this one. From a political prospective there is nothing better. I read Hunter S. Thompson's, Fear & Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 last year. Could there be a better six months to be had than following the buses around, a writing hack to anyone that pays and gives you the freedom to write what you like? I'm sure there is. Image

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SUCKERS
AUGUST 26, 2011

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This week three years ago I lost my job in the construction sector here in Ireland. It's funny, it happened the week after our summer break, and although rumours were abound that things were bad, the fact that we didn't receive our marching orders before the break made us think that perhaps work up until Christmas was a possibility. I never was much for the materialistic things in life, but during that break I decided to place a deposit on a house and lay roots, or so to speak. Fortune favoured me on that occasion as the builder gave me back the deposit and I was spared paying for an overpriced house on dole payments, something that is overwhelming thousands on this island at present. I counted my lucky stars on that one. For the past three years I've survived. In the great scheme of things, however life comes about and deals its cards, to say I've been lucky would be a fair statement. Sure things like the car and holidays had to go, but I got the chance to explore some possibilities that would not have been possible but for this everlasting recession. It's well documented on the blog what Ireland has been through this past few years. It's fair to say I haven't held back even if that meant perhaps not doing myself many favours. Because Ireland is that kinda land. The ability to schmooze will always get you far in this country. It's a characteristic I detest, and after all, what's the point in having a voice if youre not prepared to use it. This week I have been looking over many correspondences I have had with politicians, training bodies, educational bodies and the such over the past few years. Basically looking for guidance on options opened to me here in Ireland. I got very little back. But it did cement in me a fact I had been denying even to myself over the past few years. That Ireland, for all her promise, is a place best vacated at this stage. Those who look know the score. How we have been failed time and time again by the established order for almost 100 years now. Poverty, literacy rates, homelessness, major social problems, gangland, you know what, the list goes on and on and bloody on. I've tried to document it here on the blog from time to time. I think the Irish people have been treated like fools for too long. We live in a country where accountability exists only for the small guy. The public service and political system stink with cronyism. And the sad thing is, we are further away from what those who died to give us our identity wanted for us today, than the day they signed away their lives when they put their names to our constitution. Image
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CELTIC WHINE
AUGUST 28, 2011

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Ever have a little wonder to yourself just what is life all about? The great question, perhaps? I'm not to sure if Sherlock Holmes will even get to the bottom of it, but yet it's a reflective point in many people's lives, whether they care to admit it or not. For most of my life I've been a thinker of some description, probably often guilty of an over-analysis on many things. Thinking about things that you have no power over is a harsh waste of time at the best of times. But once I started thinking more on what can be changed the buck stopped with me, and following a few lines of advice I'll keep to myself, it was then I was able to start asking more important questions. Given the time I've had on my hands I've been able to go search for a few answers in various places. A little degree course of my own - without the degree. Finding a way to live life in a more pro-active way isn't easy. It's alright living it, but it also has to sit right with you. I don't think too many bankers in Ireland loose much sleep so that tells me what they did sits OK with them. I'm sure politicians to a large degree feel the same. Bailed out developers as well. So it takes all sorts to make a society. By dividing society up into common segments might help, but we're too lazy in our thinking that it's not even a consideration. Can't the greed mongers just play monopoly with themselves perhaps? Instead of it having to impact on everyone else. Perhaps those with hostile tendencies could be placed in the Amazon jungle and let go wild on each other. We could set up a few landmasses for those who like to practice a bit of governance and the rest of us can govern ourselves. Get all the psychopaths to go play with themselves on some large island somewhere with the Crime & Investigation channel keeping sketch big brother style. Let the ones that don't voluntarily go take their chances out in the real world with little kindness shown should they step out of line. Surely it makes sense to give it a go for a little stint. See how we all got on. What's there to lose? What I'm witnessing on Sky News about Libya in the past week is not only disturbing, but it's also some of the best propaganda I have ever witnessed via a mainstream news outlet. I'm sorry, but when everything is being told from the one prospective you can smell the rat. Last night they showed the charred skeletal remains of an act of genocide perpetrated by Pro-Gaddafi soldiers. This was at a time of the day when kids could be watching. Let's be honest. Tripoli is lawless. I truly think it's a NATO botch job that's going to take years to rectify. They had no business going in there. There's no moral value when you reign down missiles on civilians. It's oil, pure and simple. And then you consider that Libya own 5% of the World's gold reserves and you get another glimpse. Or the 110 billion in seized foreign assets. I know it doesn't satisfy any need in me but you would be safe enough saying it must be satisfying some one's corporate dollars, or euros or whatever single currency we end up with in the future. Six months ago, Libya had it's troubles like most countries, but look at it now. For democracy? Bill Hicks was 93.3% right in all he said. I just plucked that figure out of my head. If academics can do it, then why not us?
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Life - weird, wonderful, wacky and any other W you can think of. And absurd, of course! For all it's potential much is wasted. It's difficult to ascertain from that, given the present state of affairs, what opportunities have been given up along the way and what the reasoning behind that is. It's hard to know if we will even last long enough to reach a common consensus into why that is. Absurdity provided me with a basis for accepting all the pieces that attempt to jig all of life's woes and wonder together. It also allows for a certain pathway that frees people looking for some meaning. That meaning is unique for everyone and there within lies an endless possibility as yet unclasped. Because that meaning is personal and to pursue it secures a certain freedom that just is not encouraged in modern day society to any significant degree. One can't blame Ireland for that, as Ireland is a follower in many respects. Our greatest success' have come when we chose to lead. Until we get back to that there seems little point staying here. Life maybe is but a game. Who knows? As with all games that find an arena, they probably deserve to be played. That way it does not seem like such a test of endurance it sometimes feel like. That's been my experience anyway. If life is worth living then life is worth exploring and that opens up the world to people. So perhaps a little jaunt off down south for a few years won't do one any harm. For the sake of a fresh prospective it can't do any harm either. So long as the plane don't come down. In the desert. I survive, trapped beneath a suitcase full of government farewell money, vultures circling above. Is that Elle McPherson off there in the distance? Or is it a mirage? Or both? I can almost see it now. I'd be bound to score a seven figure advance for that one surely... and the cover of Time, knuckles on chin. As much as it's important to keep it real, it also important not to take oneself especially serious. It's also important to remember that one writes different than ones speaks. And finally and most importantly, one must never give up the thinking behind why one calls one, oneself, at times when one is a number and not a member of the upper middle class. Or in today's class segmentation's, the upper middle class - twice removed. Image

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B O O K E R S WO R L D AU G U S T 2 0 1 1

This ebook series is a comment on issues facing Ireland, covered in real-time against the backdrop of what is really happening in Ireland at that time. The series cover events as they happen through the eyes of the ctional Don Booker, an unemployed recluse as he attempts to write himself through his personal woes and an Ireland in decline. The novel, Booker's World is separate from this series of ebooks, though both worlds do cross at certain juncture as the months go by. An ebook version of the novel will be available soon. All ebooks in this series may be used for reference and may be distributed freely once adhering to Creative Commons License and crediting the author.
With cuts to depression & addiction services being implemented in Ireland, please consider these when making a charitable donation in the future.

Cover Image Source Jay Erickson

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ALSO IN THIS SERIES

5 Days in September Deathly Quotes November Nightmares Absurdities Purjurious Times Forgetful Directions Chill Dark The Loaded Taoiseach Independence International Mutha-F*ckrz The Cost of Living Last Daze

The Artful Dodger Planet Bonkers 45 Visitors Dead Peasants The Great Gas Giveaway

All available to read or download at www.fbooker.blogspot.com www.scribd.com/don_booker

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The Writing Life & Other Absurdities

www.fbooker.blogspot.com

Novella Sonny Strange Free Download Here

Contact :jasepub@gmail.com

2011 JaSE
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