Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

Saturday, December 24, 2011

World banks brace for euro collapse


Banks are preparing for a possible euro collapse

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/217513.html

Banks around the world are preparing for the possible collapse of the euro as fears of the European debt crisis increase.

Several banks are even installing systems capable of coping with trading in old European currencies.

Meanwhile finance firms, corporations, and different governments have also turned to plans that aim at preparing them for harsh times.

Regulators have asked banks in the US and UK to provide updates on readiness levels in case of a possible euro collapse.

Some corporate firms have also started transferring their cash on a daily basis out of European countries, including debt-ridden Greece instead of once every two weeks.

Europe has for months grappled with an economic and financial crisis. Insolvency now threatens in-debt countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

Since its formation, the European Union had been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world.

The worsening debt crisis, however, has forced European governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms. Tens of thousands of Europeans are migrating from their homelands as a result of these difficulties.

There are fears that more delays in resolving the eurozone debt crisis could push not only Europe, but also much of the rest of the Western world back into recession.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Global Awakening, re-imagining reality!



Protesters shout 'Wake Up' during a demonstration in responce to an initiative launched by the group 'Real Democracy Now' on the Internet, in Madrid on May 17, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183178.html

The age of rage has emerged! It's sweeping across borders, from the Middle East, to Europe and the Americas. Freedom-seeking people, who have had enough of political repression, police brutality and dictatorship, are calling for their sisters and brothers to wake up from a worldly delusion.

Somewhere along a road packed with Hollywood films and MTV music videos with their subliminal messages manipulating our lives, weekly celebrity magazines and coca cola bottles shrinking our world, we became the prison guards of our once free minds. And as we lost touch with our self-awareness, we began to increasingly give in to materialistic temptations.

This is despite previous generations ever so long efforts in helping us to empower ourselves with a crucial weapon, called knowledge. Hence the saying, the pen is mightier than the sword.

On the other hand, lack of knowledge means powerlessness. Consequently, one becomes easily manipulated. If we are to give in to any new and hot mainstream trend, then we are only blown around by random forces.

This makes me wonder if it was the top dogs of the global banking elite that said ignorance is bliss, and got a world to repeat this much ridiculous statement.

The same individuals who turned universities into commercial entities with only profit maximization as their agenda. The role of an institution for higher learning is in fact, to teach us how to think. But as this goes against the agenda of profit-greedy bankers, they began to 'dumb down' the masses. And so we all became victims of a massive divide and conquer operation, on an individualized level.

“They keep us divided, men and women, black and white, Muslim, Christian and Jew, they keep us demoralized, that's what the education system league table's about, and they encourage cynicism. And it that way they hope to control us” - Tony Benn

In this cynical atmosphere, we began to feel lonely and insecure, and eventually we lost the sense of our identity. To substitute this loss, we began fulfilling our worldly desires. Had we only opened our eyes a little bit, we would have realized just how much we all have in common, yet how unique each and every one of us are.

But we all fell for the rhetorical democracy of certain Western leaders. Even if, more and more of us have, since The Matrix told Neo to 'wake up', felt that the realities mainstream media has created, are in fact total contradictions. Like claiming black is white, or day is night. Like calling it 'Operation Iraqi Freedom' or claiming what they are doing now in Libya is a military 'intervention', when it is more reminiscent of an invasion. And of course, let's not forget the loud screams of the US and its allies, regarding democratic values and human rights that are echoed all across the world. When, not only did they support Mubarak's oppressive regime for three decades, but every time an opposition wishes democratic reforms or is about to grow in the US or European countries, the world witnesses the brutality of their security forces.

Unfortunately however, anyone who disagrees with the mainstream reality is quickly labeled a conspiracy theorist, a wacko, a weirdo and the list goes on. So to not be called more names, we committed the biggest crime against ourselves, by remaining silent.

This silence however, led to further insecurity, as most of us could not handle it. So quickly, we fled to the shopping centers nearby to acquire the latest gadgets assembled in sweatshops, or expensive brand clothes stitched by children in some far away land working for less than what is needed to survive, just because some superstar in the US has promoted it.

But for many, the pressure continued to grow. This is why countries such as the US and the UK have been witnessing a rise in youth criminality and teen pregnancy. Or why in the US, some students entered their high schools or colleges with a firearm and killed several people before taking their own life. Or why there is such a high rate of attempted suicide amongst young girls in Sweden, or the overall high usage of anti-depressive medication in the entire Western hemisphere.

Nevertheless, with the rise of alternative media and easier access to information, the elite's iron grip on mainstream reality has begun to slip. Even if, alternative information is constantly silenced by the elite's massive propaganda campaigns, people have begun to turn away from previous ways of thinking. And so an evolution of thought is in the making, a process that will alter our consciousness and therefore reform the very foundation of our current understanding of reality, and the nature of ourselves.

This movement is massive. This awakening can be traced across the continents as young people, socially outraged, are staging anti-government demonstrations. Young people in Spain, France and Greece have, especially in these past weeks, been calling for their fellow-citizens to 'wake-up'. The current wave of revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa has been referred to as an awakening. And several movements have emerged in the US, all working to expose their government's false democracy.

Thanks to the Internet, nearly everyone has become politically active and globally interactive. So we know there is someone else on the other side of the border that feels our frustration of being a victim of ever lower living-standards and incomes, together with higher living-costs and unemployment and our never-ending debts, while the elite keep getting richer.

Further, the rise of various social media networks has given birth to a new generation of activists that are mobilizing in completely new ways. Only a week ago, Spain's M-15 movement called on all Europeans, through social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, to join them in their anti-government demonstrations. And their call was heard in Greece and France as demonstrators took to the streets.

So we don't feel as lonely and insecure anymore. Instead we are now becoming globally united in taking our dignity back.

This movement will indeed reshape the current order of the world, and is crucial in the survival of human freedom. Hence, it becomes a direct threat to the elite's agenda for a world government. Therefore, they will do all they can to either prevent or steal the current revolutions, like what is being done in Bahrain or Libya right now. Or maybe this is why the US Senate has approved a cyber security bill, providing the US president full authority to shut down parts of the Internet. Or why in the recent G8 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a tighter grip on the Internet by global powers, as he believes with the government's control, national 'chaos' could be avoided.

Zbigniew Brzezinski said during a 2009 Council on Foreign Relations meeting, “…in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.”

Therefore, people have all the rights to be suspicious about the current events taking place in the world. But one should keep in mind Frederick Douglass when he said “without struggle there is no progress.”

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Ireland opposition claims election victory





Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167250.html

As the votes were counted it soon became clear that the ruling party Fianna Faill had been routed. Blamed by the public for Ireland's deep financial crisis, the once dominant Fianna Faill looked set to gain only around 15% of the votes.

By contrast, it was all smiles for the opposition centre-right party Fine Gael party, which won the election with around 36% of the vote.

Later, the prime minsiter elect received a rousing welcome from supporters. And he pledged to rebuild trust between politicians and the people.

Ireland's problems run deep. A few months ago the government took out an 85 billion euro loan just to keep the country running. There are around 500,000 people unemployed, welfare benefits have been cut, and about 1,000 people are leaving the country each week in search of work abroad.

In the face of voter discontent with the ruling party, smaller parties and independents also made significant breakthroughs.

Voters seem to have punished the ruling Fianna Fail party for the country's devastating financial crisis. But they haven't made a radical change away from the policies that brought about that crisis. So the question is: can a Fine Gael government, possibly in coalition with Labour, lead the country to economic recovery?

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Irish PM survives confidence vote

Brian Cowen survives challenge to his leadership over an EU-IMF bailout ahead of parliamentary elections in March.

The government's handling of the economy has drawn widespread criticism from citizens [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/01/2011118221941635966.html


The Irish prime minister has survived a leadership challenge from withing his party, allowing him to lead the Fianna Fail party into elections expected in March.

A majority of the 71 legislators from the ruling party chose on Tuesday to back Brian Cowen in the tense secret ballot, which was called in the wake of the country's decision to opt for an EU-IMF financial bailout.

"The Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party has voted confidence in the leadership of An Taoiseach [prime minister] Brian Cowen," the party said in a brief statement on its website.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Dublin, said that the voting figures would not be made public.

"But it is my understanding that he won by somewhere in the region of 20-odd votes," he said.

The result followed a three-hour party meeting which included speeches from Cowen and his challenger, Micheal Martin, the foreign minister.

'Full support'

Cowen has now accepted Martin's resignation. Martin has said that the prime minister has his "full support as head of government".

The foreign minister had earlier challenged Cowen and called for a new party leader saying he could not support the premier because of his handling of the bailout.

Ireland became the second eurozone country after Greece to require assistance after it was forced to accept a package to which the IMF and the EU will contribute 67 billion euros ($90 billion).

Martin had dubbed Cowen's handling of the issue a "watershed moment", saying that the way the decision had been managed had convinced him to challenge Cowen for the party leadership.

Cowen has also been criticised for being too close to the disgraced boss of the Anglo Irish Bank. Anglo Irish had to be nationalised to prevent its collapse, and has become a symbol of the bad debts amassed by Irish banks.

Fianna Fail has dominated Irish politics for decades but faces the prospect of being removed from power at the election by a coalition of the Labour and Fine Gael parties.

Martin had termed his leadership challenge a matter of "survival" for the party.

'Fighting for survival'

Cowen called the no-confidence vote himself in an attempt to draw a line under the criticism of his leadership and said afterwards that he was pleased with the result.

He insisted the government had been doing "what's necessary for the country" to steer it through the economic crisis.

"We have been fighting for this country, for its very survival, for its sustainability against one of the greatest economic and finance crises we have seen in over 80 years."

Brian Lenihan, the finance minister, had pledged his support for the prime minister before the vote because while he has "had his difficulties", he remained the best person to lead the party into the election.

He said Cowen "has been totally supportive of me in cabinet on the financial programme that I have proposed to the government and that's the central core issue for this country".

Cowen, whose government term does not expire until mid-2012, was forced to concede the need for an early election in November when the smaller party propping up Fianna Fail in government, the environmentalist Green Party, announced its intention to quit the coalition.

Irish PM faces vote of confidence


Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks during a press conference in Dublin.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/160696.html


Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen is facing a confidence vote over his leadership of the ruling Fianna Fail party just months after a financial meltdown in the country.

Members of parliament in Cowen's party are set to decide whether they want him to continue as leader, in a secret ballot scheduled for Tuesday. An election could be called if he loses.

Though Cowen believes he has enough backing to claim victory, his previously loyal foreign minister, Michael Martin, suddenly turned against him on Sunday, exclaiming that Fianna Fail now needed a new leader.

Then on Monday, Irish Trade Minister Billy Kelleher joined forces with Martin, saying he too, could not support Cowen.

Yet other ministers, led by Welfare Minister Eamon O'Cuiv and Enterprise Minister Batt O'Keeffe, back the leader.

The controversial meeting is set to convene at around 5.30 p.m. in Dublin.

Experts believe the secret ballot -- with its private vote -- could serve as a secret weapon for Cowen's opponents and that even a victory may only be a temporary reprieve for the embattled Irish leader.

The vote of confidence was called by Cowen, himself, in November after some of his party members demanded his resignation.

Fianna Fail party has been under fire over Cowen's handling of the country's financial crisis, which forced Ireland to seek an 85 billion-euro ($113bn) bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund for its stricken economy.

An opinion poll carried by Red C for Paddy Power Plc has put support for the ruling party at a record low of 14 percent.

ICJ delivers ruling in favour of South Africa

South Africa's Closing Argument Against Israel for Genocide at the ICJ