Brian Cowen gets the bird.

mike65

The opening of the new bit of road reminded me of a certain scene in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (radio series).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlIds-wDXQE

but with a bogger accent.

JonathanAnon

Only missing the siren in the background. They have the time to open a road but not to run the country. Word has it that Cowan put pressure on the them to finish the road quickly, as his nearest off license is at the other end of the road.

Het-Field

Iv never seen this type of direct action levelled against our politicians. With things only going to get worse, this type of activity will become more widespread

Liam Byrne

Het-Field wrote: »

Iv never seen this type of direct action levelled against our politicians. With things only going to get worse, this type of activity will become more widespread

Unfortunately it didn't come soon enough - the general election was a few years ago, and a lot of the people who are now protesting are the ones who voted in this shower of idiots.

diverdriver

I watched the news piece of the opening of the new piece of Athlone - Galway road with glee. Not only will it make it easier to get the hell out of Galway. But Cowan got abused by a bunch of farmers who made themselves look like idiots. One angrily shouted the some farmers incomes were 100% from REPS scheme and did he want all these farmers on the dole. My question would be 'Which is cheaper?'. If 100% of your income is from the taxpayer. What the hell are you doing in business?

Besides the scheme is only closed to new entrants. Surely all those farmers are already sucking away on the public teat by now.

It is quite incredible how many simply haven't grasped the reality of the situation. There is no more taxpayers money coming to keep them in the manner they've become accustomed. I can't believe how many people in this country get money for nothing and don't seem to realise their days are numbered.

All those chickens coming home to roost.:p

Taxipete29

diverdriver wrote: »

I watched the news piece of the opening of the new piece of Athlone - Galway road with glee. Not only will it make it easier to get the hell out of Galway. But Cowan got abused by a bunch of farmers who made themselves look like idiots. One angrily shouted the some farmers incomes were 100% from REPS scheme and did he want all these farmers on the dole. My question would be 'Which is cheaper?'. If 100% of your income is from the taxpayer. What the hell are you doing in business?

Besides the scheme is only closed to new entrants. Surely all those farmers are already sucking away on the public teat by now.

It is quite incredible how many simply haven't grasped the reality of the situation. There is no more taxpayers money coming to keep them in the manner they've become accustomed. I can't believe how many people in this country get money for nothing and don't seem to realise their days are numbered.

All those chickens coming home to roost.:p

Yes because this country can survive without farmers :rolleyes:.

We are heading into a global food crisis in the near future. Countries with no real indiginous agricultural industry are looking around globally for land to farm to insure they will have a food supply when the crisis hits. South Korea were trying last year to lease land for 99 years in Madagascar.

With this in mind it would be very foolish of us to destroy one of the few indiginous industries we have.

oncevotedff

Taxipete29 wrote: »

Yes because this country can survive without farmers :rolleyes:..

It's cheaper to import food than produce it here. Even people who own farms don't grow their own food.

Het-Field wrote: »

Iv never seen this type of direct action levelled against our politicians. With things only going to get worse, this type of activity will become more widespread

Not since the 1920s anyway. TDs should be getting nervous.

silverharp

Taxipete29 wrote: »

We are heading into a global food crisis in the near future. Countries with no real indiginous agricultural industry are looking around globally for land to farm to insure they will have a food supply when the crisis hits. South Korea were trying last year to lease land for 99 years in Madagascar.

With this in mind it would be very foolish of us to destroy one of the few indiginous industries we have.

Who said? as far as I am aware the population of Europe will be dropping over the next 50 years. What possible European food crises are you talking about?

Taxipete29

oncevotedff wrote: »

It's cheaper to import food than produce it here. Even people who own farms don't grow their own food.

And will it still be cheaper in the years ahead when other countries may be exporting less as more is required for domestic consumption.

Taxipete29

silverharp wrote: »

Who said? as far as I am aware the population of Europe will be dropping over the next 50 years. What possible European food crises are you talking about?

I said global food crisis.

The population of Europe will not be decling. Its expected to rise from 495m to 521m until 2035. It will drop back to 501 by 2060, but thats still an increase.

Indias population may increase to 2 billion by the end of this century unless there is a serious slow down in birth rates.

Do I really have to explain that there is a Global Food crisis?? Google it. There are plenty of articles that will explin it better than I can. But it is a fact

irish_bob

diverdriver wrote: »

I watched the news piece of the opening of the new piece of Athlone - Galway road with glee. Not only will it make it easier to get the hell out of Galway. But Cowan got abused by a bunch of farmers who made themselves look like idiots. One angrily shouted the some farmers incomes were 100% from REPS scheme and did he want all these farmers on the dole. My question would be 'Which is cheaper?'. If 100% of your income is from the taxpayer. What the hell are you doing in business?

Besides the scheme is only closed to new entrants. Surely all those farmers are already sucking away on the public teat by now.

It is quite incredible how many simply haven't grasped the reality of the situation. There is no more taxpayers money coming to keep them in the manner they've become accustomed. I can't believe how many people in this country get money for nothing and don't seem to realise their days are numbered.

All those chickens coming home to roost.:p

reps is not just closed to new entrants

silverharp

Taxipete29 wrote: »

I said global food crisis.

The population of Europe will not be decling. Its expected to rise from 495m to 521m until 2035. It will drop back to 501 by 2060, but thats still an increase.

Indias population may increase to 2 billion by the end of this century unless there is a serious slow down in birth rates.

Do I really have to explain that there is a Global Food crisis?? Google it. There are plenty of articles that will explin it better than I can. But it is a fact

Still , we happen to live in one of the richest corners of the world, and trends be they good or bad take decades to play out. Btw if food prices go up X2 or 3 do we get our subsidies back?

LostinBlanch

Well this is what happens when you screw things up as spectacularly as FF have done with their cack handed pumping of the bubble, brown envelopes, backhanders and nods and winks.

The chickens have come home to roost . . . . and they haven't even started to sh*t on Cowens head yet.

But they will. This country is getting angrier by the day - look at the news reports of permanent tsb staff being spat at by customers even though it's the tsb board that made the decision. When was the last time you heard of something like that happening? Or serious talk of social unrest from people who normally wouldn't countenance such talk? This from a supine population who'll take anything thrown at them provided they can whinge to people down the pub or ring Liveline.

This current regime doesn't have the legitimacy to govern in this climate, protests such as these are an indicator of this. Throw in the scandals in the traditional areas of authority

• The Church and paedophilia and the Ryan report etc.
• The Medics and organ retention scandals, Neary in Drogheda whipping out womens uteruses just because he felt like it, the hep c cases and blood transfusion scandals - even though that's going back a few years, it's still in the background "informing" some peoples views.
• The Guards - Donegal, "Robocop" getting caught on camera beating the sh*te out of a protestor in Dame St I think, but getting acquitted in court despite the evidence.
• The undermining of the Dail by FF and the Greens who seek to release bad news / contentious issues to their pet journos, pr contacts etc who'll repeat the party line without question for fear of not being in the loop the next time. Instead of debating the issues in the Dail - which is what it's there for.
• Local politics - Frank Dunlop? Planning scandals anyone? Mahon etc only dealt with "planning irregularities" in Dublin. Does anyone think that the other 25 counties are free from dodgy decisions?
• The deliberate fostering of a them and us culture as an attempt to distract people from those responsible for creating the problem in the first place. This is leading to a fracturing of society where people are more than ever at each others throats public versus private sector for example.
• Brendan Drumm and his huge wages and bonuses while sick children in Crumlin hospital (where Drumm used to work) can't get the operations they need because Drumm has cut their budget despite them meeting their targets last year.
• The fact that no one who is part of the establishment ever seems to pay for things they've done no matter how much they've cost us. See? There's the them and us I was talking about. I'm talking about the recently reported 1,000 or so civil servants in the HSE who don't have any actual role or work to do. Or the nice people who brought us PPars on time and under budget. Wait they didn't. Just to show I'm an equal opportunites poster look at the bankers - Seanie McMahon strutting around town like he feels he still owns the place now compare him with Bernie Madoff who is only in the hapenny place compared to McMahon.

Apologies for rambling, I could go on with more examples but I won't.

What I'm trying to say is democracy here is being seriously undermined, a vaccuum is being created and who knows who could manipulate the current mood for whatever aims? Not for the good of the population.

But then again you could argue that the good of the population has never been the raison d'etre of any government here. Only the good of certain sections of the population, usually the ones that financed the government of the day, and if other sectors of the population benefitted from the crumbs dropped from the table then well and good. That's a happy accident.

Anyway, back on topic. I think that things are going to get a lot worse, wait till after Lisbon II. Then the gloves are going to come off - on both sides and it's not going to be pretty.

Liam Byrne

You forgot our disgraced former Taoiseach [ the most recent one, although Haughey and his ilk would probably qualify as well ] and the fact that his ego projects (Bertie Bowl, anyone ?) and his still-unexplained finances.

What's annoying is that this has been blatantly obvious for years, but the idiots within the electorate still voted in B-B-Bertie & Co and made them feel more untouchable - incompetence and question marks went unpunished - which made them even worse.

LostinBlanch

Liam Byrne wrote: »

You forgot our disgraced former Taoiseach [ the most recent one, although Haughey and his ilk would probably qualify as well ] and the fact that his ego projects (Bertie Bowl, anyone ?) and his still-unexplained finances.

What's annoying is that this has been blatantly obvious for years, but the idiots within the electorate still voted in B-B-Bertie & Co and made them feel more untouchable - incompetence and question marks went unpunished - which made them even worse.

Eh . . . no, I was trying to forget him. I didn't transfer my vote when I moved and kept my vote in his constituency just so I could vote against the swine personally.

freyners

LostinBlanch wrote: »

Eh . . . no, I was trying to forget him. I didn't transfer my vote when I moved and kept my vote in his constituency just so I could vote against the swine personally.

nice:D
But one thing, the look of surprise on cowen that people dare to critisize him


is he that arrogant or just plainly an idiot?

Liam Byrne

freyners wrote: »

nice:D
But one thing, the look of surprise on cowen that people dare to critisize him


is he that arrogant or just plainly an idiot?

Both, it seems like. Don't forget that he was Minister for Finance with his foot firmly on the gas-pump......