Nothing will change until the corrupt political system is destroyed

A caller to today’s Liveline provides us with a good example of the ruthlessness and greed of the banking sector.

The caller, an elderly lady, used her entire life savings to pay €100,000 off her son’s mortgage when he found himself in deep trouble.

The bank, the EBS, must have been rubbing its hands in glee as this part of the mortgage was on a tracker contract and so its payment would save the bank a substantial amount of money.

The woman then asked the EBS to come to an agreement for the rest of the mortgage (€50,000) which was on a fixed contract.

Not a chance lady, if you want to pay this part of the mortgage off we will impose a substantial penalty.

It’s the law she was told, it’s policy she was told.

You do us a favour, we screw you.

The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, took time our from her busy schedule organising a no holds barred crackdown on alleged social welfare fraudsters to gently ask the banks to go a bit easy on the increasingly desperate peasants.

I actually would like to see the banks becoming active in reaching out to the citizens who have become embroiled in debt because of the recession, losing their job, losing their business.

The critical thing, said the Minister, is that people should engage with their lender.

We can see from the above example what happens to people when they ‘engage’ with their ruthless lenders.

Fergus Finlay has a good article in today’s Irish Examiner on the mortgage crisis in which he brings up the subject of revolution.

In my opinion the big picture is very simple.

The corrupt political system allowed the banks and others destroy our country.

The corrupt political system continues to protect the banks and others who destroyed our country.

Nothing will change until the people destroy the corrupt political system.

Oxford break

I was in Oxford at the weekend to see an exhibition of treasures recently found in the royal burial tombs and the palace of Aegae, the ancient city of Macedon.

Artefacts in the exhibition included objects from the burial tomb of King Phillip II, father of Alexander the Great.

The exhibition was hosted in the very impressive Ashmolean Museum, the world’s first university museum.

Oxford itself is also a very impressive city with history seeping out of every stone.

Dr Ed Walsh: An intellectual idiot who should be confined to a nunnery

I have always had my hair cut short and last week I took the ultimate step of getting a complete head shave.

But having a billiard ball hairstyle didn’t stop me from going through the motions of pulling my hair out as I listened to the founding president of the University of Limerick, Dr. Ed Walsh, spouting pure bullshit at Beal na mBlath last Sunday.

According to this fool Ireland should never have joined the eurozone because:

Had Ireland remained outside the euro, its bankers would not have gained access to the euro zone’s vast and low-interest borrowing opportunities.

Without the outlandish credit available within the euro zone, the building bubble, the resultant government tax windfalls and Ahern’s, McCreevy’s and Cowen’s spending splurge would have been impossible. The country would not now be in receivership.

Irish banks, he said, were guilty of nothing more than some foolish borrowing. German and French banks, on the other hand, were reckless to lend to Irish banks. The European Central Bank failed in its duty to properly regulate all this activity.

Let’s just paraphrase this idiot’s opinion.

If Ireland had not joined the Eurozone the greedy vermin who inhabit the financial sector would have had no opportunity to carry out their crimes.

If Ireland had not joined the eurozone the political scumbags who made it possible for the bankers and developers to gamble away the wealth of the country would have found themselves with no other choice but to govern in a responsible, accountable and transparent manner.

If Ireland had not joined the eurozone Irish regulators would have been capable of dealing with the minor and very rare instances of financial crime and not overwhelmed by the massive wave of fraud brought on by those nasty loans from Europe.

In a sentence – If Ireland had not joined the eurozone our country would still be a nirvana of political, financial and regulatory stability and happiness.

The man is a complete idiot. His views confirm the old adage that education is no guarantor of intelligence.

By now, even the most ignorant dunderhead must be aware of the following facts:

The Irish political system is corrupt to its very core. If our political system was isolated on a planet billions of miles from the nearest German bank Ireland would still be a political/financial basket case. The political system would still operate with just one aim – to enrich the few at the expense of the many.

The Irish financial sector is infested with ruthless vermin who are free to rob and plunder as they wish with no fear whatsoever of being brought to justice.

The Irish regulatory system does not, in fact, regulate. It is not a case of light regulation, there is no regulation whatsoever. In many cases the so called regulators assist, defend and protect the vermin in their crimes.

This fool then goes on to compare Michael Collins, a true patriot, with the lying traitor Brian Lenihan. Collins, we are told, would have recognised Lenihan’s unrelenting commitments to Ireland.

Bullshit.

Collins would have recognised Lenihan for what he was; a gombeen lying traitor who worked tirelessly to protect the interests of a powerful and ruthless ruling elite.

Collins would have thrown Lenihan and his fellow scumbag traitors in jail for destroying the hopes of the Irish people, for destroying the independence that he, Collins and his fellow patriots, had fought and died for.

As for idiot intellectuals, I think Collins would have been charitable and confined them to a nunnery where they could do little harm.

Bankrupt Anglo investigates 'Fingers' Fingleton's watch

Alan Dukes was on the radio over the weekend explaining to the Irish people how he and his bank are determined to get that watch back from ‘Fingers’ Fingleton.

It doesn’t get more bizarre than this.

Dukes is a strong defender of the rotten political system that allowed bankers and developers to bankrupt the country.

He’s a strong defender of Anglo Irish Bank, the institution that played a major role in the destruction of the country.

Countless billions down the drain, countless lives ruined; the country in receivership and this moron and his bankrupt bank are investigating a watch.

The watch cost about €20,000 including tax and, according to Dukes, this is a very substantial amount of money.

If €20,000 is a very substantial amount of money how, I wonder, would he describe the €34 billion that Anglo Irish Bank has cost the taxpayer?

Anglo’s chief executive, Mike Aynsley, wrote to ‘Fingers’ asking him to please return the watch and the €1million bonus he received on retirement.

Aynsley (hilariously) warned that the bank wouldn’t be infinitely patient, as if there was anything he could do if ‘Fingers’ decides to hold onto the watch and the loot.

Scumbag O'Dea takes the money

The vast majority of Irish citizens are suffering real hardship as a result of the catastrophe brought down upon them by our corrupt political system. The consequences of what has happened will be felt for generations to come.

Fianna Fail, the most corrupt political party in the county, is principally responsible for this betrayal of the Irish people.

Limerick City TD Willie O’Dea is a leading member of Fianna Fail.

O’Dea will not be sharing in the people’s suffering as this Irish Examiner report demonstrates.

Limerick City TD Willie O’Dea has taken €8,500 in “step-down” payments this year, on top of his Dáil salary of €92,000.

He claimed €54,000 in golden handshake payments in 2010 after being forced to resign as minister for defence in February 2010.

Under Oireachtas rules, he was entitled to 75% of his ministerial salary for six months after stepping down — up to August 2010.

He was entitled to half the salary up until this month and will be allowed to claim 25% of the salary between now and Christmas.

Here’s how the scumbag defended his greed:

I spend money my own way and I make donations to charity.

This pathetic response is on a par with that other low-life scumbag Bertie Ahern when he claimed he won his money on the horses.

Kevin Myers: over the edge into mad-hood

I long ago gave up taking Kevin Myers seriously.

There was a time when his views were reasonable and balanced but in recent years, sadly, he’s gone a bit over the edge.

Take this article, for example, where he suggests that Martin McAleese, husband of the current president, should get himself elected as president and then hand back the office to Mary while he continues his career as a senator.

Great idea, once voters got used to the idea of the ‘man’ they elected wearing a dress and makeup and looking remarkably like the previous president.

Myers goes on to suggest that after 14 years of this his/her presidency the his/hers daughter, Emma, could take over the reins (reign) for yet another 14 years.

Let’s be charitable here.

Myers was heading for mad-hood anyway but I think the excitement of meeting Queen Elizabeth and Mary McAleese at the same time has tipped him over the edge.

Mad professors and Brian Lenihan corners

David Vines, Professor of economics at Oxford university, was on Today with Pat Kenny expanding on his article published in the Financial Times and Irish Times.

According to the good professor all is just fine and dandy in Ireland.

He accused the rating agencies of lazy thinking and being asleep at the wheel.

He accused listeners who criticised him as people who stand back and let things go wrong around them.

He describes as extraordinary the great expansion in Ireland in the late 90s and early 2000s.

He seems to be completely ignorant of the fact that that ‘great expansion’ was nothing more than a mafia pyramid scheme set up and operated by a cartel of politicians, bankers and developers none of whom have been brought to account.

He believes that Ireland will continue to expand and grow becoming ever more competitive despite the ongoing global crisis and, according to the professor, the Irish banking crisis is over.

I stand with admiration at the sorting out that was done in the recapitalisation of the banks in March/April.

I must have been out buying my cornflakes when that happened.

The professor’s article and interviews caused a wave of insane optimism throughout the ‘we’ve turned a corner’ morons in the political and banking sectors.

But the professor revealed his total ignorance of what’s really going on in our glorious banana republic when he was asked:

And are we over the worst of the banking debacle?

I’m not someone who has as close knowledge as others about Irish banks but it’s my belief from what I know that it’s now soldiering on now that that very important separating of the good and the bad happened in March/April.

Oh, right. He’s not aware that the Irish banking system is rotten to the core, that the Irish financial sector in general is infested with ruthless vermin who are facilitated and supported by a so called regulatory system set up by a deeply corrupt political system.

He’s unaware of the fact that not a single banking institution or official has ever been prosecuted for the countless thefts and frauds carried out over decades against defenceless Irish citizens.

So, just another Brian Lenihan corner then.

When men were men and women knew their place

While reading a book on Roman history I came across the following interesting item concerning the status of women and their attempts to repeal (successfully) a piece of legislation known as the Oppian Law.

The Oppian Law was passed following the disastrous defeat of the Romans by Hannibal at the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.).

Because of the wars with Carthage, many men had died. Their wives and daughters had inherited their lands and monies, allowing many women to become quite rich.

The state, in order to help pay for the cost of the wars, decided to tap into women’s wealth by passing the Oppian Law. It limited the amount of gold women could possess and required that all the funds of wards, single women, and widows be deposited with the state.

Women also were forbidden to wear dresses with purple trim (the colour of mourning and a grim reminder of Rome’s losses).

Nor could they ride in carriages within Rome or in towns near Rome.

That all sounds perfectly reasonable and fair to me.

Cato the Censor spoke out strongly against all this women’s lib stuff.

Citizens of Rome, if each one of us has set himself to retain the rights and the dignity of a husband over his own wife, we should have less trouble with women as a whole sex.

As things are, our liberty, overthrown in the home by female indiscipline, is now being crushed and trodden underfoot here too in the Forum.

Our ancestors refused to allow any woman to transact even private business without a guardian to represent her; women have to remain under the control of fathers, brothers or husbands.

But we (heaven preserve us!) are now allowing them to even take part in politics, and actually to appear in the Forum…What they are looking for is complete liberty, or rather, if we want to speak the truth, complete licence.

Oh for the days when men were men and women knew their place – *sigh*.