Tag Archives: bullying

McCabe

RTÉ’s This Week is reporting that Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe has made a formal complaint of bullying against two gardaí to Gda Supt Pat McMenamin in recent weeks. A formal investigation is now under way.

RTÉ reports:

It is understood that Sgt McCabe has alleged that two named gardaí had attempted to discredit him and undermine him professionally over a period of time, when discussing his role as a whistleblower with other members of the force.

Whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe makes formal complaint over bullying (RTÉ)

Related: Whistle blower harassed by fellow gardaí (Mick Clifford, Irish Examiner)

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A video compiled by Newswhip the people-powered news people on how Pantigate – a story intiailly ignored by mainstream media – evolved with YOUR help.

Paul from Newswhip sez:

“We wanted to show how social media and more unofficial online news outlets can drive news agendas…”

Meanwhile…

…holding a minority view does not automatically confer martyr status on an individual. It just means their opinions are unpopular.This phenomenon was evident during the Pantigate controversy when some commentators, railing against the online backlash, seemed to suggest that central to the concept of free speech was the right to express an opinion without that opinion being challenged or derided.No such right exists.
…If there is a threat to freedom of speech in this country, it is not coming from social media, but from people who prefer to make accusations of bullying instead of defending their opinions from legitimate criticism.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make it bullying – it’s free speech (Colette Browne, Irish Independent)

 

It concerns the case of a fifth-year student at fee-paying Mount Anville in Goatstown [Co Dublin] who was abducted last month by sixth-year schoolmates and left tied to a post in a nearby boy’s school.

…The girl was tied up with builder’s cable cord, blindfolded and driven to Blackrock College while five other sixth years followed behind in another car.

The girl was verbally abused and left alone on the school grounds tied to a post, after a bottle of water was poured over her.

Garda Inquiry Into Bullying Incident (Róisín Ingle, Irish Times)

Alarming but not terribly surprising testimonial from former classmates of Republican presidential candidate Biff Tannen Mitt Romney in the Washington Post:

John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenage son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

With help from other bullies, according to the article, Romney then pinned Lauber (who died in 2004) to the ground, and while the young man was weeping, cut off his hair with scissors.

And there’s more.

ABC News also interviewed school friends of Romney, one of whom described his behavior as “like Lord of the Flies.” Romney apologized for the “prank” in a radio interview today, but said that “homosexuality” was never on his mind.

Riiight.

Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents (Washington Post)

Romney Friend Stu White Says Campaign Wants Him to Counter Prank Accusations (ABCNews)

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