Monthly Archives: June 2013

90265458The bank.

The BBC’s business editor Robert Peston said that a draft report from the commission called for the split of RBS [Royasl bank of Scotland] into a good bank and a bad bank. However, he added that “another, more radical option is also being assessed by the Treasury”. That would involve somehow removing Ulster Bank from RBS Group – Ulster has been the worst performing part of the group, dragging down its overall performance. Mr Peston said that one idea raised is to “transfer Ulster Bank into the arms and ownership of the Irish government”, by swapping all or part of the bank for the British loans and investments currently owned by Ireland’s “bad bank”, the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

 

And sure why not?

Ulster Bank: Treasury looks at Irish takeover possibility (BBC)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u4qxikalPzE

Mumblin’ Deaf Ro, The Lie-Ins, The Prairie Dogs @ The Cobblestone, King Street, Dublin 7 (€TBC, 9pm)

Nialler9 writes:

It was heartening to see one of my favourite Irish songwriters Mumblin’ Deaf Ro get a Choice Music Prize nomination earlier this year for his album Dictionary Crimes, a collection of songs about family and what it’s like to be in one.
Ronan Hession’s lyrics avoid cliché and stick to plain beautiful truths. He doesn’t play many gigs and The Cobblestone in Smithfield is a genuinely intimate place to see his band with support from Lie-Ins and Prairie Dogs.

 

Nialler9’s Gig Guide June 4-10

130604071413-03-turkey-protest-0604-horizontal-galleryOutside the Turkish Prime Minister’s residence in Istanbul this morning.

What is now at stake in Turkey are two diametrically different views of what kind of society Turks want to live in. The widespread anti-government unrest is a direct manifestation of tensions within Turkish society over what are perceived as [Turkish Prime Minister]  Erdogan’s efforts to Islamize the Turkish population by rolling back the secular system established by Kemal Ataturk after coming to power in 1923.

And despite Attatuk’s legacy, much of the population remains highly devout, especially in the countryside. They have been the bedrock of support for Erdogan, electing his party three times in a row, the last time with a solid majority, reducing the need for the prime minister to adopt policies that would appeal to other parties, especially the secular-minded Republican People’s Party.

Free to pursue his own desired policies, the acerbic and autocratic prime minister has operated as if the views of others were of little consequence, only an occasional irritant.

But what has increasingly infuriated Turkish secularists and other liberal-minded Turks have been Erdogan’s attempts to undermine the secular system, employing measures introducing greater emphasis on the Muslim religion within society, including the previously off-limits educational system. And Erdogan’s measures to place restrictions on the sale and availability of alcohol have angered many Turks in a country where the national drink, raki, is very popular, even among Erdogan supporters.

More troubling, Erdogan’s actions to muzzle a free press and the media, including imprisoning journalists under dubious security laws, have generated suspicion and animosity.

And even Erdogan’s supporters, including devout Muslims and like-minded conservatives, complain about his lack of consultation regarding the safeguarding of heritage sites in Istanbul.

Whole neighbourhoods have been evicted in order to build new upscale highrises and other structures. One of Istanbul’s major heritage experts bemoaned the fact he no longer recognizes the city he grew up in.

Turkish society split over competing social visions (Harry Sterling, Toronto Star)

Previously: [Local] Television Kept Showing Miss Turkey And The ‘Strangest Cat In The World’

AFP