53 thoughts on “De Friday Papers

  1. SOQ

    Brexit- No deal or referendum so. Not surprising really as May did not have anything new to offer, except the EU now has a clear reason not to concede on the backstop.

    It has to be something in the water over there.

    1. Cú Chulainn

      Extension followed by an election. Hard to see anything else at this stage. Quite extraordinary that the body politic in Britain has come to this. And a seismic shift in NI that has made a federal Ireland a certainty. Interesting times indeed.

      1. ReproBertie

        An extension means the EU tax rules come in to play and Farage, Rees Mogg and co don’t want that. Also an extension makes the EU elections in May very messy.

        1. jusayinlike

          If a tax exclusion is agreed for the City, May and co will agree to any Brexit that’s being offered.

          They serve queen over country..

          1. jusayinlike

            The Panama paper’s

            All trusts will be made to name beneficiaries, if said beneficiaries reside in the UK/EU they will be liable for taxation.

    2. Eoin

      The Bank of England boss says “It’s cold comfort, but it [a disorderly Brexit] will be worse in Europe than it is here” That thinking is prevalent amongst a certain segment of the powers-that-be in the UK. Are they hoping the EU will cave on the backstop or risk a no-deal? It’s a dangerous game of chicken, and there’s a solid cohort in the EU that just want the UK gone at this stage, deal or no deal.

      What is totally clear is, the UK government is deliberately running down the clock.

      1. jusayinlike

        So as to prolong negotiations in the hope a tax exclusion deal can be reached for the City of London.

  2. Eoin

    Irish film director found not guilty of sexual assault in London. Interesting case of he said/she said and very little circumstantial evidence. Times Ireland yesterday (now online) reports

    “Stephen Fingleton, 35, from Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, wept in the dock as he was found not guilty of attacking the woman in her west London home after they had had lunch. He looked at the jury and said “thank you” as the verdict was delivered.

    The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had claimed that the director pulled her head towards his crotch as she hung washing. A jury at Isleworth crown court found Mr Fingleton not guilty of one charge of sexual assault after deliberating for eight hours.”

      1. Northern Pole Cats

        Why does the man found not guilty have his name plastered all over the media but his accuser gets to hide in anonymity?

        What happened to equality? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Is this man to be tried all over again in the media?

        Oh that’s right: he’s white, he’s a man, he has no rights. It’s his own fault for going to lunch without a chaperone. He was asking for it…

        Cue the hypocrites.

        1. dav

          how many cases of rape and sexual assaults go unreported to the authorities? I would submit that they are many times the number of cases where the accused is found not guilty..

        2. ReproBertie

          “he’s white, he’s a man, he has no rights”
          Such a pathetic snowflake. Go on, tell us how white males are the most discriminated against minority.

          1. ReproBertie

            Did you just learn the word hypocrisy when I called you out on it yesterday?

            Entertain me. Explain how anything I said in response to your cry baby post displays hypocrisy. Go on, show us how well you understand your new word.

          1. Northern Pole Cats

            If he was of the preferred protected pigmentation/religious background/sexual orientation/gender dis-morphia his identity would be sealed, even if he was found guilty.

            Besides, you’re all (deliberately) missing the point – what is the punishment for making false accusations of this sort? Why is there no jeopardy for a woman who lies in court with the aim of destroying a man’s reputation?

            Or are we still stuck on “not guilty does not mean innocent” – “believe women” – “all men are bastards”…

      2. Eoin

        It’s an interesting case that cropped up previously in the daily papers section and I thought it should probably be said the man has now been found not guilty. The case involved some interesting issues, the #metoo Harvey Weinstein angle, the he said/she said nature of it, the naming of the suspect (now cleared) and the anonymity of the alleged victim, and the suspect is an Irish film director. Stephen says that as a result of the case he lost out on a major US project involving well-known actors. I didn’t hear the evidence and if he had been found guilty, he would have deserved the book being thrown at him, but, as it is, I feel a bit sorry for him.

  3. Eoin

    Does anyone else think it’s suspicious Eoghan Murphy hasn’t published the social housing construction figures for 208 by local authority area? The local authorities built 833 units in the first three quarters of 2018. Murphy is claiming (though he had to be asked a few times for the info by RTE yesterday) that 2,022 units were constructed in the full year. Did they really construct 1,200 units in one quarter (2022-833)? And it’s now 7 weeks into 2019, why isn’t Murphy providing us with the figures? I smell a rat.

    1. Frilly Keane

      I’m smelling Fianna Fail ..

      Local elections
      And the Soldiers of Destiny are currently the majority reps at local level
      And they cannot lose that status

      So maybe they’re saving those numbers for themselves

      But that’s just me

  4. edalicious

    Interesting take on the front of the Star. Apparently people not wanting to work in pubs is because of a lack of character, rather than a lack of pay.

  5. f_lawless

    I see BBC Syria producer Riam Dalati has done a 180 and recently posted on twitter: “I can now prove without a doubt that the hospital scene in Douma was staged. No fatalities occurred in the hospital..”
    https://twitter.com/Tim_Hayward_/status/1096295852396691456
    This was the unverified video used as justification by “FUKUS” to launch a bombing campaign in Syria 10 months ago. Same old story, original narrative falls apart but media spotlight has long moved on and won’t be coming back

  6. Junkface

    The ISIS teen wife who wants to come back to UK. Jesus Christ! No shame. They should just send her a tent to sit in, in the desert, so she can think about what she did. She chose Medieval Scum and be-headings of innocents over civilised society, reality and a loving family.

    1. f_lawless

      feckin teenagers with their not-yet-fully-developed brains getting indoctrinated into murderous cults. Bring back hanging I say!

      1. Junkface

        Not in this part of the world thankfully, but any Islamic country will gladly have hangings if that’s what you want. They can also provide the Bone-Saw option for journalists.

        1. jusayinlike

          The bone saw option for journos is also practiced in the west..

          See Gary Webb, he was shot twice in the head and his death was ruled a suicide.

          His death wasn’t eulogized by the lapdog press like jamal (relative of arms dealer Adnan) kashogi, maybe it had something to do with his reporting on state sponsored terrorism and drug dealing from the Iran contra affair.

        2. f_lawless

          but you don’t dispute that a teenager’s frontal lobe is not fully developed yet – the part which effects the decision-making process, the ability to control emotions and impulses, and empathy, etc?
          Careful now – your ideologically driven anti-Islamic thinking might just leave you hate-filled and lacking in empathy

          1. Junkface

            There are plenty of Muslims in exile in Canada and the USA who would strongly disagree with what you just said. You can be anti religion with regards to Islam without being anti-Islamic which I think you mean as being racist against Muslims. Islam needs to be reformed, millions of modernist Muslims want this, thousands of ex-Muslims want this too, because as Atheists they had to flee their own countries otherwise they would be stoned to death or beheaded by angry mobs. Oh, there’s also the culture of Honor killings, parents killing their own daughters for not doing what they want. So tell me, out of all of the religions out there, which one is most intolerant and violent?

          2. f_lawless

            so consumed you are with making your ideological point about Islam, that you won’t even address your earlier call for, effectively, the torture of a teenager! Confined to a tent in the desert I imagine to be fairly hellish

          3. Junkface

            That’s not torture! That’s pretty close to what they were already living like in the desert. Extremists who choose a life of terrorism and intolerance should be left with their own choice. Teenagers also know the difference between right and wrong by the age of 13, even though yes they are highly suggestible, but that’s the whole point. No other religion would convince young people that terrorism is fine. If this scourge of Sunni and Wahhabi Islam was modernised to be more tolerant then this whole situation would not have arisen.

            And ‘jusayinlike’, I never said I was the spokesman for the Muslim diaspora. I’m making a point based on real life experiences of ex Muslims, from articles they have written and shared with the world in order to be heard. Should they be silenced? You’re being childish.

          4. jusayinlike

            You want Trump dead, and Muslim’s strung up for being dragged into a proxy war, you than hilariously go all self righteous and claim you know what Muslim’s want..

            and than you call me childish, get a grip..

          5. f_lawless

            “Teenagers also know the difference between right and wrong by the age of 13, even though yes they are highly suggestible, but that’s the whole point. No other religion would convince young people that terrorism is fine.”

            That’s not the whole point – that’s your whole point (which isn’t actually correct either). I’m trying to make the point to you, that if you’re calling for a teenage girl – who’s been indoctrinated into a cult since the age of 15 and is currently 9 months pregnant – to be confined to a tent in the desert against her will, then it appears as though something is causing you to have a lack of empathy

          6. Nigel

            From the absolute bare minimum I’ve read about her, she seems like a strong, stubborn, fearless person and it’s a pure tragedy to lose her, and young people like her, to violent fanaticism.

          7. Nigel

            ‘No other religion would convince young people that terrorism is fine.’

            We had a fairly recent conflict of our own divided along sectarian lines that never had much difficulty persuading young people that terrorism is fine. In fact it’s a category error, religion is one of several things that have, historically, successfully persuaded young people that terrorism is fine. Ironically, this particular version of this particular religion did not exist extensively in this form until relatively recently when it was fostered and funded and supported specifically to channel violence in proxy Cold War conflicts. People often think that irony is a form of humour, but it’s usually deeply unfunny.

          8. f_lawless

            @Junkface in fairness I’m bought up ideological thinking because it’s something I recognise I’m not immune to getting trapped in.
            Also,I can see the drawback of online communication – the urge to respond impulsively in the moment will be very different to what we would have written after a longer period of reflection – it’s now crystalised online and then you end up having defend your corner from that basis

  7. johnny

    The NYT above has a small piece on Brexit/Ireland-i know bit late getting started this am (late nite) but its somewhat interesting read-in that this is what is getting presented to yanks who are completely disinterested in Brexit.

    Great work bodger/broadsheet this week on bizarre DOB trial,what good name would this be:)

    Its been commented on by Eoin that the defense strategy is very one dimensional,Roger Stone documented various allegations/rumors regarding Clinton Foundation/DOB all available at ‘stonecoldtruth’,which are far ‘worse’ than anything Tom/Ian or the SPB ever published.

    “Given the choice between that and reunification, people across the island of Ireland have shown a preference for unity, though neither government has expressed the same enthusiasm.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/world/europe/brexit-northern-ireland.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

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