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Real News Volume 2

27/2/2018

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The Government has come under fire for going a step too far in spreading a party political message in national and regional newspapers at a cost of €1.5m.

What’s worrying about Fine Gael’s campaign is that in most cases the advertising was written by mercenaries, featured pictures of party members, and were purposefully made look like authentic articles by the papers which printed them.

This is tragic because the advertising used the integrity and trust of the individual papers concerned to convince their audience that Fine Gael are promoting a positive and rewarding programme which will result in prosperity for Ireland.

Journalism has failed to question if the 2040 plan is simply party propaganda on the run up to an election and have thus failed the people of Ireland. Simply looking back on Fine Gael’s previous election promises of Burden Sharing and Ending Hospital Waiting Lists would suggest the party are incapable of delivering on their commitments, but is print media really going to challenge the provider of a multi million euro revenue stream or are they going to remain complicit with the hand that feeds them.

If independent news papers are afraid to speak out against members of the Government, or the Government itself, for fear of losing precious revenue then this is a threat to our democracy as well as leaving the Government less accountable and more open to corruption.

In light of this my real news awards continue with the fourth trophy of the year going to Ellen Coyne's (@ellenmcoyne ‏) for her coverage of the Splash4Cash scandal.

Make 2040 ads look like real news, paper told

Ellen open's with; Regional newspapers were instructed to make government advertorials look like independent stories and in some cases part of “the normal news cycle,”

She also reveals that; One local editor told The Times: “This is fake news. Newspapers are struggling and the government know that, so they’ve got us by the balls.”
 
The fifth trophy goes to Susan Mitchell (@susmitchellSBP) for her article

‘Stop Downplaying Hospital Waiting Times’


Susan’s sub headline says enough really;

“Claims that waiting lists are improving are not supported by the data and overall trends, but ever changing targets facilitate such lame assertions by politicians and the Department of Health”

In her article Susan points out that in January 2012 there were 59,386 people on waiting lists but by January 2018 those figures had risen to 80,204 with more people than ever waiting longer than 12 months for potentially lifesaving treatments.

The sixth trophy of the year goes to Donal O’Keeffe (@Donal_OKeeffe) for his article in The Avondhu: ‘Making pawns of people who have Down Syndrome is cruel and disingenuous’

Donal takes to print and tackles some very challenging points on the debate without holding back on the punches himself;
“I would ask ‘Love Both’ campaigners – who are usually Catholic in the extreme – what they think would have happened to a baby born with Down syndrome, say, in a Mother and Baby Home when the Catholic Church was in its pomp.”

Donal’s article is brave given how divisive the issue is and how little discussion there has been on the topic on RTE television. The Government have taken a backseat on the debate so far and it's hard to tell how they get away with such a lack of leadership on some of the most important and platform issues presented to them. 
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EU Funded

20/2/2018

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For anyone familiar with the site you’ll notice I have an ‘Ask The Champ’ tab, which is basically like a CuriousCat section of the site for anyone looking to know more about Champ and Champ related activities. Richard Broome took time out of his day to enquire:

Dear Sir,
l notice that your unpatriotic moan about Irexit did not attract a single comment nor gather a single penny in contributions. Says it all really.

Regards
Richard Broome.

Thanks for your question Richard, nice to know you read something other than the Daily Mail Online.

Patriotism is an abstract concept, one our country has struggled with since its foundations. Ultimately patriotism lead to the civil war as both sides of the dispute shed blood as a result of opposing faiths in different ideals and patriotic beliefs. I mention purely to demonstrate the calamity of unbinding will and to highlight your inadequate use of the term, as I too would consider myself a patriot, albeit one of rational and sound mind who believes our future remains as part of a European Union which has brought us great wealth, opportunity and much improved social standards.  

Secondly the purpose of the article was to capture the events of the conference, perhaps you could call it an online soapbox, what I attract as a result is usually negative in nature so sometimes the less the better. However there is never any real harm in challenging your beliefs as it will either strengthen your resolve, broaden your mind, or initiate your deprogramming from cult like groups such as Irexit.

Alas I must admit I have not received a penny in contributions from creating the most comprehensive account of the Irexit Conference, that too says plenty, but I take some solace in knowing that a record of events now exists as I know many people were curious about the event but didn’t attend for fear of being associated with a group of xenophobic maga morons.  

“We are a vibrant first-world country, but we have a humbling third-world memory.”
Mary McAleese, 1997
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Teen Moms Divide Repeal

12/2/2018

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What do you do when your granny tells you she’s going to vote ‘No’ to repeal the 8th. You can threaten to leave her out of next year’s Christmas dinner and tell her that if she dies in the mean time she’ll be buried in an unmarked grave 15 miles from the cemetery. Of course that would be cruel and unusual but also means she will eliminate you from her will so let’s not be irrational here, anyway at this age of her life if she’s going to vote ‘No’ it’s probably best to make her a flask of Bovril and help her onto the community bus.

The balance of the Repeal Referendum won’t lie with conservative Grannies anyway, and everyone fighting the abortion rights campaign is aware of this. What they need to wake up to though is that there is an uphill struggle in this march for choice that they’re not fully prepared for.

You see the problem is that only 6% of Irish people identify as being non religious (as per the 2011 census). This is very significant, most people I know would be easily identifiable heretics but still say they are Catholic when presented with the question. It’s also more than just a tick in the box on a form, although people say they don’t practice religion they still baptise their children and enjoy other church rituals such as the kind of wedding ceremonies that would make Eamon de Valera proud.

This is significant in that most people still make decisions based on Catholic teachings, despite not attending Church or appearing to present liberal values. This is the result of early schooling indoctrination into the Catholic Church that we somehow have struggled to drive out of this country.

The point being that the Catholic Church is very strongly voicing its opposition to Repeal the 8th and we must assume this is a race to convert and deprogram the majority rather than a race to win the middle ground as previously stated.  

The Repeal movement is acting under the assumption that Ireland has proven it’s a country of liberal values, as 62% of the population supported the Marriage Referendum. However what has to be considered is that same sex marriage is a more straight forward issue, we see civil partnerships in films and TV soaps all the time and people are generally more accepting of same sex relationships as a result of exposure and discussion. We also have to consider the strong political support the referendum had and the fact that people are more open about their sexuality nowadays, even prominent members of the GAA have come out as being openly gay which resulted in a whole new chapter of diversity and acceptance in communities all over Ireland.   

A survey of American adults conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public life found that 57% of Millinnials are in favour of same sex marriage compared to only 46% who say abortion is morally acceptable. Although our referendum would suggest a higher percentage of Millinnial’s in favour of equal rights the sharp drop off is something to be very aware of and significant enough to suggest that the Repeal the 8th Referendum will not pass in Ireland.

The study also showed that although 70% of Americans identify as being ‘ProChoice’ a remarkable 66% also identify with being ‘Pro-Life’. This is because most people view themselves as being liberal and confuse ‘ProChoice’ as simply an issue about equal rights but when presented with an issue such as abortion revert back to the conservative norms which dominate mainstream thinking.

On a positive note the study published some factors which influence support for abortion such as;
  1. Knowing someone who’s had an abortion
  2. Watching MTV show about unmarried pregnant teenagers
  3. Situation based approach to morality

In summary if you want to repeal the 8th locking your granny in the closet won’t be enough to pass the referendum. The tide is against you despite the recent wave of emotion and success in securing a referendum. Finally if you want to repeal the 8th you must continue the discussion with all age groups explaining the different situations women might require an abortion, leave real life articles hanging around the house/office, and watch more MTV.

As a foot note it’s also worth remembering that although the Marriage referendum passed by a 62% majority several counties voted very marginally in favour of equality, representing heavily conservative populations in Donegal South West, Cavan-Monaghan, Mayo and Donegal North-East with Roscommon-South Leitrim voting a majority 51% ‘No’ to same sex marriage. So if you live in these areas get ultra active and start organising now.  

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