Blah blah, it’s the weekly round-up.
– HOME
Ireland After Nama with probably the most in-depth analysis of the Irish electoral landscape ever blogged. Ever. In the whole world.
Micheal Burke of Progressive Economy on Germany calling on Greece to tighten belts, with a nod to the disease that is tax dodging in Greece.
Aoife O’Donoghue of Human Rights in Ireland on passports and assassinations.
Hugh Green, a Green [Party member], on O’Dea and Fianna Fáil culture.
I used to think Fianna Fáil corruption was of secondary importance to the broader matters of class domination and corporate power in Irish society. But it is becoming fairly clear to me, somewhat belatedly, that its bare-faced corruption, with the corrosive disenchantment and apathy that it creates among vast swathes of the population, is in itself a devastatingly effective instrument for maintaining the rule of the gombeen bourgeoisie.
Today is the two year anniversary of the peak of the boom, notes Gerard O’Neill. It’s been downhill since then baaaaybbbbayyy.
– WORLD
US-centric this week as I’ve been reading a lot of stuff from and about that side of the pond.
Do yourself a favour and read David Brooks latest column in the New York Times headed, ‘The Power Elite‘
Fifty years ago, the financial world was dominated by well-connected blue bloods who drank at lunch and played golf in the afternoons. Now financial firms recruit from the cream of the Ivy League. In 2007, 47 percent of Harvard grads went into finance or consulting. Yet would we say that banks are performing more ably than they were a half-century ago?
Government used to be staffed by party hacks. Today, it is staffed by people from public policy schools. But does government work better than it did before?
Journalism used to be the preserve of working-class stiffs who filed stories and hit the bars. Now it is the preserve of cultured analysts who file stories and hit the water bottles. Is the media overall more reputable now than it was then?
The promise of the meritocracy has not been fulfilled. The talent level is higher, but the reputation is lower.
Why has this happened? I can think of a few contributing factors. […]
Andrew Sullivan on the scumbag that is Marc Theissen, and his twisted Catholic rhetoric.
ABC, while attempting to appear as what would be generally perceived as ‘balanced’, can’t find an economist to say Obama’s stimulus has failed.
It’s bizarre to hear what Tucker Calrson is saying below get heckled. Even if what he is saying is loaded with inaccuracies – specifically the end line about Fox News – broadly speaking, he’s correct. What do the hecklers want? Do they even know? Have a look…
Has the Internet killed ‘Rovian’ [Karl Rove] politics? So asks the Tech President blog of Personal Democracy Forum.
Credit card details implicate Mossad in the fake passports killing according to The Arab News.
Dear Ireland After Nama, can you do us one of these up? Ah g’wan… [watch in full-screen].
– OTHER
Mental Health Break: Gotta love this stuff.
I’m not a Green Party member, just a sloppy writer. Thank Christ.
Mark, we have an animated Live Register map done for Ireland at local welfare office level – and have had for quite a while. We’ve been tinkering with it and also had probs trying to get onto WordPress, but we plan to try and post this week, so your prompt is good timing. We’ll try to get it up later in the week.
Mark, the animated map and other analysis of the Live Register is up at http://irelandafternama.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/the-geography-of-the-live-register/