The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
[Hiberno-Britannic Politics] The Ballot Box isn't even half empty.
RMS Oceanic
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So this archipelago
Has these nations.
These nations are almost completely not unique in that they're run by a system known as Politics!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Run by these chaps
This guy would rather they didn't
Some of the Issues
- Austerity and Deficit Reduction
- Broadband Infrastructure
- Our role in Europe
- Our role in Iraq/Afghanistan
- A balding man and the daughter of a working class couple done good making babby
A spiffing place to keep up to date with the latest developments.
Irish Silesia An Poblacht na hÉireann
Run by this chap.
These guys would rather he didn't.
Some of The Issues
- A mountain of debt taken on by ill advisedly backing toxic bank debt
- Loss of confidence in the market
- Humiliating bailout by the EU
- Perceived resultant loss of Sovereignty
- And more austerity and deficit reduction
- Or maybe we should just default? [/Meaningful Look at Brussels]
- Abortion and the best way to send Death Threats
- Abolishing the Senate: Not just a topic for America or Star Wars threads!
A shockin' good place to see what the feck the craic is.
So, discuss the goings on in the Dail and the Commons!
Has these nations.
These nations are almost completely not unique in that they're run by a system known as Politics!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Run by these chaps
This guy would rather they didn't
Some of the Issues
- Austerity and Deficit Reduction
- Broadband Infrastructure
- Our role in Europe
- Our role in Iraq/Afghanistan
- A balding man and the daughter of a working class couple done good making babby
A spiffing place to keep up to date with the latest developments.
Irish Silesia An Poblacht na hÉireann
Run by this chap.
These guys would rather he didn't.
Some of The Issues
- A mountain of debt taken on by ill advisedly backing toxic bank debt
- Loss of confidence in the market
- Humiliating bailout by the EU
- Perceived resultant loss of Sovereignty
- And more austerity and deficit reduction
- Or maybe we should just default? [/Meaningful Look at Brussels]
- Abortion and the best way to send Death Threats
- Abolishing the Senate: Not just a topic for America or Star Wars threads!
A shockin' good place to see what the feck the craic is.
So, discuss the goings on in the Dail and the Commons!
RMS Oceanic on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Then covered that up with a thick jumper and a pair of fake boobs.
Much bigger fucking problems going on in the UK right now...
Granted it's a drop in the ocean but that's probably not a reason to ignore it.
It's also a prominent, long-standing example of objectification that's given respectability by being in what is supposed to be a family newspaper. It makes an excellent high-profile focus for people who think it would be better if we didn't do that quite so much.
In no way should it supplant efforts to deal with weightier issues (public services being cut, legal aid for filthy poor people being made into a bargain basement swap shop, corruption, etc), but "oh we don't have time for this" is the same argument the Tories are using to try and bury gay marriage legislation. The arena of public debate has room for lots of things.
I don't particularly want this to be legislated against or banned, to be honest, but I don't begrudge a campaign designed to pressure NI into dropping it.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
In terms of issues I care about it's right up there with parliament debating how the people 4 doors down from me don't bring their bins to the road like they're supposed to on recycling day, but just leave them by their door, forcing the binmen to take an extra 30 seconds.
Yes, technically it's a problem because they shouldn't do that. I just don't see how it's worth a microsecond of parliamentary time when we have national problems that actually affect people which could be addressed in that time instead.
Basically: priorites.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antiabortion-activists-send-letters-in-blood-branding-irish-pm-as-a-murderer/1128538/
Make sure you bring an appropriate placard to work that day.
"Free Bradley Manning from the Death Panel Prism!"
I was considering starting an EU thread. Its reasonable enough for this thread to be a general European politics thread. Think about all the Berlusconi jokes that could be made. Also Turkish protest could be discussed (Turkey may not be European to some, but it is certainly a European state).
Might have to put up with my federalist rantings though.
Nearly missed a flight out of Dublin thanks to the Obama visit.
Oh it all deserves its own thread, but there just isn't enough of us on this forum to make it a vibrant ongoing thread as opposed to a one-off. I think there is value in a central ongoing discussion thread, so if we have to combine, so be it
Upper Houses can be useful! Coming as I do from unicameral New Zealand, where the stalwart Tory party abolished ours in the early 1950s, I have a slight horror of anyone else doing the same. Although at least Ireland has some sort of constitutionalist position which adds a layer of protection that NZ does not
Should we replace this boring old park with yet another exciting mall oh and by the way aren't puppies great?
This could actually form an interesting thread of it's own in D&D, as it could be opened up to other people - Americans, Kiwis or Australians and others who may live in a state or country with a unicameral system. I may make poast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicameralism
etc
We should bow down to the Greek-Zionist conspiracy and keep this park as a place for effeminate pedophile traitors to molest our children in (Agree/Disagree)
Don't you not want to never unsee a heinously brilliant non-system of commercial generation instead of not stressing out about how ungreen the city is?
Okay, even I don't know what that question is asking.
The argument being made to abolish the Seanad is:
- Ireland has too many politicians
- The Seanad doesn't work
So a populist appeal to getting rid of it is easier than the political challenge of reducing the size of the Dail and reforming both houses.
Generally, I don't like it because of lack of imagination, its failure to actually provide any meaningful reform to Irish politics, massive overhaul of the constitution, and combination with/compounding of other authoritarian moves by this Government.
You really don't want a unicameral system for three reasons:
1) General principal
2) In a parliamentary democracy
3) In a system where executive power is continually growing due to policy increasingly being decided between Governments at EU level
The real problem with the Irish political system is the predominance of "parish pump" local/pork politics, which is a product to the electoral system (wouldn't have been a problem in the UK if it adopted AV because of single seat constituencies). The vast majority of TDs time goes to constituency work.
Personally, I would cut the number of TDs in the Dail, change the electoral system to a list system, make non-leadership cabinet positions unelected appointments, totally eliminating the local/pork problem (and hopefully getting competent people into cabinet). Then the Seanad would have 26 seats elected by AV, one for every county (with voting weighted to population), where the constituency representation gets done (Senators would require a fair bit of staff for this).
Bonus points if the Seanad gets 6 non-voting seats for the Northern counties.
Ugh. Maybe that is problem with referendums.
I do slightly disagree with your points about unicameralism as it can and does work in various places, like my home country. I prefer bicameralism but I prefer to make the point that a well designed upper house should help democracy and good governance
Now, I know this is a radical idea, and not going to happen any time soon in a nation that chooses Boris Johnson and rejects PR, but is the idea itself ridiculous? I tend to embrace radical ideas very easily, so maybe I'm an idiot, but wouldn't this be much fairer and more inclusive than the current House of Lords.
Geth knows.
The problem is that the Lords sort of works in a way that is hard to explain, except to say it seems to sometimes act as a genuine chamber of review and sometimes act as a route for the parliamentary party to bring in specialists to the cabinet.
In some countries the cabinet are simply appointed by whomever the head of government likes - with the chance that one appoints competent specialists. It is a nice theory anyway.
By comparison, in NZ, we have one chamber and all ministers must be elected to that chamber before being appointed. So, we run the gubmint out of 121 or so people who managed to get themselves elected. This doesn't always fill me with confidence. Not that say the UK's in effect appointed ministers from the Lords are always that much better.
Fair comment in my view, if what I've heard is accurate. The old test was a bit silly but at least asked practical questions (e.g. where do you get family planning advice etc). Both are a bit pointless though in my mind. The current and former tests are so easy to train for that it is possible to pass the test in a couple of minutes. What is the point of that? If one wants genuinely to make sure people know enough to "integrate" then how does an incredibly easy test help that? Either don't do it at all, or make a proper course on citizenship. Classes, compulsory attendance and flag ceremonies for all (kidding about this last bit)
The handbook contains about 3,000 facts including five telephone numbers, 34 websites, 278 historical dates and several brief excerpts of poetry.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22892444
Well, you're a clever bloke and a native English speaker. That's not true of most people.
Edit: I read the article, and yeah that sounds like a joke. But not because of the difficulty - because of the content.
And this includes being able to quote details from memory of the first curry house, apparently.
This is just a way to ensure only the most tedious conversationalists get UK citizenship (present company excepted, Kalkino).
Well you see, although they've crossed continents and spent money on the citizenship process, someone planning on being a lazy benefits scrounger/evil terrorist would just give up in the face of having to remember some poetry.
Its a foolproof system.
The 42 bills also include legislation to scrap wind farm subsidies, end the ringfence for foreign aid spending and rename the late August Bank Holiday “Margaret Thatcher Day”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10133076/Conservative-MPs-launch-attempt-to-bring-back-death-penalty-privatise-the-BBC-and-ban-burka.html