Mad Pride

The homophobic Republican tour whistle stops in the liberal state of New Hampshire tonight as they go to the polls to choose who should run off against Obama in November. If the polls are correct, Mitt Romney leads the pack with Ron Paul a distant second. Romney needs the momentum from this one as they head for South Carolina. It's a different state of affairs there. It's territory which will decide whether Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich retires from the race.
New to the party is John Huntsman and he is currently polling third. Iowa surprise, Rick Santorum propping up the field with Perry and Gingrich. So much for momentum. This was to be expected though, given New Hampshire's swing-state status by becoming a Democrat stronghold going back to the days of Bill Clinton after Republican successes.
If Romney does well in South Carolina or Florida the week after, it's over. If he gets the Republican nod the pollsters have him almost neck and neck with Obama. The only other presidential candidate to run Obama close is Ron Paul.
I found it despicable earlier today watching Fox News pull a Democrat congresswoman up on taking something Mitt Romney said about 'loving to fire people' out of context. These people will stop at nothing to push the Republican agenda. What makes it worse, it seems many Americans are buying into it. True, in an evolving society government should be less visible to us all, but these people want the run of everything, to do as they please at any one's expense, often under the name of God. I'm sure God would want little to do with them. I wonder will Obama hold firm and not bomb Iran. If he does, he's at war. Americans won't vote out a war-time President once the war was started on his watch. Now we will see how much water that noble peace prize holds over the coming months.

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The guys from the ECB and the IMF are in town for a spot-check. With tax receipts down to the tune of almost a billion, the talk on the street is of an impending second bailout for us. I never seen that! I thought straight to default. How we have been led the merry dance.
Events over the coming weeks will tell a lot. It's looking like a referendum if I am to be honest. I can't see the Euro collapsing, as I feel there are just to many 'interests' involved. A flood of cheap money will be made available - once you are a firmly a European. After that, who knows? I can't see the Supreme Court not guiding us toward a vote for make no mistake about it, their will be little negotiation about it. You're either in or you are out.
France wants a Robin Hood Tax on bank transactions which the UK is opposing. I'm not sure why. Maybe because every transaction would then have to declared?
It does seem the decent thing to do, considering we robbed the poor to pay the rich, so they could get richer, and tell them in the middle, who the poor elected, to make us poorer. Are you with me? Nope, didn't think so! You wouldn't write that sh**

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"Fuck them I say. Fuck them and the mother's they were spat out of. Fuck them and their whining mediocrity. Fuck them and their excuses for not living, their excuses for failure. Why do our class have to swallow all this guilt as if we've done something wrong? We carry these fucks. On our backs. Everyday. And this is how they thank us? Resentful, jealous, backbiting lowlifes, calling us the enemy but always with the hand out looking for more. Why are we the ones punished for being successful while they are rewarded for failure? Walking around in their pajamas at three o'clock in the afternoon. Fuck them and the shit they get away with everyday."
CHARLIE CASANOVA

Ok, it's not the Palme d'Or, but the good news today is CHARLIE CASANOVA - which if I'm correct was made for under a grand and without support until its success demanded it, received four Irish Film & Television Academy nominations.
It's just the latest in a long list of accolades the independent film has scooped on its global travels through the festival sphere.
The film was nominated in four categories. Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Editing. I think if ever a film spoke to the powers that more money put into an enterprising film industry and developing it further would be money well spent. But Ireland is rarely so brave. A New Wave as Ireland sinks - How Irish would that be.

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Ireland lost two of her unsung heroes in one day today. Journalist and filmmaker Mary Raftery, who exposed child abuse in church run state schools in her documentary, States of Fear, died today aged just 54. Her place in the hearts of Ireland is forever cemented by the gutsy and courageous way she did her job. Many in this country could learn from her. Particularly in those fields.
And "Mad' John McCarthy, founder of Mad Pride Ireland. He was 61. I've heard him described as a 'force of nature.' A truly inspiring figure - a man I only came to know about about three months ago. I really wanted to meet the man. Not it will not be.
Both leave behind legacies that defied a time. People Ireland should reflect on. Linger on, even. They are all that is great about Ireland. They should be held in the highest regards and even inspire a nation.
You've all heard the saying about the good dying young. There may be a truth in that pudding. I'm not sure if either person knew of absurdity, but they certainly seemed to embrace it in their lifetimes. If only we were all so brave.

R.I.P