Independents Who Dare not Speak their Name in Ireland

On the 16 April 2014, an Independent TD, Catherine Murphy,tried to get the 

Government to agree that Independent candidates in Irish elections would be 

allowed to describe themselves as "Independent" on the ballot paper.  She 

failed in her efforts. Independents in Ireland will continue to be described in 

the upcoming local and European elections as "Non-Party". 

The term "Non-Party" sounds negative, is negative and can give an 

impression that a candidate would like to be in a party but can't make it. 

It also conjures up images of someone who is against everything and for 

nothing.    The opposite is most often the truth. 

In the present Dáil, Independent TDs are by a long shot the outstanding 

performers.  Independents are scoring highly in the polls.  Interestingly, the 

polls describe them as "Independents", not "Non-Party".

The Government parties of Fine Gael and Labour may well be afraid that a 

new breed of TDs who put their country before party may infest the next 

Dáil with integrity and non-corruption.

And how horrible it would be if, after achieving power, they were to insist 

that in future elections all candidates who belong to parties be henceforth 

described as "Non-Independents" on future ballot papers.

An equitable quid pro quo? 

What's happening in Syria - a report from Crescent online.net

What's Happening in Syria


My friends, Mairead Maguire and Ann Patterson are in Syria as part of a Peace Pilgrimage.  Today I was disturbed to hear that there have been two apparent attacks on or very close to their hotel.

As our media outlets are saturated with reports on Syria that reflect only a US/Israeli outlook, it is interesting to hear another viewpoint via the international Peace Pilgrims in a report from Crescent-Online.

 

International Peace pilgrims come under rocket attack in Damascus

by crescent-online.net
April, 2014
Terrorist mercenaries have attacked international peace activists visiting Syria. Rockets landed close to their hotel in Damascus. While two people were reported injured, none of them was a peace activist. The group is on the third day of its visit to Syria and hope to meet different groups, including members of the opposition and bring out the correct news about what is underway in Syria.
Damascus, Crescent-online
Sunday April 13, 2014, 09:39 DST

An international group of peace activists came under rocket attack in Damascus today. The rocket landed some 20 metres from the Dama Rose Hotel where the peace pilgrims are staying.According to initial reports, two people were hurt but it later transpired that none of them was a peace activist. Instead, two soldiers of the Syrian army were wounded. There were reports of other non-combatants also being wounded by shrapnel.

The Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire of Ireland is leading the international group of peace activists. Mother Agnes Mariam is also actively involved in organizing the peace caravan whose aim is to bring hope to the traumatized people of Syria.

Eva Bartlett of the Syrian Solidarity Movement sent the following report a few minutes ago from Damascus.

“We are all fine; the wounded included at least two soldiers and there may have been passersby injured too.
“It was extremely close to the hotel--shook it---and had it been 20 metres closer would've hit the side of the hotel I'm staying in.
“There was a second shelling a little further away; don't know about injuries.
“Some feel it was directed at us, others say it was meant for the army, others say it is random. They shelled the area a few mornings ago, too, but this was by far closer.”

Eva is part of the peace caravan together with a number of other Canadians as well as peace activists from Pakistan, India, Australia and a number of European countries.

Members of the peace caravan are on their third day of visit to Syria. Mairead Maguire visited Latakia on Friday to meet Syrian Armenian refugees displaced by the foreign-backed mercenaries of the Jabhat al-Nusra. On March 21, the foreign mercenaries took over the predominantly Armenian inhabited town of Kassab and drove the people out.

Upon arrival in Latakia, Mairead Maguire and her entourage was received by the governor of the province, Abdel Qader who explained the situation to her.

The Nobel laureate said the group would communicate the true picture about the situation in Syria that has been deliberately distorted by the corporate-owned and controlled Western media.

The Caravan of Peace Pilgrims has not only been visiting various towns and villages but its members are also holding meetings with opposition groups to hear their side of the story. Their mission is work for peace in Syria that has been subjected to an international conspiracy of destabilization and disruption.

At least 150,000 people have reportedly been killed in Syria since the outbreak of the rebellion in March 2011. About 40 percent of this are security personnel.

According to UN figures, at least 4.5 million Syrians have become refugees.

Terrorists have flooded into Syria from all over the world including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan and as far away as Indonesia.

These mercenaries have indulged in horrible crimes including public beheadings and cannibalism.

The vast majority of Syrians are sick of them and wish to have nothing to do with them. They would like to see these mercenaries banished from their country that has been virtually destroyed.

The aim of the international peace caravan is to convey the message to the Syrian people that the world has not forgotten them and to bring out news about the true situation in Syria to the rest of the world through social media networks as well as independent media outlets.

(the above account is from Crescent online.net)