Letter to Governor Mary Fallin re unjust execution of Richard Glossip

Dear Mary

You have the unbelievable power to stop an unjust execution and give a chance to a proper defence team to fight the injustice for the first time.

With that power comes responsibility

Please change your mind and grant a stay to Richard Glossip who, you must know by now, was stitched up for the murder of Mr Van Treese, when they interviewed Justin Sneed and hid the video of the interview.

What a shambles of a prosecution on which to justify the taking of innocent human life.  No fingerprints, no DNA evidence.  Only the word of the killer prompted by State interrogators.

Poverty is not a crime.  Richard's poverty denied him a proper defence.

The death penalty is utterly barbaric.  "We think you're guilty by our standards, therefore we kill you" is a motto worthy of Jihadi John and his Isis clan of murderers. Please don't join them.

With best personal wishes

Justin Morahan
Pacifist, human rights activist
Dublin Ireland

Full list of Jeremy Corbyn's new Cabinet - from Social Media

Nigel Morris
@NigelpMorris

New shadow Environment Sec Kerry McCarthy - who'll be dealing with farmers - is a vegan
12:56 PM - 14 Sep 2015

Full list of shadow cabinet appointments:
Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party
Jeremy Corbyn MP


Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Party Chair and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
Tom Watson MP


Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
Angela Eagle MP


Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
John McDonnell MP


Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Seema Malhotra MP


Shadow Home Secretary
Andy Burnham MP


Shadow Foreign Secretary
Hilary Benn MP


Opposition Chief Whip
Rosie Winterton MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Heidi Alexander MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Lucy Powell MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Owen Smith MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Maria Eagle MP


Shadow Lord Chancellor, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Lord Falconer of Thoroton


Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Shadow Minister for the Constitutional Convention
Jon Trickett MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Lisa Nandy MP


Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Chris Bryant MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Lilian Greenwood MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Vernon Coaker MP


Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Diane Abbott MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Ian Murray MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Nia Griffith MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Kerry McCarthy MP


Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Kate Green MP


Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Michael Dugher MP


Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Registration
Gloria De Piero MP


Shadow Minister for Mental Health
Luciana Berger MP


Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Baroness Smith of Basildon


Lords Chief Whip
Lord Bassam of Brighton


Shadow Attorney General
Catherine McKinnell MP


Shadow Minister without Portfolio
Jonathan Ashworth MP


Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning
John Healey MP

Churches should Open to Refugees and Poor

Over a week ago I wrote to the Irish Examiner, Irish Independent and Irish Times suggesting that our churches should open their doors to the poor and to refugees.  None of the three newspapers published my letter but the Examiner put part of it on their online edition.

My suggestion was not anti-religion or anti-church.  It was a practical proposal.  Many churches are only half full at weekends.  The Irish winter can be cold, bitter, wet, windy and dark - in other words miserable - not forgetting that hail, snow frost, thunder and lightning come when they will.  The plight of the homeless in Ireland, because of its prolonged and desolate winter can be unbearable especially for the weak.

The proposal is for all places of worship.  The largest Churches are Christian in Ireland.  The founder of the Christian church advised his then Jewish followers not to worship either on the Holy Mount or in the Temple.  He also advised them that when they wished to pray, not to do so openly but in secret.  That founder is respected in most religions including Islam but his teaching has been largely ignored.  It would be a good time to put his advice into practice.  His was a humane  teaching.  I cannot see him asking his followers to spare large comfortable buildings for worship when humans of every shade are in dire need of food and shelter.

I believe that the followers of most religions would respond positively to my suggestion.

"Kidnapping" or "Abduction" alleged by Pat Kenny in Tallaght protest

TWENTY THREE TO BE CHARGED

As a pacifist I don't engage in violence.  So, I don't approve of the throwing of a well documented single brick towards Tanaiste Joan Burton by one individual at last year's peaceful Tallaght protest against water charges.  (It missed).  Nor would I approve even of someone throwing a water balloon at the same Tanaiste and scoring a "hit".  Although, the throwing of a water balloon is much akin to throwing a soft snowball - there can be a fun element in it as well as intent to cause mild distress.

Neither would I personally hold up someone's car purposely by joining with others to surround it for over two hours.  The danger here is that over such a long time someone - either an angry protestor or an agent provocateur - will bang at least once on the car and the occupants may correctly or mistakenly fear for their physical safety.

Especially when I believe, as in this instance, that the protest is justified, I would always advise that it should be absolutely peaceful.

The cost to the vast majority in a peaceful protest when an individual resorts to the throwing of a water balloon or banging on a car or throwing a brick is monstrous.  It gives an excuse to those who oppose the protest to lyingly  label the whole protest as "violent".  It also can give rise to charges in a court of law.

The above incidents were reported  as having happened in Tallaght last year.

The news emerged last night that no fewer than 23 of last year's protestors at Tallaght are now to be charged variously with "false imprisonment", "violent disorder", "public order charges" and/or "criminal damage charges".

One of the people present at the protest was Paul Murphy, an anti-Austerity T.D in the present Dáil.

Paul Murphy is a non-violent person.  This morning there was an item about the protest on "Newstalk 106", a commercial radio station owned by billionaire Denis O'Brien. It concerned an earlier interview with Paul Murphy

The speaker was Patrick Kenny, better known as Pat Kenny, who could be described as the silver-tongued doyen of the right wing, conservative, pro-establishment radio hosts who flood the air waves of Ireland.

In his flagging of the subject beforehand, Pat Kenny referred astonishingly to the "kidnapping" or "abduction" of Joan Burton in Tallaght.

To Kidnap is defined in the Oxford dictionary as:
to abduct (someone) and hold them captive, typically to obtain a ransom.

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is defined as:
To seize and detain or carry away someone by unlawful force or fraud and often with a demand for ransom.

In Ireland the word "kidnap" reminds people of the violent kidnapping and imprisonment of Tiede Herrema (1975) during which an Irish Garda lost a finger in a shooting incident, and the violent kidnapping (1987) of dentist John O'Grady who had his two little fingers cut off in an effort by his kidnappers to force a ransom.

"Kidnapping" here is an extremely ugly and loathsome word.  The wily and intelligent Pat Kenny would be aware of this.

He would also know that kidnapping as a crime has been removed from the Irish Statute Book by the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act of 1997. So he has no fear of legal consequences as a result of using the word in respect of the Tallaght protestors.  He can throw sludge all over the accused and slide away to the next topic.  

The reverential hushed tones of his interviewer voice and his pleasant bedside confessional manner with interviewees are completely out of kilter with the vicious damage he can cause to the reputations of innocent people by his clever choice of words.

This was a low, mean, hit-and-run blow by Mr Kenny, a flagrant upping of the ante against the still innocent protestors.

Ireland Votes for Same Sex Marriage

The votes have not even been counted but tallies have told the story.  The Irish people have voted in favour of same sex marriage by a big majority.

Even massive anti-Government anger over austerity  did not prevent the electorate from supporting what was in fact a Government proposition.

The campaign was hard and sometimes bitter.  The Catholic bishops threw their weight in against the YES vote.  Their voice was ignored.

Tens of thousands of emigrants returned for the referendum.  Tens of thousands of stories were told - heart-breaking stories of prejudice and bullying endured by young lovers whose love was not allowed to speak its name. Not so long ago, homosexuality was a criminal offence in Ireland. Not so long ago a gay man was murdered in Fairview Park and his murderers paraded openly celebrating his murder.

Gradually, with the bravery of people like David Norris who took a case to the European Court of Human Rights and won, things have changed.

Today's referendum win is a sea change for the better for Ireland.
Other brave people in the public eye like journalist Una Mullally, TV3's Ursula Halligan, Government minister Leo Varadkar as well as leading GAA and other sportspeople "came out" and declared themselves lesbian or gay.  Their courage has been rewarded today.  They have helped make Ireland a better society.