Vincent Brownes call to Arms

by hs - sp (personal capacity) Wed Apr 07, 2010 16:36

Could this be a prelude to Vinnie entering the political arena?

by The Grim Reaper. Wed Apr 07, 2010 17:15

"Could this be a prelude to Vinnie entering the political arena?"

Naw.
Old men are forgotten quickly...we all are.
Nobody will remember Vinnie in 50 years.
.

by donkylemore Thu Apr 08, 2010 01:17

I would be a little younger than VB
We revolted at the drop of a hat in the 60's. It was the era of student revolts which started in the USA with the draft and in Paris because of social inequality and the paucity of their college lecturers .
We started with the Vietnam, then our own civil rights movement and later the Bloody Sunday marches;

VB reported on the IRA / NI situation and always had a good insight into the political dynamics of the time .
But I never heard him speak or write about the poor
'''- those earning less than 30 K and no one earning a multiple of 5 times that .
He says he lives of 50 K .. ''the rest goes to my debtors ''
He , like me is trying to make this a country FOR old men .
We dont like to be conscious of losing out relevance , drifting off into the ethereal bleakness like so many bubbles from a pipe .. sparkling for an instant then ..puff !!

So that's it . We invent things like '' social exclusion'' ; the ''grabbing greed of the elite'' .. the ''dalliance of irrelevant political parties like the Greens ''.
'' what difference does Mary Harney make .. do the Greens make ..
Is there not something catastrophically wrong with a system that allows bankers ..
'' spectacular injustices ''

But I'm an old guy too and I like the way VB writes . He towers over the rest of the mediocre Irish journalists.. see the air time he got at the bishops press conference!!

by Cloud Computer - Imagination and Technology Thu Apr 08, 2010 16:23

Donklymore and Grim Reaper

What about ageism?

Well done Vincent Browne - he makes one feel that the 'world is a circle without a beginning and nobody knows where the circle ends' as the song says.

Yes, this may be his entry to Politics but if not, he is politics, Ireland style. He is the racconteur with the probing insights and not afraid to air them on all media sources.

Only found the politico site last night.....it is excellent and comprehensive, covering wafts of time in a generational trend!!!

Ireland sinks in a quagmire of corruption and it is time for re-birth. The challenge is Confrontation but now we have the fodder if - how are we going to engage with them; how are we going to convert them to non corrupt business, professional practices, how will we coax them not to bribe politicians. and opt for the transparent route.

This is the time for our young people but remember they are the product of those who have engaged in shady practicies that are being outed at present. What will be the impact on their children? What road will they travel - consider Robert Frosts poem 'Two paths in a wood diverged and I took the one less travelled on'.

No Vincent Browne is not too old to use the imagination and be creative. We need this now and perhaps with the wealth of knowledge stored in his brain for say 4 generations, he cane assist our young people to make firm judgements about corruption and re-shape our deadweight society, reaping the advantages.

Re-shape material includes

blue sky computing? i bet you will find some 'old' people like Mr. Crozaire, Zimbabwe, 92 aged and RIP in the last few days. He created, minus the computer technology, the Irish Times crossword for decades. What a contribution? This is the brain versus technology and yet there is room for all.

blue computing is also known as cloud computing and it will be very much part of the future so google it and find out i.e. if you are really interested in being involved in the reshaping of our Island of Ireland.

The DDDA successfully devalued the Irish Glass Bottle Site by 80% with the flick of a pen and nobody in this country asks why it was so fastly tracked to Nama. I would suggest they follow the link to Cloud Computing and there could be a good way of marketing this property (but then maybe this has been the plan of NAMA/NTMA heads). We pay them to be intellectual and clever so let us see them perform now with the marketing of sites like the Irish Glass Bottle site. Balance Sheets are snapshots in time...the losses today, could be gains tomorrow. Remember what they used to say to us at school in the 1960's - take your head out of the clouds missy.'.

Another thought is that 'Greed is not as good as we thought'. Then we must look at the fact that energy sources are getting smarter. This will be interesting. You will be able to cost energy usage within the context of your home. You will know at the exact cost of your bath at the time you decide to have it!

They say this decade will see old people work longer. There is a study that says older people are likely to choose to work for themselves and for more years when they get older.

It looks as if V. Browne and TV3 programme and his really well put together website and archives linkages is going to fall into this category. These people have a category now; they are called the 'Olderpreneurs'

We need more like Vincent Browne in this country and those who are now with chequered history i.e. non transparent/dig out mentality, we need to work out whether prison will serve best or what else can be done to make them pay reparations.

Reality .......

by Observer Thu Apr 08, 2010 20:00

I don't believe that Vincent Brown is basically any different from the vast majority of his colleagues in the MSM (Main Stream Media) -- in that he seems to be completely terrified of facing up to (and tackling) the real problems, and, at the same time, absolutely fearless when it comes to covering them up with useless and time-wasting distratctions.

My message for Vincent Brown would be this (using the words of former US President Abraham Lincoln):

"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time."

by hs Sat Apr 10, 2010 20:43

do you watch his show? Do you think there are any merits to the argument?

by paul o toole Sun Apr 11, 2010 21:06

You dont get to sit in fromt of the nation in this country and air your views, unless they comply with the non-intrusive journalistic policy of supporting government corruption.
Vincent Brown says nothing that is not already out there, he dosent challenge, create meaningful debate or even offer altrnative solutions to his shows topics. He skates by on a pretence of journalistic integrity which dosent exist. An accepted vioce of opposition.
He dosent even pretend to listen to his guests piont of view by interrupting long before the point is made, just like his ignorand ex colleague Pat (the multi millionaire squatter) Kenny.

Decent journalists hardly get a look in.....just enough to, again- maintain the pretense...

by Michael Gallagher Mon Apr 12, 2010 21:53

What was it Connnolly said about the greasy hands of lawyers?

This might stir up a few more opinions. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/0310/1....html

One thing that can be said in Browne's favour is that he isn't afraid to ask some hard questions, not least on the day when Bertie was well stumped about dodgy 'donations' at a FF gig. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6tQN6H_tVY

As the old saying goes, -"The first casualty of war is truth"-. the same can be said for bad journalism and it is annoying when people in his position make so many jokes on the airwaves about serious issues. Don't we have comedians like Joe Duffy to do that sort of thing?

None of it was, is or ever will be funny.

by IT reader Wed Apr 14, 2010 09:00

REad todays Irish Times. Vincent Browne backs Labour and calls for them to have an alliance with Sinn Fein and others on the left. Not very radical at all......

by Vincentian - Freedom to Express Views Wed Apr 14, 2010 17:01

At least Vincent Browne and Pat Kenny remain activists for civil rights and human rights. They have not abused their position in life or at least not in the way we are presently witnessing people working in banks, in legal practices etc. Those too often overpaid and wealth orientated.

Vincent Browne has been around for four decades and has been one of the few willing to take risks, he has written articles in magazines, newspapers, etc., he is been present at talks regarding racism and other human rights abuses. His panel on TV 3 are not afraid and many of them women are no shrinking violets and well able to express their views about the Country we are part of. We have to acknowledge this surely.

by Michael Gallagher Wed Apr 14, 2010 22:13 libertypics at yahoo dot ie

If Browne's proposals are part of a discussion on a stepping stone to genuine socialism, then by all means they are worth consideration by the left, that's if the so called left is interested in real solutions, but this just seems like more retinkering/retailoring. A rehash of a mish mash of something-or-other called left fairism.

Is there such a thing as fairness in the bigger picture while capitalists still call the shots? Is fairness as the main plank in a policy going to really address our problems? The capitalist system is unworkable for the benefit of the vast majority of people, a serious look at a REAL alternative to capitalism is the only way to go, from bad engine to good engine.

One thing is for certain, the three main parties in the Dáil -in one form or another- since the foundation of the state, have had more than an unfair crack of the whip, and it seems we will still be hurting for a very long time, unless something is done and sooner rather than later. Too many of those same faces are in too many powerful positions, and I'm including 'leading' trade unionists in those assertions. '"There is a better, fairer way?" Fair play to ya Vincent, Eamonn, Jack and Co, you haggle for fairness and live the good life while the rest struggle for crumbs.

This government and their cartel of friends owes the people and the country big time, those IOU''s should be cashed in. Now is the time for real leadership from within those unions that have had enough, the workers can push, the rest will follow.

History is for lesson learning. "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." We have been fooled many many times, and counting......

Mirror Mirror On The Wall...... © 2009.

by Jasper - Moral Bankruptcy and the need for change Thu Apr 15, 2010 16:47

'Fool me twice' Shame on me. Is this what you really believe Michael?

Ireland is a young nation and like many young nations, we are still on a learning curve and we have gained and lost and no doubt will gain again if we use the mistakes 'as portals of discovery' (I think this is James Joyce).

David McWilliams was on the panel on the Browne TV3 show this week and he catalogued Ireland in a severe economic crisis and in need of intrusive action on those in Banking and in burnt out business concerns by hard nosed regulators.

Today, the Quinn group responded to the challenges of our new Regulator (the Risk-taker and Risk-assessor) appointed by the Central Bank in January this year. Quinn employees not unlike the OAPs in response to the medical card debacle took to the streets to sing the praises of Quinn but Mr. Elderfield stood tall yesterday expressing his grasp of the Quinn insurance and insolvency position and today Quinn Insurance capitulated and the route of Administration is the way forward.

Ireland like Iceland and the PIG's are like naughty children in the eyes of the major player Germany and France to a lesser degree. Ireland is perhaps a little more petulent given the Lisbon Treaty and the fact that was had to call a second referendum so that we could get the sanction of our people to sign up to Lisbon. What would we vote now, I wonder? There is a question for Vincent Browne's show. Maybe Mr. Elderfield would become part of his panel and enlighten us more about Risk, Treasury, Marketing of the Asset Book of properties from Anglo, Irish Nationwide etc.

Elderfield had an allocation of 2/3 persons when he took up his assignment in January but he claims he needs 150 staff who will operate from the Treasury Holdings Building.

Gerald Corrigan, Goldman Sachs Chairman has summed up the state of dealing with Financial Affairs - 'Financial Reporting by Sovereigns is more of an Art than a science'. Yes some of our more elitist crafted bankers sure were artists and they operated their own private sphere of blue sky heaven.

The title concerns refers to the fact that Ireland like other EU states changed from their own currencies to the Euro. The choice meant that our Central Bank forfeited control over currency purchases and interest rates. The power of these two mechanisms ought not to be under estimated. Ireland has for instance had to go with ECB low interest rates when its own Central Bank in punt times would possibly have highered the rates. We need to be aware of the impact of Europe and the potential of the IMF, if we continue on this path into a financial, moral and ethical abyss.

Jasper - The Ghost

by Michael G. Sat Apr 17, 2010 13:10

These ghost writers, no neck to reveal themselves.

"Fool me twice, shame on me". The point I was making is that they are trying to fool us again.

A learning curve for whom? The dictats in Europe? The USA maybe? The Chicago Boys? The bankers? The developers? Ahern? Tony O'Reilly? Fitzpatrick? Cowan? The Lenihan's? Harney? Jack O'Connor? David Begg? Gormley? The Pope? Daithí Locha? Bosco? Joe Duffy? Podge and Rodge? Add your own to the list if you want............

See Naoimi Kleine's, The Shock Doctrine - NAMA is our shock doctrine. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

"When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around."—Milton Friedman.

From Haughey et al to Ahern et al, GUBU = NAMA

Over to you (not) Vincent and god bless ya......oh jaysus, did I say that?

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