THE DIRTY DOZEN - w/e Oct 6th 2013

I was going back through a series of newspaper headlines from the past couple of months. This is what I found:

Jun 17^th 2013               Irish Times               PROVISIONAL FIGURES SHOW 20% INCREASE IN RECORDED SUICIDE

 Aug 24^th 2013             Irish Examiner        100,000 MORTGAGES OVER 3 MONTHS IN ARREARS

Aut 28^th 2013               New Statesman    THINK OF BOSTON, NOT BERLIN - Ireland is second only to Greece in terms of the scale and speed of health cutbacks undertaken by “developed” countries

Sep 8^th 2013                 Sunday Times          IRISH OUTLOOK: WAVING FAREWELL TO OUR SMART FUTURE

Sep 24^th 2013               Irish Examiner        POLL: 85% OF WORKERS EXPERIENCE FINANCIAL STRESS

Sep 27^th 2013               The Irish Time          EMIGRATION RISES TO RECORD HIGH – ‘GENERATION EMIGRATION’

Sep 28^th 2013               Irish Independent   WE ARE NOW €1.64 TRILLION IN THE RED, SAYS CSO

Coming in the midst of all the above, the announcement that Ireland is now out of recession:

Sep 19^th 2013               Irish Times                NOONAN WARNS OF TOUGH BUDGET DESPITE UPBEAT DATA - The recession is over but budget will still bite

I like to get my news also though from independent sources – here are two.

Sep 23^rd 2013               Irish Left Review    SINCE THE GOVERNMENT TOOK OFFICE

Sep 26^th 2013               C Gurdgiev blog     EVEN WITH HOPIUM INJECTIONS WE’RE NOT THAT FAR FROM GREECE

Read down through the above – suicide on the increase, mortgage distress, cuts in health and education services, emigration at record levels, stress and distress everywhere, a combined national debt with so many zeroes that even the Irish Independent is confused.  

And still Finance Minister Michael Noonan will introduce another Budget of more cuts and more taxes.

Through all of this increasing misery we have a Taoiseach who goes around the country and around the world sporting a permanent inane grin, impervious to any blame, to any shame, feigning fellowship with those who are suffering, pretending all is well and about to get even better.

Those of us living here know the truth; not all the truth but enough to know our way through the tissue of lies being presented to the world.

Here is another dose of truth, the next 12 bank bonds due for redemption. This Wednesday AIB has a billion-euro bond maturing - thank God it's 'Covered'! By whom though? Why, by the shareholders of course! And the shareholders are???