SEPTEMBER 2011

Murder by State

Noel Farrell

iBooks Author

The Door
September 2, 2011

iBooks Author

While Fianna Fil go to war with one another over their decision not to run a Presidential Candidate the nation drowns in a sea of debt. Could they split? There's no doubt there's a handsome re-branding contract there for someone. The argument for debt forgiveness is not exactly raging, but it's causing whispers behind the backs. Why not cancel it all for a few years until we gure some things out? I mean we own the banks who want the debt, so in times of economic stress, shouldn't Nooner be more radical in his thinking in search of a populous census based on the common good at a time of crisis? He's cutting a Euro swagger in a lean time. Good tutoring going on in the corridors of Brussels, I'm sure. The Autumn is here - I think - which means darker evenings, res, and a garden full of leaves. I can't wait. I wonder what elements I might have to encounter in Western Australia if i can nd a way in. They used to say 'There's opportunity out West,' back in my Granddaddy's day. Now it's, 'There's opportunity down South.' I wonder how the Irish cope with the constant sun. I'm hearing little complaints from the growing number of people I know living over there. It is an easy sell to get folk over there by selling them what they have now as opposed to what they could have. In a time of mass migration, wherever or whatever the causes, it may be places getting a shot at a sustainable future that cop us up here West on a little bit. If you can give people a certain security they'll want better things. But when the future is tail end up here in Ireland it's hard to see anything surfacing anytime soon. 2008 - The Letdown 2009 - The Fightback 2010 - The Letdown II 2011 - The continued letdown 20?? - The Door Of course it could all work out ne - in both places. Stranger things happens in Larry land. Speaking of which, I better get back to it. I found two new friends on my travels who are going to help me shape the Booker's World novel. Big credit due, because without help, putting it out as an ebook was always a concern. It's been difcult to get the help needed and when it came it came from afar. That's the

iBooks Author

good thing about modern forms of technology and human communication. You meet people who don't just buy into the illusion played out around us which deects from living life the way people would like too. If that sort of technology and savvy is directed correctly then who knows what can be achieved - But if it is by-passed continually for more corporate ends, I feel, like rogue capitalism, it is doomed to failure. I think people are tired of the BS, the Corporation of tomorrow will be based on what it stands for, driven solely by their stakeholders. A little like the banks and government should be, dont you think?

Image

www.philadelphia.nl
3

iBooks Author

Anniversary
September 11, 2011

iBooks Author

Today or yesterday, depending on where your reading from, was World Suicide Prevention Day. My blog is two years old now. The rst post recorded here dealt somewhat with the issue. It was around the time Irish Olympic hero, Darren Sutherland took his life. Every instance of suicide I come across always leaves me cold. Sense of disbelief, best swept to the back of the mind, in a place not often visited. Here's a few statistic's concerning the issue. In Ireland it has been described as an epidemic. Long swept under the carpet which is down to multiple factors, the stigma is lifting, but as the statistics suggest, the efforts are to slow and although their was a decrease from the 2009 high, when it's human lives we are speaking of, it's an extremely weak Minister that will cut funding to vital services. It's too important an issue to be a minority issue. The constitution states a desire for an equal society. It's how those who wrote it wanted it to be. I dealt partly with the issue in Booker's World. From the viewpoint of someone left behind and from a male standpoint. Terribly selsh of me, but there you go. Why I chose to write about it really doesn't matter. It was my interpretation. I think the problem can be addressed by continually making people aware that it is a serious issue that has scarred families, deant of class and stature in every corner of this country. A greater understanding as to why is important, but so too the feelings of those left behind who are left to carry the questions inside, sometimes on their own. There is great work being done and more is needed. I also believe work toward a cognitive approach through the Arts can be of great benet to someone reaching out. That's a personal opinion, but I think I've read enough material at this stage to laud some worthwhile benets. Too often people just get lost. Too often we can be to busy to see. Too often we only see the signs when it's too late. Not that we didn't want to see them, but because life got to unmanageable keeping everything together under the stress and strain of daily living. I hope James Reilly stands up and is counted on this one. He'd get a hell of a lot of good press here anyway if he does. Reilly for Taoiseach. I can almost see it now. He got the poison chalice that is the HSE. Mary Harney's legacy, as she enjoys the fruits of her progressive democracy, or Independence, or whatever she counts herself as these days. There's many things Reilly has to address - and fast. Everything's against him. But on this issue he should not fail. Legacy can bring its own stigma and legacy stretches further than the in-club of the time. Though we know history lies even to this day, you'd have to say we are getting better at recording it for future generations to ponder over. As Leon Jackson once said, 'It's what you leave behind.'
5

iBooks Author

In Memory

September 11, 2!1

iBooks Author

Resumptions
September 14, 2011

iBooks Author

The Dil resumed today and opened my political season to scenes of wild jubilation in Dublin, with the announcement of interest rate cuts in the terms of our super-doper bailout deal. I never saw Mickey Noonan smile before, so I guess there's life in the old guy yet. Ireland rate in now a less penal 3.5% and could save the taxpayer 1-5 billion each year, though the Department of Finance are playing down that gure tonight. So here's one for Mickey. Plough a half a billion into less cuts in December's budget and the other half into enterprise and announce it this week, so Ireland doesn't have to face the next four months with pessimism that goes past what even the word can offer. If you could spare even half a million on lmmakers that would go a long way to in the short term. Call me! It might be reason for celebration, but the bottom line still remains the taxpayer was penalized for a generation while the greatest swindle in our national history still goes without one-iota of accountability - for anyone. There are men out there, literally in debts of billions being paid handsomely by NAMA, and 'Top' civil servants retiring early with million euro payouts and pension bonanza's. It's a painful injustice to have to bear when you read the likes of this. This Dil session will do well to equal the extraordinary happenings of the same time last year when Fianna Fil's debacle at their drink-in slowly led to months of political intrigue this country is unlikely to see again for some time. From lies to the public, to bailouts, to loss of sovereignty, to games of golf with villain of the piece, Seanie Fitzpatrick, they were swept into insignicance by a public who just had enough of nearly two decades of (pick your own word) and wanted nothing more from them. The honeymoon is over but, I think Fine Gael for the most part have the tools to ride it out. I'm not so sure about Labour though. With Gilmore now the target of press concerning his meekness at the cabinet table and Joan in the department of social protection, this coming four months could do the party signicant damage. A very signicant opposition they would have been if they had not jumped on the Fine Gael bandwagon. How much signicance will they have if the weight of public opinion goes against them over the coming months? Fine Gael would be in prime position to possibly secure an overall majority and ensure a return for many for that lucrative second term. It's also an important session for Sinn Fin and perhaps to a lesser degree, the United Left and Fianna Fil. Sinn Fin could capitalize signicantly should Labour show signs of distress. The United Left are calling for mass demo's against austerity, but how will that fare for them against the weight of the people as a whole? By all accounts the Croke Park agreement is safe and that was to be expected.

iBooks Author

Ireland is leaking jobs in signicant numbers still. Emigration remains a problem, though to some, I'm sure it's a Godsend. Banks remain zombies. Nothing going anywhere except exports oversees - citizens included.

I don't rightly know what is going to happen as Ireland enters its fourth winter of discontent in a row. For some it may only be their rst or second, but some are battle weary at this stage. If forums and places of comment are anything to go by, we are a pretty divided people in lots of respects. That's what makes me think, like the changing climate, their might be many such winters to come yet.

Image

iBooks Author

Remembering Daz
September 17, 2011

iBooks Author

Two years ago, Irish Olympic hero, Darren Sutherland died in London. He was one of 527 people who took their own lives in Ireland in 2009. Worldwide, 1,000,000 people died through suicide each year. These statistics should not be forgotten. The causes are many, but the subject hidden largely from view. These gures are not acceptable in any decent society. I hope the government of the day remember that come December. We've swept much under those carpets during the years. This problem should not be one of those.

11

iBooks Author

Murder by State
September 19, 2011

iBooks Author

When I turned out the lights at 2am last night, the last thought I had was that I might wake up this morning and this world that we occupy might just be a little bit of a better place. Like I do most nights, I take a look at the news and catch up on the events of the day. As the news anchor weighed in on the economic doom that's coming, a news bar at the bottom of the screen said that Troy Davis, an African American on Death Row in the State of Georgia, was temporarily reprieved as the US Supreme Court debated whether to grant him a longer stay of execution. If that failed the President could have intervened. I woke this morning to the news that as I slept, Troy Davis had been executed after the Supreme Court ruled he should be put to death. Obama didn't intervene. The world wasn't a better place. A sense of real sadness came over me and it has remained all day. Humanity it seems is sick, and you won't see any pharma company coming up with a pill to cure it any day soon. I don't know if this man is innocent or guilty. Perhaps only he knows. In his nal words he once against protested his innocence. But I do know that what he has had to endure over the past 20 years shows a level of inhumanity that is truly sickening. Guilty or innocent the facts of the case present a reasonable doubt in my opinion. Davis was convicted of shooting dead an off-duty police ofcer. No gun was ever found. No DNA to put the matter beyond a doubt. Zero physical evidence. Ten witnesses signed afdavits saying police coerced them into implicating Davis. Eight more signed afdavits implicating another man. This held no weight with anyone of inuence. For 20 years Davis languished on Death Row. Some would say punishment in itself. Here in Ireland if you commit the ultimate crime, you're usually out in 10-15 years. This was the fourth time a date for the sentence to be carried out had been issued. The physiological impact of that perhaps is justice enough. To know and protest throughout your innocence can only make it worse. The facts and gures don't lie. As a deterrent the Death Penalty has been proved time and time again to be a failed practice. It does not deter. The Troy Davis case is but one of many, where serious grounds for innocence has been known, but yet the executions were still carried out. Sunny Jacobs was a death row inmate for 17 years on Death Row in Florida before her conviction was overturned. Her partner was not so lucky. He was executed. She currently lives in the West of Ireland. Since 1990 the State of Texas has executed 442 people. Hardly surprising that, when you consider George W. Bush was a previous governor. A war-mongering half-wit who is responsible for, at a conservative estimate, the deaths of well over 100,000 innocent men, women and children in illegal wars.
13

iBooks Author

Presidential wannabe and current Texas governor Rick Perry is another blood thirsty hound. In a recent debate Republican supporters clapped and cheered when Perry was asked how did he sleep at night after ordering the deaths of 234 people. Of course the animal said he slept very well. Perry it seems also has the blood of the innocence on his hands. And what of Obama - the great hope of just three years ago. I saw the pictures of him witnessing the death of Osama Bin-Laden. Fair enough, he may have had proper cause on that one. But last night he shamed the colour of his own skin by standing by this for political gain and allowing it to happen. He could lose the Presidency next year. To who - another blood thirsty American Republican? It's at times like this you hope for the existence of some form of justice on the other side for all this. But then you realize that no allpowerful or all-loving entity would stand by and allow the travesties of humankind to take place, if such powers existed. These morons know this. Otherwise they would simply not act in such a way. But for all we don't know, there is a wrong and a right. Wrong seems to have been the order of the day throughout human civilization. And we seem further away today from ever reversing the blood splattered pages of our history to set about correcting it. And maybe with that sadness I mentioned above comes also the feeling of powerlessness. I accepted the philosophical guidance of Absurdity a few years ago. But even the freedom that comes with that, the search for a personal meaning to all is at times pretty hard to nd. I've mentioned a lmmaker by the name of Terry McMahon before on the blog. His lm, Charlie Casanova is currently ripping through lm festivals the world over. I don't know nor have I ever met the man. Today he posted a piece of writing any of us practitioners would have been proud to write. In a country so devoid of any inspiration, it's nice to come across people who don't hold back - who say it as it is whatever the personal cost to them as we stumble through this absurdity of life. It deserves to be read ''I am not Troy Davis. I remained silent during this. Why are you surprised he was... executed? Because the colour of the skin of the U.S. President is the same as Troy Davis's? Power turns all skin grey. I am not Troy Davis, I am an Irish working class white male where we have Burger King and security guards and cops but we don't have guns or execution chambers. We don't need them. Our state uses different weaponry but the result is the same. I am not Troy Davis, I am Terence Wheelock and I lived in Summerhill, Dublin, until I robbed a car and was found dead in a police celI. Nobody campaigns for me. I am not Troy Davis, I am a nameless-faceless protester on the Shell to Sea campaign who daily has my face smashed in by police and IRMS private security. Nobody shouts about me. I am not Troy Davis, I
14

iBooks Author

am one of the 110% increase in suicides who save the state the cost of lethal injection by taking my own life. Nobody turns up at my funeral. I am not Troy Davis, I am Teresa Treacy, in prison because I tried to get the state to compromise on entering my private land and destroying its beauty. Nobody is chanting outside my jail cell. I am not Troy Davis, I am one of the countless parents of special needs children who have been condemned to the shadows. Nobody has called to offer assistance. I am not Troy Davis, I am another homeless body. Nobody has offered me a room. I am not Troy Davis, I am ashamed at who we have all allowed ourselves to become. Nobody does anything. I am not Troy Davis, I am alive and capable of ghting back, before I am Troy Davis.'' Terry McMahon

I'll never gure out life. I accept that. But I do still cling to some hope that karma plays some part in providing justice. I don't believe life with all its genetic complexities could come about by accident. I don't believe in any entity that has the power to stop injustices could let a child starve in some dust bowl or allow half wits like George W. Bush rise to power to massacre the innocent as they sleep in bed in a cowardly fashion by ring a missile from the middle of a sea. There is no justication for that. Not in any civilized world. Perhaps that is the problem. We've yet to civilize properly. And at the current rate of going, we're hardly likely to ever.

Troy Anthony Davis 1968-2011 Murdered by The State of Georgia - September 21, 2011 RIP

15

iBooks Author

Social Ravers
September 26, 2011

iBooks Author

When I left the old grog behind a number of years ago, I knew the pursuit of something else would have to be sought pretty quickly to ll the gap left by the squander of many a year. I nd myself very lucky these days that I always had a love for writing. I began my rst book as an 18 year old in Holland - a generational epic spanning Irish lives on three continents. I took it out again at 22 during another grogless stint, but it collapsed again on page 149 of a handwritten notepad. I still have it to this day, along with the small mound of the writings I've gathered to date for the grandchilder to light the re with. It seems only fair... When recession came and bit our collective ass - with the exception of those who plunder it for their own gain on scales which impact horrically on some people's lives - I began to think of writing as more of an opportunity than a mere pass-time. So i researched into it, and given the tech age we live in, it didn't seem beyond the bounds of possibility that perhaps even a working-class begrudger with no degree could someday earn a crust doing what it is they wanted to do. I tried for Uni twice. The rst time in 2007 I was accepted in the UK. I had to give it up after a delay in getting my grant, and having no job meant it was impossible to continue. Just one of the many examples of systemic failure I have encountered in Ireland. The second time was here at home. I was denied a place on the English & History course as I wasn't deemed t enough. The three-minute interviewer thought the gap in education might not help with my ability to think critically. I took that one on the chin although at the time it did knock me out. I managed to salvage something from it in the pages of Booker's World. The best advice I could get online about writing was to write what one knows about. From that came Booker's World - The slowest selling Irish novel of 2011. Perhaps even the world. I haven't even covered the publishing cost yet! I will let you decide if those are the words of a bitter middle-aged dude or a blatant self-promoting plug. Being an absurdist, I can see the value in most opinion, so don't hold back. I covered the Lisbon Treaty 2 referendum with gusto on my blog when I set out writing regularly. After Ireland allowed it to sail through, I decided that the coward in me should withdraw blog posts concerning that debate of which I was set against. From the prospective of someone who would have to engage with authority in order to advance their lowly position in life I felt - at the time - that it would be best. I mean how could authority support an anti-European? The cowardice and self-censorship left me soon afterwards and I vowed never again to dodge an issue and that was made easier by the absolute collapse that has unfolded here since 2008. I learned more in those few years than I would expect to learn in a niche subject studied for many years. Not just about how our little island operates, but of her past and present. I also found out a little about myself
17

iBooks Author

along the way too. It's true, I could apply for an unpaid internship and try further my mummied career of choice. But who do you write for? Who out there was looking for ramblings devoid of all the bullshit. Who'd take on an upstart with an opinion or an angle of their own? Ive looked and found a large percentage of it is nothing more than paid for opinion in the agenda-setting/spin type world we live in - pens for hire. I'm an oxymoron in many respects. After all, doesn't my muses have a certain agenda of its own? The Social Republicanism, The Social Raver, The Bitter Begrudger, The Capitalist Craicdown. Writing Without Grog. I'm sure it could nd many a description out there in the big bad blogosphere. 'But money is money, Booker?' Indeed it is. But if it was the hunt for handy money that consumed me, I'd have been a politician or went into porn - behind the camera, of course I do know this much from attending Enterprise courses and being through the local system here this year. Ireland has practically no interest in helping you move yourself forward in any productive way. I don't take it personally anymore. It's a fact of life. A fact of life for many. The smart ones are leaving. Next year I'll be among them I'm sure, though my youngest has told me to put such notions out of me head. He's seven! When you're back is against a wall and the will to keep ghting wanes with each passing day you come to realize it is for the best. If nothing more as a parent I want to be able in part to prepare them for a world so often set up to disappoint, but above all to encourage them and others to express their opinion and encourage them to develop an ability to think for themselves and not buy so easily into all that is fed to them daily from just about everywhere. Space in my head doesn't come free anymore, and it is a good thing to know about yourself. There is a great freedom in writing when you are not inuenced much by others. The voices I listen to these days have an eye just a little further than their own reection in a mirror. Those who call it as it is - without fear of closing off who they are to themselves. So many do it. There is so much false about life and the world in this era. When you witness the shocking lack of will to change things all around us you begin to wonder how it is ever going to sort itself out. But history reminds us it usually does... eventually. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword - if used well.

18

iBooks Author

I use my pen - or keyboard nowadays - for those kind of purposes. I certainly wouldn't be me if i didn't allow myself to use the occasional f*ck or call spin, Bullshit. Then again, I'm not appealing to the upper crust, the self absorbed PC'ers or those who like to control everything. At least not anymore. Trying to be someone else always failed me. In more ways than I'll ever get to write about I'm sure. I don't intend to fail this time for I know there is a job and a place out there somewhere which might respect where it is I come from and what I want to do with whatever amount of time Absurdity still has to grant me. 'Je pense donc je suis.' - Ren Desartes Why would one want to go against that? Well, any selfrespecting writer anyway.

Image

19

iBooks Author

Democratic Preservation
September 27, 2011

iBooks Author

Six weeks ago Senator David Norris pulled out of the race to be the next President of Ireland following controversy regarding a letter he wrote to Israeli authorities asking for clemency for his lover who stood accused of the statutory rape of a 15-year old boy. This evening, just a week after re-entering the race, Norris secured the backing of a fourth county council to secure his place on the ballot paper for the upcoming election. Debate has raged whether he should have been allowed to run. I empathized on a human level with him when he withdrew all those weeks ago. I also stated just last week that I felt he was a brave soul to come back. He will be scrutinized for all to see in mainstream circles throughout the coming campaign. His inclusion on the ballot paper is a victory for Irish democracy in my humble view. A long time poll leader, if Norris' name did not appear on the ballot paper, then serious questions would have to be asked about democracy in this country. On that note alone, i feel a little better tonight being an Irish person. Earlier in the day, ex- Eurovision winner, Dana Rosemary Scanlon also secured the backing of four county councils to also secure her name on the ballot sheet, just as she did seven years ago in her failed bid then. Once again in the interests of democracy it is to be welcomed. I don't believe she will have much impact on proceedings though her strong religious values will get her votes in some quarters of the country. The two new additions to the proceeding now completed the eld of candidates which will run for the ofce of President in a term which will include the celebrations of the 1916 Rising in less than four years time. The line up is -

Martin McGuinness - Sinn Fin. Sean Gallagher - Independent. Michael D. Higgins - Labour. Mary Davis - Independent. Gay Mitchell - Fine Gael. Dana - Independent. David Norris - Independent.

Im going to cover this election from start to nish and bring the next chapter of Bookers World along. Don Booker - Product of Environment Image

21

iBooks Author

Bookers World September, 2011

This ebook series is a comment on issues facing Ireland, covered in real-time against the backdrop of what is really happening in Ireland at that time. The series cover events as they happen through the eyes of the ctional Don Booker, an unemployed recluse as he attempts to write himself through his personal woes and an Ireland in decline. The novel, Booker's World is separate from this series of ebooks, though both worlds do cross at certain juncture as the months go by. An ebook version of the novel will be available soon. All ebooks in this series may be used for reference and may be distributed freely once adhering to Creative Commons License and crediting the author.

With cuts to depression & addiction services being implemented in Ireland, please consider these when making a charitable donation in the future.

22

iBooks Author

Independence International Mutha-F*ckrz The Cost of Living

Also in this series...

Last Daze The Artful Dodger Planet Bonkers 45 Visitors Dead Peasants The Great Gas Giveaway Celtic Whine All available to read or download at www.fbooker.blogspot.com www.scribd.com/don_booker

5 Days in September Deathly Quotes November Nightmares Absurdities Purjurious Times Forgetful Directions Chill Dark The Loaded Taoiseach

23

iBooks Author

The Writing Life & Other Absurdities

www.fbooker.blogspot.com

Novella Sonny Strange Free Download Here

Contact :jasepub@gmail.com

(C) 2011 JaSE Project

xxiv

iBooks Author