Deputy First Minister of British Occupied Ireland, Martin McGuinness, says the sectarian paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) are the real orgnizers of a loyalist protest march planned in Belfast city centre this coming Saturday.
Questioned in Stormont boasted to be aProtestant parliament for a Protestant people, Mr McGuinness said "I don't have any doubt as to who's organising this parade, this parade is being organised by the UVF and it is being supported by elements within the Orange Order," he said.
The protest will also highlight the other issues that are impacting on working class Protestant communities, including increasing poverty”Billy Hutchinson Progressive Unionist Party leader,
He said the media were being "exercised"(conned), over who was really organising the march. McGuinness told the assembly on Tuesday, that there was a duty to face up to the concerns being expressed by Belfast's business community, about the potential economic damage that could be caused by further protests.
Loyalists plan to mark the first anniversary of the flags protest, with a demonstration at Belfast's City Hall on 30 November.The march is being held just before the first anniversary of Belfast council's decision, to restrict flying of the union flag to designated days. Following the decision, there has been regular protests and riots in the city and throughout British Occupied Ireland all year long. A car bomb in Belfast this week marks a return to war in Belfast.
 | UVF Bomb Factory Raises Fears of a New Offensive; MASSIVE FIRE EXTINGUISHER... Newspaper article from: Sunday Mirror (London, England) ...CASSIDY and DONNA CARTON THE RUC believes a UVF bomb factory uncovered last weekend in a...last year's loyalist feud between the UVF and UDA. They said forensic tests showed...that 1,000 Ecstasy tablets belonged the UVF - a major embarrassment to David Ervine... |
 | Empire of UVF Evil Spreads Tentacles across Scotland as Drugs and Pubs Fuel... Newspaper article from: Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) ...Edinburgh. Violent crooks linked to the UVF have tried to take over the capital's drug trade. Two senior UVF figures travelled to Edinburgh recently to inspect the new operation. For years, the UVF has used pubs in Glasgow, Ayrshire and... |
| What Bloody Sparked the UVF/LVF Feud; AS LOYALIST PARAMILITARY GROUPS END... Newspaper article from: Sunday Mirror (London, England) ...new edition of their best selling book "UVF", Henry McDonald and Jim Cusak give a...1999.THE first feud between the LVF and UVF began, for real, on December 27, 1999...to live. Around a dozen members of the UVF, some armed with pick axe handles and clubs... |
 | NO Recruitment NO Training NO Targeting .. SO WHY Keep Guns? UVF STANDS DOWN... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) ...By MAURICE FITZMAURICE and DAN McGINN THEUVF was under pressure last night to co-operate...their weapons. The announcement that the UVF is to stand down was welcomed by both Prime...founded the modern, outlawed version of the UVF in 1966, set out the organisation's new... |
| UVF ARE TRYING TO BUY NEW GUNS; Shock Revelation as IMC Prepares to Shut Down Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) Byline: MAURICE FITZMAURICE UVF members have talked about buying new weapons...Irish governments after six years. The UVF was among the main terror groups to announce...the IMC yesterday repeated its belief that UVF leaders earlier this year sanctioned the... |
| UVF 'PUSHED FOR PEACE' BEFORE TERROR OF TROUBLES; Loyalist Group Was Branded... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) Byline: MAURICE FITZMAURICE THE UVF tried to start a peace process in the early...the work of leading thinkers within the UVF and Red Hand Commando - better known for...years which involved speaking to former UVF and RHC members as well as reading loyalist... |
| UVF Had Gun Talks in Dublin Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) ...can reveal. Sources in Dublin confirmed UVF and Red Hand Commando representatives held...meetings took place 24 hours before the UVF and Red Hand Commando membership became...de Chastalain's decommissioning body. UVF sources in Belfast yesterday said the visit... |
 | UVF Plot a 'Reaction' to Republicans; Ervine Insists Loyalist Terror Group Is... Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) ...leader David Ervine yesterday claimed the UVF bid to ship explosives to Northern Ireland...conspiring to further the purposes of the UVF by transporting five kilos of explosives...Belfast. Prosecutor Murdo MacLeod said the UVF had a network of cells and support groups... |
| Killed Because He Stood Up to the UVF Bullies; My Son Was Murdered. It Was... Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) ...buried today after his life was cut short by the UVF - all because he came out on top in a fight with...beating up the local commanding officer of the UVF. The unofficial police confirmation of the UVF role in the killing has again raised doubts about... |
| I Was Set-Up Claims UVF Commander; 'Murder Gang' Leader in Secret Meeting Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) A NORTH Belfast UVF commander who is being fingered for being...Newtownabbey, told them he believed the UVF leadership on the Shankill Road has sought...exact revenge for the murder of alleged UVF leader Richard Jameson. But, at a secret... |
 | UVF 'Deactivates' and Agrees to Put Weapons 'Beyond Reach' ; HOME Newspaper article from: The Independent (London, England) ...loyalist icon Augustus "Gusty" Spence, theUVF promised to end violent and criminal activity...least because of recent indications that the UVF was involved in intelligence-gathering...other loyalist groups. The most recent UVF murder was the killing of Michael Green... |
 | Uvf Wreath `an Insult to Hillsborough Dead' in a Week of Shame for Ulster... Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) ...Hillsborough disaster last night attacked the UVF for laying a paramilitary wreath at the...artificial poppies was left last week by the UVF at the pillar of remembrance outside Anfield...April 15 1989. The wreath, which read "UVF for God and Ulster", was left by A Company... |
| UVF Report Delivered to Hain Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) A REPORT on the state of the UVF&s ceasefire was handed over to the British...report on the increasing activities of the UVF on top of his in-tray. In recent weeks...expect Mr Hain to immediately specify the UVF ceasefire was over. In reality this no... |
| A MAN OF WAR ..BUT ALSO A MAN OF PEACE; Former UVF Chief & Loyalist Political... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) ...father who was a member of the original UVF. Spence reformed the paramilitary organisation...The shooting was the first of a 40-year UVF killing spree which claimed the lives of...Mr Ward's murder while there he became UVF commander. While regarded for years as... |
| Internal Talks Could Lead to UVF Ceasefire Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) THE UVF is preparing to call a ceasefire in its war...announcement by the Secretary of State to say the UVF cessation was no longer recognised had been...clearing the way for the Government to act. The UVF has killed four people in the last two months... |
| ORANGE ORDER 'CLOAK' FOR MERSEY UVF TWO; Court Hears of Lodge Links as Judge... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) ...used Orange lodges as a "cloak" to cover UVFactivities, a court heard yesterday. Roy...and two months, for being a member of the UVF and for nine offences linked to firearms...years after admitting membership of the UVF. Both are former members of the Territorial... |
| Abject Remorse - and More Killings; UVF CEASEFIRE Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) ON October 13, 1994, veteran UVF chief Gusty Spence announced a ceasefire on behalf of...convenience has often been regarded as a cover for the UVF's continued use of violence. The UVF has been implicated in a number of murders but, in the... |
| Dear UVF. Sorry about Killing All of Your Mates, but We'd like to Call A.... Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) ...humiliated by rival terror bosses in the UVF, The People can reveal. Loyalist sources...function in Lurgan and asked Portadown's new UVF leader to accept their offer of a truce...embarrassingly rejected out of hand, with the UVF chief saying: "Don't you think you boys... |
| LOYALIST NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES; Gusty Forced to Flee. Violence Spreads.... Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) ...warlords launched a devastating purge on UVFsupporters last night, as violence exploded...Ulster's Protestant heartland. Top ex-UVF man Gusty Spence was among those ejected...attack on the pub, a popular haunt among UVF supporters. Three more were hurt in a second... |
| UVF Sanctioned Moffett Murder - IMC Newspaper article from: The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland) ...murder "was committed by members of the UVF acting as such" and that the perpetrators...We believe that the tension between the UVF and Mr Moffett and his family, and particularly...behaved in ways which, in the eyes of the UVF, appeared to disregard the standing of... |
| Uvf Party on Jack's Turf; Exclusive Newspaper article from: Sunday Mirror (London, England) ...fundraising night - in his own backyard. The UVFevent at Airdrie Town Hall, Lanarkshire...6-a-head to watch notorious Belfast UVF band Platoon belt out Loyalist tunes, under...watchful eye of a team of menacing bouncers. UVF supporters travelled from Ulster for the... |
| 'MAFIA STYLE' UVF NO LONGER ON CEASEFIRE; Group Orchestrating Violence and... Newspaper article from: The Mirror (London, England) Byline: UNA MURPHY THE UVF is no longer on ceasefire, the chairman...mafia-like activities. He added: "The UVF have been engaged in murder, attempted...have called for the respecification of the UVF [stating its ceasefire is over]." Sinn... |
| PUP Row as UVF Oppose Agreement Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) ...PUP is finished, ex-supporters in the UVF say. Shadowy figures in the terror group...was 'greatly exagerrated.' One former UVF figure in Belfast had told us: "The truth...longer has the backing of a majority of the UVF." The source said the party was fatally... |
| INSIDE THE LOYALIST FEUD; UVF Blames Its Rivals for Series of Drug Murders Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) THE UVF last night flatly denied it had shed any blood...sworn enemies since Billy Wright split from the UVF and formed the mid-Ulster based LVF five...But that dispute escalated this year when UVF commander Richard Jameson was gunned down outside... |
| TEENAGERS BUTCHERED BY UVF DEATH SQUAD; Feud Leaves Youths with Throats Slit... Newspaper article from: The People (London, England) SICKENING UVF killers ferried two teenagers to an isolated...was high last night as it was claimed the UVF had left 'a recognised calling card' by...teenagers had their throats slashed. The UVF has been waiting to pick its moment for bloody.. |
But alas we seem to be moving further away from these things.
Re: "Sustaining and resourcing circles of protection for the weakest and most vulnerable is indeed an important aim." It is and actually it benefits everyone in the long-term, so you can actually make an economic argument (as well as an altruistic one) to support this idea.
It's a fierce big book....is it worth the effort?
BO'B is really engaging in a bit of strawman bashing with this effort. Objectivism is a non-philosophy philosophy. Like Creationism, it can't be disproven but doesn't add anything to our ability to understand the world around us.
The liberalism that I understand is about maximising freedom for the greatest possible number of people. You should have the freedom to live your own life however you want. But, that freedom does not extend to things that would impinge upon the freedoms of others. It's well summed-up by the maxim "your right to swing your fist ends where my face begins". So you don't have the right to drive your car as fast as you want. Industries don't have the right to dump their waste into rivers. Advertisers don't have the right to make false or misleading claims about their products. Business owners don't have the right to discriminate against customers or employees on the basis of gender, ethnicity (etc). It's not at all the same thing as "do what thou wilt".
These are just some of the many ways in which liberalism differs from libertarianism. Liberalism recommends laws and regulations to keep rogue individuals from depriving others of their rights. Libertarianism, on the other hand, favours smaller government, privatisation, de-regulation. Let them do as they please; regulations are expensive and bureaucratic, the free market will sort everything out in time. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 effectively ended the racist Jim Crow laws. But Ron Paul, libertarian, opposes the Act because it restricts the rights of the individual to run their business the way they want. Not that he thinks segregation was a good thing, but he values the rights of the bus company to segregate its passengers more than he values the rights of the passengers not to be segregated. This is at odds with liberalism. And it means he's still a racist.
Liberalism is a religion/philosophy/political stance whereas "liberalism" (Irish Times style) is a mental illness that thinks it's Liberalism.
If Catholicism is the destruction of oak trees than "liberalism" is a massive waste of spruce trees....
No man is an island especially in todays world where we depend on others for nearly everything - work, food, clothing, even entertainment. So no matter what you do you are inpinging on others. The area of family life is one of the best examples where freedom these days is exactly the same as the libertarianism you describe.
As the Gospel says "You will know them by their Fruits" and America exemplifies everything that is undesirable in today's world .
The reason for this is American society has come to a dead end. This is evident in the fact that their version of human rights (which we are now aping here e.g. the children's referendum) in based on "Enlightenment" thinking with an emphasis on an atheistic individualism which seeks to replace religion with science, bans God from all aspects of life, replacing Him with a system that puts the interests of the individual over the interests of the common good and society at large. (as Breda points out above about Rand “Man – every man – is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life.”)
While there is a pretence of Christianity in American society "This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;" This is obvious in the fact that the Judeo-Christian version of human rights based on the Mosaic Covenant which established an absolute right to the one true God, the right to the truth, the right to life, the right to a natural family and the right to ownership of property are noticeably absent from their legal system.
I guess all her 'friends' took her writings too seriously.
I think selflessness is far more in vogue these days in this country than the days when the vast majority stood by as a tyrannical church systemically abused and tortured and utterly destroyed the lives of thousands of vulnerable children, young single mothers and their families. Up until 1993 we had a law, vehemently supported by that church, that made it illegal for same sex couples to be couples, and today that church and certain organisations still oppose the equal rights for those couples. Some people are so selfish in their beliefs and their parenting that they implant their religious beliefs into the young vulnerable minds of their children in attempt to skew any chance of them making a rational, objective choice on their own (to the point where we end up with buckets of lukewarm believers who aren't sure why they believe or what they believe - quelle surprise). How selfish is it to mutilate the body of your baby boy because of your religious convictions? It's just my opinion: I could go on; I could be wrong
This cry that selfishness is a new idea that is in vogue is utterly ridiculous. Ireland was once a very, very brutal place. It is undoubtedly less so now. If you were a member of a vulnerable minority which year would rather live in?
While we have a very friendly reputation, we are certainly not good at looking after our own here. We're like the family who make the downstairs spotless for the big visitor while making sure that the dysfunctional members of the clann are kept quiet upstairs.
We have a way to go, but we are on the road. People like Breda O' Brien are trying to make us believe that we left some mythical better place behind us. It just isn't so.