Taoiseach Bertie Ahern marks his 3,500th day in office today. The Dublin Central TD, who came to power in 1997, has vowed to leave politics in 2012 when he turns 60.

He is currently the fourth longest-serving EU leader but could leapfrog Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair if he wins a third consecutive term this year.

Had enough already?

Cllr Martin is calling for the ICTU in Mayo to re-establish the Westport Trades Union Council which was amalgamated with Castlebar. Councillor Keith Martin of the Westport Branch of the Labour Party has also appealed to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to revoke their decision to close the Westport Resource Centre.

Cllr Martin says the Westport Centre for the Unemployed is a vital piece of Westport’s social and economic infrastructure which must remain in place at all costs and says the centre could and should be run under the auspicious of a newly established Trades Union Council in Westport.

Cllr Martin, who serves on the Westport Town Council Enterprise Taskforce, says the centre is a vital tool for the unemployed, the marginalised and those in need of advice in the town.

According to the Labour councillor “The centre provides skills and services to those seeking employment that are unavailable elsewhere. It provides information on social welfare and work entitlements and is a link to advocacy, consumer rights, and union membership and is a great resource for employers who can advertise positions at the centre. Indeed, the centre often puts applicants in touch with employers there and then.

Westport Centre for the Unemployed was there for this town when things were bad and in a successful economy it is still a vital tool for those seeking work and for those in need of help and we must not walk away from it now.

There are no other resources like the Centre in town. We have no Citizens Advice Bureau, Money Advice and Budgeting Service, FAS, Consumer Affairs or Trade Union offices in Westport.

We have never been as well off as a society then we are now and it is ironic that it is the ICTU who are closing up this workers’ resource over funding. I am calling on the ICTU in Mayo and at nationwide level to re-examine the situation and to give the centre local management who are best able to source additional funding and decide on how best to meet the town’s needs.”

"Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of tyranny over the unfortunate."

---Bertrand Russell

Westport Labour councillor Keith Martin has, this morning, contacted the David Begg, General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, to request that the closure of the Westport Centre for the Unemployed be abandoned. Cllr Martin says he was dismayed to learn of the planned closure of the Centre in the local media.

“This decision has been made without consultation with the local community, town council or labour movement. As a member of the Impact Trade Union, as a Labour Councillor and a socialist I am dismayed at this decision and by the complete lack of consultation and notice by the ICTU in reaching this decision.”

There are no other resources like the Centre in town. We have no Citizens Advice Bureau, MABS, FAS, Consumer Affairs or Trade Union offices in Westport. The role of these organisations as Information Gateways was fulfilled by the Centre.

It is my understanding that the Centre is to be closed because it is not being used sufficiently. That is not the same as there being no need of its services but rather indicates a lack of awareness of the Centre’s resources and facilities among those who need the service most. Just two years ago Westport lost 325 jobs at Allergan the town’s largest employer. The town is also home to over 600 to 800 non national workers who travel here to work in Westport’s service industry and they too rely on the centre for CV’s, employment information and rights information like the minimum wage and advocacy information.

How are we to be expected to standup to the downsizing of businesses, job losses and relocation of labour if Westport is abandoned by the ICTU and the union movement?

I am calling on every person in Westport, every Trade Union member, every unemployed person and everyone who ever used the Centre in Westport to contact the ICTU on 01 8897777 to call on them to leave the centre open. Times are good now and they want to take this valuable community resource away, God help us when times get bad again.”

Owners of vehicles with an engine size of 2,000cc and over will have to pay a "premium rate" resident parking fee of €80 a year or €140 for two years, while those with engines under 2,000cc will pay a standard rate of €40 or €70 for two years, in areas subject to pay-and-display or permit parking under new bylaws proposed by Dublin City Council.

Is this the beginning of the taxing of SUVs to death?

In London Ken Livingstone has increased his congestion charge for SUVs.

Dick Roche has reformed motor tax and from 2008, VRT will be based on a vehicle's CO2 emissions. This will penalise owners of SUVs and other high-consumption cars.

Is it all over for SUVs?

Castro is in decline. Even his close friend Chavez says the dictator of Cuba is fighting a battle for his life.

Following his surgery 6 months ago Castro has suffered a series of medical setbacks and it looks like the old man of Communism (Castro is 80) is no longer likely to recover. Officials have stopped insisting that Castro's handover of power was temporary.

However what Castro's protracted illness has done is given the new Cuban leadership an easy six months to settle in and consolidate their power. When Castro does die he will leave behind him no questions of leadership or authority as it has all been settled now.

This will be a blow to those who expected the end of Communism in Cuba to happen with end of Castro himself.

It is nothing short of revolutionary in itself that power has shifted over so peacefully from Castro with any protests, uproar or trouble. Read more about it here

But where next for Cuba? Cuba most transform itself from a communist state to a socialist one and this can only be done by the US raising its trading embargo and by the support of the EU and other power blocks in fending off US interference in Cuban affairs.

If the new Cuban rulers do not make the changes now, they will be forced upon them later. A velvet revolution is what Cuba needs. It needs to transform into a socialist democracy along the lines of Eastern Europe not along the lines of Russia or China which are already being invaded by US corporations eager to "reform" their systems in versions of the US's.

Cuba needs european style socialism not US style captialism.

"That government is best that governs least."

---Thomas Jefferson

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That is the essence of inhumanity."

---George Bernard Shaw

Is Jade a racist?

Jade Goody, unaware of the controversy brewing around her, continued to make allegedly racist comments - calling her housemate Shilpa "Poppadom".

In scenes shown on Channel 4, Jade was asked to explain the nickname she used for the Bollywood star.

She said that while talking to Danielle she wanted to use an Indian name and the only word she could think of was an Indian food.

You can listen to all the Irish radio stations, national and local, here on Eirefm.

Was just listening to BBC Radio 4. They are all here from my local Mid West Radio to RTE, Today Fm etc.

Very good site, minimal fuss, very very east to use. Check it out.

Part of an exhibition based on the state visits of Dr Patrick Hillery's Presidency has been placed on display at the branch library in his hometown of Miltown Malbay, County Clare.

'From There to Here: the state visits of the Hillery Presidency' was exhibited at Clare Museum between November 2005 and February 2006.

It featured text panels and artefacts relating to state visits made and received by President Hillery during his two terms as Head of State between 1976 and 1990. Now, four of the six text panels are on display at the Dr. Patrick Hillery Library in Miltown Malbay.

"A booklet that accompanied the original exhibition is also available", Museum Curator John Rattigan said. He continued, "It will be of interest as it includes photographs of the informal visit of the King and Queen of Spain to Miltown Malbay in June 1986. Many local people are featured in the photographs of the royal couple walking through the streets of the town."

"Although space limitations mean that artefacts cannot be displayed on this occasion, most of the objects from the exhibition can be viewed on line at the library, where there is free access to the Clare Museum website", Mr. Rattigan added.

The objects of interest are listed in a catalogue in the booklet. Included are gifts received from President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy presented to President Hillery on President Reagan's state visit to Ireland in 1984.

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditures twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."

---Charles Dickens

Daniel Simpson has put a question on David Cameron's website. "When will you introduce a parliamentary motion demanding a government-funded plan to resettle Chagossians on the islands from which Britain evicted them, together with an apology and adequate compensation for the decades of hardship inflicted?"

You can now vote to have David Cameron (U.K. Conservative Party leader) make a public statement on the situation of the Chagossians by going to https://outlook.mayococo.ie/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.webcameron.org.uk/blogs/2069-Chagos-a-wrong-to-right. registering and voting.

David Cameron will only be "obliged" to answer the top 5 questions after this week's deadline which ends next Sunday to Monday night at exactly 0.00am.
Last week's no. 1 question (put there by the American section of the international 9/11 Truth Movement) received 172 votes, so my guess is we could easily beat that number if everyone helps. All it takes is a quick and simple on-line registration under any nickname, so please help the Chagossians by doing this and also encourage others who care about justice to do the same.

In the US a mobile phone ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said.

The man has second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg.

Firefighters arrived at the residential hotel Saturday night to find Picaso lying on the bathroom floor after a malfunctioning cell phone in his pants pocket set fire to his nylon and polyester clothes.

"I am weary seeing our laboring classes so wretchedly housed, fed, and clothed, while thousands of dollars are wasted every year over unsightly statues. If these great man must have outdoor memorials, let them be in the form of handsome blocks of buildings for the poor."

---Elizabeth Cady Stanton

"I always strongly believed that there was no way a member of a government should finance anything he was doing in that respect."

---Albert Reynolds on Bertie Ahern's receipt of monies while a Minister in Reynolds government

Harry Barrett, who is a good friend and regular reader of this blog, has set up his own blog at www.harrybarrett.blogspot.com The blog is only in warm up stage at the moment and he has just a few press releases up at the moment but the candidate for the Labour Party in Mayo is looking forward to a more formal interaction with the voters and the world wide web.

Pat Rabbitte has once again ruled out a government with Fianna Fail.

Responding to questions from the Irish Independent on the issue Pat Rabbitte stated "I believe that when people come to focus on electing a Government an alternative to Fianna Fail and the PDs will be elected. As I have repeatedly said, I have no intention of convening a Special Conference to recommend going into government with Fianna Fail."

The questions and Pat's full answers can be read here on the Labour Party Blog.

Pat has posted his full replies on the party's website www.labour.ie as the Independent has run a story today "Rabbitte leaves door open for Ahern pact" This does seem to be a bit cheeky as the whole article is pinned on Pat Rabbitte's comment that he would take account of 'national interest' in the aftermath of the election.

It is cheeky because when you read his comment in full which was in response to this question posed by the Irish Independent "Would he [Pat Rabbitte] not have an obligation to do so, in the national interest, if the likely outcome otherwise was an early general election?"

To which Pat Rabbitte responded "Of course I will take into account the national interest as Labour has always done. It is the very nature of politics that there can be disagreement on what constitutes the national interest at any particular juncture. It is my conviction that the national interest is best served at this time by replacing Fianna Fail and the PDs in government."

This of course is not the same as leaving the door open for a deal with dirty Bertie, it is an acknowledgement that Pat Rabbitte will respect the electorate as the leader of Ireland's third political party. It would have been unacceptable for Pat Rabbitte to say he would not take into account the national interest in his post elections deliberations.

One of two of Saddam's aides executed by hanging was decapitated. This only re-enforces the horror of the "justice" being handed out in Iraq by the US supported government.

Saddam's half brother, Barzan Ibrahim, was the head of Saddam's intelligence organisation and had his head severed from his body when he was hung this morning alongside the former head of the Iraqi Revolutionary Court for their role in the deaths of 148 in 1982.

The hanging and beheading was filmed by the government, though, as they were taking no chances of the repeat of any abuse being recorded, the filming has no sound. There seems to have been a ban on camera phones also.

Reports state that the two men, who were dressed in bright orange jumpsuits trembled with fear as their hooded executioners brought them to the gallows. The filming captured the hanging and decapitation of Barzan Ibrahim.

Another glorious example of US/Iraqi justice.

Watch the BBC video report here

"I thought the convict Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti had escaped the noose. I shouted that he's escaped the noose, go down and look for him. I went down a few steps ahead of the others to see: I found out that his head had separated from his body."

---public prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi on the execution of two of Saddam Hussein's aides one of whom was decapitated by the hanging.

Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner.

It is believed that she died of water intoxication from drinking too much water. She complained of headaches and was later found dead in her home.

And you thought Larry Gogan's "Just a minute" quiz was painful!

Read the story here

Labour Party membership is due for renewal and this is a good time for new members to join as we face into a General Election in May.

Labour under Pat Rabbitte are committed to bringing integrity back into government, committed to providing housing, tackling the scandal that is our health service and committed to ending the continued privatisation of public services.

Each new member will have a chance at helping bring about this change and at removing Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrats from power.

The litmus test for this government is "In ten years and given the billions at their disposal, has the government done a good job?" The answer is a definite "NO!"

The question will be asked of us on election day, by joining Labour you can help us in actually removing Bertie and Michael from power.

The Labour Party in Ireland stands for many things but its core principals are

A dog bites man story with a difference in the UK today when a terrier bit off the finger of a Labour Deputy Mayor as she delivered a leaflet through a letter box.

Pauline Haigh, 62, heard a bark from behind the door before she fell back in agony with blood pouring from her right hand.

The dog had bitten clean through her finger severing it completely. It was recovered eventually and packed in ice but was too damaged to be grafted back on.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesman said no charges had been made, adding: "It was a complete accident and no blame is attached to the owner."

We have all heard of the Ken Saro Wiwa especially in relation to the Rossport controversy but if we are honest what do we know about the man and his life?

Ken Saro Wiwa was the son of Chief Jim Wiwa of the Ogoni people, an ethnic minority whose homelands in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Saro Wiwa was a author, television producer, and environmental activist who campaigned against the environmental damage being done to the area by the oil industry. The oil-rich homeland of the Ogoni people has been subject to oil extraction since the 1950s.

Saro Wiwa served initially as spokesperson, and then as President, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People and led a nonviolent campaign against environmental damage associated with the operations of multinational oil companies including Shell.

Saro Wiwa feel foul of the government because he had strongly defended the rights of the Ogoni people of the Niger delta and criticised the government’s partnership with the oil companies and in particular Shell. Because this oppostion was damaging the oil industry and thus the government’s pocket Ken Saro Wiwa was imprisoned in 1994 by order of Nigeria's then dictator Sani Abacha on a bogus murder charge.

Despite widespread international protests, Ken Saro Wiwa, with other eight Ogoni rights activists, was hanged after a show trial in Port Harcourt, on 10 November 1995.

The execution of Ken Saro Wiwa resulted in the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth of Nations and United States lead many countries in imposing economic sanctions on Nigeria.

Following nearly 16 years of military rule in Nigeria, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a peaceful transition to civilian government was completed and sanctions have been lifted.
In this, the 11th anniversary of his execution, all over the world, Ken Saro Wiwa is remembered but what is his legacy?

What can we learn from his life and death and should it affect our views on the Corrib Gas protests?

"Chagossians, or the True Story of Diego Garcia", runs fromTuesday 09/01/07 to Saturday 13/01/07 at the Civic Theatre,Tallaght, Dublin, 8pm.Civic Box-Office Tel.: 00 353 (0)1 462 7477.

For more on the Chagos issue click here

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

---Winston Churchill

A man accused of taunting Saddam Hussein as he stood on the gallows is to face charges in court. The abuse was recorded on a mobile phone as was the execution of Saddam Hussein which is now available on the internet.

It seems there will be no investigation into who filmed the execution footage on which the abuse and taunting is recorded. According to the Iraqi investigator in charge "The footage was not a problem but the shouting."

Despite the footage clearly recording several voices chanting abuse at the dictator as he stood on the gallows awaiting his hanging only one man has been charged.

Earlier it was speculated on this blog that the unofficial recording of the execution had been "unoffically" approved and facilitated. Now the charging of just one individual with the abuse reeks of "pawn sacrifice" and this is compounded by the failure to investigate who filmed the execution which was why the investigation was originally set up.

This is because the filming was done at the behest of the government/US who wished the execution to be available as proof that Saddam was dead but did not want to film the death offically so "unoffically" Saddam was recorded and made available on the internet. The fly in the ointment of this plan was the abuse which was captured on the footage.

Following the outrage over the filming and the abuse an enqiry has been set up to investigate the issue, however as the filming was officially "unofficially" a scape goat in the form of one individual has been offered up to distract from the fact that it was officials present either US or Iraqi who filmed the execution and made it available on the internet.

In other words a whitewash.

Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela has announced that he is to re-nationalise the power and telephone companies as part of his establishment of the socialist Venezuela for the 21st century.

This has upset the United States who have demanded compensation for any US companies affected. "Nationalisation has a long and inglorious history of failure around the world," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

According to Chavez "The nation should recover its ownership of strategic sectors,".

Chavez was first elected in 1998, is remaking Venezuelan society, rewriting laws, setting up state-funded cooperatives and has started a land reform programme that has turned over large swaths of ranch lands to poor farmers.

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, from those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."

---Dwight D. Eisenhower

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other in order that the people may require a leader.

---Plato

Labour Chief Whip Emmet Stagg TD speaking in Westport recently committed the Labour Party to reversing the proposals of the Minister for Health Mary Harney to force the sale of the homes of old people in long term care.

Deputy Stagg was addressing the members and friends of the Westport Branch as part of the celebrations marking the 55 years of service to the Labour Party by Westport Party stalwart Michael Joe Lavelle.

Deputy Stagg said: “This is the latest is a series of attacks on the elderly by the PD/ FF government. Minister Harney proposes that the family home be included in the means of an old person in care and that the debt be collected after their death.

“This is enough to put the heart cross-ways in any older citizen who is feeling unwell and we should all remember that we will all reach that stage at some time.

“The Labour Party rejects any proposal to include the family home in any means test. It is not used in calculating means for any other services, be it medical cards, pensions, or third level grants.

“Labour in government will reverse this cruel decision that is causing widespread stress and worry to our elder citizens by excluding the family home from any means test and this one in particular.

“The state has a responsibility to our senior citizens, it was they who laid the foundations of the wealthy country we now enjoy; they paid for their homes in tough times and it is now entirely unacceptable that they would be forced to dispose of them to pay their medical costs. That decision must be reversed.

“As a society we will have to decide who is entitled to medical care and who is not and we will also have to decide how it is to be funded.

“It seems this question has largely been decided for the general population. No matter how rich one is, they can get full hospital treatment with specialists, surgeons and nurses for a maximum payment of €400 a year. However if you are old and sick you have to sell your house to do so. Labour will seek to end that cruel anomaly.

“I know that Labour’s Candidate in Mayo Harry Barrett is out there campaigning on this issue which is at the heart of people’s concerns and in this he has the full support of Westport’s Councillor Keith Martin. Harry and Keith are working hard every day on behalf of the people of Mayo and I trust the people of Mayo will give Harry Barrett their full support in the upcoming election. Mayo needs a Labour TD to fight its corner on this issue and of combating the decade of neglect that Mayo has endured at the hands of this government.”

Why is this man laughing (right)?

Bertie is chuckling not only because his friends gave him €50,000 and 25 businessmen in Manchester gave him €8,000 but because he has given himself a 138% pay rise over the last 10 years.

Bertie's salary has risen from €112,159 when he first took office on 1 January, 1997, to €266,492.

The figures also show that, 10 years ago, the Taoiseach was paid six times the average industrial wage. But today, that gap has widened to 8.5 times the wage of an average Irish worker.

Did you miss the "Yo Blair!" thing? Watch it above and see the real George W Bush in action. Read transcript of their conversation here.

Then watch the duet above just for a bit of fun.

The British Prime Minister has said he completely supports the inquiry and he believes that the manner of the execution was completely wrong, but that should not lead us to forget the crimes that Saddam Hussein committed, including the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

So Tony is opposed only to the manner of the execution and not opposed to execution per se?

Way too late anyway Tony.

TV legend and nice guy Magnus Magnusson has died this evening, he was 77. Magnusson had been ill with cancer for some time.

The Icelandic native was host of BBC's famous quiz Mastermind for 25 years.

He read English at Oxford before moving into journalism and hosted a number of tv shows before finding his home on Mastermind.

He is famous for his catchphrase "I've started so I'll finish."

There are plans underway to bring back public toilets in Dublin. read more here.

Dublin City Council are planning to bring them back starting with manned 24-hour unisex toilets above the disused, underground facility at the junction of College Street and Westmoreland Street.

The council was forced to close down nine public toilets in the city centre over the last decade.

"He was a self-made man who developed an epoch-making instant noodle product and spread it to all corners of the world,"

---Akio Nomura, chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry speaking about the inventor of instant noodles, Momofuku Ando, who has died in Japan, aged 96, of a heart attack.

It has taken Gordon Brown a long time to decide to condemn the execution of Saddam Hussein. One suspects he decided to wait until the public's opinion had been decided on before venturing an opinion.

Mr Brown told BBC One's Sunday AM show the manner of the former Iraqi leader's hanging was "completely unacceptable".

The UK chancellor said he was personally against the death penalty, and he hoped lessons would be learnt from the mistakes made in Saddam's execution.

Many of us knew that the execution of Saddam Hussein was unacceptable from the beginning and Gordon Brown's late entry into the fold cuts no ice with anyone.

Too little too late Gordon.

Ken Livingstone for Prime Minister

According to the US's Director of National Intelligence, Mr John Negroponte, Fidel Castro has "months, not years" left to live.

Ross Feinstein, spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, said "The bottom line: He is terminally ill."

Castro has not been seen in public for five months, and few medical updates have been made public since his reported intestinal surgery in July.

Castro also sat out the National Assembly's last session of the year, marking only the second time in 30 years that the Cuban leader has missed an assembly meeting.

This opinion is contrary to the report of a Spanish medical specialist who recently flew out to Cuba to assess Castro's health. Dr Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido examined Castro in December and declared him "cancer free" and on the path to recovery. He said that Castro would make a full recovery and could return to power.

So it boils down to a question of who's word you are willing to believe, the Director of National Intelligence of the US or a Spanish doctor?

I have just finished watching the Alan Bleasdale epic GBH on DVD. It is one of the best political dramas I have ever seen and is very disturbing, entertaining and darkly funny.

Michael Murray is the newly elected head of the city council who, upon finally achieving power, sets out with the aid of a Militant network to reinforce his position and undermine the Conservative government. However Michael is also a damaged man, damaged by a dark past and by a weak character.

He comes into conflict with Jim Nelson, a school headmaster, who has accidentally defied Murray’s ‘Day of action’, a one-day citywide strike. The seeds of his destruction are sown in the conflict that follows.

Excellent writing brings out the best from Robert Lindsay as Michael Murray and Michael Palin as Jim Nelson and the result is a powerful 10 hours of drama.

If you have never seen it, see it, if you have seen it before, see it again.

"I have left him in no doubt as to what I expect from him in terms of supporting the party and its objective of removing Fianna Fáil from office. I expect no further public comment on this matter."

---Enda Kenny on his letter to John Deasy

The headline 'Wallace steps in at number 10' on the Irish Times left me wondering if Tony Blair or John Prescott had stepped down and who was this Wallace guy and where had he come from?

Turns out Wallace is Paddy Wallace who will replace Ulster outhalf David Humphreys when Mark McCall's side take to the pitch against Glasgow at Hughenden this weekend.

Would he have made a better job of it then Tony or John. Couldn't do worse.

As for the other two replacing Walalce, Tony Blair might have made a good club president but John Prescott, the fighting, pie eating and renowned lover would have made a great captain of the Seconds.

"It is plain as day that he will never be Taoiseach without Green support."

---Green Party's spokesperson Paul Gogarty on Enda Kenny

"This is government by revenge. Saddam Hussein is our leader and now he is a martyr of history. We will turn ourselves into bombs to avenge him."

---Sabah al-Shamri, a former colonel in Saddam's Republican Guard,

Michael McDowell and Mary Harney as respective ministers for justice and health have had golden opportunities to tackle issues at the heart of Ireland's problems, namely Law and Order and the quality of our health and healthcare.

The counter above gives a maximum and minimum estimate of the dead in Iraq, it is live and updates in real time.

There was so much attention given to the death of one man, Saddam Hussein, that it is time to refocus on the deaths of those others who are dying every day in Iraq.

The counter faithfully records the deaths as they are reported, each death is recorded and if you check back in a day or even a matter of hours it is scary to see how many more people have died.

This is where our attention should be focused. Not on dead dictators but on people just like you and me who are dying daily in a country that is supposed to be liberated and free.

For more information on the project or on this counter click here.

The Iraqis have launched an investigation into how Saddam Hussein's execution was filmed on a cameraphone and released to the world via the internet.

It seems that the 'spectators' at the execution were not banned from filming the event on any sort of recording device. The Iraqi government took no steps to see how Saddam was treated or if he was filmed and may have even permitted it, unofficially. Some reports say that those filming the execution on their phones were senior government officials.

Aside from the filming Saddam was also subjected to abuse from witnesses and this too was recorded on the footage. So bad was the shouting and abuse that prosecutor Munkith al-Faroon (an official witness as required by Iraqi law) threatened to leave the room, his leaving would have meant the hanging would have to be postponed. In the event, order was restored and Saddam was hung in the middle of his prayers.

However now that Saddam is fast becoming a martyr for Sunni supporters and that there is a back lash to the filming the Iraqi Government are launching an inquiry into the hows and whys of the filming and the abuse.

Far from bringing a bloody chapter to an end, the execution coupled with the abuse heaped on the condemned Saddam and the filming and publication of it, have left Iraq even more divided than ever as Sunni's increasingly see the execution as an attack on them by the Shi'ites. The impossible is becoming the probable as Saddam is acquiring a status as a martyr to Shi'ite justice.

The bloodshed continues in Iraq, 2,000 people died in December, there are now 3,000 dead US soldiers since 2003 and the civilian death toll is nearing 60,000. Saddam's execution has done nothing to settle the situation and may yet spark off more blood shed as the divide between Sunni and Shi'ite stretches wider in the wake of the hanging of the dictator.

It would appear that violence will begat violence. Saddam's killing will only lead to more killing.

If you want to watch that clip you can visit Pull out the Pin who has a link to the execution footage there which allows you to watch the hanging of Saddam Hussein click here.

"a practice that everybody did in the country, let's be very frank and honest about it, and not be prudish about it"

---Bertie Ahern TD talking about his signing of blank cheques drawn on the Fianna Fail Party's Leader's account for Charles Haughey.

Data obtained by The Irish Times indicate hospitals are now owed millions in A&E fees by patients.

Figures provided by 34 hospitals show they were owed a total of €8.29 million in A&E fees at various stages during 2006.

Some hospitals have engaged the services of debt collection agencies and solicitors to try and recoup the money owed.

In Canada you don't pay for going to hospital and you can see a doctor for free too. You only have to pay a doctor if you want private treatment. The Canadian Government pays doctors to work in public clinics and you can pop in and see them for free.

Under the terms of the Canada Health Act, the provinces provide all residents with health insurance cards, which entitle the bearer to receive free medical care for almost all procedures. Patients are free to choose their own doctor, hospital, etc. Health institutions are either private and non-profit (such as university hospitals) or provincially run (such as Quebec's CLSC system). Doctors in private practice are entrepreneurs who bill the medicare system for their fees.

Why do we tolerate such a poor service in such a rich country as Ireland? Free Healthcare in Ireland? Hospitals should be busy dealing with the sick not chasing down people who owe them money or worse putting the likes of Debt Collectors and Solicitors onto them.

An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD, is developing a Nixonesque paranoia in relation to the Irish Times expose on the cash he received from friends, aka the €50,000 "dig out" and the "gift" payment in Manchester of €8,000.





Bertie has also complained about a conspiracy against him (read that here) which is being conducted, according to Bertie Ahern, by "those in politics who have agendas. There are those out there who are personally out to get you all of the time."
He has also complained about the media coverage of these payments. Asked to sum up 2006 at his annual Christmas Address to the nation Mr Ahern said his treatment by the media over the issue of the payments was unfair and accused some people of operating an agenda aimed at tripping him up.
The Taoiseach is keeping a close eye on the media and he recently observed that in relation to the reports on his acceptance of payments "For 22 days of the year I got the national newspapers, for the first time in my 30-year career, for 18 headlines in a row. One national newspaper gave me 16 headlines out of 18."
Ahern's claims of unfair treatment by the media, his being targeted by a conspiracy and his promise to "bury" those responsible for exposing the payments can only be seen as attempts to distract from the real controversy.
The facts are that Bertie Ahern received two payments "from friends" in 1994 and 1995 totalling €50,000 which he says he regarded as loans but then admitted that in 10 years he had not repaid a cent.
In 1994 he received another payment in the form of a "whip-round" "gift" of €8,000 from 25 businessmen in Manchester. As he received this outside of the country he says he did not need to pay tax on it.
Bertie Ahern has taken money while a serving minister of our government, that is a fact and it was wrong. The scandal and media hype surrounding Ahern's finances are his own fault, of his own creation and the media's inquiries and coverage has been entirely justified.
Talk of conspiracy, persecution by the media and threats to "bury" the whistleblower is disturbing coming from the lips of the Taoiseach. It is reminiscent of Nixon's behaviour in the months before he was finally forced to leave power over the Watergate scandal. Nixon was full of threats, casting around for those responsible for exposing his wrong-doing and denying his role and responsibility to the media, his staff and those close to him.


Like Nixon, Bertie Ahern is casting about for a scapegoat, blaming those with "agendas", denying his culpability and has already given us his Checkers speech on RTE with Brian Dobson (though he used his daughters and not his dog to hide behind and to milk for sympathy).

Bertie Ahern is guilty of low standards in high office, he compounds this with talk of conspiracy, blaming the media while refusing to acknowledge that he did wrong, but it is when he starts talking about "burying" people that he goes too far.

Click here to watch RTE's 'The week in politics' special entitled Frank Opinion which featured US political opinion specialist Dr Frank Luntz.

This was the first in a series of specials for 'The week in politics' featuring Dr Luntz and the undecided voters of Ireland in the run up to this year's general election.


You can read more about his programme here in an earlier post.

"I'd love to know. And I'd bury them. But I don't know. But somebody was. Somebody had fairly calculated and manipulatively planned this out. But I don't know. I could get lucky some day if I find out."

---Bertie Ahern TD, Taoiseach, talking about the person responsible for revealing to the Irish Times that he took money in the mid 1990s from friends totalling €50,000.

Read more here

In Desert Storm the US lost 148 and Iraqi civillian dead numbered 35,000.

Today there are now over 3,000 dead US soliders in Iraq and there are almost 60,000 Iraqi civillians dead.

According to Bush's spokesman Scott Stanzel the US president "grieves for each one that is lost" and "will ensure their sacrifice was not made in vain."

Saddam has answered for his butchery. Will Rumsfeld and Bush answer for their role in these deaths?