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A Brief Episode in the Paddy’s Day War. Joe Lost His Phone. Iggy the Infiltrator. national |
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news report
 Saturday April 05, 2003 16:26 by Rodents against Rodents in Anoraks
 A Lament for Civil Liberties and our National Day. Psychic Youth. Aggressive Rats. Ireland spent a day on the autopsy of an event that in less dangerous times would have consumed the meeja in a raging bushfire for a week. This time though it is forgotten about immediately by everyone because JR himself is flying into Belfast on Monday for a war - council with Berty and Tony. A former Member of the temple of Psychic Youth present to take part in the dail blocade on Wedensday evening last, the 2nd of April in the year of the Paddy’s Day war, at approximately the time at which the Greek IMC was shut down in the midst of violent repression of peace protests, recovered Joe Higgins’ phone after the said gentleman and elected represantative and member of The Socialist Party (of Ireland) had been most unceremoniously dragged out from the sit-in at the gates of said building by the new paddys day public order unit (unmarked) in the full glare of the media spotlight. The phone fell out of his pocket basically. You saw him in the papers. The man was upside down. Ireland spent a day on the autopsy of an event that in less dangerous times would have consumed the meeja in a raging bushfire for a week. This time though it is forgotten about immediately by everyone because JR himself is flying into Belfast on Monday for a war - council with Berty and Tony. Joe got in some good lines during the day considering he was experiencing difficulties in the communication department during the course of the day. He had to deal with Iggy the Infiltrator and with Pat Kenny’s rehersals of the same tired red-scare mongering that that Aggressive Rat McDowell would deploy like a hapless Nixon rerun minutes later in the chamber. Pat Kennedy’s inane and insulting to his listenership by numbers formulaic red-baiting almost caused Joe to miss the bell and be excluded from the debate that followed. For a man working on his feet dealing with his newfound national prominence without his mobile he performed admirably. He called a spade a spade. The Priest Was a Liar. The War was Wrong and no he was not a publicity hound. ‘I assure the house that the photocall was completely unscheduled’ - Joe quipped in the eye of the storm. If it was any kind of decent setup operation the man would have got away with his mobile phone. I mean - wouldn’t you. But he didn’t. He genuinely believed that his phone had been robbed by the Paddys Day Brigade and Co. He was wrong. It fell into the wayward clutches of an ex Member of The Temple of Psychic Youth who was taken by it’s many strange and advanced features and who was also taken by the idea - widespread in the country - that all politicians have far too much thinking to be doing about money and property to be trusted with such a potentially serious instrument of communication enhancement technology. He left the scene with the phone in his posession. He didn’t know who owned it. He subsequently, in a kind of dizzy love your neighbour fashion at the aid for red crescrent and red cross gig, passed the phone widely among emigrees af wildly varying backgrounds, and asked them to make use of it to phone home and talk to their families at some length. Michael Mc Dowell will probably try at some stage to use the records of the calls from his misplaced phone made by russian or middle eastern emigrees to stitch poor Joe up as a Red Russian or a Dictatorial Islamo-Fascist with contacts in the Middle-East or maybe even in Colombia or Argentina. They keep the records for 7 years I think. I wonder how long they keep the cctv footage from the two cameras outside the dail. This stuff should be on pay per view. Our information does not belong to us anymore, it belongs to Fr Iggy. And his mate Pat Kennedy and of course to Willie’s Doktors. They stop spinning sometimes though and thousands have a front row seat as their brains appear to melt and a seething mixture of a concern for profits expensive tribunals and landlords rights beams out of then that daleks would be proud of. Delete Delete any reference to war and irelands involvement in it and pretend that it’s ok not to worry about the weather and build big roads and erode civil rights promote excessive drinking and hope that 1000 spindoctors can make it all seem like nothing untoward is happening. Paddy’s Day War indeed.. Much Later the phone was returned to Joe, coming via the paws of many virtual warriors, by a very enthusiastic former jazz musician courier by the name of Gary-Okie who is planning a punk rock concert in honour of Joe shortly with his band. It will be held in the International Bar. Joe made some comments about one of the first meetings he had been at in 1968 having been held in the same room. Joe explained to Gary Okie how like some other politicians in the Dail he lived on the average industrial wage and gave the rest to his comrades for organisational purposes. Even BOC is thinking about 1968 and Nixon and is already getting into the ‘freaky long hair peace terrorists’ routine and the ‘how so like Sandymount Ringsend is’ property shark CRH Sindo triangle. It is not the sixties again though no matter how much the law and order brigade in FF FG and the Aggressive Rats would like it to be. We are nearing the end of the first decade of the Fourth World War and the war is everywhere now. The Zapatistas are invading Europe and at a time like this a man can’t be without his phone. ‘Psychological operations may become the dominant operational and strategic weapon in the form of media/information intervention. Logic bombs and computer viruses, including latent viruses, may be used to disrupt civilian as well as military operations. Fourth generation adversaries will be adept at manipulating the media to alter domestic and world opinion to the point where skillful use of psychological operations will sometimes preclude the commitment of combat forces. A major target will be the enemy population's support of its government and the war. Television news may become a more powerful operational weapon than armored divisions.’ Marine Corps Gazette |
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Comments (5 of 5)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5AN bit of an idea, why don't we storm RTE next Friday evening (But not don't count on that Rte security) and invade the Late Late and have ourselves a peaceful protest? Could carry out a fake execution of Pat Kenny, mind you two fake things together in the one spot....
Rushkoff's Law
Friedrich Engels (at least that's who I think it was) wrote in the 19th century
about how quantitative changes can cross a threshold and become qualitative
changes. In contemporary terms that notion has come back (and perhaps truly
come of age) with the idea of the Tipping Point. Think Robert Metcalfe's Law (
http://www.mgt.smsu.edu/mgt487/mgtissue/newstrat/metcalfe.htm ) (the value of a
network equals the square of the number of users) or David Reed's (
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed's_law ) (the value of a social network
equals the square of the number of possible connections between individual
users).
In a follow-up to his New Rennaissance piece (blogged the other day at
http://www.thefeature.com/index.jsp?url=article.jsp?pageid=35247 ) posits a
comparable (perhaps even more important tipping point) occurring now in
communications media. Call it Rushkoff's Law: (something like this) the
potential of democracy in media is the relationship of "the sum total of
computer processing power and media dissemination technology in the hands of
real people to the sum total held by government and corporate conglomerates".
Due to the ubiquity of affordable camera, microphone and network-enabled cell
phones and wireless computer devices the numbers have tipped for the first time
in favor of decentralized people's vs. centralized information power. Rushkoff
riffs inspiringly on the qualitative implications of that quantitative shift.
Rumsfeld Poetry, no... really!
http://tinyurl.com/8ry9
'People who know Bush well say the strain
of war is palpable. He rarely jokes with
staffers these days and occasionally
startles them with sarcastic putdowns.
He's being hard on himself; he gave up
sweets just before the war began.'
- USAToday http://tinyurl.com/8qjo
''And there's only one person who hugs the mothers
and the widows, the wives and the kids on the death
of their loved ones. Others hug, but having
committed the troops, I've got an additional
responsibility to hug, and that's me, and
I know what it's like .... You got to know I think
awfully hard about the commitment of troops''
- George W Bush on Mother's Day
Comments:
Lets get it in perspective, the innocent are suffering and dying in Iraq. So some conscientious people here decide to protest and make their feelings known. Ok they sit down on the street, but outside our national parliament, what better place to make their feelings known to our representatives. The authorities then decide, lets clear the road, people want to drive home. What is more important??
Jim, Dublin
It was a peaceful protest. Gardai should not have been standing by in full riot gear.
Willie , Dublin
I feel it is just another example of how the gardai abuse the power of their position. They can and do get away with brutality and are very rarely questioned about their activities. There should be an independent body to oversee the force and not be afraid of the consquences for the entire garda body. I am not anti gardai but I am anti corruption - something that is rife in the gardai in many places.
catherine, waterford
Every one has a right to protest and if the government dont like it thats their problem. I personally don't agree with the war and think that Bush and Blair are as bad as Saddam Hussein.It has been questionable for a long time about the unneccessary force used by the garda.
Mary Kiersey, Co. Waterford
One question? what about peoples right to protest, as stated by the EU, the UN and the rest? Where was that right when the Gardai yet again went in all guns blazing? Isn't it funny how you cannot have a protest against the loss of human life in an illegal war without being beaten off your own street by the state police?
Liam, Belfast
it was justified. if the protesters would stay at home instead of blocking roadways, it would not have happened.if it were travellers that had been blocking the roadway, i'm sure they wouldn't have cared how the gardai got rid of them. protesting isn't going to do any good now anyway. stop whinging and get behind the troops
jon, westmeath
Could the most selfish and narrow-minded individual reading this please stand up! - yes I'm talking to you JIM MAHON from Dublin. People like you never fail to surprise me. 90 minutes of your personal time was taken up by the protestors - wow!, well in that case people shouldn't be allowed to freedom of speech. ah sure, its only innocent iraqi people being murdered - what's that compared to your personal time!.
Tim, Cork
Regardless of whether or not you agree with the views of the Anti War Protesters, the issue is the reaction of the Gardai. These are the people we are supposed to trust to treat people with dignity, to deal with situations in an even handed, peacful manner. Not to wade in and use strong arm tactics and not to wear any identification. Remember all you who have said that you thought the Gardai acted in a proper manner, that someday you could be at the end of that kind of treatment if it is not nipped in the bud, but there again maybe you never get off your **** to take an interest in any matters that happen outside your own tiny little world.
Anne, Dublin
Well done Joe higgins. It's a pity that more TDs don't have the guts to speak their minds. Wait until they come looking for my vote
Maura, Limerick
Well done the Gardai. No matter how you handled the situation these people would complain. I think we are all getting a little fed up with the tactics of these so called Peace protesters.
Brendan, Dublin
Joe UK, if you´ve got any spine at all you may find yourself protesting about something one day and be surprised to get your skull cracked from the gardai. Think about it.
kevin, denmark
the protest was peaceful and could have been resolved with a small bit of negotiation. But the gardai in command were trying to act like their american counterparts and take no prisoners and show the public that they are tough men.
concerned member of public, galway
Everyone has the right to protest and say their voice, But not break the law doing it. Thease people broke the law and blocked a public road. I think the Garda handled the protestors appropriately. Were all tired now of the peace protestors, they have had their say. The war has happened and will continue and protesting wont stop it now.
Joe, Dublin
Yet again a bunch of thugs use the banners of "free speech" and the "right to protest" as an excuse to break the law by obstructing other peoples lives. I lost 90 minutes of my personal time because of these protesters. Who's looking out for my rights? Too bad the Gardai didn't hit them harder.
Jim Mahon, Dublin
An Anti War demonstration is deemed to be illegal while the farmers and taxi drivers can demonstrate can block the streets and this is legal.
Colette Adanan, Celbridge
joe higgins should be in jail tonight wasting garda over time why is he not so pro active against health cuts, education, fás cut backs,
pat o donoghue, dublin 2
deputy higgins should be ashamed of himself:i am ashamed of my tax contributing to pay him gardai seem to have wonderfull patience congrats
stella hickey, cork
whats with the storm troopers outfits left over from wako?
biggles, shannon airport
well protestors are going to think twice before marching on dublin again! good work by the gardai.
kevin mccarthy, prague, czech rep
The protesters' tactics were classical agressive agit prop. The tactics were an emotional response not a cognitive one. To borrow a phrase, their aim was to shock & awe. For some them it was a rite of passage, to others it was a professional one, another day in the life a foot soldier in the quest of Misrule.
Seán mac Íomhair, Gaillimh / Galway
you dont have to be a genius that the people who organize these demonstrations do so with the intention of getting attention and provoking a reaction from the gardai is one of the ways they are willing to use to do this, the protesters werent wearing any id to allow them to be id`d when they assault the gardai, the gardai deserve more respect for the difficult and often life threatning job they do!
paul, waterford
During this conflict in the middle east we have seen new born 'peaceful' protesters. Fighting and protesting for the poor defenceless Iraqi's like they have been doing for the last 12 years as saddam was killing his only people! get over it. Its the new 'in' thing to be a peaceful protester!. One thing has to be remembered though. Like 99% of the other genuine protests that occur in this country when the Gardai request that people disperse and leave it should be respected but these protesters have a divine right to stay as long as they please do they?. The action taken was completely right.
Eamon, Dublin
I think the use of riot gear was a disgusting attempt at intimidiation. Whatever about them deciding they had to clear the streets, we are dealing with jack booted hulks. What happened to the Garda Siochana?
Declan, Dublin
far too excessive use of force
john, dublin
There is something unsavoury going on with the Gardai and the public in this country in recent times, more so since Mc Dowell took over as Minister. He is unhealthily right wing, and he needs to remember that the Gardai only can operate with the good will of the public whom they serve.
Mary, Dundalk
mmm... interesting, I thought that Garda Siochana meant, Guardians of the Peace, so when the people make a demonstration to show they want peace the Gardai get violent....interesting.
Jim McKenna, Dublin 3
It never fails to surprise the restraint the Gardai show when dealing with farmers when they cause huge disruption, such as letting sheep into the dept of agriculture, or invading the E.U. Agriculture meeting. But when anyone else protests they suddenly feel duty bound to beat and assault them.
Aidan Coyle, Dublin
Paul from Dublin - it doesn't matter if the protestors were idiots or not. We have a constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully without being molested. It doesn't matter why they were protesting. The point is, once again, unidentified Gardai without their lapel numbers (and this is an offence) arrived to "break up" a peaceful protest. I witnessed several of the portesters asking the Gardai for their numbers - numbers which they legally are obliged to give to a member of the public when asked - and being laughed at! The thing is Paul, where does it stop? Where you or someone else decides that the protestors aren't idiots?? What's next - Tanks in front square of Trinity College next? Tiananmen Square scenes?
Hanna, Dublin
the reason for the result of the poll was the misrepresentation in the press of what actually happened. I dont think it was deliberately done but it is beyond a doubt in my mind that the crowd were amenable to moving prior to the decision of the police to carve a corridoor through them. the police organisation got it wrong from the start when they blocked the access to the street behind the crowd.
Stephen Foley, Woodford
I witnessed Garda behaviour last night outside the Dail. They behaved like thugs - there's no other way to describe it. I can only conclude from this and from what happened last year, that we do not have a well-trained, civil police force that any Western democracy deserves. Instead we have a bunch of semi-literate yobs in uniform.
Joe Downes, Dublin
It was an absolute disgrace for any Garda to be tasked to use such excessive force on peaceful Irish citizens making a dignified protest against a conflict that has been condemned as a breach of International law and which threatens the future of everyone around the world. Ireland is as much a part of the International community as any other country on the earth and the manhandling of the elderly, of a man in a wheelchair, of men women and young people was a thuggish response to a genuine and peaceful expression of concern. The State and the Gardai as its servants have a duty to protect Irish citizens, not physically bully those who register their opinions in a dignified non-violent manner. If freedom of speech and expression is to be of any real value then nobody should support the unleashing of anonymous Darth Vader type bullies onto decent Irish citizens. The Gardai are in danger of becoming seen as an arm of Government rather than the guardians of the people - all of them - that they are supposed to be.
Sinéad Hennessy, Dublin
This justice minister should be removed from the office. If this happens, then only people of ireland will get justice. He always supports his people, even if they are wrong.
Irish, Dublin
I think it was a total and utter disgrace on behalf of the Gardai. It reminds me of the good old days of the RUC in the North. Gardai in riot gear with no ID numbers on them. It seems to me that we are slowly but surely going back to thew days when people could not express their views if it went against the bigger nations.
Conor McLaughlin, Belfast
They should have used more force. Those protesters are idiots.
Paul, Dublin
The intent for some was to get this kind of negative publicity. Do they really think they can fool all the people all the time? Even the hardened anti war campaigner can spot the troublemakers and distance themselves from them. Remember we have the right to vote, allowing us to get rid of those in power we disagree with. Try requesting that right in Baghdad. Long live the USA.
PD, Ireland
I think that while extra Gardai were needed so that the TDs could leave Leinster House, I find it sinister to say the least that none of the "riot" police appeared to have any identity numbers on their uniforms. People are angry about the Shannon and Baldonnel stopovers but the imgages portrayed on RTE news last night were reminiscent of non democratic states around the world.
Paula Hagan, Dublin
it's very simple really that they were expressing their views about the war and the gardai fuelled their emotions about it..... wearing no id tags really enraged me as in if they did use force they could not be identified..... roll on the next election
thomas appleby, dublin
The Gardai were quite right - what does anyone hope to achieve by protesting on an international war issue in Ireland? Even if the Government were to listen they wouldn't do anything as we are a "neutral" country. Even if they did do something I am not sure if Bush knows what or where Ireland is and he would certainly not change his strategy just because Berie (or Tony for that matter)doesn't agree. The war protestors in Ireland should do something more productive - have a cup of tea maybe?
Donal O'Doherty, London
Well done to the police, Good work
joe, UK
wow Genesis and Paula P. Orridge.
hmmm. but as those in the know remember TPY was well linked to PTV.
TV is toxic is toxic is toxic.
sorry Genesis, but the violin was woeful and storming RTE well, where would we get the weather forecast from?
oh we know how to do it.
we know how to do it.
oh we know how to do it.
we do you know.
Danny Kavanagh
One of the wittiest people I have ever come across. By no means perfect but he was very very alive when he was around.
Died in Uk in last 20 days or so
known to many as the silverman
rip