McCain as POW

I hear John McCain's campaign have released photos of him as a POW - guess they want to hammer home his war experience.

I wouldn't have thought it much of a selling point for his skills as President & Commander in Chief of the US forces - I mean let's face it - HE GOT CAPTURED !

Worth looking at this:
Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman interviews professor Mark Crispin Miller on election fraud, voter intimidation, voting machine malfunctions and the Bradley Effect. Miller is the author of "Loser Takes All: Election Fraud and the Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008."

Senior citizens protest publiclly following budget

Minister of State for Health John Moloney represented the Government at a senior citizens protest today in Westland Row, but he was loudly heckled and eventually left the microphone without having spoken.

The meeting was to take place in a hotel room with a capacity of 300, but when hundreds of older people began to turn up the meeting was moved to St. Andrew's Church, Westland Row.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore and Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin were all welcomed warmly.

The protest rally was organised by Age Action.

A second rally will take place tomorrow (22 Oct 08), organised by the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament:
Dail Eireann (Kildare Street entrance) Wed 22 Oct, 2008 12.30 - 13.30

The ISC Parliament is run by older volunteers who are elected annually at the Annual Parliament Meeting by delegates from affiliated organisations. The ISCP currently has 400 affiliated organisations whose memberships combine to a total of 100,000 individuals.

This membership means the ISCP has a genuine mandate to be the Voice of Older People in Ireland. The Parliament is organised on a non-sectarian / non-political basis.

Contact Information:
Irish Senior Citizens Parliament
90 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3.
Tel: 01 - 856 1243
Fax: 01 - 856 1245

E-mail: seniors@iol.ie
Web: www.seniors.ie
Blog: www.iscp.wordpress.com

.a voice for children who don't have one

O2 identified IAA (Irish Autism Action) as their charity of choice in 2005. October 08 sees them launch an Affinity scheme for the ABA Schools nationally - they will donate 5% of a customers bill to the schools. This will apply to both prepay and billed users.

The 5% comes out of O2's take and costs the customer absolutely nothing. The customer should FREEtext AUTISM to 50308.
(NB. sending the text is free!)

If you/your company decide to sign up & don’t have a preference for a school for the donation, FIDELMA's friend’s nephew is in:
St. Catherines
Barnacoyle
Co. Wicklow
...they could really do with the extra funding.

To specify that your donation go to that specific school she would need your mobile number and bill payers name for O2
(forward back to us & we'll pass it on).

For more info:
this O2 webpage explains the scheme

Senate Ethics Committee formally reprimanded McCain

American tax-payers are bailing out bankers while being asked to vote for a presidential candidate who was formally reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee for his associations with a previous banking scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five).

After the savings and loan disaster of the late '80s and early '90s John McCain was accused of improperly aiding one of his major political funders, Charles Keating, chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. Keating's Lincoln Savings and Loan Association took advantage of deregulation in the 1980s to make risky investments with its depositors' money (google it).

With investigators closing in McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating and championed legislation to delay regulation of the industry - that allowed Keating to continue his fraud at massive cost to taxpayers: 20,000 Americans lost their savings but the cost to taxpayers rose further from around $3 billion to, eventually, more than $120 billion.

The Senate Ethics Committee investigated and formally reprimanded McCain for his role in the scandal.

Fast-forward to today's credit crisis where lack of regulation and cozy relationships between the financial industry and Congress has allowed banks to make risky loans and profit by bending the rules.

Is it any wonder that McCain's campaign, in the last few days, have suggested they turn-the-page on the economic question?

Watch the documentary (13 mins) here:
paid for by the Obama Campaign

3 things you may not know about McCain here:

Raw Living Food at the Back Loft

MUREAD HUGHES passed word on that RAW RENEGADE RESTAURANT is creating a gourmet raw & living food restaurant with raw live entertainment in various randoms spaces around Dublin.

Using fine organic ingriedents, Raw will create dishes that have been slowly marinated over days, or gently air cooked at very low temperatures, fermented to create cheese made from nuts, wraps made from seweeds, creams made from sprouted sunflower seeds, deserts from the finest raw organic chrilllo cacao peruvian cacao beans on the planet and more.

3 courses will come in large platters to share with others. All food is wheat, sugar, dairy, gluten, egg, meat & fish free.

Raw promises to "source local, organic produce where available and take, love, pleasure and passion to make your delicious menu ...Raw food is a revoloution for the body, spirit and mind using some of the most amazing ingredients on the planet".


check it out:
THE BACK LOFT
7-11 St Augustine St (off Thomas St)
(now an art space - once DUNNES STORES' sewing factory)

Friday 10th October
19.30 prompt
Cost €35 (includes full meal, music, entertainment, film)

You must book in advance:
Contact: Natasha 087 9743455