Machine Nation Review of the Year / Reeling in the Machines - 2008

We are coming up to the first end of year experienced by Machine Nation. This is a thread for people to post their thoughts and feelings about 2008 as it has unfolded, and their hopes for the future.

Hmmm...

2008 was certainly one of the most interesting years in the past decade in Irish, and global, politics. Bank shares have seen their biggest slump in a generation, bringing with them virtually all aspects of our economy. Ireland's once much lauded richest man has become a laughing stock owing to a gamble which could see his eventual losses reach one-thousand-million-euro. We had a new Taoiseach in 2008 but it is questionable whether he will last until the end of 2009. He will most likely go down as the least successful Fianna Fáil leader in the State's history. Job losses have resulted, this is likely to accelerate in 2009 as the full consequences of this mess become clear.

One would be forgiven for not holding too much optimism for the years ahead. On a personal note, mine is the generation who were told to be thankful. Born in 1985, growing up with the benefit of increased investment in education, a stable society and free university education, the generation's before us lustfully looked at all we had and told us to give thanks. We were, after all, the first generation which could aspire to a future on this island, a vibrant country, in an economy of our making. Faced with the current fiscal, economic and social crisis mine is a generation, likewise, in crisis. As I look for a career I can see the opportunities which were there only a year ago closing. Employment prospects are once again become contact based and nepotistic in nature as companies take on less and less people. Yet there is cause for optimism. We are a generation which is not leaving this island. Aside from having nowhere to go we are a generation which does believe that we have a future here and I believe that you will see this generation assert itself and demand policies which bring that aspiration to fruition.

Internationally the economic crisis has been as strong abroad as at home. China, a country which this year introduced itself to the world with the biggest Olympic Games ever, is likely to suffer social and political unrest as the knock-on effects of a global economic crisis hit their production sectors. One can only pray that the single party state which is China will not retreat to old ways in dealing with this impending crisis. Internationally as well we have seen the glitziest Presidential Election ever in the United States of America. Ironically as their economy crumbles it was also the most expensive. However, history has been made with the first non-white President of America. Contrary to the aspirations of some he will not be the President of the world and his primary focus will be America. Despite this, there is cause for optimism. A man of courage with a moral ambition for America and its place in the world, who seeks a spirit of cooperation is perhaps the most important catalyst to drag the global order forward. On a personal note I would hope that the Lisbon Referendum in 2009 passes so that a strong Europe can emerge with a defined, robust and implementable alternative to the American policy. Not to rival but to challenge and to complement.

The hunger continues. Despite the technological advances 1 in 6 citizens of the planet will go hungry today. Despite the economic unrest we are experiencing we can still afford to provide adequate food to every single one. The figure requested by US Automakers, a fraction of the overall US bailout, could feed every hungry person in the world for a year. One in three citizens of Sub Saharan Africa are at threat of starvation. Hunger levels across the globe are higher in 2008 than they were in 1990.

got married, economy in the gutter, bertie gone, massive uncertainty about the future, joined machinenation!

zakalwe wrote:

got married, economy in the gutter, bertie gone, massive uncertainty about the future, joined machinenation!

Congratulations! On the wedding, that is, not on joining machine nation.

Don't you just hate how much you love us, toxic avenger?

johnfás wrote:

Don't you just hate how much you love us, toxic avenger?

Sorry, just realised how that might have come across, didn't mean that joining machine nation wasn't a cause for celebration, I mean, er, er... I'll get me coat...

toxic,

thanks for your kind words, my wife and i (that sounds strange!) appreciate it!

also, despite recent "technological issues" MN is still my favorite site.

Half-way through the 5th of March 2008, Politics.ie goes down leaving hundreds of comments half finished, posts unposted, insults unreplied to and hanging in mid-air ... The reasons are unknown at the time but speculation is rampant and conspiracy theories and rumours of hacking abound.

Quote :

Politics.ie, the popular internet discussion chat board, has been taken offline in what is said to be a serious hacking incident. Users of the site complained that personal information and private messages had been hacked into earlier this week, and some also complained that their avatars (the colourful flag or party emblem they use to indentify each other) had been changed without their permission.

Yesterday at lunchtime the site stopped loading onto users' computers, with all requests timing out. People have speculated that productivity in certain government departments has since shot up.

It's even being claimed that partners of the predominantly male users of the site are receiving more attention than usual, although talk of a "politics.ie blackout baby boom" might somewhat premature.

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86559

Quote :

A sudden downpour of technical glitches on www.politics.ie has caused widespread panic among underemployed Dail staffers, student politicians and disillusioned party hacks throughout the nation.

They are now believed to be flooding niche bulletin boards and refugee stations have been set up on boards.ie for the worst afflicted.

http://skinflicks.blogspot.com/2008/03/politicsie-weather-report.html


Many posters wander the desolate internet wastes and spend some time on Boards.ie - is anyone else having problems with poltics.ie? where they think they are in Heaven until they are persecuted there and forced to wander off or disperse through an unknown land of Boardom.

On the 8th of March, EvotingMachine0197 starts The Refuge which collects the lost people of p.ie into a temporary forum (will put link here for nostalgia if Mr 0197 gives permission) where they are at last in a home albeit temporary, where they do not feel persecuted. They are happy there and are quickly given to furnishing their New Land with all things wholesome and good but alas! there is a MySql database update in progress while they are setting up home and everything is very dislodged for the weekend. Machine Nation is later started on the free forum provider forumotion on the 11th of March by Mr. AuditorGeneral who has since disappeared and is rumoured to have been hospitalised in an asylum. The rest is hysteria.

*************************************************************************************************************************************
Politics.ie comes back up toward the end of March and stops talking about the Taoiseach. Legal issues are responsible for temporarily knocking out the site according to Worldbystorm on the CLR. The site is moved to the States and suddenly the long arm of the Law is very much felt in small corners of the Internet.

Then ..

July 2, 2008

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/judge-orders-yo.html

cactus flower wrote:

On Wednesday a judge ordered Youtube to hand over to Viacom all IP addresses of persons who have downloaded Youtube videos and also has ordered Youtube to provide all details of any videos removed by themselves from their site. This is in the context of an "antipirating" billion dollar case being taken by Viacom against Youtube. There appear to be huge privacy issues, as well as copyright ones.
Any thoughts or comments?

In the meantime, just a reminder to go easy on the pirating - as per our Site Rules - there is plenty of free downloadable stuff out there.

Is the hitherto wild frontierland of the Net now in the process of being coralled, shepherded, policed and forced to adopt standards that are knocking the rough diamond edges off it or were those rough edges long overdue to go anyway ?

Bertie Ahern and the Tribunal in March:

SeathrúnCeitinn wrote:

Gráinne Caruth has been asked to go home and ask herself some searching questions before coming back into the tribunal tomorrow after contradicting evidence given by Blair Hughes this morning. Big doo-doo

https://machinenation.forumakers.com/national-politics-f32/bertie-s-getting-hanged-t96.htm#1076

Was it the Fianna Fáil Machine, the Legal System or his own machinations that catch up with him in the end ? Ahern announces his departure
https://machinenation.forumakers.com/national-politics-f32/ahern-making-statement-this-morning-t185.htm

It should be said about the 'unpleasantness' with a certain person's legal team, they had absolutely no grounds to go after five of the six posters' names and addresses. The original post was trolling and possibly defamatory, the poster then p1ssed off. The other respondents, myself included, made no reference to, or quote of, the OP's original alleged libel. It was an outrageous thing to demand, and was designed as a 'gagging' writ.

toxic avenger wrote:

It should be said about the 'unpleasantness' with a certain person's legal team, they had absolutely no grounds to go after five of the six posters' names and addresses. The original post was trolling and possibly defamatory, the poster then p1ssed off. The other respondents, myself included, made no reference to, or quote of, the OP's original alleged libel. It was an outrageous thing to demand, and was designed as a 'gagging' writ.

What's a 'gagging writ' ? Something just to shut ye up ?

What precedents or model do they base their demands on anyway ? Is it based on a model of treating published material or on a public conversation ? Can you actually talk about this or is there some case ongoing still ?

Auditor #9 wrote:

toxic avenger wrote:

It should be said about the 'unpleasantness' with a certain person's legal team, they had absolutely no grounds to go after five of the six posters' names and addresses. The original post was trolling and possibly defamatory, the poster then p1ssed off. The other respondents, myself included, made no reference to, or quote of, the OP's original alleged libel. It was an outrageous thing to demand, and was designed as a 'gagging' writ.

What's a 'gagging writ' ? Something just to shut ye up ?

What precedents or model do they base their demands on anyway ? Is it based on a model of treating published material or on a public conversation ? Can you actually talk about this or is there some case ongoing still ?

Gagging writs are to frighten you into a course of action, ususally to shut you up.

I was never contacted, I think that good sense prevailed and the thing withered on the vine. I can certainly talk about my own contribution, which, as usual, slagged off Ahern himself, but made no reference to the law firm (the name of the thread was changed after my posts to include the law firm - suspicious in itself). And the lawyers confirmed that they were not acting on instructions from Ahern himself, hence no case against me or the other four. I have my own theory about the thing, but I'll leave that alone for now...

toxic avenger wrote:

I have my own theory about the thing, but I'll leave that alone for now...

Much appreciated.

Toxic you should write a book ! (if you haven't already) Yourself and tonys' posts on the Tribunal really are great progressions of commentary among other things. There will be a film one day no doubt. I'll chip in for the screenplay if you like.

Is the non-offending material available on p.ie ? (glad you're out of the woods by the way)

Auditor #9 wrote:

Toxic you should write a book ! (if you haven't already) Yourself and tonys' posts on the Tribunal really are great progressions of commentary among other things. There will be a film one day no doubt. I'll chip in for the screenplay if you like.

Is the non-offending material available on p.ie ? (glad you're out of the woods by the way)

George Clooney is already in talks with me...

No, it was taken down, and the google cache was removed too (though not before I studied it forensically).

Probably best to now leave the subject alone, wiser counsel prevailed in the end, and I continued to post on the Tribunal (only myself and stanley kept going to the bitter end) until the very last day unimpeded.

I'd like to add, though, that I thought that David Cochrane's handling of the thing was magnificent, it was principled and courageous, and he deserves thanks for that.

DC was in a very difficult position and has to be commended indeed for his courage. I'd say there were plenty of lost nights of sleep there on p.ie between ye all.

I meant are the other Tribunal threads available - not the offending one ? I'd be surprised if they weren't.

Auditor #9 wrote:

DC was in a very difficult position and has to be commended indeed for his courage. I'd say there were plenty of lost nights of sleep there on p.ie between ye all.

I meant are the other Tribunal threads available - not the offending one ? I'd be surprised if they weren't.

Most are there, and most of those have been put in the Tribunals forum. The last one was the O'Callaghan/Deane thread, one very worthy of inspection given the lack of media coverage of O'Callaghan's evidence, which was pulled apart from day one by a tenacious Patricia Dillon.

Some of the posts in other threads could have done with a cull, though. There are the usual sloganeering ones, nothing else bar 'Boo, hiss' stuff with liberal sprinkings of 'gombeen' and 'Zanu-FF' in them. Then there are others which were libellous without any evidence offered to back them up. It's one reason I liked tonys, actually, because, disagree with him as I vehemently did, he at least stuck to cogent and logical fact-based argument, with one or two persuasive points made along the way.

Was it the year that people realised instant gratification bought with money you don't have is not a good idea? Perhaps that is for next year.

toxic avenger wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

Toxic you should write a book ! (if you haven't already) Yourself and tonys' posts on the Tribunal really are great progressions of commentary among other things. There will be a film one day no doubt. I'll chip in for the screenplay if you like.

Is the non-offending material available on p.ie ? (glad you're out of the woods by the way)

George Clooney is already in talks with me...

No, it was taken down, and the google cache was removed too (though not before I studied it forensically).

Probably best to now leave the subject alone, wiser counsel prevailed in the end, and I continued to post on the Tribunal (only myself and stanley kept going to the bitter end) until the very last day unimpeded.

I'd like to add, though, that I thought that David Cochrane's handling of the thing was magnificent, it was principled and courageous, and he deserves thanks for that.

I have a softcopy of the first page of the thread in question, and the first communiqué from the gaggers.

These are not worms or bacteria, this is a picture of human cellular material - Chromosomes, DNA. The white bits are called 'telomeres'.

Quote :

A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA at the end of chromosomes, which protects the end of the chromosome from destruction. Its name is derived from the Greek nouns telos (τἐλος) "end" and merοs (μέρος, root: μερεσ-) "part".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere

During cell division, the enzymes that duplicate the chromosome and its DNA can't continue their duplication all the way to the end of the chromosome. If cells divided without telomeres, they would lose the end of their chromosomes, and the necessary information it contains. (In 1972, James Watson named this phenomenon the "end replication problem".)

This mechanism usually limits cells to a fixed number of divisions, and animal studies suggest that this is responsible for aging on the cellular level and affects lifespan.

On 12th April 2008, Johnny Keogh wrote:

Patrick J Hillery


He was born on 2 May, 1923, in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare and qualified as a medical doctor. He married Mary Beatrice Finnegan in 1955.



In 1951 Dr. Hillery was elected to Dáil Éireann for the constituency of Clare and he received his first Government appointment as Minister for Education in 1959.

He subsequently served in a number of ministerial posts (Industry and Commerce, Labour and Foreign Affairs) prior to his appointment in 1973 as Vice President of the then Commission of the European Communities, with special responsibility for Social Affairs.

He served as Commissioner until 1976, when he was inaugurated as President of Ireland on 3 December, 1976.

R.I.P.

https://machinenation.forumakers.com/national-politics-f32/patrick-j-hillery-1923-2008-t308.htm

notdevsson wrote:

One of the most underrated men in Irish politics. It was he who made plans for free second level education, plans later proposed by Donagh O'Malley and implemented by Brian Lenihan. He was the man who created the Department of Labour and the Labour Court. He was a highly respected External Affairs minister while he was arguably one of the best EEC commissioners Ireland ever had. In that role he forced Ireland to accept equal pay for women. He was low key in the presidency but behind the scenes was influential and a calming force.

All in all, history will record Paddy Hillery as an influential, intelligent, capable man who served the country with distinction. He embodied politics at his best. We should be thankful for having had such a man. His reputation was shown in British state papers released a couple of years ago. In them the then British ambassador spoke very highly of Hillery as someone who would make an exceptional taoiseach and as one of the most intelligent people in Irish politics, someone the ambassador personally admired as a good man who always wanted to do the right thing for his country, at whatever cost to himself.

Edo wrote:

Great Post NDS - very eloquently said

I think sometimes there is the right man for the times and he lived through very turbulent times.

His standing up to Haughey and his cabal over the arms crisis in the 70's and his standing up for the consitution when there were some very dodgy times again with Mr Haughey and gang in the early 80's are the greatest tribute to the man.

He always did the right thing rather than the most politcally advantageous thing and for that he got immense respect within FG.

I believe he would have taken over from Lynch as Taoiseach if he had not ,yet again, put his country before his own personal ambitions and reluctantly took the presidency under immense presssure from the whole political community in those troubled days of the seventies.

My own personal recollections of the man are mixed and both related to my scouting days.

First I nearly killed the man in 1985 at the World Jambouree in Portumna - the mudfest to end all mudfests. To put it briefly - Pres Hillery and entourage in wellies appear at the bottom of hill and more accurately at bottom of gigantic mudslide and do not look up the hill - group of feral scouts (we are talking lord of the flies territory here- I gave up wearing clothes after 3 days) about 10 of us,at top of hill and start of mudslide, get on Mudsled for our daily cruise downhill and into lake for daily wash - scouts do not look downhill before embarking - throw in the laws of gravity and you can guess the rest!

Second time 1987 I received my Chief scout award at the special ceremony on founders at the Aras and got a guided tour and tea and cakes from the President and he was a gentleman and I politely did not bring up Portumna!

2008 may be remembered as a year that felt like taking a jump out of a plane without a parachute. It was certainly a year in which most posters could apparently see what was happening to the world economy clearer and much sooner than government could.

Worldwide events of 2008 - climate change and "end of oil" - the full emergence of China as a visible world power and the Olympics, the failed up attack on South Ossetia, the failure of the West in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economic emergence of the BRIC countries, the decline of the dollar, the Obama campaign and victory, the order of the boot for Bush, the strikes and riots in Greece, the increasingly agressive and insular stance of the UK (Iceland, warships, devaluation of the pound), the failure of the EU to pass the Lisbon Treaty...

In Ireland it was Bertie - Lisbon - FOUNDATION OF MACHINE NATION - Bertie - interminable Dail holidays - Banks guarantee and the dawning realisation that much of the economy was a very costly and impermanent facade.

Everywhere the middle class is under pressure and a lot of people are fearful of losing their jobs, homes, incomes, education and health services.

Its a year in which huge demands are placed on us for new solutions.

Anything else ?

Auditor #9 wrote:

Anything else ?

PCB contamination of beef and pork in Ireland?

Lying Eyes!....

The year British newspaper titles came of age in their influence on Irish politics and society, for better or for worse. The Mail and Bertie/Mahon, The Mail/The Sunday Times/the red-tops on Lisbon. Welcome to Murdochia West...