Paisley’s parliament

Trevor @ Tuesday July 13th 2004 06:08

These folks have been resting for a couple of years, but give them a stage and they’re away:

BELFAST (Reuters) – Twenty-five police officers were injured in clashes in a flashpoint district of Belfast when the biggest day in Northern Ireland’s summer marching season ended in violence, a police spokesman said on Tuesday.

[... Orangemen ... 300 years ago ... running battles ... water cannon ...]
“It was very clear this was an unprovoked attack, bottles stones and bricks flying over people’s heads into the crowd,” said Nigel Dodds, an Orangeman and member of parliament from the Democratic Unionist Party. “People could have been killed.”

[... blamed the police ... triumphalist and provocative ... Reuters ... will believe ... any old rubbish]

“You can’t blame this crowd,” senior Sinn Fein member Gerry Kelly said. “This crowd was attacked by Loyalists, by whoever was on the other side of the barrier. “The whole machine was set up to force an anti-Catholic parade — and, frankly, drunken louts — through this area.”


There are a number of strange things about the ridiculous Parliament of the Religions associated with Barcelona’s failing and highly costly Forum event. One is that an ostensibly socialist administration should want to associate itself with a heterogenous bunch of nutters who think the world’s problems can be solved via a vaguely Ottoman inter-faith carve-up of power, with nary a mention of democracy and individual liberties.

Another is that said “parliament” and administration were prepared to do whatever it took to get a feudal thief like the Dalai Lama to turn up (he didn’t in the end) while ignoring transcendent religious figures who won and maintained a popular mandate over a long period of time in the context of a fairly democratic and free society. I am, of course, talking about the Reverend Ian Paisley, here seen demonstrating with a little help from his friends why for many of us there will only ever be one serious towelhead in the business:

[Rev Ian Towelhead]

As a good European I have often wondered whether it might not be appropriate to combine the Glorious Twelth with bull running.


Categories: God, the angels and the orders of the faithful, Splog, Theatre

« · »

RSS: post comments, blog comments, blog posts

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Share this post
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • LinkedIn
  • Live
  • Ma.gnolia
  • Meneame
  • MySpace
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
See also
    • This feature doesn't work without post tags, and there don't seem to be any for this post.
    • This feature doesn't work without post tags, and there don't seem to be any for this post.
Google Reader

I share other stuff over here.

Pordiosería

If you're feeling generous, check out my Amazon wishlists for Deutschland, France , and the UK, or use PayPal to

My 5% bookstore - new stuff



Spanish history

Modern Spanish fiction

Spanish classics

On this day

Barcelona

  • March 18 1376 

    Tempestad marina en las costas de Barcelona, donde se hunde un barco procedente de GĂ©nova y fallecen 60 personas.

Josep Pla, Palafrugell (1918-9)

  • 18 de març de 1918 Aquest matĂ­, al safareig del jardĂ­, he vist la primera oreneta de l’any. L’ocell era al cantell de pedra del dipòsit, molt a la vora de l’aigua, i tractava, amb grans dificultats, de beure’n una gota. A la tarda, en passar per davant de l’esglĂ©sia, les orenetes xisclaven volant, descrivint circumferències molt amples, al voltant del [...]
  • 18 de març de 1919 Nit. Em quedo sol a la cambra de la dispesa. VigĂ­lia del meu sant. Recordo que molts anys enrera, a Palafrugell, en tal nit com aquesta, passaven colles d’homes per les cases que cantaven els goigs. «Sed, JosĂ©, nuestro abogado – en esta vida mortal» –deien. Perfectament. Hom els donava mitja dotzena d’ous i se’ls havia [...]

Catholic hagiography

The peepul's choice

Back to top