Morgan Kelly must be the most pessimistic person in Ireland as per today's Irish Times.
However I agree that the NAMA project is stupid beyond comprehension.
The entire banking system should have been allowed to collapse 18 months ago and with it the builders and others who could not meet their obligations.
This would have avoided all the recapitalisations and ground zero would have been reached immediately. Property prices would have found their real value and foreign banks would have come in to take up the slack. If necessary the government could have set up a new state-owned bank. All of the previous directors and senior staff of the banks would have been left with nothing - that would have been fair. The bondholders would have suffered the losses that occur in any capitalist system as would the shareholders of which I am one. Builders(speculators) and others would have suffered the same fate. Depositors have been protected which is only right.
Instead we have the perverse situation where the rich and greedy are been protected by a government which cuts social welfare - NAMA neither is nor ever was the only game in town.

What is the critical essence of being a human being? Consciousness? Memory? One problem is that I suspect that some animals have a degree of both of these. Another problem with consciousness and memory is that they vary constantly with age - a baby becomes a professor and then gets dementia. When was the human being's critical essence? At which age/level of responsibility does the person enter heaven/hell if you believe in this?

There is no critical essence ? - only a life lived, sometimes joyfully and sometimes sorrowfully or indeed cut short by suicide.

If there is an essence, then what is it? Even assuming an afterlife what is the point of a consciousness existing even into eternity, especially given that each consciousness varies enormously throughout life?

What about the aborted foetus? What about the sperm which fails to make it to the egg? What about the endless trillions of potential humans that could have existed given billions of woumbs (uteruses) to incorporate the sperm?

What about underage sex to increase the number of essences? Remember the Catholic Church in the 1950's and so on? Increase the number of babies regardless of consequences. God needs more souls.

An almost infinity of souls have never been born due to biological restrictions.

If God wants more souls why not just make them?

The argument that if I was not here i would not be able to ask the question is not sufficient at all.

These questions need answers. Answers on a postcard please to box number - only joking - blog response is okay!

Gardai to ballot for strike action? An affront to democracy - yes.
Many, though still a minority in the public sector, seem to have forgotten their roles, ie public servants. They are currently behaving in a fashion more akin to teenagers who have been grounded rather than mature adults. I have no doubt that the majority of public servants are decent and hard working but they have been led astray by the leaders.

The GRA leaders should already have been arrested and charged as per the law but this government has no balls.The entire force should be sacked if strike action occurs. The army with perhaps some help from civilians could replace them and a new force could be in place within months given the huge amount of talent in the nearly 500,000 unemployed - much cheaper as well.

All of the current lot could be left without pay or pensions as well as facing criminal and civil proceedings.