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Tue 6 Jun 2006

June Bank Holiday

Posted by gremlin under Travel
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content="OpenOffice.org 2.0-pre (Linux)" /><meta name="AUTHOR" content="Gary Leeson" /><meta name="CREATED" content="20060606;22295300" /><meta name="CHANGEDBY" content="Gary Leeson" /><meta name="CHANGED" content="20060606;23020700" /><br /> <style>  </style> <p>For the non-Irish amongst you, the first Monday in June is a public holiday. Since my wife was studying for her German exams and also undertaking the Dublin mini-marathon for the good cause of St Francis Hospice; I decided – with my wife’s permission – to take a long weekend abroad. And what a fab break it was. The weather was absolutely scorching hot every day; Blue skies, birds singing what more could there be – lots. I am a history buff, so for me the weekend was one long history binge.</p> <p>First there was the fantastic <a href="http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/early ages/maiden castle.htm">Maiden Castle</a> just outside Dorchester. This is a large Iron-Age Hill Fort, the best in England if the literature is to be believed; and I can readily believe that. Its around a mile on the top, with three massive supporting ditches. The <a href="../../../camera/uk/UK_June_2006/maiden_castle/index.html">pictures</a> will give you a flavour of the “millennium project�? of its day.</p> <p>The next stop on the tour was the <a href="http://www.tankmuseum.co.uk/home.html">Bovington Tank Museum</a>. A place I have always wanted to visit, but for some reason hadn’t. This Museum has tanks from the First World War through to the modern day including an odd tank with 5 turrets (yes 5), Russian T-34 and KV-1, German Tiger-1, King-Tiger and Panther, Centurion, Challenger, T-55, T72, Sherman, S-Tank. Needless to say as a propeller head I had a fantastic afternoon here; saw so many things I have only seen on TV, books and various movies; totally awesome.</p> <p>Another enjoyable day was spent at <a href="http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/portchester castle.htm">Porchester Roman Shore fort </a>which was built in 280AD and whose walls remain pretty much today as they were then since the Saxons and Normans kept them intact. I was surprised to find on my arrival that by fortunates smile I had arrived in the middle of a “Roman Weekend�? with the re-enactors from Britannia, Ermine Street Guard, a Roman Racing chariot and a display; Even Phil Harding from Channel-4’s Time-Team was wandering around. Next year they are promising Gladiatorial combat and chariot racing!!!</p> <p>The Roman Palace Villa complex at <a href="http://www.sussexpast.co.uk/property/site.php?site_id=11">Fishbourne</a> was built probably for a local British tribal leader by the Romans in the early years of their conquest around 80AD. The site was discovered by a local farmer digging new drains; and to be honest not a lot remains bar some very nice mosaics.</p> <p>Once night/early morning was spent in the picturesque village Wootton Rivers in a 16<sup>th</sup> century pub which serves excellent foods and dammed good beer. Virtually every house in the village is thatched, there is a lovely peaceful Norman church, and the village nestles by the side of a canal. There is hardly a man-made sound to be heard above the noise of so many species of bird song. It is the first time I have heard a cuckoo in many a year. The village is an ideal base of operations for trips to Wiltshire and Dorset and the pub “The Old Oak�? is highly recommended.</p> <p><a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-avebury/">Avebury </a>is a favourite haunt of mine in England. Averbury is a village within a massive stone circle and ditch complex; in many ways far superior to the nearby Stonehenge which attracts many more visitors. Needless to say nothing is better than spending a few hours with a good friend (in this case Debbie), a good pint (Old Speckled Hen) and discussing life the universe and everything on a glorious summers day – cheers and <a href="../../../camera/uk/UK_June_2006/index.html">enjoy the photos</a>!!</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p> <p></p> <div class="post-info"> </div> <div class="postmeta"> <p>Tags: </p> </div>  <div class="post-footer"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post"> <p class="post-date">Fri 2 Jun 2006</p> <div class="post-info"> <h2 class="post-title"><a href="02/10/index.html" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link: Justice or the lack if it in Irish Law">Justice or the lack if it in Irish Law</a></h2> <p>Posted by gremlin under <a href="../../category/ireland/index.html" title="View all posts in Ireland" rel="category tag">Ireland</a>, <a href="../../category/politics/irish/index.html" title="View all posts in Irish" rel="category tag">Irish</a>, <a href="../../category/politics/index.html" title="View all posts in Politics" rel="category tag">Politics</a> <br/> <span>Comments Off</span></p> </div> <div class="post-content"> <p>what a week or two it has been in Ireland. We have seen a government humbled, the Minister for Justice shown (if what the papers say is true) to be an incompetent arrogant fool; criminals who are a bit slow and the anguish and righteous anger of the Irish people in full flow.</p> <p>What is this all about? Well let me tell you. There was a law until last week which stated that if any man slept with a girl under 17 they were automatically guilty of statutory rape. It did not matter if the act was consensual, or the girl concerned was 15 and dolled her self up to pass as 17+ (and there a lot of them around – teenage pregnancy and under-age drinking are rife and a recent survey said around 50% of girls lost their virginity before they were 17 – but I digress); if the act occurred then the man was guilty. There was NO DEFENSE. This law has existed since 1935 and has been used to put away the most vilest of paedophiles and perverts in our society. Well the long and short of it is that someone challenged this in our highest court and won. Essentially there should be no crime where the accused is automatically guilty of crime without the redress of saying (in this case) “Sorry, but I did not realize that she was under-age�?. The result in our society has been an uproar.</p> <p>What happened after the supreme court ruled the law as unconstitutional (we have a written constitution in Ireland) has been amazing, horrifying, and fun to watch as a bystander. When the court ruled, the minister for justice stated that “this was totally unexpected; no one told us that someone was challenging this and that the law was dodgy�? – which was funny since he is the Minister for justice and if someone is challenging a law on constitutional grounds he should be better damnedest be aware of it or else he should be hounded out of office as a buffoon and incompetent. This is doubly true if:</p> <ol> <li>The challenge had been proceeding through the courts for a year or more.</li> <li>The law society had written in the official law rag that the piece of law concerned was likely to be successfully challenged on constitutional grounds; – and this article appeared 17 years ago!!! and as legal beagle of many years standing the Minister for Justice should damned well be reading his own professional bodies articles.</li> <li>The minister for Justice himself (if the papers are to be believed) gave an interview on the dangers and problems with the “no defence available�? law some 11 years ago.</li> </ol> <p>Anyway there are loads of perverts lining up in the courts claiming that they can no longer be held in prison since the law under which they were convicted no longer exists. This opens the possibility that the genuine fiends and paedophiles could possibly sue the government for false and illegal imprisonment and get massive damages. A “Mr A�? has already been released from prison based on the supreme courts ruling. Mr A being a 41 year old man who raped a few years ago a 12 year old girl. The Minister of Justice said last week that he would not be rushed into “fixing�? the law and there was no crisis – how bloody wrong that idiot is.</p> <p>Rape centres, youth groups and many victims are incandensent– and justly so; although some of them don’t seem to “get the point�? that any law should permit some form of legal defence on valid grounds – especially if its age. If you don’t you get the worst kind of repression and excesses like you see/saw with Sadaam Hussiens regime, The American treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and any number of other dicatatorial regimes around the world.</p> <p>The long and the short of it is that It seems that the law is going to be passed to allow the “honest mistake�? defence; although that may mean that youngsters will probably have to submit to cross-examination in court which won’t please a lot of people. I just hope they get the law constitutionaly right, don’t make it retrospective, and get rid of the ass-hole who is the current justice minister since he has shown a distinct lack of ability, understanding, management and moral fibre in this and other matters of late. If the minister did not see this crisis coming then you should not be doing the important post of Justice Minister – arguably the most important post in the government since society works and moderates itself through the rule of law. Without rules then there can only be chaos and our society will fall. </p> <p> </p> <p></p> <div class="post-info"> </div> <div class="postmeta"> <p>Tags: </p> </div>  <div class="post-footer"> </div> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="sidebar"> <ul> <li id="calendar"> <table id="wp-calendar" summary="Calendar"> <caption>June 2006</caption> <thead> <tr> <th abbr="Monday" scope="col" title="Monday">M</th> <th abbr="Tuesday" scope="col" title="Tuesday">T</th> <th abbr="Wednesday" scope="col" title="Wednesday">W</th> <th abbr="Thursday" scope="col" title="Thursday">T</th> <th abbr="Friday" scope="col" title="Friday">F</th> <th abbr="Saturday" scope="col" title="Saturday">S</th> <th abbr="Sunday" scope="col" title="Sunday">S</th> </tr> </thead> <tfoot> <tr> <td abbr="May" colspan="3" id="prev"><a href="../05/index.html" title="View posts for May 2006">« May</a></td> <td class="pad"> </td> <td abbr="July" colspan="3" id="next"><a href="../07/index.html" title="View posts for July 2006">Jul »</a></td> </tr> </tfoot> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3" class="pad"> </td><td>1</td><td><a href="02/index.html" title="Justice or the lack if it in Irish Law">2</a></td><td>3</td><td>4</td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td><td><a href="06/index.html" title="June Bank Holiday">6</a></td><td>7</td><td>8</td><td>9</td><td>10</td><td>11</td> </tr> <tr> <td>12</td><td>13</td><td>14</td><td>15</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>18</td> </tr> <tr> <td>19</td><td>20</td><td>21</td><td>22</td><td>23</td><td>24</td><td>25</td> </tr> <tr> <td>26</td><td>27</td><td>28</td><td>29</td><td>30</td> <td class="pad" colspan="2"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </li> <li id="recent-posts-3" class="widget widget_recent_entries"> <h2>Recent Posts</h2><ul><li> <ul> <li><a href="../../2015/03/04/maeves-a-hacker/index.html" title="Maeve’s a “Hacker”">Maeve’s a “Hacker” </a></li> <li><a href="../../2015/02/21/action-maeve/index.html" title="Action Maeve">Action Maeve </a></li> <li><a href="../../2015/02/14/valentines-meal/index.html" title="Valentines Meal">Valentines Meal </a></li> <li><a href="../../2014/10/10/excitement-and-car-crashes-in-donabate/index.html" title="Excitement and car crashes in Donabate">Excitement and car crashes in Donabate </a></li> <li><a href="../../2014/10/09/love-can-be-a-surprising-thing/index.html" title="Love can be a surprising thing">Love can be a surprising thing </a></li> </ul> </li></ul></li> <li id="search"> <h2><label for="s">Search:</label></h2> <ul> <li> <form id="searchform" method="get" action="http://www.garyleeson.com/index.php/2006/06/"> <div style="text-align:center"> <p><input type="text" name="s" id="s" size="15" /></p> <p><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Search" /></p> </div> </form> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="meta-4" class="widget widget_meta"><h2>Meta</h2><ul><li> <ul> <li><a href="../../../wp-login.html">Log in</a></li> <li><a href="../../feed/index.html" title="Syndicate this site using RSS 2.0">Entries <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li> <li><a href="../../comments/feed/index.html" title="The latest comments to all posts in RSS">Comments <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a></li> <li><a href="http://wordpress.org/" title="Powered by WordPress, state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform.">WordPress.org</a></li> </ul> </li></ul></li><li id="twitter-1" class="widget widget_twitter"><h2><a href="http://twitter.com/garyleeson" class="twitter_title_link">Twitter</a></h2><ul><li><ul class="twitter"><li>No public Twitter messages.</li></ul></li></ul></li> </ul> </div> <div id="footer"> <p><small> <a href="../../../index.html" title="Gremlin’s Fireside Chat">Gremlin’s Fireside Chat</a> is powered by <a href="http://wordpress.org/" title="Powered by WordPress 2.8, state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform">WordPress 2.8</a> and delivered to you in 1.611 seconds using 24 queries. <br /> Theme: <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/wordpress/wpthemes/connections-reloaded/" title="Powered by Connections Reloaded">Connections Reloaded v2.1</a> by <a href="http://ajaydsouza.com/" title="Visit Ajay's Blog">Ajay D'Souza</a>. 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