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No apology in gay 'repulse' row 

Junior Stormont minister Ian Paisley jnr has refused to retract claims he made about gay people harming society.
Speaking on Thursday night's Let's Talk programme, he said expressing regret about his words would be "the worst thing I could do."

Mr Paisley added: "What is done is done, I've said those comments why should I try and hide what I've done."

He reportedly said he was "repulsed" by homosexuals in the Dublin-based music magazine Hot Press last month.

However, he added that he did not hate gay people.

Sinn Fein accused him of "dangerous homophobia" and demanded he apologise.

However, on the BBC programme, Mr Paisley said he had broken no law and his views were not against the law.

The department in which Mr Paisley works is responsible for ensuring equality for all in Northern Ireland.

His executive colleague, Margaret Ritchie of the SDLP, who also appeared on the BBC NI programme, said she would like to see Mr Paisley jnr disciplined by the first and deputy first ministers.

anyone know of any deals going, whoc cheapest etc?
Cheers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6755973.stm

UVF removes its flags from estate 
By Jason Boyd
BBC News Website 


The Ulster Volunteer Force has removed its flags from a County Down housing estate.


The move is being viewed in line with the UVF's commitment last month to "assume a non-military, civilianised, role".

Gary McCready, a community representative in the West Winds estate in Newtownards, said it was a step in the right direction.

"We decided within the estate to try and move forward, get the estate improved, and move away from the name that it had received," he said.

"They've flown there for years and the police have always wanted them down.

"People have complained about them, but they've never been taken down.

"They've always been left to fly, but this year after talking to the loyalists and speaking to the community we've got them down."

At the moment, the UVF has said it will remove the flags from the West Winds estate only, but the organisation has indicated that other community workers could follow their lead.

Newtownards police have welcomed the move.

Constable David Selby said it could "only be viewed as a positive move within the community".

"It's an example of community policing at its finest - working with the various agencies and the community representatives - for the betterment of the West Winds estate," he said.

Orange Order's leader revisits anti-Catholic foundations
SCOTT MCCULLOCH

THE Grand Master of the Scottish Orange Order yesterday revealed he had rewritten much of the organisation's founding document in a bid to tone down its anti-Catholic sentiments.

Ian Wilson says he is staging a campaign to improve the order's public image.

He says while the society is proud of its Protestant base, he does not want it to be seen as anti-Catholic.

And he has revealed he is seeking approval of the order's members to allow them to attend Catholic funeral Masses.

Mr Wilson said: "I have no issues with the Orange Order's Protestant credentials, but what has to concern any organisation is how it is viewed.

"The founding documents of the Orange Order say, 'An Orangeman should not merely be somebody who has hostility towards the distinctive doctrines, the superstitions, the priestcraft and spiritual despotism of the Church of Rome.'

"I believe there is no need to express ourselves in these negative terms. We do ourselves no favours by continuing to adopt language which came from the late 18th century."

Mr Wilson has rewritten the doctrine to read: "An Orangeman is not a lawbreaker. He is ready to obey magistrates, respects all constitutions and authorities and believes that the powers that be are ordained by God. He is a lover of peace and order, and one of the objects which the brotherhood is formed to secure is that peace and order, civil and religious liberty may be maintained in the land."

Mr Wilson said he was also concerned that other regulations effectively ban members from attending the funerals of friends or family members who may be Roman Catholic.

He said: "At the end of the day, as an organisation we recognise other people's right to have a different opinion and a different religious persuasion.

"Many of our members think that not being allowed to attend a Roman Catholic funeral service is archaic.

"Our members have expressed they do not wish to embrace the Catholic faith.

"But if they sit quietly at the back of the church without taking part, I don't see a problem."

Mr Wilson made his revelations on a BBC Scotland documentary, 21st Century Orangeman, broadcast last night.



cant see that happening closer to home, the best they have come up with this year is try not to drink as much





Booze ban urged as crowds roll up for the Twelfth

lesley walsh and Laura Murphy

SPECTATORS at this year's Twelfth of July Orange parades should leave their bags of alcohol at home.

That was the message delivered by Grand Secretary of the Orange Order Drew Nelson yesterday as he stressed the determination of Ulster's Loyal Orders and bands to tackle the problem of alcohol abuse, which he said was "finding its way into the periphery of our parades".
The appeal to the public and publicans has been made in an effort to maintain a family- friendly atmosphere at the parades.
Backing the initiative are the Loyal Orange Institution, the Royal Black Institution, the Independent Loyal Orange Institution, the Royal Arch Purple Order, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, the Ulster Bands Association and the 36th Regimental Bands Association.
Mr Nelson said the organisations had together been involved in addressing a number of issues, including a code of conduct and flags.
He said that having emerged from the Troubles, the Orange Order now thought it was time to tackle the problem of drinking
at its parades.
"The misuse of alcohol has become a serious problem for society in general," he said.
"This type of activity and associated unruly behaviour has been seen for years in city centres every Friday and Saturday night.
"And it is increasingly finding its way into the periphery of our parades.
"We want to send a message out to the people who come to our parades that they are welcome to come and we want them to come.
"But we want them to leave their blue bags at home."
Mr Nelson said that tackling the issue would be a "long and slow" process.
He said that a "softly, softly" approach was needed, and warned that "if we try to force the pace of change it will only rebound on us".
A spokesman from the Loyal Orders and Bands Association said it wanted to promote all parades and events as "inclusive and for the enjoyment of all our citizens".
He added: "We welcome support from all those who share our aim of promoting our parades and events as colourful expressions of a rich and diverse cultural heritage.
"We believe that all our parades should be freely enjoyed by the entire community, including those visiting Northern Ireland.
"In wishing to promote a
family-friendly atmosphere at all our parades, we want everyone to feel free to come along and enjoy the unique spectacle which epitomises Ulster Protestant culture across the world."
In a statement, the Order has also asked spectators to "act responsibly and respectfully" during this year's events, in accordance with local council bye-laws in relation to alcohol consumption.
"Alcohol misuse and associated misbehaviour is discouraging some families from attending and enjoying our parades," said the statement.
"In that context we would appeal to the licensed trade to be particularly vigilant around the time of the parades in relation to the procurement of alcohol by or on behalf of minors and children."


so they cant get pissed and hate taigs as much as they used too ??

an  england team playing decent football 2-0 up against italy after 25 mins

http://www.myp2p.eu/Matches/Match3.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6751965.stm

Apparently they were listening to Dire Straits when it happened(Fisting by the Pool    )

Tried jumping into the popemobile apparantly!

Papas not injured.

or is it a bit much?
everyone does it, few admit it.

** Modified by Mod 3


just say the word and i'll bin it.

[url]http://community.livejournal.com/techsupport/1368038.html[/url

Give me a gun, and a bottle of Tequila...
I check my work email from home before I make my morning commute, so I can see what sort of maelstrom I'm about to walk into...

If you can guess by the subject of the post, this one is a doozy.


From: $user who for whatever reason came in on Monday when no one else was in the building.
To: IT Dept.
Re: A/C constantly running.

Hi Guys,

I came in today (Monday) to finish up a project I was working on before our big meeting with a potential client tomorrow, and I noticed that there were three or four large air conditioners running the entire time I was here. Since it's a three day weekend, no one is around, why do we need to have the A/C running 24/7? With all the power that all those big computers in that room use, I doubt it is really eco-friendly to run those big units at the same time. And all computers have cooling fans anyway, so why put the A/C for the building in that room? I got a keycard from $facilitiesmanager's desk and shut off the A/C units. I'm sure you guys can deal with it being warm for an hour or two when you come in tomorrow morning. In the future, let's try to be a little more conscientious of our energy usage. Thanks.


RESULT:

Fatalities: Exchange Server, Domain Controllers, a few Sun boxes that I'm not sure of the usage.
Near-Fatalities: Phone Switch, Apps Servers.

Temperature of server room 7AM Tuesday Morning: 90 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Status of Employee who sent the above e-mail: Terminated.

Any of you lads got married or getting married in the near future? Need info on potential venues in and around the North, with fairly decent capacity and accomodation.......

And thats not in Cookstown!!

Outcry over TV kidney competition 

The show comes from Big Brother creators Endemol
A Dutch TV station says it will go ahead with a programme in which a terminally ill woman selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys.
Political parties have called for The Big Donor Show to be scrapped, but broadcaster BNN says it will highlight the country's shortage of organ donors.

"It's a crazy idea," said Joop Atsma, of the ruling Christian Democrat Party.

"It can't be possible that, in the Netherlands, people vote about who's getting a kidney," he told the BBC.

The programme, from Big Brother creators Endemol, is due to be screened on Friday night.

The 37-year-old donor, identified only as Lisa, will make her choice based on the contestants' history, profile and conversation with their family and friends.

Viewers will also be able to send in their advice by text message during the 80-minute show.

The former director of TV station BNN died from kidney failure and spent years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant.

"For years and years we have had problems in the Netherlands with organ donations and especially kidney donations," said Alexander Pechtold of D-66, the Dutch social liberal party.

"You can have a discussion about if this is distasteful, but finally we have a public debate," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6699847.stm

RTE are braodcasting the sunday game live via their website, but only to the "island of Ireland"

If your computer thinks its iirish, you can watch it....

paddyness instructions here (change everything possible to green)

http://www.endnote.com/support/helpdocs/Changing%20Regional%20Settings%20in%20Windows%20XP.pdf


rte site here

http://www.rte.ie/live/


enjoy!

 to 5.5 % and 'experts' predict it will rise a further 0.25% in a few months.
Tighten the belts, mortgages will rise by just over £20 per 100k borrowed.

this may be old news to some of the more rotund members but Ive just dicovered this


and its tastes exaclty the same as this

[Total air miles]

The british queen has just been to the states, and has decided to do carbon offsetting for the trip.

Following lizzies return, her carbon footprint will be calculated and offset for the first time for a state visit.
Buckingham Palace will make a donation to an environmental charity to offset the plane journeys made.


Total air miles - 13,317 km or 8,275 miles
Amount of CO2 emitted based on scheduled flights - 1. 5  tonnes
Estimated offset cost per person -  £13.20 to £14.18 ($26.22-$28.17) depending on type of offset package

Source: The Carbon Neutral Company carbon calculator

If they started to make this available compulsory or voluntary would you do it? Plant a tree a trip type thing?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6615645.stm

PSNI employee is released on bail 
 
A PSNI employee has been released on bail on a charge of passing information to paramilitaries.
Aaron Hill, 23, from Mainebank in Randalstown, who has been suspended from duties, is also accused of misconduct in a public office.

It is alleged Mr Hill used the police computer to provide names and addresses for a co-accused who is charged with UVF membership.

A lawyer said Mr Hill thought they were for use within the motor trade.

The judge fixed bail at £1,500 and told Mr Hill not to associate with his co-accused or a loyalist flute band in Randalstown.

UVF calls end to terror campaign 

The UVF declared a ceasefire 13 years ago
The paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force has declared that it is renouncing violence and will cease to exist as a terrorist organisation from midnight.
It also said it will keep its weapons, but has put them "beyond reach".

This means they will be stored in a number of arms dumps "under the control of the UVF leadership, but not accessible for use by members".

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the UVF murdered more than 500 people.


Its campaign also claimed the lives of 33 people in bomb attacks in Dublin and Monaghan in 1974.


The statement was read by Gusty Spence, who helped found the modern day UVF in 1966.

It declared a ceasefire 13 years ago, but since then its members have been blamed for more than 20 murders.

Speaking in Fernhill House in west Belfast on Thursday, Gusty Spence said that from midnight, the UVF and its associated group, the Red Hand Commando, "will assume a non-military, civilianised role".

As part of this move, he said the organisation had implemented a number of measures to deal with what it called the "transformation from a military to a civilian organisation".

These include an end to all recruitment, training and targeting, and all so-called "active service units" have been de-activated.


'All possible instances'


On the issue of weapons, the statement said these had been put beyond reach and that the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning led by General John de Chastelain had been informed.

However, it did not elaborate on what this means, or whether the general will be allowed to verify its claim.

The Progressive Unionist Party's Billy Hutchinson said: "The weapons have not been put beyond use, but they have been put beyond reach.

"People should be seeing this (statement) as a positive thing rather than a negative thing."



The statement also condemned any criminal activity by its members, and said they should "cooperate fully with the lawful authorities in all possible instances".

The UVF has accepted that "the IRA's war is over" and said it was making this move now because it was satisfied that Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom was now safe.


Gusty Spence made the statement in west Belfast

The statement said: "We have taken the above measures in an earnest attempt to augment the return of accountable democracy to the people of Northern Ireland and as such, to engender confidence that the constitutional question has now been firmly settled.

"In doing so, we reaffirm the legitimacy of our tactical response to violent nationalism, yet reiterate the sincere expression of abject and true remorse to all innocent victims of the conflict."

There was also a call to the government to tackle the threat from republican dissidents, and a warning that these activities could "provoke another generation of loyalists toward armed resistance".


BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said: "The government will welcome the fact that the UVF, which killed more than 500 people, has said it is now standing down as a terrorist organisation.

"But there will be disappointment that it has not announced a decision to decommission its weapons.

"The question the UVF will now be asked is simple: if it has accepted that the IRA's war is over, why does it need its weapons?

"Now that the organisation has said its campaign of violence is finally at an end, it will face growing pressure to dispose of the weapons it used to wage that campaign."


Dawn Purvis, the leader of the PUP, the UVF's political representatives, met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin last week.

I have a pair of tickets that im not going to be able to use now, if anyone is interested....

1) Helicopter carrying senior Chelsea officials has gone "missing"

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1263728,00.html

2) Security scare at Utds training HQ, as suspect package sent to Ferguson, potentially containing hazzaradous chemicals, later declared not dangerous ( prob a whisket sample ;-0)

big enough to throw in the works -is this the DUP's biggest challenge, or are they actually going to go through with it all?

Maybe the disenchanted will sabotage Gerry and the Peace makers from within, we wait and wonder or dare I say hope??