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Jan. 15 was a testimony to the love and admiration this community has for Pam Kenyon. At a fundraiser spaghetti dinner, 950-plus dinners were served, and close to 50 beautiful gift baskets were auctioned off to help ease the burden of growing medical costs for Pam. It was a beautiful event with so many people giving of...
Three things work to make an enjoyable walk: the route taken, its stories and of course, the weather. When we came to walk the Lúibín Mhaírois, or Moyrus Loop, in the relaxed company of Padraig Ó Cianain and his fellow local residents, we were blessed on all three counts.
This is a truly lovely 5km walk through the low undulating granite country of south Connemara, a mix of beach and boreen, of dry stone walls and old cottages, of machair meadows of wildflowers and granite shores of storm-tossed boulders.
Sea and islands are one’s near and far companions for over half of this walk, and new vistas of distant Roundstone, the Aran Islands and the iconic mountains of Connemara greet the eye as one progresses anti-clockwise around the Loop.
At its southern end, a granite hilltop and its second World War observation post are a perfect place to relax and take in St Macdara’s Island and the sixth century oratory tucked into its sheltered northeast corner.
And, from the outset at Moyrus Beach CP, our local companions wove their stories and the stories of land and seascape into the tapestry of the route. They told us of the lives and livelihoods of the people of this strong and proud Gaeltacht area, of religions imposed and abandoned, of seafarers and fishermen who never ...
They told us of the annual celebration of Mass in July on St Macdara’s Island, of kelp processing for iodine extraction, of shark fishing and of transporting cattle and sheep to offshore islands for grazing; and they described their plans to restore the second World War “EIRE” stone lettering, advisory of our neutralit...
And they wove into our conversations rich and beautiful Gaelic terms for the most ordinary of things, like the line of long dried-out seaweed marking the high point of an old and exceptional high tide.
This looped route on any day and in any weather would be a joy to walk, except perhaps when a wild south-westerly storm is visited upon the shore section. We came on an entirely unnatural late-June day of high bright sunshine and a temperature close to 30 degrees just inland of the route. The strong light paled the ico...
Florida rapper Kodak Black is back behind bars and it’s due to a probation violation. New details surrounding his shocking arrest have emerged.
According to the latest reports, Black could not avoid getting caught ditching his house arrest to attend a couple high-profile February events.
Details initially emerged Tuesday (February 28) about Kodak getting arrested.
In mid-February, Kodak hinted at new music coming and confirmed his involvement in a new tour.
In late January, Black shocked fans by cutting off his signature hairstyle.
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Over the past week, the Bitcoin price has made its strongest move to the upside in three months – a move that took place just as the Greek debt crisis escalated.
The price of Bitcoin has jumped from a low of $240.22 on June 24 (according to CoinDesk data) to as high as $268.23 earlier today (Tuesday). That's a pop of 11.66% in one week.
Over the past month, the Bitcoin price is up an impressive 20%.
Meanwhile, concerns that the Greek debt crisis was reaching a critical moment have been building for weeks. Those fears were realized Sunday when the Greek government imposed capital controls and closed the Greek stock market.
A financial crisis like this is exactly why Bitcoin was created. Decentralized and beyond the control of governments, the digital currency is a safe-haven investment akin to gold.
This is why many have drawn a line between the spike in the Bitcoin price and the Greek debt crisis. But is there really a connection?
Could Worried Greeks Have Driven Up the Bitcoin Price?
According to CNNMoney, the world's largest Bitcoin exchanges were seeing big increases in customers from Greece.
Bitstamp, the world's third-largest exchange, said trades from Greece were up 79% over their 10-week average. The Germany-based Bitcoin.de said it had seen a tenfold increase in Greeks registering on its exchange. And Chinese exchange LakeBTC reported a 40% increase in visitors from Greece.
Other news outlets published similar reports.
"I don't think it could be for any other reason," Brendan O'Connor, CEO of digital currency-specialists Genesis Global Trading, told CNBC.
But skeptics point out that Greece is a relatively tiny portion of the overall Bitcoin market. Any increase in Bitcoin buying there wouldn't be likely to move the global Bitcoin price all that much.
And the most recent surge in the Bitcoin price is even less likely to have its roots in Greece. With capital controls in place, most Greeks don't have access to their money to buy Bitcoin.
What's more, Greece lags behind many other places in Bitcoin adoption. The country has just one Bitcoin ATM, and only about half a dozen merchants in Athens accept Bitcoin as payment.
The increase in Bitcoin price might have more to do with the recent increase in VIX volatility index than Greece.
Will Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ latest overhaul of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the US’ policy on gays in the military, kill soldiers’ morale? A day after Gates announced the new changes to DADT, the right is crying foul, saying the new regulations will “more confusion and fear among military members” and undercut moral...
Of course, groups in favor of repealing DADT deny these assertions altogether, saying the safety of American troops will only be improved by ridding the armed services of the Clinton-era policy. Comments like those made by CWA and its ilk, then, are most likely so much sound and fury before DADT is thrown out into the ...
Welcome to another episode of Gearburn’s new weekly YouTube show, GearTV. In today’s video, editor Steven Norris unboxes the Hisense Pure 1, a cheap and cheerful Android phablet with an excellent display. Does it have the quality accessories of a Samsung or Apple phone? Let’s take a look.
Private sector activity in the euro zone shrank at its fastest pace in 28 months in October as the debt crisis sapped new business and soured sentiment in an economy looking like it is heading into a slump, survey data showed on Friday.
Markit's composite Purchasing Managers' Index for the single currency area sank to 46.5, down from 49.1 in September and below an earlier flash estimate of 47.2.
"(This) is the kind of level which frankly is pointing to recession," said Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank.
"We knew it would it bad but clearly the fact it deteriorated more rapidly than we anticipated indicates the economy is losing momentum at a faster pace. Obviously the euro zone debt crisis is leaving its imprint on the real economy."
The unresolved crisis, which has hammered businesses across the euro zone, has entered a dangerous new phase with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou facing a tight confidence vote later on Friday after his risky plan for a referendum on an EU/IMF bailout backfired spectacularly.
In a bid to support the ailing economy, the European Central Bank (ECB) surprised markets with a 25 basis point cut on Thursday at its first policy meeting led by Mario Draghi. Economists gave a 50-50 chance of another cut in December, according to a Reuters poll.
Markit's Services PMI also fell sharply, to 46.4 in October from 48.8 in September, its lowest reading since July 2009 and again markedly lower than an earlier flash reading of 47.2.
It was the biggest downward revision from the flash reading since November 2008, when Europe was plunging into the darkest phase of the financial crisis.
The index stayed below 50 for the second month running, a level that divides growth from contraction, and survey complier Markit said conditions are unlikely to improve over the next few months as the threat of an imminent recession takes hold.
"The final PMI was even weaker than the earlier flash estimate, and suggests that the euro area contracted at a worrying pace at the start of the final quarter," said Chris Williamson, chief economists at Markit.
The survey points to growth falling at a quarterly rate of 0.5 percent and suggested it was highly probable the economy could contract in the fourth quarter.
Service providers, who range from hotels to hairdressers, post and telecom, struggled in October. The new business index tumbled to 45.3 from 47.1, and hiring stagnated for the first time since April 2010.
The gloomy economic outlook hurt business confidence with the index declining to a two-and-a-half year low.
Country-specific data showed services activity contracting in France, Spain and Italy, while Germany and Ireland saw only modest growth.
Activity in services firms also lost steam in major Asian economies and slowed to a crawl in Britain, suggesting the global economy is weakening as the euro zone crisis rages on, key surveys released on Thursday showed.
The same trend continued in the U.S. services sector, which slowed modestly to its lowest level in three months.
Growth in German services and factories eased to its weakest during the current 27-month period of expansion after the slight rebound in services activity was negated by the first drop in manufacturing output since June 2009.
The performances of France and Italy deteriorated sharply and Spain stayed stuck in a contraction phase with output falling sharply in both services and factories.
Apart from being disastrous for Palestine, normalising relations with Israel could get Saudi Arabia in real trouble.
Driven by succession plans and a strategy to confront Iran's influence in the Arab region, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) has engaged in several taboo-breaking steps. These include the arrest of dozens of princes and ministers and a process of normalising relations, at least partially, with Israel.
But taking concrete measures to end the Arab boycott of Israel, without reaching a just solution to the Palestinian issue first, will be detrimental to both Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, the Israeli army's chief-of-staff, Gadi Eizenkot, gave the first-ever interview to a Saudi news outlet, saying that Israel is ready to share intelligence with Saudi Arabia on Iran. Also for the first time, Israel co-sponsored with Saudi Arabia a resolution against Syria in the UN Human Rights Council last ...
To "legitimise" steps taken to normalise relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia summoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to Riyadh last week, to convince him to accept a peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump's special adviser, Jared Kushner. Saudi-Israeli collaboration is an integral part of th...
If MBS proceeds with the plan, he risks Saudi Arabia's leading position in the Islamic world being delegitimised.
Abbas' cooperation is essential for Saudi-Israeli normalisation to proceed; without it, the Saudi move would be seen as a betrayal to the Arab and Muslim position on Palestine. Although not much has been revealed about what really happened during Abbas' visit to Riyadh, some reports talk about the Saudi leadership pres...
Abbas is in an unenviable position, as pressure on him is likely to increase when Kushner's plan is released in the not-so-distant future. He needs Saudi and US financial support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to continue to function.
However, the Kushner deal will not do even minimum justice to the Palestinian national project. While the deal offers strategic gains to Israel, such as ending a Saudi Arab boycott, it offers only tactical gains for the Palestinians, such as financial assistance, prisoners' release, and a silent, partial freeze of sett...
The Kushner deal will practically fragment the Saudi-sponsored 2002 Arab Peace Plan that offered Israel full normalisation in return for full withdrawal from Arab lands occupied in 1967. By pressuring Abbas to accept the deal, the Saudi leadership is undermining its own initiative, accepting to partially normalise rela...
Moreover, the Saudi normalisation plan is likely to further complicate internal Palestinian reconciliation. Aiming to end Iranian influence in Gaza, Saudi Arabia's close ally, Egypt, brokered - or as some view it, dictated - Palestinian reconciliation that resulted in Hamas surrendering power to the Palestinian Authori...
To pressure Abbas further, Saudi Arabia reportedly summoned his bitter enemy, Mohammed Dahlan, to Riyadh at the same time he was there. The purpose of the move was supposedly to have the two discuss Fatah's internal "reconciliation". In other words, Saudi Arabia brought Dahlan into the scene in case the PA president re...
Just a few days later, another blow was dealt to the PA. On Sunday, the US administration announced that the license of the PLO office in Washington will not be renewed - this could not be a mere coincidence. In fact, it might be another strong sign that Abbas continues to resist Saudi-US pressure. In line with this ar...
Saudi's demands have put the Palestinian president is a very difficult position, as his people would overwhelmingly reject the stipulations of the Kushner deal. This situation is reminiscent of his predecessor, Yasser Arafat's, dilemma at Camp David in 2000, when he faced US pressure to accept Ehud Barak's plan offerin...
What is clear, however, is that Saudi Arabia will proceed with its normalisation efforts with Israel, with or without Abbas. The way MBS is managing succession at home and escalation with Iran abroad suggests that he is up for making radical decisions.
But his move on Israel might not work as well as some of his other bold policies have. In fact, he might end up shooting himself in the foot. Pushing through with the Kushner deal would mean acting against the consensus of Arab and Muslim countries, which reject normalisation with Israel without a fair and just solutio...
Saudi Arabia might receive support from countries like the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, and Jordan, but not from the rest of the 57 Muslim-majority member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Kuwait, for example, is already holding anti-normalisation activities at home.
If MBS proceeds with the plan, he risks Saudi Arabia's leading position in the Islamic world being delegitimised. His father, King Salman, the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, will appear to be conceding on the third holiest site for Muslims - al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. If he normalises relations with Israel, MBS w...
Ibrahim Fraihat is Associate Professor of International Conflict Resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
Catholic priests have become synonymous with “abuse” in recent years, but they’ve never been the only people of the cloth guilty of inflicting physical and emotional pain on innocent victims. Seldom talked about are the rarely maligned women of the Church: sisters who intentionally abused fellow nuns behind convent wal...
But most cases of the variety of nun abuse my mother was subjected to—emotional pain and physical tolls intentionally inflected upon nuns by nuns in positions of power—have gone unreported. In cases like my mother’s, the tales of abuse were passed along in hushed whispers, first in psychiatrists’ offices, then, later, ...
In my mother’s case, the stories of abuse came out in bits and pieces over the decades, mostly in the wake of two nervous breakdowns. Her hesitation to come forward was twofold. First, she, like so many victims of abuse—within or without the Church—felt as if it was her fault and that no one would believe her. Who, she...
My mother had gone to live at a convent in Indiana just three months after graduating from college. She’d graduated with honors, and with an impressive resume. As a teenager, she’d met privately with President Harry S. Truman in the White House’s Rose Garden after being recognized for her work in student government. Bu...
When men become priests, they get to keep their names, cars, even bank accounts. Not nuns. When my mother entered the convent, she gave up virtually everything. And by everything, I mean everything. When my mother became a sister, she surrendered all of her belongings as part of her vow of poverty. That meant that her ...
Then there was the food, or lack thereof. Sisters were expected to fast for hours, sometime entire days, in a bid to show their faith. Those with low blood sugar, like my mother, passed out during peak fasting times. They were considered “unfaithful.” Instead of being given food to prevent additional fainting spells, t...
“Sisters who said they were sick were treated like they were making things up to get attention,” my mother’s friend Marian, who was also a sister at her convent in the 1950s, told me.
Even when my mother doubled over in physical agony, owing to abdominal cramps, and was scarcely capable of moving, she was ordered to get out of bed. Her pleas for medical care fell on deaf ears. It was a priest affiliated with the religious academy in which she taught who ultimately insisted upon getting her treatment...
My mother’s growing friendship with the priest who had helped save her—coupled with her popularity in the classroom with her young students—did not go over well with the nuns in command. She was removed from the classroom, with no opportunity to say goodbye to her young students, then demoted and assigned to the tasks ...
In an effort to silence my mother and what the convent called her “nervous habits,” the punishments grew, my mother would tell me, “more severe.” It’s hard to gauge what exactly she meant, but family members report there were unexplained bruises. And my father has suspected that sexual abuse was a factor, owing to her ...
My mother ultimately left the convent at the encouragement of the priest who had worked to get her medical care. It was the 1960s, and, he told her, with the coming of Vatican II and the growing women’s movement, there were new opportunities for women like my mother to lead a meaningful life and serve the Church as a l...
My mother was among the first in her “class” of nuns to muster the courage to leave. But she was hardly the last. Scores more would follow. Today, the once burgeoning population of nuns at her convent—some 800—has dwindled to a few dozen. Nationally, the population has similarly plummeted. In the 1960s, when my mother ...
Many Catholics wring their hands over “the nun shortage,” lamenting the end of an era. I remain Catholic and my husband and I are sending our children to Catholic school, and so I understand, to a degree, the feelings of nostalgia. Good nuns and good convents can and do exist. And when they do, both are special things....
Mary Pflum Peterson is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning producer for ABC News/ Good Morning America. She chronicles her mother’s time in the convent, and the story of three generations of women in a decidedly complicated Catholic family, in her new memoir, White Dresses: A Memoir of Love and Secrets, Mothers and Daughter.
Illustration by Tara Jacoby. Photos courtesy of the author.
As the deadline approaches for Calderdale Council’s biggest ever budget consultation, they are reminding people of the many ways they can have their say on what the spending priorities should be.
Residents have until Saturday 31 October to tell the Council what they should invest in, how services could be run differently and how communities could help us keep Calderdale a fantastic place – all in the context of a further 12% cut in government funding by 2017/18 and at least another £20 million savings by 2018/1...
Over 3,300 people have shared their views since the budget consultation started on 1 September 2015. And they’ve done this in more ways than ever before – from filling in surveys, attending events and engaging on social media, to watching the online video, having a go at the online budget simulator and unlocking hidden...
Staff at the community who got more income for their family when work with the community.
Mahamasukree Masaning, head of the Orang Pantai Community Enterprise Cooperative, shows off Kulao fish, an expensive variety from the South that helps to generate sales Bt10 million over the past fiscal year.
IN A BID to help Pattani fishermen and their families, Muhamasukree Masaning teamed up with Pattani’s Fisheries Office to establish a community cooperative that has generated sales of Bt10 million and boosted the livelihoods of more than 86,000 people since operations began in September last year.
“Five years ago it became clear that the fish stocks in Pattani’s bay had become much depleted by a combination of commercial fishing operators and those fishing by nets. This was having a big impact on traditional fishers and their families,” Muhamasukree said in an interview with The Nation recently.
The enterprises now employs 30 workers from the community to process fish, crab, shrimp, and others seafood products. The venture provides reasonable prices for the fishermen for their catch under a partnership between the Pattani Fisheries Office and other authorities in the southern border province aimed at helping t...
Muhamasukree said the community bought Kulao fish - a variety from the South renowned for its taste and cost - from fishermen for between Bt230 and Bt250 per kilogram, against just Bt170 a kilogram from before the enterprise was set up. The enterprise also bought other sea products from the local fishermen at prices of...
The community then learned how to process the seafood products to match the range of demands from customers, including a luxury hotel in Bangkok. This value-adding approach helped generate higher prices for the community.
“This results in more income for the community, helping it employ staff for the enterprise and improving the quality of life of local people,” Muhamasukree said.
Amino, 41, a worker at the Orang Pantai Community Enterprise, told The Nation that her quality of life had had improved since she began work at the venture.
Before joining the enterprise, Amino said she had earned between Bt25 and Bt50 per day from packing fish in a factory. But after learning how to process seafood products in the community operation, she now takes home between Bt250 and Bt350 a day, depending on the number of products for processing.
The community has succeeding in attracting fishermen with 2,200 boats to participate in the enterprise, which serves the needs of the 86,300 in the community.
“Our community will be a business model for others communities follow, helping to improve quality of life of people in southern Thailand, which now faces violence, and such initiatives may help create peace in our homeland,” Muhamasukree said.

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