Google Earth Kmz version
Google map browser version
Version with Candidates Names Placed
Google Earth
GM Browser
Not perfect but use and see what you can do with it. You can use a program like Ge-Graph to add 3d graphs or colour gradients with stats etc.
was listening to yesterday rte radio again and hearing a lot of politicians talking about how they met these people worried about conscription,particularly older women,... and i thought by god these FF'ers are telling us they only meet are stupid disconnected no voters, that they are saying that the only no voters are imbeciles.
now im no-voter-who-abstained, im deeply anti-war , campaigned and marched against shannon etc, but i don't think conscription is on the horizon, but im am worried about merkel and and o'deas words about making the EU a global power player and 'exporting peace and prosperity to the rest of the world' echoing george bush's comment just a few weeks ago... and we all know what GWB means about exporting democracy, it means exporting capitalism and conflict and drill rigs.
But I was talking to my mother (an FG reluctant yes voter,most worried about immigration) who said she met a neighbour who said the very same thing about conscription, and i said well she's an imbecile... and she said well i don't think it'll happen right now but maybe my grandchildren...' but i said well im big anti-military head and even i don't think that will happen, imbeciles!
Then I heard Mary Hanafin talking about the conscription issue coming up again, but she describe how a young women came up to her and asked her about shannon, military and neutrality and hanafin said she went on to say how it didn't change our position on neutrality (which could be true but we're not neutral).
Dermot Ahern and Michael martin both said how they found a lot of older women were bringing up conscription and and that's what they found after doing polling after nice 1 that it was older women worried about military.
anyway my main point is i then realised that these women aren't imbeciles they just think in different way to me and other young folks on the issue militarism.
when i think of iraq or Afghanistan, i think of the 100,000 unnecessary deaths and the trauma and destruction Iraqis have to live in ( and also the pillaging of their resources) but when the so called general public think of Iraq, particularly older women think in sons...
this is why they use the word conscription to convey their worries about neutrality, while i would use militarisation.
you see all the time on the news in uk and usa they manly report the deaths of us soldiers, they barely mention t the deaths of even the iraqi soldiers on 'our side' even if they died in the same battle.
UK and US parents say bring the troops home, they don't say end the war or save iraqi lives, most don't think in that way.
both patricia mckenna and pana and SF mary lou mcdonald all said they weren't worried about conscription or weren't going around telling people about their sons being conscripted and it wasn't in their literature. It wasn't in any no groups leaflets.
M L McD said on tv3 other night that she wasn't using scaremongering about conscription but people were thinking 'longheaded' about it and she was most worried about militarisation. and when she says militarisation she means imperialism (cos she doesn't mind the other kind).
lots of yes vote advocates mention indian and china in threatening way, a distance menace that are will trying to dominate the world, which leave you to think how could we fight them without conscirption...
so that's a longwinded way to say something very simple and obvious, conscription (ie. military neutrality) is valid concern in this eu referendum.
that's why they exit polls said they lost nice 1 and so they made changes ith the seville declaration reassured people and nice 2 passed but it's still why they lost lisbon.
and it a valid concern because we're not neutral and never really have been, and were certainly not now with active facilitation of the iraq war at shannon and no matter what ff/fg say, many of their voters are concerned about militarism, because of our history of being on the wrong end of imperialism, which connected to the feeling for independence which connects with the general fear of loss of sovereignty,(its the reverse of the uk independence euroscpetics who are pro-military). we've seen this at one of the biggest ever protest marches in recent times against the iraq war and the use of shannon. you could say our position on neutrality wasn't going to change but we're not neutral so nobody can't trust their assurances on that. Our neutrality is threatened most by our own governments actions not some exterior EU bogeyman.
so maybe these people aren't coir constituency either but COIR hit on the right word to use, conscription because it reflects women's and parents fears more then faraway conflicts that the PANA and the SWP talk about, so coir partly won it on SF,SP, PANA and SWP's issues with FF and FG voters.
that and uncertainty, distrust and immigration.
insert 'sons and daughters' and male parents where appropriate
Trying to see if its worth putting this in 3d and how best to visualize the votes. At the moment it hard to see the difference in yes and no. ETA June 13th. I've gotten the results for Lisbon treaty and added them to many eyes that I described in my previous post. Lisbon Treaty 2008 Visualisations
With the help of sgrillo's GE-Graph
The google earth in browser API is quite heavy so lets try another new thing from google, static maps. With the help of Peel me a grape coder blog
Nahh that work either starting map as ordinary sat view with earth browser option.
Updated with Lisbon 2008 referendum results: NO % constituency.
If you don't see any 3d maps you need a quick download and read of requirements of the google earth in browser plug-inDirect download
Updated with Lisbon 2008 referendum results: Yes % by constituency.
Results from Referendum Commission.
electionsireland.org
Compare with displays of results by rte.ie
ireland.com.
What I like about google maps is that you can it use to produce 2d maps of good quality and variation too. No need to redo in flash.
John O'Shea goes off on another solo run and rather then call for political action, calls for military intervention. Ahern dismisses calls for EU intervention in Kenya.
There no statement on the goal website about advocating this so again it was during one of his ill-considered rants on the radio. that he asks where are the EU Battlegroups, NATO, or the UN peace-keepers?
ETA: I see he got a letter into the Irish Times too saying the same, it almost automatic at this stage the same letters are published from him every other week.
Why is the violence and deaths in Kenya the problem and fault of the EU? Is it not for stablishment there to try to calm first. All the international countries, AU, EU, US, are urging a political solution and sending political envoys meanwhile John O'Shea calls for troops! Even if he just trying to make some sort of rhetorical point, its still idiotic and dangerous talk.
Goal was organising for its workers and their families to leave Kenya. While Trocaire and Concern workers are staying put for the moment."(The Concern rep. on RTE Radio describes a calmer situation.) An Irish missionary criticised the pull out as 'imprudent and shameful' and as a betrayal to the displaced Kenyans.
I'm sure the ethic violence in the slums and the burning of houses in the country, as well as the number of deaths in the church etc was very alarming but I can't find anyone else calling for military intervention in one of Africa's most relatively lengthy and stable democracies.
Both sides have accused each other of genocide. It was anti-government people who burnt the church and caused the largest number of deaths, and burned government aligned Kikuyu houses outside the town the deaths in the slums involved police shooting at poor youth and armed gangs taking an opportunity to revolt. It may be tribal, class, political and ethnic violence but no one is trying to wipe out a whole people as in genocide...O'Shea is at least right in saying there are no goodies in this. What would happens if troops went there next week and kept the sides apart, it may spare a number of deaths but it would also solidify the governments position, a government who has been accused of stealing an election.
Although he may well have barely won the election, most of Kibaki's cabinet were not re-elected and he lost a lot of support when a major constitutional referendum in 2005 wasn't passed, he has continued with a split and corrupt government ever since but it doesn't seem that the opposition has overwhelming support either with only a few thousands youths coming out to protest for Odinga's own million man march, even with the fierce repression in Nairobi and live TV cut off you would expect more. I just don't know who's safety he is most concerned for. Although tribal preferences may split loyalties in the police and army, they are trying now to protect those who homes were burned and are clearing the roads to get food moving. I'm not claiming to be an expert on Kenya but I'm just trying to read and write a few things to get a very basic handle on the situation and figure out John O'Shea bizarre behaviour.
Well after watching him on Late Late a while back I tried to figure the guy out. Rogue charity maniac.
Here's a article on Kenya in todays SBP, giving more background on Kenya's corruption, even though he is cited as journalist who has worked for Goal he suggests potential 'empty tourist hotels' are the best leverage the west has, he warns against loose language and he calls military intervention highly unlikely. Maybe he should talk to his boss, but he seems to be just an echo chamber for J'OS, most of articles just quote him and he also seems to be a bit of a bland military fetishist too writing for the International Security Network.
The Eureferendum blog also comments on John O'Shea optimism on the speed of international action.
I had a thought last week until I checked that the Orange Democratic movement opposition was trying to ape the western funded orange revolutionary movements in Georgia in Ukraine especially when I heard Odinga described as a business man, but it actually to do with the symbols used to denote the yes and no sides of the referendum in 2005 for the illiterates in Kenya. It seems Kibaki is still Washington's man.
BTW and PS: Poor Judge of character
John O'Shea shows his lack of judgment again by associating Goal with the most vapid person he could find. After the truly unfortunate death of young Katy French he was among those to praise her beyond her worth.
After she went to see the poverty in Calcutta she claimed to have changed her world view, but clearly had not if we look at her continued flaunting of vulgar wealth and indulgences in alcohol and other substances.
Ms French had also recently visited Calcutta at the request of the Irish charity GOAL, and had left an "indelible impression", according to its chief executive, John O'Shea.
