Social Issues
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Ha ha, you’re poor!
A good while ago my youngest forgot his house key when he went to school, and had to wait a while at our door for one of us to come home and unlock. Our house is right beside his school so the kids leaving for home were streaming past. When a fellow student saw him…
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Subtle Sexism: case in point
This was originally posted to my old blog on 23 November 2013. This is a classic example of the more subtle gender discrimination that is so prevalent, and so devoid of intent to harm, that we mostly just don’t see it. The fact that we’re so used to it we hardly notice, doesn’t lessen the…
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Subtle Sexism
This was originally posted on my old blog on 10 November 2013 I’ve recently come into contact on a regular basis with a person who has brought home the impact of subtle sexism to me. The definition of subtle sexism is: 1. Discrimination based on gender. 2. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles…
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WTF, independent.ie?
This was originally posted to my old blog on 10 November 2013. I am attempting to widen my news reading, as it’s probably as closed-minded to only read the Guardian as it would be to only watch Fox News. So I visited Independent.ie for a bit of a different view on what’s going on in the…
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Crime and Punishment – we all need to grow up
This was originally published on my old blog on 28 July 2013. During my recent cycling trip from Derry to Ranafast, I took a ferry across Lough Swilly. I started chatting to someone on board, who, it turns out, works as a prison guard. In the space of 45 minutes, he gave me a glimpse…
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Minister shocked that 1+1=2
This was originally posted on my old blog on 26 July 2013. Recently, it came to light that an Irish citizen discovered she was pregnant again, and, suffering from fibroids and with a history of difficult pregnancy, she decided she wanted an abortion. Ireland, however, doesn’t allow abortion unless your life is in danger if…
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What did you expect?
It’s all over the news in Ireland this week: a scandal erupted when undercover journalists recorded instances of unacceptable treatment of children in day care. I really hope this will lead to radical change, or at least the beginnings of radical change, because the current state of affairs is a recipe for disaster. It is…