What happens when Muhammad won't go to the mountain

It is not revelatory to suggest that the media, and in particular, the tabloid variety are sensationalist. Moreover, the language used is often manipulative and designed to target our emotive nature. But the anthropomorphising of a killer whale, named Tilikum, in SeaWorld Orlando, involved in an incident yesterday, resulting in the death of Dawn Brancheau, a trainer of 16 years experience, further highlights the preposterous role many media agencies have assigned themselves, both as defenders of morality and guardians of righteousness.


I would like to emphasise that the focus of this post is not to regurgitate the events themselves, but rather to examine the reportage across various media outlets. The aforementioned killer whale refers to the species of mammal making headlines and is not designed to assign blame or motive to the orca in question. However, I get the sense that this is not the case in much of the media coverage.


The most common themes are that of a malevolent creature and words such as attack and kills are pervasive.


The Guardian headline '[w]hale kills its trainer in front of visitors to amusement park' may suggest that it's bad enough the whale killed but that it did so in front of an audience is particularly gruesome. The term amusement park can lead one to think of this as a particularly heinous crime, given that it occurred in a place of fun and wonder.


The Sun's seemingly innocuous headline 'Whale Shook Girl to Death' is interesting. The use of the word girl when referring to a highly qualified forty year old woman, continues the theme of victim, which is so often the hypocritical role women are assigned in the tabloid press.


By extension, if there is a victim there is a transgressor. Also in The Sun today, 'The beast nicknamed Telly, had killed before,' referring to reports that Telly had been involved in two previous incidents where human fatalities occurred. I am surprised that so far they have resisted the pun Serial Killer Whale or some other scaremongering zinger.  If the voice of doom falls on deaf ears then perhaps a tug of the heart strings will achieve the desired result, such as this headline; 'Trust...Tragic trainer Dawn Brancheau with Orca at SeaWorld' which appears below a picture showing Ms. Brancheau embracing the whale. So we can add back-stabber to Telly's list of crimes.


Aware of the inherent dangers undertaken in her line of work Ms. Brancheau said back in 2006, ‘You can’t put yourself in the water unless you trust them and they trust you.”


BBC have a video of a gentleman who attended the show under the headline 'Eyewitness describes fatal attack on whale trainer.' But as his statement reveals he was talking with his daughter and did not see the initial events which culminated in the trainer losing her life. Though his wife did see the incident she was not interviewed.


Some may see this as being merely pedantic, but given that there have been conflicting reports of the events that led to Ms. Brancheau being in the water, perhaps an actual eyewitness account and not a source relating what someone else told him would be desirable. Several spectators are quoted as saying the whale came up from the water and grabbed the trainer by her waist, however The Orange County sheriff's office says preliminary accounts indicated Ms. Brancheau slipped and fell in, the incident is still under investigation.


The Telegraph has a piece entitled 'SeaWorld killer whale attacks trainer: latest in string of deaths,' which goes on to list six fatalities involving wild animals and experienced trainers over a nineteen year period. In a related article the Telegraph suggests that the whale was 'blamed' for drowning a trainer in 1991 and had a 'controversial past.' There is no mention of SeaWorld's responsibility in the matter.


In fact there is no mention whatsoever of the ethical considerations in any of the articles I have quoted, of housing (to put it one way, imprisoning is another) wild animals in a space equivalent to you or I spending our lives in a bath tub. I would go as far to say that the tone of many of the articles I have read has been one of condemnation, an undercurrent picked up on by Diane Gross the older sister of Ms. Brancheau when she said  ‘[Dawn] would not want anything done to that whale... she loved the whales like her children.’ Though these accidents occur relatively rarely, when they do occur it is important to access them in their wider context.


When the veneer of entertainment is removed by a tragedy such as this we are reminded of the dangers of bringing the mountain to Muhammad.

George Lee Resignation

In the immediate aftermath of George Lee's resignation from the Dail, it was noticeable how favourable the response to his decision to quit was. There was talk of politics being a graveyard for innovators and clear thinkers, a knacker's yard for the well intended, a place where the machinery of do-gooding has well and truly ceased up.


There were no metaphors alluding to toys or prams, instead Enda Kenny's leadership was called into question. A positive side effect for both Kenny and Fine Gael (FG) is that for the time being his handling of Lee's resignation has quashed any such debate. Lee is a public figure who has essentially given up at the first hurdle, or second if you view his election as such. (I don't, his personal popularity coupled with The Government's polling figures meant he was a shooin.)


George Lee had unrealistic expectations and whilst a desire to make a difference for the better seems to have been a motivating factor in his decision to run, arrogance and ego may have been central to his decision to step down. In the short time George Lee was a TD, he proved to be both a help and hindrance to FG. His celebrity and the trust he garnered in hundreds of thousands of Irish people meant that as a political commodity he was valuable. However it struck me that George Lee was never a permanent cast member on the soap that is Fine Gael, more like a friendly face who makes a cameo appearance when ratings take a dip. He was largely apolitical and spoke for himself more than for the party.


One must acknowledge that in the wider community this is seen as a case of 'us' versus 'them.' 'Us' being the ordinary Irish worker, 'them' being the political establishment and as such there is much support for Lee's decision. I am not one of those supporters. 27,000 voted for something different. George Lee has abandoned the hopes and aspirations of those who wanted change. Why? Because he was 'unfulfilled'?


I don't have anything new to add to this debate. I don't have a position on whether or not George Lee was under-utilised, whether he was marginalised. I do know that he was elected in June 2009. You know today's date I'm sure. Is it reasonable to expect change to occur when in opposition? When the Dail has only been in session for 19 weeks since his election? Fine Gael's time is seemingly just around the corner. I find it interesting that many of those polled by Joe Duffy on RTE Radio 1, were in favour of Lee's resignation, considering that he has a 150,000 Euro salary and pension waiting for him in RTE as he chose, not to quit the broadcaster in favour of his new career, but merely take a leave of absence. On the back of this one could certainly question his commitment to the cause.


Since then, journalists have filed copy that is more aligned to my own feelings on the matter. Of all the articles I have read, I would recommend this piece by Sarah Carey of The Irish Times, which I think says it all.

Water Charges Debate

'Water meters,' Pat Kenny asserted, 'will pay for [themselves] in two years.' This assertion was made this morning on his popular Radio One show. RTE's highest paid star got me thinking about an earlier blog I had written, which highlighted the unfairness of increases in the Licence Fee in the face of an evasion rate of 12%.

An analogy is drawn when one considers the move by Minister for the Environment, John Gormley, to allow County and City Councils to charge for a service that is inefficient and outdated. In the short to medium term, charges for domestic water usage will fall far short of the Consumerist mantra; value for money, as successive governments have failed in their obligation to maximise resources by improving water delivery infrastructure to comply with European Union standards. Charges will be incurred via a system of household meters and are on average expected to be in the region of 200 Euro per household per annum according to media reports. The average annual per capita water bill is 85 Euro in France and Germany, 59 Euro in Italy and 95 Euro in England and Wales.

The argument made is that in order to pay for such upgrades, especially as the government are pinching every penny, a direct tax on water usage is required and reasonable, even if you concede that the provision of water is a most basic human right. It is an argument, to my surprise, that I agree with.

The reality is, the level of investment necessary to meet the EU Water Framework Directive goals for 2015, is too high to ignore such an untapped, ahem, financial resource that is the domestic water charges market. Since 2006, 40 million Euro has been spent in the Dublin region, accounting for 60 kilometers of water mains replacements. This accounts for less than 10 per cent of the 800 kilometers of pipes that are over 70 years old. It must also be noted that on average each person in Ireland consumes 150 litres of water per day, higher than most other Europeans who do as it happens pay water charges (the average German uses 127 litres of water per day).

This is also the recommendation of OECD Environmental Performance Review. But they state that it should be done 'in a way that takes account of environmental, economic and social considerations.' Thank goodness for that.

On Meeting a Poet

A sharp intake of breath.

The still frame flickers.

My dusty head full of

pink, shapeless noise,

a budding melody unsung.

I am afraid

to have a voice of my own.

A hangover croak patchily recalls the

lioness roar, the room hushed.

Peering whites on a black

background fixated. You stole

the creaking and the fidget.

Pin pricks, brimming eyes

and thumb-sucking. I drank

the anguish and tasted nothing.

I stepped out into the slippery night,

my wounded lungs oblivious,

devour shards of darkness.

Smoke filled exhalations

and clothes that reek of

stale consequences.

Memory lingers like a

jet stream on a clear blue sky.