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If you are the wrong person in your job….Homeless Scandal!

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
If you are the wrong person in your job….Homeless Scandal!

It’s tough out there for the homeless people in Dublin. I can’t imagine many people enjoying living on the streets, sleeping in shop entrances, being kicked out all the time and not having much of a chance to get back into “normal” life. Yes, many of the homeless are not making things easier for themselves by being addicted to alcohol or other substances, but when you think about the savings most people have nowadays, there are MANY people just one month away from homelessness.

It happens like this:
Unexpectedly your company fires you. That might be because they are restructuring or moving or closing down and possibly has nothing to do with your work. You don’t own your place, but rent it. You have to work until the last day of your employment and your employer doesn’t give you time to look for the next job/go to interviews. You have no savings because that was never your strongest point and the rent is so high anyway that you find it very hard to save anything. The job finishes but you have difficulties to find the next job. Maybe it is your skills, maybe your age, maybe the location, maybe your confidence, but things are not going your way and now the next rent is due and you can’t pay it. You will HAVE to move out. Some friends let you sleep on their couch. But soon you have used up all your friends and next you end up on the street.

We might think “This can’t happen to me.” but add some health problems or other issues and if there are no savings, many are just one months rent away from homelessness.

Would it be helpful in that situation if the people that look after the homeless have some understanding of the challenges? Maybe even have some empathy? We all agree that that would be a big help!

Unfortunately the head of the “Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE)” which also calls itself sometimes “Dublin Region Housing Executive” isn’t so full of empathy or understanding it seems. On Tuesday, Eileen Gleeson, the head of the DRHE famously said at a meeting of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee on Tuesday

“Let’s be under no illusion here, when somebody becomes homeless it doesn’t happen overnight, it takes years of bad behaviour probably, or behaviour that isn’t the behaviour of you and me.” www.thejournal.ie/eileen-gleeson-homeless-3699069-Nov2017/

Years of bad behaviour?! She really has no clue! She really seems to think that all homeless people are addicts or incapable to live in a home.

But that was not all! She also was talking about organisations that help homeless people and said “If they’re only getting a cup of soup and they’re homeless it isn’t helpful.”

Well, on a cold evening in the streets of Dublin, I would happily take a cup of soup and a sandwich if I was homeless and it could be a tremendous help to SURVIVE, so that I see the next morning when the snobs of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive tell me that it is all my own fault for being homeless. Unbelievable!

Eileen Gleeson was on the spot when she answered questions and made these statements, so sometimes we say things we don’t mean and use words we would/should not have used. In a very very supportive way and to help out Ciara Kelly on Newstalk offered Eileen Gleeson NUMEROUS opportunities to apologise, but there was no apology. She did say “To be honest, I could have probably used better language in trying to explain the point I was trying to make.” but that certainly doesn’t sound like an apology.

Can somebody who has so little understanding for her “clients” be the best person to provide good services????

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Politics, Society, ,

The end of the Circus …as we know/knew it!

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
The end of the Circus …as we know/knew it!

I don’t know when I was at a circus the last time. It must have been when I was 10 years of age or younger and I don’t know either if it was once or twice that I was at a circus, but it was definitely not more often.

So, I am clearly not a mad Circus fan and no Circus could build their business on people like me. But it did make a big impression on me. I remember clowns, and jugglers and a round sandy arena, but I also remember tigers and lions and elephants and possibly monkeys.

Thinking back, it was the animals and the clowns that impressed me most. I didn’t know if the animals were treated appropriately, but I was 10 and it wasn’t the first time that I had seen animals in cages or on leashes, so it didn’t concern me hugely.  Since my circus visit back then, I have heard about mistreated animals, but I also have heard about circuses making huge efforts to look after the animals well.

Now it has been announced that from January 2018 the use of wild animals in circuses in Ireland will be banned and I am in two minds about it.

Obviously I am not supporting or condoning the abuse or bad treatment of animals (“wild” or non-wild!), but at the same time I remember the visit to a circus as a hugely positive and educational experience. I also wonder why only “wild” animals will be banned and if these “wild” animals are still that wild? What about a tiger whose parents and grand-parents and great-grand parents all were part of a circus. Is that still a “wild” animal? Or is it a “domesticated” animal. And why are ponies and dogs seen as different type of animals. They once were wild as well, I guess. And mistreating them is also not acceptable. We are training dogs with no hesitation to do tricks for us, but there is objection to train formerly wild animals.

Would it no have been an option to work on ensuring that no circus mistreats animals? I am clearly no expert in this area, but I am wondering.

Dublin, Dublin City Council, Events, Society,

Security Screened Wallets? – Totally unnecessary, if…

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Security Screened Wallets? – Totally unnecessary, if…

The latest security recommendation is to use a Security Screened Wallet that will prevent access to your Credit Card through Near Field Communication (NFC) or RFID while it is in your pocket. Why is this a thing? Well, if you only need to tap your card on a Credit Card reader to pay (Contactless Payment), then a criminal only needs to have a portable Credit Card Reader and needs to get close enough to your card in a packed Luas or train to also be able to take money from you.

Credit Card companies say that this is not a risk and the limit to EUR 30 protects you further, but read the TINY print, i.e. the Terms & Conditions and you will see that they are well aware that there are risks and they have a lot of responsibilities put in your court.

Tapping your card is convenient, but I never found it a huge challenge to type in my code when I use a credit card. The time you save might be 30 seconds all in and that is really not a convenience game changer.

So I never would need to “tap” my credit card and therefore I made sure that it will not even have that functionality. The consequence is that I do NOT need a security screened wallet because no criminal could “tap” my card either against a will.

Some say that credit card companies/banks don’t give you cards that do NOT have the NFC or RFID functionality. But I would have to ask you if you are really certain and if you have not just asked, but insisted.

I have cards from 2 banks and a credit card company and none of them has the NFC/RFID functionality. All I needed to do was ask for cards without it!

If your bank refused to give you a card without it, tell the bank that you will then disconnect the RFID antenna within the card and familiarise yourself about the disconnection trick via YouTube clips. Example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9vTvbHgi2M You will “damage” the card and the credit card company/bank might tell you that you are not allowed to do that. Then openly tell them that you will damage the card UNLESS they send you one without the “Tapping” or contactless payment option.

Society, , , , ,

Are we all becoming Snowflakes?? Public opinion about “Ophelia Offenders”

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Are we all becoming Snowflakes?? Public opinion about “Ophelia Offenders”

The ex-hurricane Ophelia came to visit us last Monday and it was very much a mixed experience. Some people lost property, experienced damage to their house, were cut off from electricity and phone/Internet and sadly three people even lost their lives. Others, however, just saw a few leaves being blown around or a plastic bag flying by. Yes, the experience was THAT diverse! And by the way, this is not a flippant assessment of the storm that Met Eireann warned us with a “RED” weather warning about, but it is based on actual media reports and on comments from people like you and me on the Dublin Event Guide Facebook Page.

People were at home on Monday because a large part of business asked their staff to stay at home all over the country because the weather warning applied to the whole country. And when we are unexpectedly at home with no other plans and nowhere to go, we do nowadays “jump on” the Internet. A huge amount of people did and also shared their opinions and I would definitely say that there were many more opinions given than on other days.

But what surprised me was how judgemental and condemning people are without KNOWING better, just by THINKING they know better. And it also surprised how all this judgement was not based on REAL events but only on EXPECTED events. Let me give you some examples:

1) Two surfers were rescued in Co. Louth on Monday and outraged ensued: “How could they be out in the water during a RED Weather Warning? How irresponsible to get a Lifeboat and a helicopter and other rescue services to bail them out when everybody knows that it is super dangerous.”
Well, let’s look at some of the facts: Surfers ALWAYS go surfing in strong wind, there is no surprise. The rescue happened at 10:20, which was approx. THREE hours before Ophelia arrived in Dublin and between 4 and 5 hours before it was forecasted for Co. Louth, so there were without a doubt NO “RED” state conditions out there even if the Red warning was already – and probably unnecessarily – applicable for the whole country. In addition it was not reported why these surfers got into difficulty and – like mountain walkers – surfers get in difficulty regularly. Can you criticise them over getting into difficulty? Most likely YES!!! If they lack experience, they shouldn’t be out there. But that is completely independent from the Met Eireann weather warning and applies in every storm that is outside of their skill level.
Conveniently the report in the Irish Independent was decorated with a dramatic pictures of mad and dangerous waves in the Tramore, Co. Waterford, one of the worst affected areas. There was no picture from Co. Louth displayed.

2) The missing picture of the REAL conditions in Co. Louth was provided in the next case, but it was duly ignored by the masses of complainers: Dave and Steve Flynn, the owners of “The Happy Pear” in Greystones and other parts of Dublin posted a picture of themselves on Instagram leaving the sea after their morning swim and they wrote “Happy Monday. The calm before the storm this morning where there was blue sky and the sea was like a pool. Inspite of weather warning it was one of the calmest mornings in a while so there was no risk in having a swim.” On the picture you could see a TOTALLY calm see with no waves and no danger. Unfortunately the time is not reported, but I’d say the Flynn brothers are the type of people that mean “early morning” when they say morning, so that means the storm was still far away and we CLEARLY see in the picture that there is no danger.
That didn’t stop “Moneymaid”, however, to comment on The Journal.ie article with “People who swim/walk piers etc in weather like this intentionally put our front line staff in danger. They should be prosecuted if front line staff are required to assist them.”
How does that make sense? NO “front line staff” was put in danger by their swim! Nobody was called out. WHY should anybody be prosecuted if in perfect conditions someone goes for a swim.
Just because there is a blanket warning in place? What about taking personal responsibility and being able to assess the dangers yourself instead of freaking out over something that MIGHT happen in a few hours.
And by the way, if the picture had shown ANY choppiness or waves – and I am talking about moderate waves, not just high waves – I would totally agree that maybe there was a risk and it would be wiser to avoid putting yourself in danger and risking to need help. But there was NO danger.
The Flynn brothers had to apologise over this storm in a teacup … and I am not referring to Ophelia, but to the uproar about their swim!

So what is going on here? Why are people so hypersensitive and so over “protective” (or rather judgemental)?

In 1996 Chuck Palahniuk used the term “Snowflake” in his novel Fight Club and that since has become a term used to characterise a generation that is more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations or that is too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Snowflake) (There is also a more recent meaning of Snowflake in a political context, I am not referring to that!)

Are we all becoming snowflakes? Worried stiff about totally calm water just because someone said “Code RED”? Are we becoming incapable of correctly (!) assessing dangers and making appropriate decisions? Do we need to be wrapped in cotton wool by our government and other authorities?

I think the surfers in Co. Louth possibly should have stayed at home. Not because of the storm warning, but because maybe they didn’t have the skills required even if there had been no warning. But it also is possible that they would have got into trouble without an approaching storm. Leg cramps and lots of other things can happen even on the finest day.
The Flynn brothers on the other hand did absolutely nothing wrong!

And in case you wonder: My opinion about the man who swam in Galway, while the storm was raging: He is an idiot and DEFINITELY shouldn’t be there!

—–

Let me leave you with one more story:
In 2015 Teresa Mannion became famous with her report about storm Desmond www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI5Oxj04_8s and she is a bit of a “storm personality” since then. So many were hoping for a repeat of her warnings during Ophelia but it was a much calmer affair this time here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5BYKUBOvAs Still you have to wonder what Teresa Mannion means when she says in the report “This was a day to remain indoors, unless absolutely necessary to venture out.” Hmm is it really absolutely necessary for Teresa Mannion to venture out on such a day?

 

Environment, Irish, Society, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Crazy Car Insurance Prices! Why?

Written by Joerg Steegmueller
Crazy Car Insurance Prices! Why?

A Chinese friend who is living in Ireland for many years never had a drivers licence here, but this year he has decided that now is the time to tackle it. His daughter is getting to the age where he can’t pack her on the back of his bike to bring her to school and a “taxi driver” is needed. ;-)

He studied HARD, passed his theory test and got his provisional license. He found a small car that suited him, I think it is a Ford Fiesta and then he embarked on finding an affordable insurance.

He was shocked! The first insurance company quoted him a price close to EUR 5,000! :-O He rang lots more and was constantly told that his insurance premium was so high because he didn’t have any experience. He understands that, but unless the companies allow him to drive (and an somewhat affordable insurance is needed for that) he won’t be able to improve. Tricky situation! In the end he found an insurance that “only” wanted EUR 3,500 and he went for it. So from now on, he will be working close to two months every year, just to pay the insurance. He can’t understand that.

During the week something happened that will help him to understand a little bit better: A passenger in a car got severely injured and sued the driver who drove the car she was in. The case was settled for EUR 5.75 million and THAT is one of the reasons why the insurance premiums are so high.

Unfortunately this case is not one of these “crazy settlement” cases and I say “unfortunately” because it is easier to get angry about a case where someone gets a scratch and walks away with hundreds of thousands. This case is different!

We don’t know why the woman got into the van, but it seems that there is a high probability that she knew that the driver was drunk (three times over the limit!!!) and despite that she most likely didn’t wear a seatbelt. Because of these two things the settlement was a LOT lower (about half) than it could have been otherwise. But the seriously sad thing is that since the accident (3 years ago) the woman is in a vegetative state and is still in hospital.

So the cost the insurance will have to pay are HUGE and I assume that the insurance will have to pay everything even if they might be able to claim some  small amount back from the driver, but he won’t have nearly 6mio in his back pocket, so they will only get a fraction back.

On one hand we can get angry about such a crazily high payment that ultimately has to be paid by all other insured drivers through their insurance premiums. On the other hand we can certainly understand that the woman is NOT in a situation where the insurance money is a nice windfall. The money will be used to modify her home so that she can leave the hospital and then will be needed to care for her for the rest of her life. Without a doubt she and her family would prefer a situation where she wouldn’t need that money. So we can see that sometimes these crazily high premiums are fully understandable, but nevertheless they need to be paid and that is ONE reason for what makes the premiums so high.

There is another reason and that is greed or maybe even lies by the insurances. It seems to be certain (and early morning raids have taken place to secure evidence) that the insurances are paying out LESS money for claims than in previous years, but they still claim that the claims grew.

Society, , ,
 
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