en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4831428 Comments by JackFK http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/officers-who-helped-drunk-woman-were-brave-30129765.html#IDComment810715132 You need to read the letter again and again and try to understand it. "extraordinary courage" - you're not well. Thu, 27 Mar 2014 14:25:10 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/officers-who-helped-drunk-woman-were-brave-30129765.html#IDComment810715132 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801452026 I might reply in your own words that "Correlation does not equal causation". The point made by John is that prosperity is increasing while unhappiness is also increasing. Material prosperity is increasing and of that there is no doubt. But the corollary to that is that there are consequences that are resulting in great unhappiness. The point about politicians is that they are being influenced by party donors who invariable want to muscle their way into decisions of government. At the very least they want themselves held up as examples of how it is done - ref Lord Sugar, a deeply unhappy man. "We are not getting richer we are getting poorer and have been for some time" - that might be said to be what John is saying in his letter. Wed, 5 Mar 2014 16:49:48 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801452026 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801442944 John has a point. When prosperity increases, it is because governments point to increases in GNP and GDP. While our societies experienced these GNP GDP increases, they also have seen levels of depression, obesity and eating disorders increase almost exponentially. These are indicators of an unhappy society and of deeply unhappy people. A simple explanation of this phenomenon would suggest that material or monetary prosperity is leading to increasing unhappiness as the good Lord suggested it would. Wed, 5 Mar 2014 16:29:45 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801442944 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801325747 Well said, John. It wouldn't be the first time we learn of these conflicts of interest for politicians in particular but due to the fact that so many people are involved it has to be a very important message to get to grips with - why are so many people unhappy?. Wed, 5 Mar 2014 11:29:08 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/prosperity-is-leaving-us-all-much-poorer-30063836.html#IDComment801325747 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/past-violence-proves-a-real-stumbling-block-29985053.html#IDComment792273804 John Hume said many times - even as far back as the 1960s - that not one human life needed to be taken in pursuit of the goal of Irish unity. Was he wrong? IR suggests that he was wrong. I wonder then why in 1994 Sinn Fein caved in on their usual demands of British withdrawal and an immediate united Ireland and accepted the Hume analysis verbatim. Having started the IRA campaign - perhaps to undermine John Hume and the SDLP right from their beginnings in 1970 - the IRA leaders simply hadn't got a clue what to do next and the campaign ended in 1994 without any real gain and with all the same problems IR has listed still effective. I don't know where IR gets his license for humour, albeit black humour. It can only be gallows humour in the context of his allegiance to Irish republicanism, which has delivered nothing. It won't be long now before the myths of an effective IRA will be exposed. Thu, 6 Feb 2014 13:01:41 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/past-violence-proves-a-real-stumbling-block-29985053.html#IDComment792273804 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/movies-point-to-all-the-usual-suspects-again-29946105.html#IDComment788271831 Where do we get all these intellectual supremacists? Fueled by their superiority they can't help themselves as they google every word to find an angle to attack a letter writer. It works every time, of course - in their own minds at least. What clever boys! Fri, 24 Jan 2014 12:49:35 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/movies-point-to-all-the-usual-suspects-again-29946105.html#IDComment788271831 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784328993 New agreements can be made and agreed to. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:33:37 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784328993 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784326588 maybe you should spray some of your name on it, deodorant. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:27:32 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784326588 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784325679 Rosie I suppose that you have a high threshold on jokes with your name. Where's the joke? Face the facts - the unionists were not allowed to express their opinion in support of an agreement due to the influence of a new generation of extremists. SF can deliver nothing significant due to dissidents. The GFA has taken things as far as it could. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:25:02 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784325679 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784285845 "The SDLP had decades to prove it could deliver for Irish citizens but delivered absolutely nothing!" Again I would assert that the IRA spoiled it for the SDLP, just as the dissidents will spoil it for SF. There is no future in the GFA for either unionists or Nationalists. "Partition will end when Nationalists become a voting majority in the Six Counties - the GFA guarantees that." Just wishful thinking. You're just naive about our politics. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 15:47:29 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784285845 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784226121 There are idiots among the dissidents as well. They just communicate with guns instead. In no way has SF dealt with them or their threat and they can't because they're doing just as SF did to the SDLP. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:04:52 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784226121 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784217955 "The GFA is the name of the game until Irish unity." SF need to get real. Irish unity will never be got by SF. They can really only achieve it through a civil war they have little chance of winning and which will result most likely in repartition on unionist terms. So why not work towards re-partition now? "So, Republicans in government, Brit troops gone, and a largely peaceful Six Counties are just a coincidence, presumably!" Everything SF touches turns to dung. Your claims that they achieved these things are bogus. Again I suggest that SF achieved very little in the GFA other than prisoner releases. If truth be told, the SDLP achieved these things you claim. Tue, 14 Jan 2014 12:46:51 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment784217955 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783886195 Neither DUP unionists nor SF republicans can complain that this repartition suggestion is nonsense since they insisted on destabilizing the North when the UUP and SDLP were doing the same as they're doing now. Other groupings are putting the boot in just as they did over the years. The Stormont Assembly is finished and the DUP and SF have nurtured and trained by their example those who are ending it. It won't last long, in my view. Mon, 13 Jan 2014 21:30:50 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783886195 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783847347 I think that the referenda would prove no real obstacle in the right circumstances - perhaps after a Scottish vote for independence.. Or another Marching Season fiasco. Nobody's being abandoned. they're still just down the road with a firm commitment from everybody to non-violence. Today's pie in the sky is tomorrow's realism. Remember John Hume. Mon, 13 Jan 2014 19:48:39 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783847347 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783778940 "Republican support for the GFA is rock solid." Real republicans would disagree. They won't allow SInn Fein to use the SDLP strategy even if it might succeed. It is poetic justice, of course, after Sinn Fein fouled the entire pitch for 25 years to ensure that the SDLP were not allowed to use the SDLP strategy. The unionists are in the same position. That's why it is all over for GFA. My last paragraph is just a little dig at the fact that Sinn Fein never actually negotiated very much from the GFA other than prisoner releases. Mon, 13 Jan 2014 16:58:15 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783778940 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783762520 Some would say that a legal interpretation of the Good Friday Agreement would lead us to place repartition on the agenda when it fails. It is failing now and unionists and republicans know it only too well. What's the point in waiting around until the goodwill of the public is completely destroyed. Of course, Irish rep, we don't need you lot to fight our battles for us and end up in negotiations to have your prisoners released as done last time. Have you no shame? Mon, 13 Jan 2014 16:16:51 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/parties-are-being-held-to-ransom-by-extremists-29910392.html#IDComment783762520 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/four-in-running-for-city-of-culture-29768912.html#IDComment753500645 Are you trying to say that they are both the shit holes of the UK and that you were just passing through? Wed, 20 Nov 2013 21:14:36 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/four-in-running-for-city-of-culture-29768912.html#IDComment753500645 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/mcdevitt-could-still-play-crucial-role-for-sdlp-29753379.html#IDComment750074606 I too wonder who the faceless men were. Thu, 14 Nov 2013 15:37:27 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/mcdevitt-could-still-play-crucial-role-for-sdlp-29753379.html#IDComment750074606 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/sinn-fein-and-dup-dont-get-powersharing-29695845.html#IDComment739586577 IR. For God's sake, your post is larger than the letter. You seem to imply that you're keeping an eye on John's letters on behalf of Irish republicanism. I think you're getting scared of something he may write. The problem you have is that he is walking all over your and your beliefs. Maybe you're trying to threaten him. Maybe you could give us a reason for an "Irish Republican" to be on a middle of the road newspaper's web site, seemingly attempting to menace a regular contributor every time he comments. You can get a stiff jail sentence for that kind of approach. Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:52:33 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/sinn-fein-and-dup-dont-get-powersharing-29695845.html#IDComment739586577 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/woman/life/the-12-steps-to-happiness-29669319.html#IDComment738232771 Where are the 12 methods? Is this a mispost? Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:38:55 +0000 http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/woman/life/the-12-steps-to-happiness-29669319.html#IDComment738232771