The Irish Money Famine

[chas]

The great part is that the USDA is giving away cheese and encouraging (paying) farmers to make more cheese. But at the same time, the USDA is telling people to lay off cheese because it's got a lot of fat, so farmers are being paid to make more cheese, but the USDA has a huge stockpile of it because they can't give it away (literally) because of their own policies.

They really want to have their cake and not eat it too.

[MTGuru]

http://www.satirewire.com/content/?p=2162

[s1m0n]

I remember when the USDA American-made cheese was given to the poor. ...

Ah, Raygun's unfit-for-human-consumption government cheese! That was more a bailout to a politically-influencial industry lobby group than it was aid to the poor.

[cowtime]

The "welfare cheese" that I remember being given out was when I was a kid, long before Ronald Ray-gun-zah. Around here that cheese was only given to the poor, many who could easily turn it into cold hard cash. On "give-away-day" that cheese was highly prized because it was very, very good cheese and couldn't be bought in stores. People who didn't get that cheese were regular buyers from the recipients.

[Casey Burns]

Here's something on Ireland's money woes:

http://www.safehaven.com/article/19125/ ... -with-love
Also, http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. ... erous.html

Am curious how this unraveling is affecting instrument makers and performers over there. Though its not much better here. Orders have slowed way down and everyone is trying to offload instruments (similar to houses).

Casey

[MTGuru]

[trill]

Might as well go have some CHEESE.

"Git off me cheese !"

[Denny]

I wonder when someone changed that for me....

Not that I remember what I said, but that doesn't sound like me.

[crookedtune]

History was made to be transmorgified.

[Unseen122]

Am curious how this unraveling is affecting instrument makers and performers over there. Though its not much better here. Orders have slowed way down and everyone is trying to offload instruments (similar to houses).

Casey

Well, I can't answer about instrument makers (might ask Joe Foley about it next time I see him) but I know that a lot of the paying sessions in Dublin are closing. For instance the afternoon gigs in Oliver St. John Gogarty's have closed down; a couple musicians I know have been affected by this. I have also heard of musicians getting pay-cuts for regular gigs, I know a few people who do a gig on a Saturday night which I think has been lowered from 60 Euro to 50 Euro, I'm not entirely certain on that though. That's not a big cut but it adds up over time. I also know a guy who opened up a pub earlier this year and had to close it within 6 months because they weren't making any money. From what I have heard he still owes the staff money. There was also a pay-cut for musicians from 50 to 40 Euro; I was actually looking to get a gig here because a friend of mine and his brother were doing one over the summer. His brother goes to college in Limerick so he had to go back for the year. I managed to do one gig for him, right after they lowered the gig money, and then the next week the place was closed.

My regular gig on Wednesday nights in O'Donoghue's is still going strong but then again we get f**k all money for it as it is; they aren't going to be lowering that bey 10 Euro because that is half the pay! I also know a number of people who are trying to sell instruments with no-luck. I know a piper who has been trying to sell a set of pipes for a good 4 months and a banjo player who has een trying to sell a banjo for at least 2 months.

Now, with this big snow things are only going to get worse. I was watching the news last night and they said the affects of the snow are costing the country up to 100 million Euro a day.

Well, I came to this country to go to college for trad music and I am in my final year of that. I can't imagine I will be sticking around here after this year, I will be on the next flight back home to the states after this. My attitude wouldn't be too different from a lot of people my age in this country only they were born here. Immigration culture is coming back to Ireland in these harsh economic times.

[Denny]

History was made to be transmorgified.

transmorgified?


I's bein' transmorgified inta paranoid....

[trill]

History was made to be transmorgified.

transmorgified?


I's bein' transmorgified inta paranoid....

hmm.. is it transmoRGrified or transmoGRified ?

Let's consult one authority....

[Denny]

too late