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The lorry deposited a large number of stones and pebbles beside the waste ground and then two women were led to the spot wearing white and with sacks over their heads... (They) were enveloped in a shower of stones and transformed into two red sacks... The wounded women fell to the ground and Revolutionary Guards smashed their heads in with a shovel to make sure they were dead.
Eleven people, nine of them women, are currently under sentence of death in Iran for the 'crime' of adultery. Stonings can take up to 20 minutes before the victims are killed and if members of the public rounded up for the purpose refuse to participate in throwing stones, public sector employees are taken from their workplaces and ordered to take part.

From a recently published Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org) report on the continuing practice of stoning women to death in Iran.(read in An Phoblacht - www.anphoblacht.com)

How To Win Friends

Observed about 20 cars parked outside Cineworld cinema on Parnell Street being booked by 3 Gardai. Their owners are obviously in the cinema enjoying a night out. The cars are not causing any obstruction and it is not clear if they shouldn't be parked there, as there are no yellow lines.
So why are they being targeted? At the risk of repeating myself let me suggest that it because:
(a) It is a revenue collecting exercise
(b) They are an easy target - much easier for the Gardai that say tackling drug dealing, "joyriding", vandalism, etc. Those crimes and more are being committed at that very moment probably very nearby - but hey don't ask our esteemed police force to actually WORK for their huge salary.
And so the local Superintendent can claim that his force have issued a record number of traffic tickets. And so the Minister can pat the Commissioner on the back and thank him for the increase in revenue. And the hardworking taxpayers who went to the movies can pay up.
What a rotten little "banana republic" we live in.