This week Irish life returned to normal and Irish politics resumed its normal parlour games.

The resignation of Michael Healy Rae was described repeatedly as a ‘bombshell’ and the political parties shouted at each other in the Dail.

Outside protestors and malcontents hovered but will their protests take on those who are really exploiting the ordinary people?

Since Israel and the US launched their war against Iran, the top 100 oil companies are making an additional unearned ‘war profit’ of $30 million an hour. There are calls for a windfall tax but who will take the side of the ordinary consumer over big oil?

On Free State today we look at the real divide in society and we consider the moment when Leo Varadkar ran out of diesel

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‘Nobody has a right to blockade our country,’ Micheal Martin stated when announcing what the government would be doing in response to the protests that brought the country to a halt.

But what does it tell us about the fraying of the social contract that people felt they had to take to the barricades in their country to demonstrate how desperate things have become?

On Free State today Joe and Dion look at a week that might have changed Ireland and why the establishment doesn’t know how to respond. We ask who were the bad actors who tried to attach themselves to the protest and explain why they are being used as a distraction to avoid dealing with the fundamental problems in the country.

Joe and Dion also discuss the piece by Sinead O’Sullivan which you can read here https://www.butthistime.com/p/mind-the-gap.

Feel free to email [email protected] with your own thoughts.

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“It is a low bar to ask that people aren’t killed so that I can fill up my car.” Alex Perry is an investigative journalist who has uncovered an extraordinary story.

It is a story where the backdrop is the new imperialism. If the first scramble for Africa was led by the imperial nations in the 19th century, the second has been by the oil companies that have so much power in the world today.

In Ireland, we have seen this week the power of oil and gas, but on Free State today, Alex Perry talks about the incredible story of Palma in Mozambique. He tells us about the massacre that took place there in 2021 which the world knows nothing about and why so many who should know more also say they know nothing.

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How close did the world come to annihilation this week? What will happen the next time Trump parades his negotiating skills and can the world always be sure that Trump Always Chickens Out?

On Free State, Dion and Joe reflect on a ceasefire which was a defeat for Trump and ignored by Benjamin Netanyahu.

Does this mean peace or does it mean we should enjoy the little things that make life worth living? 

Since the death of his friend Michael Lyster, Joe has been reflecting on what made Lyster the man he was and he shares a story which captures his magic.

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Stalin was reported to have asked ‘How many divisions does the pope have?’ when told of the Vatican’s view on world affairs.

On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo addressed the crowds at St Peter’s Square and said, "Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace."

Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump gave his view on world affairs. “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

On Free State today we ask who will stand up to Donald Trump? Are the church leaders who are supposed to provide leadership in terms of morality being forceful or are they dealing simply in wooly abstractions that are of no use?

When Trump is becoming increasingly deranged and there is a need for firm and moral leadership, will someone stand against him or will they continue to use language that is vague and uninspiring?

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Olivier Norek says he has never met a killer who wasn’t eaten inside by what they’d done. Before he became a writer, Norek was a policeman in the most dangerous parts of Paris and a humanitarian worker in the former Yugoslavia.

On Free State today, Norek tells the story of Simo Hayha, the sniper known as the White Death, who fought for Finland during the Winter War when the Soviet Union invaded the country.

He tells the story of how Finland, abandoned by the world to fight alone, stood against the Red Army, fighting for their communities.

Norek researches his books the way he would investigate a crime and in preparation for the Winter Warriors, he spent a winter in Finland, experiencing the subzero temperatures in which Finns fought to defend their country.

He tells us what the Winter War meant to Finland and how it shaped the world we live in today.

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When a California court ruled that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed addictive products, many declared that this might be the Big Tobacco moment for the tech companies.

The plaintiff was awarded $6 million damages. Meta’s revenue in three months last year was 60 billion dollars. Their share price was unaffected.

On Free State today we ask what will it take to make a difference? 

If the social media companies are relaxed about the finding, is it because they know that there is no appetite to make real change?

We look at the power of the addiction and the power Big Tech utilises to enforce its position.

These powers rule the world now and one ruling may not make much difference.

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Trust the process has become one of world’s worst cliches. But what if the alternative was worse? What if ‘trusting the emotions all around’ was the other option?

On Free State today Joe and Dion wonder why Ireland lose. 

The country will not be at the World Cup this summer. How much was this down to the Irish players’ inability to keep their heads and be led by the emotion that was all around them?

Are teams more susceptible to this in an age when information and anxiety are all around them? 

What is the cure for the headlong rush to emotion and will Ireland ever experience it?

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“The White House does not tolerate any administration official illegally profiteering off of insider knowledge, and any implication that officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”

Fifteen minutes before Donald Trump posted that there had been ‘productive conversations’ with Iran, $580 million in oil bets were made in a period of 60 seconds.

Who knew to place those bets? Did anyone have insider information? 

“The only focus of President Trump and Trump administration officials is doing what’s best for the American people,” a White House spokesperson said.

On Free State today we look at the con that was Trump’s war on Iran, a war that he is trying to end and which Iran prolongs any way it can knowing his desperation.

Thousands have lost their lives in this latest example of American aggression and Trump now talks about peace.

But does he know how to control the forces that are unleashed in a war? Or, as with Vietnam, has he set America on a course that will lead to greater human misery?

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