In today’s Irish Times’ Colm Kenna has an opinion piece titled ‘Public reaction to advisers’ pay indicates need for leadership‘ where, after threatening to say something interesting, he essentially goes on to say that we, the public, are distracted by trivial matters. Therefore it is the government’s responsibility to show ‘leadership’ in addressing those trivial matters in order for the public to have full confidence in them to do ‘what needs to be done to get us out of the mess we are in’.

So, instead of wasting your time reading that, read this instead:

The Great Theft Movement: Ireland as Kleptocracy

Distraction Burglary

Some burglars will try to trick their way into your home. A distraction burglary is where a bogus caller to your home gains entry on a pretext / lie or creates a diversion so that an accomplice can sneak in separately.

– Personal Safety Security for the Older Person, An Garda Síochána Crime Prevention Information Sheet

What does it feel like to live in a kleptocracy? How would you know if you lived in one? Here are a few pointers.

• A kleptocrat, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is ‘a ruler who uses their power to steal their country’s resources’. It is true that no dictionary definition of anything is ever truly definitive. Nonetheless it is worth dwelling on the fact that the definition of a kleptocrat says nothing about what kind of ruler a kleptocrat is. There’s nothing specified about the institutional role afforded to the ruler, or whether the ruler is legitimated by popular authority, or the number of rulers that make up a kleptocracy.

Continued… Cunning Hired Knaves