START Denying the Nuclear Holocaust
(picture from this source) Yesterday in Prague, the U.S. President Barack Obama and the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, signed START, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 each. Sounds great, unless you realize what the figure of 1,550 actually means. Our ignorance of the meaning of numbers of deployed strategic nuclear warheads allows politicians to get away with making worthy speeches and nice fluffy agreements without actually changing anything. Although no-one could criticize both sides for sitting down together with some flowers on the table, wagging those chins and shaking those hands and reducing the amount of deployed strategic nuclear warheads from about 2,126 American and 2,600 Russian to 1,550 each over the next seven years, this is far from being a 'giant step', or even a 'step'. A nuclear doomsday scenario, wiping out all advanced life on...
Wikileaks: Surveillance, Suspicion and a Mysterious Video
(Photo of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and its logo: http://edu.npo.eu/news/) What will be on the video that will be shown in Washington D.C. today? The website Wikileaks.org is a non-profit organization that publishes countless classified documents, typically 'from corrupt banks, the US detainee system, the Iraq war, China, the UN' and it gets away with it by being based in more than one jurisdiction. So the last few years they have been publishing globally, made possible because each country on this planet has different laws about what one can and can't publish. This is a truly unique situation. It has proven impossible for governments to clamp down on WikiLeaks. It seems, then, certain governments are thinking of using other methods to prevent material getting onto that site. Surveillance '...the increase in surveillance activities this last month.. excessive,' says a WikiLeaks press release of 26 March (reproduced in full here), 'some...
Thieves Like Us
Ever quick on the draw, Paul Barford beat me to it on the news of today's report in the Irish Times concerning the suspended sentencing of individuals involved in the case of the Strokestown Stroke. Would it be a little smug if I pointed out the irony (beep beep) to metal detecting enthusiasts across the water that a couple of drug addicted thieves, when confronted and informed of what they had inadvertently thrown away, were civic minded and willing enough to show the police where the priceless items had been dumped? Even later, to visit the said items in the museum, where they are held in trust on behalf of all the people of Ireland? Yes, I rather think it would.
Historical Photos of Ireland
And a fine St. Patrick's Day to you. The following is a series of images of Ireland in the late 19th century, found at the Commons on Flickr. The photos are predominantly from the Library of Congress and Smithsonian pools. Whilst most of the photos are of Ireland itself, some of the later ones in the slideshow are of locations in the United States - taken by pioneering Irish photographer Timothy O'Sullivan. Press play. All images are CC licensed.
Raiders of the Lost Farce
According to the latest reports, the site for a new deepwater port at Bremore may be moved north to avoid a pesky neolithic passage tomb complex that would most likely be more trouble then its worth to pay a shed load of money the developer probably doesn't have anymore, in order to get rid of the feckin' thing. A spokesman for Treasury Holdings, which is planning to develop the new facility in partnership with Drogheda Port, confirmed yesterday that one of the options now being considered was to "shift it off Bremore headland" for archaeological reasons. He said it had become clear at an early stage that the neolithic complex at Bremore was "very significant", and the developers would be anxious to avoid it by examining alternative locations, such as Gormanstown... More Here Previous shenanigans here
“Don’t Speak With Your Mouth Full of Shite”
"Don't Speak With Your Mouth Full of SHITE" - by photographer lurking in the toilets of the George Bernard Shaw, Dublin, last night. It's not often that we post just a photograph as a main blather.net entry, but this just begs to be shared. From davewalshphoto.com
The Worst Irish Accents In Cinema History
What's the worst Irish accent you've ever heard? Earlier this week, we asked our Facebook bots to make suggestions for a list of the worst Irish accents ever committed to celluloid. That's every 'begob', 'begorrah' and 'divil alive, musha man' ever uttered by an over-paid, perma-tanned Hollywood twat. The following are some of the findings from our extensive survey. WARNING: many of the clips you are about to watch are likely to incite you to violence. Thesp: Richard Gere Offending item: The Jackal Case against the thesp: The early nineties saw a slew of IRA-inspired Hollywood nonsense, with A-listers seemingly falling over themselves to play Provo killers. One of the worst was Richard Gere's truly shocking turn in Michael Caton-Jones' The Jackal, where Gere is a 'IRA sharpshooter' released from chokey to hunt down Bruce Willis' mono-syllabic hitman. A shit-sandwich without the bread. Thesp: Tom Cruise Offending item: Far and...
Turfs up! Early Medieval Brooch turns up in a Kerry Fireplace
In what must be one of the strangest discoveries of an archaeological object in recent times, a fantastic early medieval brooch has turned up, quite unexpectedly, in the range of a north Kerry house. After lying buried for centuries in a nearby bog, the brooch was unknowingly unearthed sometime last summer, contained within a sod of turf, cut from the finder's own bog. It was only noticed when their grate was being cleaned out one morning, lying among the ashes of the previous days fire. The sixth/seventh century object itself is a rare enough find from that part of the country and the suspected Christian imagery on it terminals is also highly significant. I for one would like to extend my gratitude and heartiest appreciation to the original finders for their their honesty in quickly reporting the find to the proper authorities. It is most likely that the National Museum...
Barah Pal: 12 Castes of Gypsy Artists from New Delhi, India
A 30-minute ethnographic documentary about a colony of gypsy artists in New Delhi, India by Jennifer Rosen. 12 castes of gypsy artists ended their nomadic tradition nearly 50 years ago to squat in New Delhi. Now the slum is being dismantled for rehabilitation. These are the last months of Kathputli Colony as the residents know it with an uncertain future ahead... Press play and click the arrows for fullscreen. Barah Pal (subtitled) from Barah Pal on Vimeo. More Barah Pal site
The Republican Party And The Obama Conspiracy Theories
(image by David Basanta, used under a CC license) Little Green Footballs, the American site which tracks (amongst other things) what seems like the increasingly more moonbat trajectory of the American right's thinking, has posted results of a poll of Republicans voters on everything from Obama's motives to the inclusion of Creationism in schools. The results are... well, you can see for yourself. But should we be surprised? Is there anything new here? Or is this just the latest manifestation of a narrative which has been growing and replicating this last sixty years or so, only now brought to a head by the presence of an African-American in the West Wing? Questions and answers The Daily Kos Republican Poll was conducted by Research 2000 from January 20 through January 31, 2010. A total of 2,003 self identified Republicans were interviewed nationally by telephone: QUESTION: Should Barack Obama be impeached, or...