This will be the last article for a while, as I head for foreign parts and a week’s holidays, so consider this a virtual time capsule. As I write, the US Congress is still arguing over how large a blank cheque they should give to Wall Street (or if they should bail them out at… Continue reading »
Sep
29
Opinion Piece
Can a politician — particularly a member of a governing party — truly have a personal opinion? Earlier this summer, Dick Roche announced that Ireland should hold a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty — in his personal opinion. There’s no date for the re-vote yet, but that particular personal opinion seems to be almost… Continue reading »
Sep
26
Lend Me Your Ears
Ever feel like there’s too much news? Not too much bad news, just too much news. Then maybe 4fm is for you. The new station advertised for applicants today, and their website also includes details of their planned schedule. Radio listeners in Ireland really have two only two format choices on the national airwaves. On… Continue reading »
Sep
25
Greenhorn
Trevor Sargent was in Kilkenny yesterday. The junior minister for food and horticulture spent his day handing out postcards at the Ploughing Championship, in response to complaints from farmers about food labelling regulations. The postcards, addressed to the EU consumer commissioner, carried a simple message: ‘We need to know where our food comes from’. Farmers… Continue reading »
Sep
24
By Their Acts
Is Google evil? Google remembers everything about you. What you looked for, which of the sites it suggested you settled for. All to improve its search algorithms in future of course. When the Chinese government had a quiet word, Google was happy to censor it’s search engines in order to gain access to a lucrative… Continue reading »
Sep
23
Heads Up
The hijab non-controversy continues, this time given oxygen by the announcement that the minister for education does not intend to regulate the non-issue. Beverly McKenzie, head of the Irish Hijab Campaign, formed to combat the well reported but rarely seen threat to scarves in Irish schools, appeared on Today FM’s Last Word with Matt Cooper… Continue reading »
Sep
22
Who Are You?
Sarah Palin’s email account was hacked last week. More fool her for using a Yahoo account. The hack didn’t involve any complex attacks, or even a small but elegant program designed to exploit software flaws. Instead, its an example of social engineering at it’s finest. Forgot your password? Yahoo asks a few verification questions, and… Continue reading »
Sep
20
Blueblood
Fresh from his latest encounter with the barristers from the Mahon tribunal, Bertie Ahern headed to Kerry to enjoy the horses at the Listowel Races. (As far as I know, no one asked him if he had any good tips, a shame given the remarkable success he revealed in betting on the gee-gees at an… Continue reading »
Sep
19
Boo!
Sometimes, I think that psychological researchers just do it to get a laugh. Take the finding, which will be published in this month’s issue of Science, to the effect that – as Fox News put it – easily startled people are more likely to be political conservatives. Yes, you heard me right. The channel that… Continue reading »
Sep
17
Change of Heart
Where have all the free market enthusiasts gone? Time was, you couldn’t watch an American business satellite TV channel without some advocate of the invisible hand celebrating the free hand that regulated much more efficiently that any government-appointed overseer. The doctrine of creative destruction, where the failure of bad firms and the success of well-run… Continue reading »