Sometimes, the raw numbers can be sobering. The Health Service Executive reports that Numbers this week’s Influenza Like Illness rate, which tracks the level of illness in the community, is 210 per 100,000 a significant increase from last week’s rate …
Monthly Archive: October 2009
Oct
28
Just Connect
In case you’ve been living under a rock, windows 7 (or Microsoft 7, as one headline writer labelled it) debuted last week. Since I don’t use Windows software, I’ve been paying attention to a different operating system launch. Karmic Koala, …
Oct
27
Reading Matters
It’s been a while since I’ve updated (a combination of work and connectivity issues) so I thought I’d spend some time on what I’ve been reading. If you haven’t done so already, bookmark The Story. The brianchild of Mark Coughlan …
Oct
16
The Perils of E-commerce
A MAN stopped for drink driving by Gardai blamed a breathalyser kit he bought on the internet for giving a false reading. James Fitzpatrick, with an address at 210 Phoenix View Apartments, James Street, Dublin, appeared recently before Kildare district …
Oct
15
Arithmetic of Hope
NAMA has prepared a ‘draft business plan‘. Or rather, the ‘interim NAMA team’ prepared a business plan, since the bill creating NAMA is not law yet. The interim team thinks NAMA will make a profit of €5.48 billion by 2020. …
Oct
12
Streisand Effect
The Guardian reports it has been gagged from reporting parliament. It cannot report that a particular question was asked of a minister, or who asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question …
Oct
08
Just A Phone Call Away
Garda John O’Toole needed a favour. Phone records necessary for a criminal inquiry were trapped in bureaucratic hell, and the investigation was going nowhere. He phoned his brother-in-law in Garda HQ, asking if he could speed things up. The chief …
Oct
06
The Last Few Days
I spent Saturday in Dublin Castle, watching as the non-event that was the Lisbon treaty referendum count unfolded with a complete lack of drama. Bored journalists loitered without intent, and occasionally politicians showed up grinning from ear to ear and …

