Faduda 2.0

Once upon a time, I had a website. It was created using notepad, without any bells and whistles, back when the web was shiny and new. Those were the days, when a 33K modem was state of the art and Netscape was the browser of choice. Because there wasn’t any other choice. My website evolved… Continue reading Faduda 2.0

Gas

Just before 1pm today, Newstalk‘s Lunchtime News announced that there were reports of an explosion in Belfast. Later, RTE’s news website carried reports headlined ‘Chemical explosion in Belfast’, later downgraded to ‘Chemical incident in Belfast‘. An early AP report said workers accidentally added nitric acid to a contaminated storage container, producing clouds of nitrous oxide,… Continue reading Gas

Countdown

Political opinion polls are notoriously unreliable in this country. Small margins make the difference between victory and defeat. National polls simply don’t have the high resolution needed to predict the outcome. Put simply, elections are won and lost in the margin of error. And when it comes to a referendum on something few understand and… Continue reading Countdown

Blink

The new taoiseach isn’t off to a good start. First he threatened to shout down Fine Gael every time they spoke in the Dáil, now he’s been forced to back down before the farmers. Ever since the IFA made it clear their support couldn’t be taken for granted in the run-up to the Lisbon referendum,… Continue reading Blink

The Ban That Bombed

Today, an international agreement reached in Croke Park to ban cluster bombs will take effect. Over 100 countries agreed not to use these horrific weapons, and destroy stockpiles within eight years. Notable exceptions include the USA, China, and Russia. American and British troops used over twelve thousand cluster bombs during the invasion of Iraq. Five… Continue reading The Ban That Bombed