You're Fired

I'm not sure what has happened to my other excellent photos - but here's one we like...

Sean for Pope

You can't compare today's morality to what happened back in 1975. Sure dem days people used to eat their young. There was no running water and the only person in the Village who could read and write was the Priesteen. I remember 1975. I was 11. Leeds were robbed by Bayern Munich. 2-0 in Paris. The Leeds fans rioted and burned down the stadium but that was OK. Coz back then there was no morality. They awarded Leeds the Cup to keep forever and they renamed The Parc des Prince Stadium the Stade Peter Lorimor after his great disallowed goal.

Hey Biffo - Where's your bleedin' Hat?

Redneck spotted in Chicago this week. But why no golf rigout and Green Hat???

NAMA average loan sizes

From the Irish Times last week:

"The largest 10 borrowers, who account for €16 billion of the €77 billion total face-value loans...The top 100 borrowers account for loans with a face value of €38 billion... The top 300 have loans with a face value of €50 billion."

That means the Top 10 each borrowed on average €1.6 Billion. The next 90 each borrowed on average €244 Million. And the next 200 each borrowed on average €60 Million.

So guys walked into the bank, said they have borrowings of €50 million ask to borrow another €10 and the bank says OK. All backed by only go up property. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Certainly not reckless.

No to Lisbon

No to the Charter of Fundamental Rights - its more mumbo jumbo.

No to reduced voting weights for Oirish people. The EU is a Union of European States not a super state where all peoples are equal. Obviously the Germans and Fronch are more equal.
Let's have a US style senate solution.

No to an unelected President of Europe. Jobs for the boys or what? Ditto for Foreign Minister.

No to a self modifying treaty - this referendum will be our last. God knows what Lisbon will morph into.

No to no plebiscite anywhere bar here.

The debate has been poor. Vote Yes or else the sky will fall in Vs Libertas, Coir and Shinners.

What's going on with Europe anyway? We want to expand to let in more countries, but at the same time we want to centralise power among the Germans, Fronch, Brits and Eyeties. So are we a loose grouping of diverse trading states or an homogeneous Reich?

Why can't I buy a nice car in Britland for half nothing and drive it home here without paying an import tax?

Why do mobile phones cost so much to use abroad?

Why are no German banks serving the Irish retail market?

The treaty is the work of the same smug bastards in their Ivory Towers, Government Jets, 5 star haircuts, and 7 star pensions who cheered on the bubble and never thought asset prices could fall.
This will not stand.

All Blacks

Ireland were beaten yesterday before the game had even started. Mary Macaleese our cashmere coated talisman never showed up and the All Blacks stuck out their tongues at us during the haka. We should have retaliated by asking to see their world cup medals or at least doing some riverdance. Then the beat us off the park, they live on the edge of the law - every time the ball goes out the line it skips the first lad who is then in no mans land disrupting the defence. Every time we got the ball we pegged it down to Sivivatu who only has 32 caps and lapped it up. Basically the Blacks are the Kerry and Kilkenny of rugby. No one knows how to beat Kilkenny. Cork's strategy is to whine endlessly about de manager and de quality of de setup like, and de framework going forward in an homage to Roy Keane in Saipan. To beat Kerry you field a Tyrone team that takes no prisoners. Kerry do not like it up em. The same tactics should be deployed on the All Blacks. Why are we the ones getting speared the whole time? Why do we get bet up like Graham Geraghty from Meath against the Aussies? We need to get stuck into them from the outset like Munster done in 78. Is it really only 30 years years ago - seems much longer. Yesterday we failed a moral test. They were bigger and tougher and street wiser. The same thing happened me once - against Finchley Northern colts in 1980. They were dirty, cheating, cockney, Brit bastards. I did the decent team and gave up playing.

Diego Garcia plays its part in the War on Terror

Anxious to do its bit, tiny island Diego Garcia plays host to rendition flights as reported last week. The Brits were none too happy to find out there terror-tory was being used in this way by their wayward unter-partner in world policing. When will the sepos ever learn?

Of course this lark has being going on for ages down in Rynanna - pretty soon only the GIs will be using the place. Not only have the Russians given up flying to Cuba but even Aer Wingless has seen the light.

Of course if we told the yanks to fuck off and not be pissing on our soverignty/neutrality/dignity then all the pharmas and software firms would pack up and take their jobs to the next nearest tax haven, or would they?

As softheaded lefties like Vincent Browne has been repeating for ages we don't have politics here we just have managerialism. Unlike the beloved Fronch (who have their own dirty tricks department and private wars unit but won't help George W) Ireland has no national project, other than to continue doing all right Jack. We are the Diego Garcia of the northern hemisphere.

James Joyce

One hour long RTE show from last Saturday
link here