Seachtain na Gaelige UCD stíl

Beidh seachtáin na Gaelige ar suíl i UCD an seachtain seo chugainn agus Chonaic mé an póstaer timpeall an campus inné. Mar sin agus mar tá suim agam ag labhairt an Gaelige agus an teanga a usúaid i mo saol laethúil, Cheapaim go raibh sé ceart, post beag á deanamh ar na cursaí a beidh ar súil. Mar sin ar dtús, beidh mé ag dul go dtí "An Liathróid" (Dé Ceadaoin, 8pm, Tripod, Sráid Fhearchair) mar cheapaim go mbeidh sé rud éigin eile difrúil a deanamh i mBAC do uair! (Bhuel ní maith liom dul go dtí an George gach seachtain. Níl sé rud deas i rith an ama.) Ar aon nós feach ar an póstaer thíos agus Bígí ag caint i do teanga. Fairis sin, beidh SNAG 2008 ar súil ar 3-18 Márta 2008 agus Gheobhaidh tú eolas ar www.snag.ie.

USA: Bill to punish piracy

Bill to punish piracy

Universities could find their funding withheld if they don't use 'technology based deterrents'

Sean Gruber

Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: News

A bill scheduled for debate in the House of Representatives could punish universities for not placing "technology based deterrents" for piracy on their school networks.

The bill, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2007, contains a list of requirements for universities to meet if they want to be eligible for federal funding and programs.

Embedded in the nearly 800-page bill is a clause which said, "each eligible university participating in any program" in the bill must "offer ... alternatives to illegal downloading, as well as a plan to explore technology based deterrents to prevent such illegal activity."

The bill is supported by the Motion Picture Association of America and Recording Industry Association of America.

According to a CNET News article by Anne Broache, MPAA Washington general counsel Frtiz Attaway, said that linking college funding and piracy is "perfectly legitimate."

The MPAA released a study in 2005 stating that the movie industry lost 44 percent of its domestic revenue. The MPAA said it made a mistake when compiling the study, and it then said the movie industry lost "approximately 15 percent" of its revenues to college students."

Source & Cont'd: The Carolina Gamecock

Toilet humour.....

Here's a little story from Belguim. Just shows that nobody, even Judges is above the laws of capitalism and you must always pay your bills. Also shows how when you have a hung parliament for a couple of months-and don't do much to try and actually get it sorted- things just don't get done.

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Bring your own toilet paper, Belgian judges told

A supplier's anger over unpaid bills has forced judges and lawyers at a courthouse in the Belgian city of Bruges to bring their own toilet paper to work.

"There have been unpaid bills since June ... it is unacceptable," said Justice Ministry spokesman Leo de Bock on Wednesday.

Source & cont'd: Stuff.co.nz

So Belfast eh?

Now whilst I am not one to gloat or anything of that nature-I may merely point out things from time to time by slighting them in general- I could not help but have a slight smile on my face when i read this from the Irish Independent-Belfast dream turns Sour . It would appear that the Belfast dream that the Aer Lingus Board scraped and grabbed their way out of Shannon Airport for over the last year, has gone slightly ary. It is of course a possibility that people just don't know about the service, or there is a lack of marketing within the Belfast 'hub' and it may pick up in the future. Naturally one hopes that the fortunes of the former State carrier improves for the whole island's sake because I would imagine that the Shannon community, long known for its welcome to all visitors to this fair island, will not be extending this back to Aer Lingus for a very long time.

Equal-L: Work Matters, Quinn Business School, UCD

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(Email edited, to include content only)
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I would just like to let you know that Work Matters, the 26^th International Labour Process Conference is taking place at the Quinn School of Business in seven weeks time, from 18-20th March 2008. During its 25 year history ILPC has championed empirical research and theoretical debate about the employment relationship, work process and work quality, with an emphasis on fieldwork led studies and employee perspectives. ILPC 2008 is themed ‘Work Matters’ to particularly invite research addressing the meaning, experience and quality of work from individual and societal perspectives. This promises to be a packed and interesting conference with special papers on the themes of women’s work, public policy access and skill, assessing union organising, attractive employers and employable workers, developments in labour process debates, fun at work, and a wide range of work and employment related topics.

Keynote speakers include Professor Michael Burawoy of Berkeley speaking on the theme ‘The Public Turn: From Labour Process to Labour Movement’ and David Coats of the UK Work Foundation, on the question, ‘Good Work Matters?’

Full details of the conference, doctoral programme, accepted papers and more can be found on the website at http://www.hrm.strath.ac.uk/ILPC/

We warmly invite you to join us at Work Matters, to discuss work matters that really do matter.

Source: Equal-L

Germany's 'last' WWI veteran dies

Germany's 'last' WWI veteran dies

The man believed to have been Germany's last World War I veteran has died peacefully at the age of 107.

Erich Kaestner, who at 18 was sent to the Western Front but served only four months in the army, died in a Cologne nursing home, his son said.

The death on Sunday of Louis de Cazenave, France's second-last World War I veteran, made global headlines.

But in a country that keeps no record of its veterans, Kaestner's death on 1 January went largely unnoticed.

"That is the way history has developed," said Peter Kaestner, the soldier's son. "In Germany, in this respect, things are kept quiet - they're not a big deal."

Erich Kaestner was unrelated to the writer and poet of the same name.

End of an era

Reports in Die Welt daily and Der Spiegel magazine identified Kaestner as Germany's last World War I veteran, but verification of the claim was difficult as the country keeps no record of its war veterans.

Source & cont'd: BBC.co.uk

Happy Australia Day!

For those of you of an Australian persuasion, Happy Australia Day!

National Gallery of Ireland: Paintings from Poland: Symbolism to Modern Art (1880-1939)

Ok I had some time to kill today and I hadn't been to the National Gallery in around a year, so I took the afternoon off and paid a visit. They have an exbo on at the moment on Polish art pieces from the nineteenth to the mid twentieth century. Unfortunately it is ending on the 27th, so if you are planning on going to see it, make sure you go before Sunday. There are two amazing pieces which struck out for me-naturally i don't remember the names or the artists!.

The first piece, is from the first part of the exbo and is that of a ship on the ocean, however there is a vibrancy and fantasical colours within the painting that makes it incredibly appealing to the eyes. Mixes of greens & dark blues of the sea & the sky, along with the lighter colours of the stars, with reds in the foreground near the ship, which is sailing on this rough sea, but which leaves a wash of fantasy colours-reds, blues, greens, golds. The whole piece melds together and is truely a sight to behold. What I loved about the piece is that it is some 10ft by 10ft and makes a huge impression in the room it was in. I loved the colours and I loved the metaphors of sailing on the ocean of life which it was inevitably aiming to produce by using the ocean and a ship.

The second piece is again from the first part of the exbo, is 15ft, if not taller because my sense of proportion is shockingly bad! This piece is of a women standing upright whilst looking seductively at the viewer. She is dressed in the costume of a peacock and it commands a certain respect from the viewer. Dressed in hues of blues and greens in the main part of the piece, she has a head piece which gives her costume the final touches for perfectness.

Anyway here's the blurb on the website. If y'all get a chance to go before Sunday go!. Its free so you have no excuse!.....

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Paintings from Poland: Symbolism to Modern Art (1880-1939)

UNTIL 27 JANUARY 2008 This exhibition of 74 paintings provides a rare opportunity for visitors to see some of the most important works of an extraordinarily creative artistic culture in a period of national upheaval. A bilingual audio tour narrated by Fiona Shaw and Krystyna Czubówna is available free of charge from the Exhibition Desk in the Millennium Wing. An illustrated bilingual catalogue is available, price €25. Polish language tours take place on Sundays at 4.00pm (assemble at exhibition desk). Advance booking is not required. Millennium Wing Admission free Sponsored by AIB Group

Source: National Gallery of Ireland.

LGBT Noise: Valentine's Event

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(Email edited to include just main body)
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Noise's 2nd official protest will be taking place on Valentine's Day,
Thursday 14th February. In fact, there will be two events on this day.

The first is called 'Show Bertie Some Love' and will take place at 1.30pm
outside the Dail. Noise will be asking the Taoiseach (if he is brave enough!)to
come out and accept a giant, man-sized Valentine's card with messages and
poems from the public on the theme of gay civil marriage.

WE WANT YOU TO SEND US YOUR MESSAGES OF LOVE FOR BERTIE!

To do so, just send your poem or message to info@lgbtnoise.ie with the word
'Valentine' in the subject line. Messages will be stuck to the card. Please let
us know if you DO NOT WANT your name or email address to appear at the bottom
of the message.

Over the next few weeks, members of Noise will also be visiting bars and clubs
on the gay scene so that people can write hand-written messages if they prefer.

There will also be a couple of human bouquets wandering around on the 14th,
handing out
flowers to the public, so do come along and watch if you have a moment at lunch
time!

Equal-L: Basic Income Conference Call for Papers 2008.

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(Email edited to just include main body)
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Just a reminder that proposals for papers or presentations for the Basic
Income Earth Network (BIEN) congress on 20-21 June should be submitted
by 15 February - call for papers is attached and is also available at

www.basicincomeireland.com

It would be great to use this opportunity for locally-based researchers and
activists to present their ideas about basic income to a wider, international
audience and to engage in debates over whether basic income is a
desirable policy for Ireland. Both academic papers and other presentations
are welcome, and we are particularly keen for civil society organisations to
participate.

Many people in Ireland are familiar with the long-standing advocacy for
basic income from CORI. What you may not be so familiar with are how the
issues are being approached in other countries. So even if you do not wish
to present a paper or presentation, I would encourage you to come to the
congress to get a sense of the world-wide debate.

If you want to know more about basic income, a good place to start is the
BIEN website at www.basicincome.org


Source: Equal-L

EQUAL-L: Call For Papers: Social Movements and/In the PostColonial:

CALL FOR PAPERS:

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND/IN THE POSTCOLONIAL:

DISPOSSESSION, DEVELOPMENT AND RESISTANCE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH*

A conference hosted by the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice,
of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham

June 23 25 2008

The popular classes of the global South are up in arms. From Soweto to Caracas to Nandigram, social movements are making demands for social justice and human dignity against the multiple processes of dispossession that are the hallmark of neoliberalism. In and through these practices of resistance the direction and meaning of the process and project of postcolonial development are transformed. Such struggles, with their challenges to the hegemony of liberal democracy and questioning of state-centric strategies of social change, suggest the need for the development of new categories of political analysis and a critical interrogation of the progressive potential of state-centric theoretical frameworks. They compel us as academics, committed to social justice, to critically interrogate whether it is both possible and/or desirable to resurrect the development state as part of a radical political project.



The Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice (CSSGJ) wishes to make a contribution to the development of empirically grounded, theoretically informed and politically enabling analyses of these processes and therefore invites proposals for papers for the conference Social Movements and/in the Postcolonial: Dispossession, Development and Resistance in the Global South. The two-day conference will be structured around the following two streams of discussion:

Struggles over dispossession in the global South

in which we seek papers that offer theoretical and empirical analyses of:

(i) the nature of dispossession and its impact upon conceptions of social justice and democracy.

(ii) forms of opposition to processes of dispossession related to neoliberal restructuring.

(iii) the relationship of such struggles with the state and market

· Social movements and the politics of development - in which we seek theoretical, conceptual and empirically focused papers that deepen our understanding of:


(i) how and why social movements politicise development

(ii) the practices/conceptualisations of development that are a result of such politicisation

(iii) the relationship of such practices/conceptualisations with other transnational and national actors, institutions, and networks.


CSSGJ will actively seek to publish an edited volume on the basis of the conference proceedings.


Abstracts should be of a maximum of 200 words. Proposals for panels should offer a short overview of the panel and then up to a maximum of three abstracts. The deadline for proposals is March 1 2008. Notification of acceptance will be in late March. Please contact Dr Alf Nilsen (Alf.Nilsen@nottingham.ac.uk) and Dr Sara Motta (Sara.Motta@nottingham.ac.uk) for further information and/or with your proposal.

Dr. Alf Gunvald Nilsen
RCUK Fellow, Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/research/research_CSSGJ.php




*The organisers have clarified that they are happy to interpret Ireland as falling within the "global South" or at any rate being postcolonial for the purposes of this conference!

Source: Equal-L list

Hits Stats

So since I started this little blog, we have recieved some 2,102 Visitors as well as some 3000ish hits.....Not too bad for the little blog of rants & randomness :-). Thanks to everybody who is visiting and leaving comments. (*CLICHÉ WARNING* :-D) It is really appreciated and makes it a little easier to do this.

World Economic Forum, Davos 2008

I meant to do a post on this earlier in the week but I forgot so you will hopefully forgive that little misdemeanour. Anyway the World Economic Forum is being held at the moment in Davos, Switzerland. Why is it important enough you ask that it would grace the pages of this blog [sic]? Well the WEF according to that fantabulous source that is Wikipedia (because I could not find it anywhere else!).....

"is designed as a place for dialogue and debate about the major social and economic problems of the planet because: representatives of both the most powerful economic organisations and the most powerful political organisations are present; intellectuals also participate; and there is a generally informal atmosphere encouraging wide-ranging debate" (Wikipedia).

However the Co-Chairs of this years meeting quiet note-worthy people also for differing reasons.

* Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1997-2007); Member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum
* James Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co., USA
* K.V. Mamath, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Bank, India
* Henry Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, USA
* Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo, USA
* David J. O' Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chevron Corporation, USA
* Wang JianzhouChief Executive, China Mobile Communications Corporation, People's Republic of China

I know there is a few other names that are floating around but they escape me for the moment. However, the above list in itself is quiet the XYZ of Who is Who in the World. Anyway what reminded me this morning about Davos was a story which Bono & Al Gore yet again broke about Global Warming. Also upon perusal of CNN's excessive coverage of the conference, which one has to pay some $12k to even become a member, I came across an video interview with Henry Kissinger which was quiet good and is available here. (Select the Kissinger Video from the playlist in the bottom panel.) Davos continues from the 23rd until the 26th January.

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World Economic Forum : http://www.weforum.org
CNN's Coverage: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/news/davos/

Japan's warships resume missions

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- The Japanese navy deployed the first of two ships Thursday to resume the country's refueling mission in support of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Japanese supply ship Tokiwa fuels a U.S. Navy vessel, right, in February, 2003, in the Arabian Sea.

The resumption -- which ends a three-month hiatus -- is "indispensable for Japan to fulfill its duty in the international community" and help make Afghanistan more stable, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a ceremony held at Yokosuka base, south of Tokyo, according to Kyodo.

The destroyer Murasame left Yokosuka on Thursday for the Indian Ocean, where in about three weeks it will rendezvous with the Oumi, a 13,500-ton support ship. The Oumi is scheduled to leave its base in southwestern Japan on Friday.

The two-vessel task force will include 340 crew members.

As an officially pacifist nation since World War II, Japan's participation in the refueling operation has been controversial. On November 1, Japan's Defense Minister ordered a halt to it, after the government failed to reach an agreement with parliament to extend it.

"It is very regrettable and sad to see Naval Self-Defense Forces stop the mission," Shigeru Ishiba said at the time. "I feel a grave responsibility as the representative of the Defense Ministry."

In the aftermath, government officials vowed to strike a deal to resume the mission. Although the opposition refused to support legislation to re-start it, the government used its majority in the lower house to override, allowing Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to resume the mission.

The ships are to provide oil and water for vessels participating in the U.S.-led coalition, Kyodo reported.

About 100 people protested the deployment Thursday morning outside the base in Yokosuka.

Before the break, Japan had been refueling coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since 2001.

Source: CNN.com.

Henhouse murder mystery: the hedgehog did it

A Shocker of a story about the humble hedgehog now. Obviously a case of mistaken identity. Saving that it was a renegade hedgehog and we at the theAngryhedgehog.com have nothing to do with it!.

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The same week Frank Dowle's fowls were stolen, the hedgehog had his throat cut. Drawing on his old skills, former police detective Frank Dowle stopped a murderous hedgehog from claiming a second victim from his chicken coop on Saturday.

The mystery began on Friday when the Dowle family found one of its six shaver hens dead on the floor of its Weedons chicken coop.

The immediate suspect was a ferret or similar animal but a post-mortem revealed a lack of trauma around the neck which Dowle thought would be indicative of a predator.

Dowle said he assumed the hen had died of natural causes and disregarded the fowl-play option.

The next night "a commotion in the hen house" woke Dowle.

"I grabbed a torch and ran out to see what was going on. As soon as I went into the run area I noticed a hen in the far corner. At first I thought it was dead, but then noticed movement next to it. I went for a closer look to discover a hedgehog had one leg of the hen in a firm grip. The hen was not dead and was trying desperately to get away. Clearly the hedgehog had captured the hen inside the hen house and dragged it for about four metres."

Dowle said the hedgehog "did not surrender his prey easily, and I had a bit of a tussle with him" before he killed the intruder.

He confirmed the bite marks on the rescued hen's legs were the same as those on the leg of the murdered chook.

The Press offered Dowle the services of Arthur, the belligerent rooster exiled from Orana Park for attacking children, to guard the roost. Dowle declined, citing the safety of his young children.

Dowle said he had never heard of a hedgehog attacking mature birds, but Landcare Research hedgehog researcher Dr Chris Jones said there had been reports from England of hedgehogs attacking adult birds.

An attack on a mature bird was "unusual", but "not inconceivable".

Death by hedgehog was also "not a nice way to go" as hedgehogs lacked "killing teeth".

Hedgehogs were insectivores with broad flat teeth for crunching up insects so when they killed larger creatures they "just bite and hang on till it dies", he said.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Ancient Maya sacrificed boys not virgin girls

The victims of human sacrifice by Mexico's ancient Mayans, who threw children into water-filled caverns, were likely boys and young men not virgin girls as previously believed, archeologists said.

The Maya built soaring temples and elaborate palaces in the jungles of Central America and southern Mexico before the Spanish conquest in the early 1500s.

Maya priests in the city of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula sacrificed children to petition the gods for rain and fertile fields by throwing them into sacred sinkhole caves, known as "cenotes."

The caves served as a source of water for the Mayans and were also thought to be an entrance to the underworld.

Archeologist Guillermo de Anda from the University of Yucatan pieced together the bones of 127 bodies discovered at the bottom of one of Chichen Itza's sacred caves and found over 80 per cent were likely boys between the ages of 3 and 11.

The other 20 per cent were mostly adult men said de Anda, who scuba dives to uncover Mayan jewels and bones.

He said children were often thrown alive to their watery graves to please the Mayan rain god Chaac. Some of the children were ritually skinned or dismembered before being offered to the gods, he said.

"It was thought that the gods preferred small things and especially the rain god had four helpers that were represented as tiny people," said de Anda.

"So the children were offered as a way to directly communicate with Chaac," he said.

Archeologists previously believed young female virgins were sacrificed because the remains, which span from around 850 AD until the Spanish colonisation, were often found adorned with jade jewellery.

It is difficult to determine the sex of skeletons before they are fully matured, said de Anda, but he believes cultural evidence from Mayan mythology would suggest the young victims were actually male.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Irish Declaration of Independence

Today marks the 89th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Indepenence. As such I felt it appropriate to post a copy of the text.

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Irish Declaration of Independence

21st January 1919, First Dail Eireann
the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland

'Whereas the Irish People is by right a free people:

'And whereas for seven hundred years the Irish People has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly protested in arms against foreign usurpation:

'And whereas English rule in this country is, and always has been, based upon force and fraud and maintained by military occupation against the declared will of the people:

'And whereas the Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 1916, by the Irish Republican Army, acting on behalf of the Irish People:

'And whereas the Irish People is resolved to secure and maintain its complete independence in order to promote the common weal, to re-establish justice, to provide for future defence, to ensure peace at home and good will with all nations, and to constitute a national policy based upon the people's will with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen:

'And whereas at the threshold of a new era in history the Irish electorate has in the General Election of December, 1918, seized the first occasion to declare by an overwhelming majority its firm allegiance to the Irish Republic:

'Now, therefore, we, the elected Representatives of the ancient Irish People in National Parliament assembled, do, in the name of the Irish Nation, ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command:

'We ordain that the elected Representatives of the Irish People alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland, and that the Irish Parliament is the only Parliament to which that people will give its allegiance:

'We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate, and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English Garrison:

'We claim for our national independence the recognition and support of every free nation in the world, and we proclaim that independence to be a condition precedent to international peace hereafter:

'In the name of the Irish People we humbly commit our destiny to Almighty God Who gave our fathers the courage and determination to persevere through long centuries of a ruthless tyranny, and strong in the justice of the cause which they have handed down to us, we ask His Divine blessing on this the last stage of the struggle we have pledged ourselves to carry through to freedom.'

(Dail Eireann: Minutes of the Proceedings of the First Parliament of the Republic of Ireland, 21st January 1919.)

DSFA Equality Review: further Information

Just in regards the DSFA's Equality Review of Social Welfare Code, I got an email about it earlier which advised that anybody considering a submission should ignore the statutory 14(a) exemption within the ESA. Basically this means that make a submission on anything within the SWC and pretend that it is not immune to challenge.


Source:
The Hedgehog's Blog Post:

DSFA Equality Review Website:

McAleese to launch regeneration projects in Limerick

President Mary McAleese is due in Limerick today to officially launch two major regeneration projects.

Under the plans, 2,000 homes will be demolished in the Moyross, Southill and Ballincurra Weston areas.

Moyross will be completely rebuilt with a new town centre, while new neighbourhood centres will be built in Southill and Ballincurra Weston.

The project was announced on foot of a government-commissioned report into how to tackle major criminal and economic problems in the three areas.

Source & Cont'd: Breakingnews.ie

LGBT Noise Event: 'Open Your Eyes: Love is Blind'

'Open Your Eyes: Love is Blind' next Monday night, 21st January. This protest will be part of a marriage equality awareness day that will involve a poster campaign, flyering throughout the campus and on behalf of Noise the society they will be collecting signatures in support of gay civil marriage throughout the week. The event will be quite visual and involve all participants standing in the main square in Trinity's campus wearing white T-shirts and black blindfolds. The area will be lit by spotlights. (T-shirts and blindfolds will be provided.) The event symbolises the fact that people do not choose their sexuality, and do not deserve to be discriminated against on this basis with regard to access to civil marriage. USI will be promoting the event and inviting the media and their photographers to attend. As this event will take a little time to arrange, people are requested to arrive from 6.30pm to ensure the group is ready for a photo shoot at 7pm. The event will be followed by a reception on campus.

Invisible people have invisible rights, and gay citizens in Ireland will remain without partnership rights unless they and their friends start making some noise and showing their discontent publicly. We would really encourage as many of you as possible to come along and participate. It will only take half an hour of your time and deserves our support. Events such as this are vital in keeping the issue of gay rights in the media spotlight and in the government's consciousness. (For further information www.tcdrainbowweek.com should be up and running in a day or so.)

Brits decry royal "snub" of Hillary's funeral

British Royal watchers say the royal family's decision not to send anyone to Sir Edmund Hillary's state funeral on Tuesday is an "astonishing" snub.

"It's astonishing that no one is going... he [Sir Edmund] played such a significant part in the early official life of the Queen," the UK Daily Mail's royal correspondent Richard Kay said yesterday.

Although the Queen rarely attended funerals, a member of the royal family often went in her place.

Kay, a senior royal correspondent who had a close relationship with the late Princess Diana, said the Prince of Wales attended last year's funeral for the late US president Gerald Ford, who had held office for only two years. Hillary had been a "towering figure" in the Commonwealth for 50 years and "meant an awful lot to Brits".

"I am staggered they are not sending one of the Queen's children if not the Prince of Wales then Prince Edward or the Duke of York. I'm sure they've all met Sir Edmund.

"I quite understand if people in New Zealand feel this is a snub. At best it's a massive oversight; at worst someone has bungled."

Hillary was one of only 24 Knights of the Garter appointed by the Queen, and the conquest of Everest was announced on the morning of the Queen's coronation in 1953.

The royal family's absence has sparked renewed comment in New Zealand and Britain that the monarchy is out of touch with the people.

Some vented their frustration on the Guardian newspaper's website.

"I think it just goes to show how far removed the heads of the royal family are from the people, especially from those of the far off lands of the Commonwealth," one reader said. "They should be ashamed of themselves."

Source & Contd: Stuff.co.nz

Surely Shirley

Before anybody says it, I wasnt expecting it either. However one never expects when little surprises happen. And lo'behold little Shirley was born.

Ok so she's not real(*covers the childs ears* "sssh dear, the adults are talking")....Shes part of a Bebo application and so she is a "Bebo Baby", of the Bebo Generation David McWilliams will profess no doubt in years to come, when he comes to write about the year 2000 generation.

Now I am sure I had a point to this post and I am sure it will emerge somewhere, for the moment though look at Shirley isnt' she cute? I think she has my eyes and i do like the jacket we picked out for her. Focus on her whilst I find my point.


Anyways yes, babies! It struck me how casually this baby was created, a few clicks here, a little there and you have made a baby with somebody of your choosing. No anxious waiting. No waiting for the right time. No ante-natal classes. No thought. Perhaps I read to deep into this, after all Bebo is only a bit of fun but it is also a major social networking site, at least in Ireland & the UK as well as most of the English speaking world (though laterly being surpassed by Facebook). However I do think that the problem with this "Baby Application" is not the creation of a 'Bebo Baby'-All Children, virtual and real are a blessing- but rather the means to its creation. Perhaps a time limit and a developmental cycle of the child's creation would have been something of merit which should have been considered. Then at least some semblance of reality but also of responsibility with regards the rearing of Children would be realised.

Certainly for me, it will not be a case of *click* Add Application *click* Create Baby. A Child should be a considered option for all and no parent should shirk that responsibility. For as I said a child is a blessing, at all times. Those times may not always be oppourtune but what does it matter. A Child deserves its love and attention and indeed we all crave it. For the time being I will Shirley will get the love and attention she deserves. However I look forward to the day when I have a child of my own with someone whom I am committed to deeply. Until then, I shall wait...



PS if anybody knows of or finds the Man of my dreams, can they forward him along my way sometime soon. Searching can be quiet drearsome at times. :-)

Sun Sea & Frolics

Well i'm back. I'm cold. And I would like some bleeding sun. (again)! any takers.......


thought not......


Guess I'll have to settle for these then for the next 12 months so...

Random Musings

Good Weather.

Good Food.

Good Family Quality Time.

All of the Above make for a fantastic holiday.

No pictures today I am afriad, mainly because I am on a shockingly old thing-It has a Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 73 CFT Monitor for crying out loud and I still am only getting used to this keyboard layout!. However just to reiterate something. Everything looks so much better when the sun in shining. Also this siesta thing is really growing on me. I think instead of theose extra three bank holidays we are due to get, we instigate a siesta time instead. It would be much more effective!

Going to some Drag show tomorrow night in the Music Hall tavern. Should be fun. Also I get to compare it with shows I have seen in Dublin, Limerick, Cork & Columbia, SC. Not too bad for the price either. 50eur gets ya the show, your food, plus a free bar of beer, sanguina & wine. should be intreresting and like I said everything looks better when the sun is shining...Everything.

Saw John Edwards on CNN earlier- its amazing what you see on Siesta time! Looked well canvassing my old state. Must try and dig up some pictures of when I met him when I get home from the rally in 2004 campaign. Very interesting man and very capable also. should be a fun season.


Anyways time for me to go and put some after sun on-got a tad burned today-(snigger) and my credit is going on this damn machine. have a good one!

Swimming with the Fishes.....

As some of you will be aware, I am on holliers. Just to show/prove I am on Holidays, here are some pics to make yas all a lil jealous......

Have I packed too much?

I normally overpack anyway but just as a little interesting sidenote I decided to do a post on it. Why not, I mean I have already done posts on cows calving for goodness sake. I am going to Lanzarote for a week tomorrow and I cannot wait. Right now it is just under 18 degrees Centigrade in my room so I cannot wait for heat that does not come out of a Range! Anyway so I have managed to go from this..................



to this.





I think I will be removing 2 jumper and a pair of jeans......that will be enough right?

A new Addition to the Family.

I went down the farm on Monday helping Dad and we were both more than pleasantly surprised to find a new addition to our herd, a newborn Charlaois Heifer Calf. She had been born in the middle of the night and was a little cold. She was also born in the middle of the sheds, in the muck and was wet and dirty at the same time. Poor mite. Anyway brought her over to the pen along with the Mother and cleaned her up alittle using the straw. I have to say I havent seen a baby calf in a couple of years, nor have I had to tend to one in that time either in such a fashion as I did the other morning, but its amazing what you don't forget from your Ag.Science classes and growing up on a farm for the last 22 years! It comes back very very quickly when you realise that this little one needs to get its mom's milk and suckling as soon as possible in order to bring up its Collustrum levels and ensure its survival. (For more information click here). We also put her underneath the Red Light to warm her up a little bit. (for those of you of an urban pursuasion, this is what i mean using actual human examples!)

However I managed to take a few shots of the lil'one just to prove how gorgeous she is. Also she is doing very well and is bouncing around the place like mad in the shed.














########just a couple of hours old. #######

#######The Dog helping to dry the Calf.###















######Mother and Child Behaving.######

MarriagEquality Fundraiser

Just got this in this morning's email from Moinne. MarriagEquality has replaced the KAL initiative from February of this year by the looks of it and they are going to be fundraising. For those of you who do not know what the KAL initiative is or what the case is about, it concerns two women-Katherine Zappone & Anne-Louise Gilligan-who were married in Canada and have taken a challenge against the Revenue Commissioners to the High Court, which they lost and is now appealed to the Supreme Court, with a date for sometime in the Fall of 2008. For those of you who have the time and can contribute to this event or to the Campaign in General, I'm sure all donations great and small would be appreciated.

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Dear Friends

MarriagEquality is having a fundraising lunch on the 6 th of March 2008, at FIRE Restaurant in the Mansion House, Dublin and we need everyone to sell as many tickets as they can so that this year is as big a success as the last two lunches.

MarriagEquality will be launched formally on the 18 th of February 2008 in the Mansion House. As you know, we are aiming to build an active coalition seeking equality for gay and lesbian people and their families. We will organise our own informative and awareness raising events, support other LGBT and Human Rights organisations, work to influence politicians, support couples, families and friends to meet and influence their public representatives and publicise widely the discrimination suffered by gay and lesbian people and their families in Ireland because they are denied access to civil marriage. To do all this however, we need to raise funds.

Please pass this on to everyone you know and please revert and let me know how many tickets you are willing to take on to sell and if you or your organisation can buy a table. Tickets are €150 each, so a table of ten is €1,500.

We also need items for our auction and prize draw so please revert if you or someone you know can donate something.

If you require any further details please feel free to contact me at the below number. I look forward to hearing from you as early as possible in response to this advance notice.


Best Wishes
--
Moninne Griffith
MarriagEquality
087-9321329

Good Idea-Bad Idea time at SONY: Skype's Emergence or is that dominance

Now I have been using Skype since it first since roughly fall 04 or so. I have to say it is quiet an easy program to use. It is now available on all three mobile phones in the Republic meaning you can call off your phone via skype for free, provided the other person is online. Sweet. I also have it on my E65 and I can vouch for its integrity and usability etc. However I have one question for SONY and their plans to add Skype to their PSPs, how the bloody hell are you going to be able to use it? Surely it will look like a complete brick up against the person's ear, and whilst I do recognise that there is a certain nostalgia at the moment around all things from the 1980s, Brick phones are not really that practical. BT seems to have had a similar idea as well last year. Perhaps this is where SONY got their plans from, but in any event, the PSP does not look nice as a phone! Make it simple! Don't make it any more complicated!

Canadian plan to legalise file-sharing

A revolutionary plan that would effectively legitimize file-sharing here has been slammed as "a pipe dream" by Canadian labels.

The Songwriters Association of Canada proposes to allow domestic consumers access to all recorded music available online in return for adding a $C5 ($NZ6.54) monthly fee to every wireless and Internet account in the country.

The SAC claims that the proposal, which has been presented to labels' bodies the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) and Canadian Independent Record Production Association as well as publishers' groups, would raise approximately $C1 billion annually.

Although the SAC does not detail how revenue would be collected and distributed, it says it would go to artists, labels and publishers.

The idea doesn't strike a chord with everyone. The SAC proposal "would signal the death of paid music services in Canada," said Alistair Mitchell, CEO of Canadian music service Puretracks.

"It would be saying we're just giving up on developing new models. The concept is so flawed, I don't know where to start."

"This proposal is incredibly well thought out and well constructed," acting SAC president Eddie Schwartz said.

Producer/songwriter Schwartz, whose songs have been performed by Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar and Donna Summer, says the scheme would "allow people to gain access to the entire repertoire of Western music" for only $C60 per year.

That, he added, "amounts to $C0.16 ($NZ0.21) per day. (Which) seems like a pretty good deal." Schwartz said it's unlikely that users with both a wireless phone and an Internet account would have to pay twice for access.

MANY HURDLES TO CLEAR

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association estimates that Canada had 18.5 million wireless phone users and 7 million residential Internet users at the end of 2006.

Cont'd & Source: Stuff.co.nz

Making science sexy

A new course at Otago University is teaching students how to make science sexy.

The university's Centre for Science Communication is the first of its kind in New Zealand, set up to help students tell the public about scientific developments.

The centre is also responsible for teaching the country's future communicators through the Master of Science Communication programme starting this year.

Professor Lloyd Davis is heading up the centre which will take in 12 top students from a variety of backgrounds every year.

"Scientists are motivated by wanting to understand the truth about things around them. But almost all of them also wants to make the world a better place," he said.

"You can only get from outcomes to action if you can communicate the results well enough to affect the change.

"You really need to make it (science) sexy," he said.

Students can focus on three areas - creative non-fiction writing, general science communication or film-making.

The programme was open to non-scientists because often those who understood science were not the best at communicating it, he said.

"You have to make the complex things not simplistic, but simple enough so people can understand so you don't talk down to them.

"There's a huge appetite amongst the population for information, but the problem is they can't access it very easily."

Davis said the issue of global warming presented in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth had catapulted science in to the mainstream.

However, there were a whole lot of inconvenient truths in the world and most went unreported.

More than 50 per cent of scientific papers published every year seemed to disappear.

They were never quoted or referred to even by other scientists, he said.

Source: stuff.co.nz

My Personal Desktop Coffee Maker

Well this was a Crimbo gift from a mate of mine. It is so dinky and gorgeous, some might argue sleek and sexy even.lol. Its entitled the 'Personal Desktop Coffee Maker' and is meant to be sit on your desk. Now personally, those of you who know me will know that if i was to have a coffee maker on my desk I would be buzzing high all the time and my addiction to the stuff would get worse than it already is. In light of that recognition I have decided that it was in my best interests and in ensuring that I have some contact with my housemates that I put the coffee maker in the kitchen. However I wanted to point out how small and dinky this coffee maker is, so I had to take a picture and put it to scale. So in the picture below you will see the lovely coffee maker, but also a Bounty roll beside it. THAT IS HOW SMALL IT IS! Its ridiculous how small it is. However what is not ridiculous is the taste of the coffee which I must say is frickin fantastic.

The Definite Description of Dublin Students

I have been looking for something to write up for today's entry. This is what I have come up with. Stereotypes perhaps but nonetheless quiet intriguing. :-)

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The Definite Description of Dublin Students

A UCD, a DIT and a Trinity student were in an airplane that crashed. They're up in heaven,and God's sitting on the great white throne.

God addresses the UCD student first:"What do you believe in?"

The UCD Student replies,"Well,I believe in power to the little people.I think people should be able to make their own choices about things and that no one should ever be able to tell someone else what to do.I also believe in feeling people's pain."God thinks for a second "Okay,I can live with that.Come and sit at my left."

God then addresses the DIT student: "What do you believe in?"

The DIT student replies,"Well,I believe that the combustion engine is evil and that we need to save the world from CFCs and that if any more freon is used, the whole earth will become a greenhouse and we'll all die."God thinks for a second : "Okay,that sounds good.Come and sit at my right."

God then addresses the Trinity student: "What do u believe in"

The Trinity student replys "i believe u are in my chair".

i wont back down

I have decided that this will be a new mantra. :-D. on top of the Summation mantra that is.

Johnny Cash-I Won't Back Down

Well I wont back down, no I wont back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I wont back down

Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around
And Ill keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby, there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down.

Well I know whats right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But Ill stand my ground and I wont back down

Hey baby there aint no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I wont back down
No, I wont back down
(lyrics courtesy of lyricsfreak.com)