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impatient, obnoxious, petty, argumentative, and obsessed over meaningless details

Monthly Archives: September 2009

no to nama, yes to lisbon

Comments Off Posted by on September 30, 2009

The Lisbon vote was and is a bit of a sham. In June last year people were told by the government to vote yes and not to ask any questions. It was plain arrogant by the government. EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy admitted he had’nt even read the thing. The No campaign were well funded and had the monkey poster which I personally think swung it.

ooh ooh ahh ahh

Austrians and Germans were delighted as in reality they are the ones who will be defending Europe.

We in Ireland have taken so much from the EU – people whine about losing our fish stocks and our gas but let’s be fair, without the EU this place would still be the backwater it was for most of my life. Some could blame the EMU/ECB for all that cheap money but as far as the government of Ireland is concerned “we all wanted it” and “it was Lehman’s fault”

I met the Fine Gael leader in the shiny new T5 in Heathrow a few weeks ago. I interrupted his talk of headage payments and asked him “what are the chances of people voting no to lisbon because they are sick at themselves for voting fianna fail in again”. He said “studies have shown people are well able to differentiate between the issues but if a hospital is closed down in your town you are voting no to everything”.

“Screw the bankers, vote no” is written on a wall in Rathmines, McWilliams says “Vote Yes now, get the government later”.

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dublin, other, rants , , ,

moving along nicely

Comments Off Posted by on September 29, 2009

“Four people are expected to face charges arising from the garda investigation into Anglo Irish Bank. Senior garda sources say the investigation is “moving ahead nicely” but gardai will not be in a position to make arrests and seek charges until next year at the earliest, because of the complexities of the case.”

gardai_interrogate_peace_activist

“Move along” to me is best said with a Tipperary accent. Shame half of the Anglo staff have to find new jobs. I hope the paperwork does’nt go missing.

Bertie is still freebasing and is sticking to his story that it was Lehmans and that he would have handled it better. Can he not even have the decency to keep his evil punch and judy doll face at home.

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has rejected suggestions that policies implemented when he was in power have contributed to Ireland’s economic crisis.

Mr Ahern was speaking in response to last week’s IMF report, which said Ireland was facing the worst economic downturn in the developed world due to the property bubble of recent years.

The IMF says the buoyancy of the property market masked serious structural deficits that were exacerbated by the Government’s budgetary policies in 2007 and 2008.

However, speaking to reporters in Dublin today, Mr Ahern claimed the Government would have been well able to manage the property crash if the international banking crisis hadn’t happened at the same time.

At Anglo, as one commentator put it:

senior bankers are found to have had difficulties in distinguishing the bank’s assets from their own

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other , , , ,

dear Nama

Comments Off Posted by on September 29, 2009

found at thepropertypin.com – a member of the Irish parliament in negative equity wants to sell his house to the Government.

Two weeks ago I wrote to NAMA to offer my apartment to them for long-term economic value. Like hundreds of thousands of young people, I am now in negative equity and am facing the spectre of debt deflation – a falling income with rising debt repayments. See my letter and the NAMA response below.

National Asset Management Agency (NAMA)
c/o Dr Michael J Somers
NTMA
Grand Canal Street
Dublin 2

Friday, 11 September 2009

Re: Offer to sell my apartment

Dear NAMA

I would like to offer you the opportunity to purchase my apartment. I bought it in 2004 for €350k. In 2007, it was valued at €500k by a reputable national estate agency. Allowing for a 50% fall from peak property prices it is now worth about €250k.

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dublin, satire , ,

guinness dancing man

2 Comments Posted by on September 29, 2009

The star of one of Guinness’s most famous TV ads was excluded from last week’s celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of the stout.

Joe McKinney, who is known to millions as the “dancing man” from the ad which ran from 1994 to 1996, was snubbed by Diageo bosses in the Arthur’s Day celebrations.

More than 60 artists jetted into Dublin to perform in pubs and venues with the biggest celebration taking place at St James’s Gate where singer Tom Jones raised his pint in front of 2,000 party-goers.

Now teetotal, McKinney sat at home in case he was contacted to make a late appearance but the call never came.

“From 1994 to 1996 I was a one-man European tour. It was mad. There were some serious rock ‘n’ roll moments. Free gargle. Fame and notoriety.” But the life of personal appearances and free drink took its toll on McKinney.

“I had to stop it. I was 29 and couldn’t handle it anymore. I drank everything that was there. It got to a stage where I thought, is this it? So I stopped the merry-go-around or else I jumped off.”

McKinney was to find out that there was a downside to his fame. Read more of this post

dublin, other, satire , ,

the road to naziism

Comments Off Posted by on September 29, 2009

max-mosley-nazi-orgy

Godwin’s Law (also known as Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies) is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990 which has become an Internet adage. It states: “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches.

Just ask F1 boss Max Mosley who was caught on video with no less than five prostitutes. The news of the world published the video and story. “Mosley appears to be both dominated and submitting to the five hookers, who NOTW alleges were dressed both as Nazis and concentration camp prisoners. The 67-year-old, who has been married for 48 years, was at one point whipped so hard that the orgy had to be halted while a bandage was applied to stop his bleeding”.

The image caption says “Afterwards, whilst still naked, Mosley drinks a cup of tea with the hookers”

Beware, the comments rapidly turn into a load of nonsense about racing cars, maybe Godwin needs a new law to cover it. jalopnik.com

This sounds oddly familiar:

Many voters, seeking an outlet for their frustrations and an expression for their repudiation of parliamentary democracy which seemed incapable of keeping a government in power for more than a few months, began turning their support towards the far right and far left of the political spectrum, opting for extremist political parties such as the Nazi Party. Read more of this post

other, rants, satire

laguna beatch

Comments Off Posted by on September 28, 2009

I am so glad I did’nt talk to anyone there.

Laguna-Beach

Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County (often referred to as Laguna Beach) was an MTV reality show documenting the lives of several teenagers living in Laguna Beach, a seaside community located in Orange County, California. It differs from the usual reality show in that it is structured as a rather traditional narrative (more commonly seen in fictionalized television dramas or soap operas) than a straightforward observant documentary-style, which reality TV attempts to portray.

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other

fire at the gates of hell

Comments Off Posted by on September 28, 2009

Petrol bomb thrown at Department of Finance

Gardaí are investigating an incident in which a petrol bomb was thrown at the Department of Finance last night.

The flammable device was thrown through a window in the building at Merrion St around 10.50pm.

A small fire broke out.

A garda on duty attempted to extinguish the fire and called the fire services.

The scene has been preserved for technical examination.

hmmm

The Reichstag fire (German: Der Reichstagsbrand) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. The event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.

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dublin, satire , , ,

run from the bus

Comments Off Posted by on September 28, 2009

bus

I have become afraid of Dublin Bus. Whenever I see one I freeze, whether in car or on foot or on my bike. Read more of this post

civil disorder, dublin, rants, satire ,

shock jock car wash

2 Comments Posted by on September 27, 2009

shell_hell
I was in the Garage in donnybrook and washing my car and paying special attention to the alloys. The garage used to be Shell until they became synonymous with beating people up and taking what then want. I asked the girl in the shop if the car-wash was really 8 euros. She said “you know why its because its donnybrook”. I told her that didn’t explain the price increase for the newspapers that I was buying.

I find washing my car to be rather liberating, maybe like the guy with the 08 3 series who looked at me apply alloy wheel brake dust removal fluid to my wheels. I thought such things might be below some people and especially those with a new car. The I went to locate the air hose to pump my tyres but it looked to be stuck under a green 04 Lexus (a big one). I asked the guy with the centre parting and glasses if he was using it but he said he was’nt and that he would give it back to me as I was already pulling it out from under his car. It was Gerry Ryan (the radio dj) just finishing to hoover his car. I said to him ‘that’s a modest car for a man of your stature’. He argued immediately “are ya joking”. I meant more that it was a 5 year old car but didn’t tell him. He then looked at my car and – I told him my name and he stuck his hand out over the door. We shook and I half mumbled sorry as there was water on my hand and he looked at his with slight disgust. He asked if I was on my way back to Cork and I said “I haven’t lived there in 11 years” and “I usually don’t go to far from here”. He said “sure you could do a lot worse. Nice talking to you”. I didn’t respond. That was when my own personal interview ended. He wasn’t an asshole really, just a lot like I would have expected. At least he is isn’t above hoovering his own vehicle.

Then my show moved to Donnybrook Fair and I realised why people in California can be happy more of the time, or at least why I am happy when I go there. Read more of this post

civil disorder, dublin, rants, satire , , , , ,

bourgeois bohémien and limousine liberals

1 Comment Posted by on September 27, 2009

A fairly affluent or educated person who repudiates, denies, or rejects the background from which he or she comes and embraces that of another, most likely lower or less educated, socio-economic one so as to not appear snobbish. Bobos, from the French term “bourgeois bohémien” often graduate from private schools, live in hip, but somewhat sketchy neigbhorhoods, marry an ethnic or ‘other’to upset their parents, or espouse unconventional food or cultural traditions to prove that they are above their bourgeois upbringing. As soon as the going gets tough, however, their breeding will show, and they will watch your napkin placement and use at the dinner table.

Jack tries so hard. First he spent those three years digging latrines in Nicaragua with that exchange group until his Nana paid him to come home and go to SMU law. He is really quite a bobo. He married that Mexican women–she went to Dartmouth, and her uncle was president of Mexico, but now *he* is all about Mexican realness and is an ardent supporter of the Zapatistas and refuses to let their 2 yr old speak English. I heard that he had to recently go to Boston to attend a Raytheon shareholders meeting so that’s why he was buying suits at Brooks and got his beard trimmed.

Limousine liberal (or latte liberal) is a deragatory term used to describe a rich liberal who considers themself a champion of the poor and downtrodden, but lives a lifestyle of wealth and luxury.

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satire

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