Dé Céadaoin (Wed), Nollaig (Dec) 29th

Drive by Dublin
Drive-bys in Dublin now? Is this LA? Drive by Dublin, don't stop, that's the answer. more..
maca @ 03:53.

Google tsunami help page
I just noticed that Google have gotten in on the act and put up a tsunami help page. A link from the main Google homepage brings you to their Tsunami Relief page which contains news and aid agency links. more..
maca @ 05:07.

Falling snow...
I just had to pop out to move my car to avoid some potentially damaging snow fall. How dangerous can that be sayz you!?!
There's a large galvanized building opposite my office here, about 50m+ long, where many of our cars are parked. The entire roof is covered in a layer of snow about 6 inches thick (makes for a pretty big volume of snow) and on days like today when the temperature rises the entire roofs content starts to slide down, the overhanging snow falling with a thump to the ground ... or onto any unfortunate car parked too close to the building. Surprisingly enough it could do a lot of damage especially if there are any frozen lumps in the snow. People have been killed here by falling snow, believe it or not. more..
maca @ 04:05.

TV licence fee increase
I was asked last week by some Finnish friends how much a TV licence is in Ireland. Not having ever bought a TV licence in Ireland I (very badly) guessed around €80-€90, basing my guess on a discussion we had on the subject about 10 years ago. I was surpsied to read today that the latest approved increase (€3) will bring the current fee to a whopping €155. €155 for the shite they have the gall to submit us to! more..
maca @ 03:48.

What? What did you say? It's over? What?
Looks like the army deafness claims should be coming to an end soon. Overall liability will end up somewhere around €300 million [registration required] (€277 paid out so far). Not bad considering they had estimated it would be well over €1 billion.
Was it Andrews or the late Hugh Coveney who made the decision to not contest the deafness claims? Such an idiotic decision, I can still rememebr the laughs of some of the lads I knew in our local barracks, they thought christmas had come early.
Michael Smith has done a lot of work to limit the damage by introducing a settlement scheme. Smith seems to have done quite a lot for the Defence Forces going by this reposted Sunday Indo article. We need a strong Defence Minister to take the Defence Forces into the 21st century. They have made great strides in recent years, as have the Reserve Forces, lets hope it continues under O'Dea. more..
maca @ 02:48.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Nollaig (Dec) 28th

Earthquake...
I see little point in posting much about the tragic events in South East Asia as it's been covered on every news site on the web. Pete over at Slugger has made a good post on the subject with a number of useful links.
Check the links section in the right column of this
dedicated site for ways of donating. more..
maca @ 05:17.

Déardaoin (Thu), Nollaig (Dec) 16th

Metric Changeover
I didn't realise they were doing a big metric changover of road signs in Ireland! Shiite! It's one of those small but somewhat significant things I enjoy about going home, using miles instead of kilometers. I've always thought it was of those interesting oddities about Ireland that we used both systems but now it's metric only?? more..
maca @ 11:12.

Dé Máirt (Tue), Nollaig (Dec) 14th

World's tallest bridge...
Wow, "The world's highest road bridge is due to be inaugurated in southern France by President Jacques Chirac before opening to traffic later this week." Check out the photo here and on the BBC site, very cool! more..
maca @ 10:16.

Need a comfort lap or a shoulder to cry on?
Trust the Japanese to come up with this one. A company called Trane KK has release a product for single men, a woman's lap - made out of foam. Seemingly "Single men find this soothing,". This is quite similar to the other product which has been on the market for the past year, the "boyfriends shoulder" pillow. Strange, but true! more..
maca @ 10:06.

Déardaoin (Thu), Nollaig (Dec) 9th

Alternative to decommissioning photos
I haven't covered much Norn Iron topics in a while even though the negotiations are all over the news these days because, to be honest, the whole thing would bore the tits off an elephant*.
Anyway the following just caught my attention: "The Catholic Primate of Ireland has said that an alternative to photographic evidence must be found to provide certainty IRA decommissioning has taken place." Here's my proposal... more..
maca @ 05:53.

Pantera guitarist shot dead
Blimey, the Former Pantera guitarist Darrell 'Dimebag Darrell' Abbott was shot dead at a concert yesterday. They (their new band Damageplan) had just started their set when some bloke stormed on stage, shot the guitarist 5 or 6 times before turning the gun on others. A policeman then shot the gunman dead. more..
maca @ 05:17.

Banned from his family home for 6 months for smacking child
I thought this was a bit crazy. "A father who was banned from his family home for six months after smacking his son in public has been allowed back after admitting common assault." The man in question smacked his son on the backside once but was seen by a policeman and arrested. The slap certainly seems to have been over the top but according to the defence the child was misbehaving and had "run out in front of a car", "the parents were at the end of their tether". The whole family seems to have paid the price, the man was not allowed to go home, see his son unsupervised or even talk to him on the phone and the man's girlfriend had two raise two children on her own for the six months including a new born baby. Not right I say. more..
maca @ 10:23.