Postcards

La Compagnie des Wagon Lits

July 7, 2014July 8, 2014 No Comments

I was browsing through some old books this evening and I came across these two lovely old posters for Cie. des Wagon-lits in a copy of ‘Supertrains’ by Aaron E. Klein, published 1985 (is that old? it’s almost 30!). The first looks very much of ‘La Belle Epoque’, the second is from the 1920/1930s((alas, there’s […]

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Oddities Science! Space

Hyperion is a really weird moon

July 5, 2014 No Comments

Phil Plait over on Bad Astronomer has a lovely selection of the best pictures from Cassini’s 10 years at Saturn. By far my favourite is the, well, frankly bizarre moon Hyperion. It looks like a well-used oasis sponge. It also has a chaotic rotation, and is the only moon in the system that isn’t tidally […]

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Bits & Bobs Popcorn Time

Talk to Joe: The Garth Brooks Gigs…

July 3, 2014July 4, 2014 No Comments

Best one yet: "I think I'll have to write to the Pope, Joe" – woman on #Liveline just now about the Garth Brooks gigs being cancelled. — Christine Bohan (@ChristineBohan) July 3, 2014 Earlier: “More than 160,000 Garth Brooks fans are in limbo after Dublin City Council … announced that it was granting a licence […]

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Ruairi Quinn TD at the Irish Labour History Museum, Beggar's Bush, Dublin. (The Labour Party / Flickr)

Politics Popcorn Time

Quinn calls it quits

July 2, 2014 No Comments

Ruairi Quinn resigns: The Minister for Education and Skills made a statement outside Leinster House this afternoon, outlining his plans for the future. The move comes ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle, planned for next week. He said that he will leave Cabinet on the day of the reshuffle. He also confirmed that he will not […]

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Military Popcorn Time

Third Samuel Beckett Class OPV to be purchased – Arguments over name commence!

June 30, 2014June 30, 2014 No Comments

The government has taken the option to purchase third new Naval Service ship of the Samuel Beckett class. This has promptly re-opened the argument about what it should be named, given that the Navy has departed from the old scheme of naming ships after female Irish mythological figures. Film-maker Neil Jordan said he would organise […]

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Middle East Politics War

Iran’s useful idiot…

June 29, 2014June 30, 2014 No Comments

Lara Marlowe in the Times: Iran opposed the 2003 invasion, saying it was immoral and illegal. But it brought Tehran’s proteges to power and gave Iran more influence than Washington in Baghdad. “The US fulfilled our goals for us,” says Hossein Sheikholeslam, a veteran Iranian diplomat and foreign-policy adviser to the Iranian parliamentary speaker. “No […]

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Europe History

The scars of war

June 15, 2014 No Comments

Almost a hundred years later, and the landscape still shows the scars of World War I Via http://kottke.org/14/05/the-scars-of-war

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Department of Cruel and Unusual Rules Health Human Rights

Direct Provision – failing the vulnerable, yet again

June 12, 2014July 10, 2015 No Comments

Will we learn nothing, no matter how many reports are written? The Myth of the Cherished Child in Ireland: The last number of weeks have seen much hand wringing and pretense of ‘not knowing’ from government, politicians and the public at large to the treatment of mothers and children for many decades in Ireland. The […]

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Bits & Bobs Politics

Today, it’s Ice-Cream Vans

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 No Comments

Or Senator would like to get in the news, please, and doesn’t really care how (“Senator wants to clamp down on ice-cream vans for ‘aggressive selling’ | BreakingNews.ie.”). The issue is questionable, but some of the comments are good: Phew, this is great news! It means that they have now solved all the big problems […]

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Life

stephenfry: “Beautiful, sad & true. …”

June 11, 2014June 12, 2014 No Comments

Via Twitter / stephenfry: Beautiful, sad & true. ….

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Postcards

Who?

Murf

La Compagnie des Wagon Lits

Hyperion is a really weird moon

Talk to Joe: The Garth Brooks Gigs…

Quinn calls it quits

Third Samuel Beckett Class OPV to be purchased – Arguments over name commence!

Iran’s useful idiot…

The scars of war

Direct Provision – failing the vulnerable, yet again

Today, it’s Ice-Cream Vans

stephenfry: “Beautiful, sad & true. …”