Domestic violence....

Jaysus, I am on a role today... 3 post!

Anyway, whilst blowsing around on the interweb, I saw this short for Womens Aid.. Seemingly it is banned from tv screens in the UK as it is too violent. Shocking decision in my view, what say you??

Here we go again....

In 2001 we faced Foot & Mouth Disaster.

In 2004 we faced Mad Cows Disease.

In 2006 we faced a Bird Flu epidemic.

This year we face the disaster that is Swine Flu!

Combine the human deaths of all these disasters. Go look them up, add them together then get the % of deaths caused by these diseases and compare them to the fact that every 3 seconds a child dies because of poverty.

In the length of time it took you to read this, 9 children have died because they could not afford to live...

I think we have worse things to worry about than Swine Flu, don't you?

Dublin Bus gobshites...

So, here we are, 2009 and Ireland is in the shits. 100's of people losing their jobs every day, people worrying about how they will feed their children, pay the mortgage and so on...

Then we have Dublin Bus, the public transport provider for Dublin. Note the words highlighted.

Dublin Bus is a State owned company, a subsidiary of CIE. Like all State jobs, it is heavily unionised, so that means getting something done takes a long time, if it gets done at all.

On Sunday, one driver at the Harristown depot decided he did not want to work a new schedule. The new schedule forms part of measures (agreed between workers unions and Dublin Bus) designed to cut costs by €31m. This one driver was then suspended for refusing to work. His colleagues at his depot then walked out in sympathy.

As if that is bad enough, workers in another depot in Clontarf have also walked in solidarity with their brothers!

Now forgive me for not feeling any sympathy here with the driver, but the deal was brokered by his union. If you or I, dear reader, decided that we did not want to do our job, refused to do our job, we would not be suspended, we would be sacked. Why should Dublin Bus be any different?? Sack those involved in this unofficial strike.

This morning, thousands of people, people who have jobs, people who are struggling to hold on to jobs, people going for job interviews are now stranded because of these few bus drivers who see fit to hold the city to ransom. These drivers should be viewed with disgust, with contempt. It is a disgraceful show of people power.

So will their unions come out against this unofficial strike?? Will they fuck. They are spineless.

Local Politicians..

I just had three local councillers walking round where I live... Now generally I can't be arsed talking to these self important fuckwits and what with my impending doom, I would rather flagilate myself with barb wire than change that stance.

I watched them stroll around the estate in a manner that reeked of their own sense of importance. Head tilted back, chest puffed out, straight legs when walking.. a sight for already sore eyes.

Oh and yes, they were indeed members of our beloved Fianna Fáil.

Time waits for no man, or in this case, woman...

This just makes me so sad :(

fuck it....

I was gonna write about how I am feeling old and blah blah blah, but out of nowhere, I just got a 2nd wind, so that post can wait!

Perhaps it is some residual red bull left in my system, perhaps not. I don't care!

There is always someone else worse off...

OK, so here I sit, just after finishing another 3 day week and facing impending redundancy. Don't get me wrong, I am not feeling sorry for myself. Yes I am annoyed, after all, I have never been made redundant before, but I am sure things will work out for the best.

I emailed a friend in England yesterday to inform him that tickets could be got for the Renault World Championship race being held at Silverstone this summer. The guy is a fan of motor sports and heads to Silverstone many times each year.

So there I was, having a little moan in my email about the budget and the work situation, asking how he was and so on, just a friendly touching base email.

What I got back, I was not prepared for. They guy collapsed 10 days ago. Turns out he has cancerous growths on his pancreas, liver and stomach. He starts chemo soon, he hopes it will add some months to his life span. Months... Even after explaining that to me in his mail, he then took the time to offer me some words of encouragement about my work situation. Amazing.......

It puts things in perspective. Sure times are hard here at the moment, but when compared to what this guy is facing up to, my problems pale in to insignificance.

Anyway...

For those who don't know....

The largest desert in the world is not the Sahara!! Granted it does measure a massive 3.5 million square miles, but it is dwarfed by Antarctica at 5.5 million square miles!

Antarctica??? I hear you say, "Theres no sand in Antarctica!!" Well no, no there is not, but then sand is not a prerequisite for a desert.

Deserts are defined as: Arid regions, generally receiving less than ten inches of precipitation a year, or regions where the potential evaporation rate is twice as great as the precipitation.

Now then, Polar regions, such as Antarctica, are also considered to be deserts because nearly all moisture in these areas is locked up in the form of ice.

So.... Mr "It makes no difference to me" quizmaster, you were, as I pointed out, WRONG!!

Click here, here and finally here.

Not quite, but nearly....

It was almost like the good old days last night.. going to the pub on a Wednesday night to watch the football is something I have not done in years, but for last nights match I made an exception.

So here I sit, tired and thinking that but for the shin of Robbie Keane, we could have won that game 2-1. Of course on the other hand, but for bad refereeing, we could have lost that game also...

Rather than me break it down in a play by play, watch some of the highlights (in German).



Anyway, onwards ond upwards. They now have to build on that performance and beat Bulgaria in Sofia on June 6th, "D Day".