Profile for Belfast Gonzo
This user has not yet written a description
Latest posts from Belfast Gonzo (see all)
Belfast Gonzo has posted 1,404 times (0 in the last month).
Adams damning McGuinness with faint praise..?
IT would have been easy for Gerry Adams to be fulsome in his praise of Martin McGuinness’ presidential campaign. Instead, the intro to Gerry Adams’ latest blog entry seems both ambiguous and odd – although the former may be politically ingrained and the latter blamed on his a faux folksy writing style. And – for [...] more »
Every little helps…
I DOUBT if our Sammy has been down at Writer’s Square lately, or whether he’s been flicking through the pages of Tescopoly - but there’s little doubt he has managed to piss off one multi-national more than our tent-dwelling comrades have. And after reading Tesco director David North’s threats the other day about cutting job [...] more »
Fees gap to be paid by GB students…?
THE decision to freeze student fees here seems to be going down well, but it won’t come without cost. And that cost – half of it – will be borne by the Department of Employment and Learning. It would be difficult to argue that learning should come at the expense of employment services in the [...] more »
Last supergrass trial was, um, actually just four years ago…
JUST watching the BBC and it’s constantly reporting that today marks the start of the “first ‘supergrass’ trial in Belfast for 25 years”. It’s not. No-one seems to remember that just four years ago, this happened – and it wasn’t exactly a roaring success. more »
A Bonefire In An Empty Space…?
IF you’re stuck at the desk over lunch and need a laugh, check out PSNI West Belfast’s Facebook page. There are some gems of posts, such this possible attempt at haiku below. Profound. But fair play to the poor sod that gets lumbered with replying! Stroaking The Wood From The Bru In Andytonw. Wat Harm [...] more »
The Men Who Won’t Stop Marching…
THE (restricted) Tour of the North parade gets under way in a few minutes. But if you don’t fancy getting wet, and still want to sample loyalist culture – in the safety of your own home no less – you could do worse than watch The Men Who Won’t Stop Marching. It’s one of the [...] more »
A Dubliner’s Diary: The Visit…
“When The Visit was first announced, I guess most Irish people were a bit surprised that such a high-profile guest would be coming to Dublin. It’s not that they aren’t welcome, but there was a lot of animosity about stuff that happened in the past. Some people will never get past the association with the [...] more »
Dissidents win small political battle…
IF one of the aims of dissident republicanism is to disrupt normal politics here, they won a small victory on Monday. NIO minister Hugo Swire was quite explicit that the reason the identities of donors to political parties would remain secret was the threat of intimidation. It is possible he, and the unionists who called [...] more »
Leak lists Irish companies vital to US security…
WIKILEAKS’ latest instalment contains a list of facilities around the world the US believes is vital to its national security. There are just two Irish entries. The first is the Hibernia Atlantic undersea cable landing – one of a number of fast transatlantic communications links listed – while the other is Genzyme Ireland Ltd. (filling), [...] more »
DUP were first to lower Olympic expectations…
IF this contrite statement is anything to go by, DUP Sports Minster Nelson McCausland must have hauled Sport NI chief executive Eamonn McCartan over the coals for listing off on TV reasons why we weren’t attracting Olympic interest. McCartan told the BBC that no Olympic teams had committed to train here for the 2012 Games [...] more »
Latest comments from Belfast Gonzo (see all)
Belfast Gonzo has commented 1,307 times (1 in the last month).
Advertise
-
Books
-
Debating the Churches’ Role in the Peace in Northern Ireland
This morning’s Sunday Sequence featured a substantial debate (about 35 minutes into the recorded programme) on a new book,Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland (Oxford University Press 2011), written by sociologists John Brewer, Gareth Higgins and Francis Teeney. The debate was framed in an opening vignette by presenter William Crawley in uncompromising terms, [...] read our review » -
Stay out of Libya: counterinsurgency doesn’t work
A moment of some significance in journalism perhaps, as the New York Times reviews the current talked about book, The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan by Bing West. The author is no bleeding heart but a former assistant Defense Secretary from the Reagan era who stomped his way round the Afghan [...] read our review »
-
Spare us a phoney row about racism, we’ve got enough on
A silly media row about racism just had to figure in the riots’ post mortem. Was the Tudor history expert David Starkey racist on Newsnight when he said: The whites have become black. A particular sort of violent, destructive, nihilistic, gangster culture has become the fashion. And black and white, boy and girl, operate in [...] read our review »
-
Comment on In praise of… Borgen
on 8 February 2012 at 3:10 pm
Kinda sad that the only political drama worth watching is from abroad. I’m enjoying Borgen; it ain’t perfect, but it’s less schmaltzy than West Wing. More please!
I’ve heard Spiral is very good, Might try that soon, although there’s a US show called Homeland that I might give a go.
Go to comment
Comment on Prometheus Unbound…
on 28 December 2011 at 12:08 am
Isn’t there a new Blade Runner coming out? Ridley’s finest moment was a dying Rutgers Hauer (of all people!) recalling those attack ships in fire off the shoulder of Orion. “All these moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain.” Mesmerising.
Anyone who thinks Nolan is overrated should see The Prestige.
Go to comment
Comment on Expert too ill to be cross examined in Massereene trial…
on 19 December 2011 at 3:44 pm
Indeed, I mean it worked so well for the Omagh bomb trial.
Go to comment
Comment on Paisley’s long goodbye comes to a (near) final end…
on 19 December 2011 at 3:37 pm
Whatever else about Paisley, he was a powerful orator. When you cast your eye over the Assembly and watch MLAs these days mumble their speeches, head bent down to read the page, it makes one despair slightly.
Go to comment
Comment on LHC: “Evidence soon emerged however that this particular squib might be of the damp variety…”
on 16 December 2011 at 6:10 pm
The neutrino says, “I was just passing through anyway.”
The barman says, “We don’t serve your sort here.”
A neutrino walks into a bar.
Go to comment
Comment on Protestant monarch, but secular schools?
on 9 December 2011 at 2:39 pm
You say tomatoes…
Go to comment
Comment on “a shared future/shared society will require a natural, evolutionary breaking down of barriers – be they psychological or physical.”
on 6 December 2011 at 2:13 pm
The British symbols … most likely also included a harp or a shamrock.
That Robinson seems to be the only unionist to have seen a Prison Service badge speaks volumes.
Go to comment
Comment on “a shared future/shared society will require a natural, evolutionary breaking down of barriers – be they psychological or physical.”
on 6 December 2011 at 12:18 pm
This is quite interesting. I remember a few years ago when Alliance members redesignated as ‘unionists’ for a day to save Trimble’s ass. I would say that the difficulties and unwillingness to do so at the time demonstrate how wedded Alliance peeps are to designate as anything other than ‘other’ – a hateful, bland term that no-one in the party really likes.
However, it was certainly noted at the time while the party agonised that tactical designations could allow it to control key votes in the Assembly, on occasion. There was some number crunching done, but it’s such an important totem to the party that future tactical re-designation looked like cheating and unprincipled. Trimble never realised just how lucky he was, the ungrateful wretch. He almost makes me wish Alliance had just crashed the Executive; we might have ended up with an earlier St Andrews Agreement.
My argument would be that, yes, it is unprincipled, but that since there are so few principles evident in the Stormont system – look at the Rubicons SF and the DUP have crossed – the party should consider seizing power where it can in order to effect change. If it shifted the outcome of a few cross-community votes, it would make a mockery of the sectarian system, which might be enough to kill it.
And if Alliance worked the system to their own advantage, it might end up with the other parties who want to move away from designation.
However, I haven’t done the sums, so can’t say how effective such a move would be with the current Assembly make-up. I fear it’s wishful thinking.
Go to comment
Comment on David Carr #NYT and fearless journalism…
on 25 November 2011 at 11:47 pm
I’m halfway through this documentary, and it is, frankly, excellent. Every reporter needs to see it. I noticed David Simon, former Baltimore Sun crime corr made an appearance. You should have a watch of the last series of The Wire, which he wrote, for a great account of the same industry hand-wringing.
I’ve a funny feeling I might be burying my head in my hands in 45 mins or so.
Go to comment
Comment on Belfast’s built heritage: under threat, or hindering progress?
on 22 November 2011 at 8:46 pm
Ah yes, more empty apartments. Just what Belfast needs in a housing crash.
Go to comment