Slugger O'Toole

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Latest comments from Devil Eire (see all)

Devil Eire has commented 34 times (1 in the last month).

1. Comment on Scotland – choose your narrative.
   on 9 May 2012 at 3:55 am

   PB:

   “What exactly is the point in quoting, uncritically, Alex Salmond’s view of the SNP’s performance in these local elections?

   Beyond pushing his propaganda, that is…”

   I look forward to seeing similar posts when Mr Fealty next quotes, uncritically, Alex Kane’s column, as in here and here. Unless, of course, you are actually inconsistent in your outrage? (FFS)

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2. Comment on Scotland – Ascherson still not decided on independence…
   on 29 February 2012 at 6:09 am

   Ascherson’s NYT op. ed. was a rewrite of his January 15 Guardian CiF piece which was, interestingly, less tepid:

   “Independence means not being dependent. “Max-devolved” or sovereign, a new Scotland responsible for its own resources – and blunders – would be a far better partner for England. And the English would at last have to face their own problems: a decent nation grotesquely dominated by the interests of the rich south-east and the City of London. Giving the Scots what most of them want can also mean “England Arise!” This referendum is a historic chance for change – and not just for Scotland”.

   Try to show some interest in having a discussion of the actual topic…

   Yes Dewi, you should be offering the kind of insightful analysis we have come to expect from some quarters, like:

   “Indeed.”

   or even:

   “No shit Sherlock”.

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3. Comment on Newt Gingrich: a space cadet with ideas that are out of this world?
   on 29 January 2012 at 8:26 pm

   Tuatha,

   I’m far more interested in why the Moon, a sixth the sixth the mass of the Earth, has only a tenth of its gravity.

   Your data are wrong. The Moon’s mass is around 1.2% that of the Earth and its radius is around 0.27 that of the Earth.

   The rate of acceleration due to gravity for a body on the surface of the Earth (say) is proportional to the mass of the Earth divided by the square of its radius.

   So, the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Earth compared to that of the Moon is (Earth_mass/Earth_radius_squared) divided by (Moon_mass/Moon_radius_squared), or roughly (0.27 x 0.27)/0.012 = 6

   For an object of a given mass, its weight on Earth is thus 6 times that of its weight on the Moon.

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4. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 11 November 2011 at 4:26 pm

   Alias:

   My discussion with Harry Flashman seems to have triggered one of your perennial hobby horses: the idea that an irrelevant, irreligious minority has a disproportionate voice in Irish society.

   I am not targeting any section of Irish society, merely pointing out (in a thread on the closure of the Irish embassy to the Holy See, after all) that Vatican loyalists are likely to be in the minority of Irish Catholics in the current climate (given the available data).

   I’m unsure what ‘rights’ are being trampled on by the embassy closure but as with any decision made by the Irish government, your enraged masses of Irish Catholics will have the opportunity to express their disapproval at the appropriate time in a democratic fashion.

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5. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 11 November 2011 at 8:01 am

   Harry Flashman:

   and the churches are still packed to the doors every Sunday morning.

   [Shakes head in disbelief]. You couldn’t make it up.

   No wait, you just did.

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6. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 11 November 2011 at 5:41 am

   Harry Flashman:

   You seem to have forgotten the original use to which you put your ‘evidence’:

   “The “plain people” of Ireland have had enough of the Vatican.”

   Have they indeed? Like I say hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Irish people vote with their feet every Sunday morning.

   You asserted that there are enough Irish Catholics going to weekly Mass to refute the allegation that the “‘plain people of Ireland’ have had enough of the Vatican”.

   Firstly, only 30% of Irish Catholic adults (18% of the population) are going to Mass every Sunday. So your assertion is demonstrably wrong and you have not refuted the allegation.

   Later you attempted to widen your claim to include monthly attendance at Mass…

   I take it people who go at least once a month, ie regular church goers by any definition, would be substantially higher.

   …but this does not significantly improve your case. By the way, attendance at church every ten years would also be regular, but not frequent .

   Even if there were enough Mass-going Catholics in Ireland to support your case (there are not), your inference that the majority of these would not favour the closure of the Irish embassy at the Vatican has no supporting evidence.

   However, one could argue that this inference is currently more probable than normal, given the historically low church attendance among Irish Catholics at present (i.e. only the die-hards now attend), and the fact that the same proportion of Catholic adults both attend Mass and have a favourable view of the Church (around 30%). On the other hand, one assumes that the true believers are those who partake in the Eucharist every day. Many of those attending Mass weekly or less frequently may be ‘social Catholics’ who cherry-pick from the Church’s teachings, as with contraception, for example, and so are less likely to be Vatican loyalists.

   Alias:

   And, by the way, I’m not Catholic…

   I’m aware that you claim another religion. I’m also aware that on SO’T you tend to rush to the aid of your fellow-travellers, the devoutly religious, who are most definitely in the minority.

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7. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 10 November 2011 at 5:04 am

   Ahem

   On the contrary, it appears that your fellow-travellers are outnumbered 5:1

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8. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 10 November 2011 at 4:59 am

   Alias:

   you are outnumbered by 5 to 1. Advantage Harry…

   Whoa, Tonto.

   I’m not sure what pigeon-hole you forced me into to get that ratio. On the contrary, it appears that your fellow-travellers are outnumbered 6:1.

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9. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
   on 10 November 2011 at 3:24 am

   Harry Flashman: I have provided my evidence

   Your ‘evidence’ is about worthy of a saloon-bar blow-hard. Let me parse it:

   Millions of Irish Catholics attend Mass and (you assume) partake of the sacraments therefore (you infer that) millions of Irish Catholics could not be said to have had enough of the Vatican.

   Risible, particularly that final inference. What proportion of Mass-going Catholics follow Vatican teaching on contraception, for example? No doubt you can gaze within for the answer.

   Despite the burden of proof being on you, let me help you out with some 2011 survey results from the (very Catholic) Iona Institute:

   • Only 30% of Irish Catholic adults attend Mass on a weekly basis. (There are no data on what proportion receive sacraments);

   • Assuming adults includes all those aged 15 and over, this was 3,375,399 in the 2006 census. About 70% of people report themselves as Catholic (Iona survey), so the number of weekly Mass-going adults in Ireland is around 709,000 people;

   • Only 27% of Irish Catholic adults have a favourable view of the church at this time (around 638,000 people);

   • This was 16% of the population in 2006.

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10. Comment on Irish Government to close Vatican Embassy
    on 10 November 2011 at 12:19 am

    Alias:

    Perhaps you should read Harry Flashman’s post again:

    “The “plain people” of Ireland have had enough of the Vatican.”

    Have they indeed? Like I say hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Irish people vote with their feet every Sunday morning.

    It could hardly be clearer that high, frequent church attendance by Catholics is being adduced against the claim that the people of Ireland “have had enough of the Vatican”.

    This is in effect a claim that most of those Irish Catholics who frequently attend Mass would object to the closure of the Irish embassy in the Vatican. There is no evidence for this claim, unless Harry Flashman can know the minds of Irish Catholics by looking into his own heart.

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