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The Earl Bishop
Interesting BBC article on an upcoming presentation and talk [Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre, 17 August] by lecturer and broadcaster Stephen Price on the subject of his new book – The Earl Bishop. The 18th Century ”Earl Bishop” was Frederick Augustus Hervey, fourth Earl of Bristol and Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry. Hervey was also elected [...] read our review »
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“Unionism Decayed 1997-2007″ by David Vance: book review
I initially wrote this when the book was first published three years ago; whilst certain elements of it now sound dated, its basic premise that the period of 1997-2007 was a period of irreversible decay for Northern Irish Unionism can still be argued as a valid opinion. My own feeling is that it did indeed [...] read our review » -
The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday (Neil MacFarquhar)
With perhaps the longest title of any book I’ve read this year, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East gives an insight into the lives of people living in Middle East through the eyes of journalist Neil MacFarquhar. MacFarquhar’s father was a chemical engineer [...] read our review »
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Comment on Willie Flags Up An Interesting Question
on 23 May 2012 at 8:21 pm
” We have short memories when it suits us ” .
I’m sure most people remember the Dunblane massacre . Comments like the one Frazier made could have had tragic consequences for St Patricks PS . People take Willie Frazier seriously in some quarters . Is it that far fetched to suggest that someone ( a relative of a victim for instance ) could flip after hearing about ” an IRA training school ” and go looking for vengence . Look at Norway a few months ago .
Ddin’t an RUC officer walk into a SF office during the troubles and start blasting at anything that moved before turning the gun on himself .
Frazier has had a hard life but he’s a dangerous man with a dangerous mouth …
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Comment on Willie Flags Up An Interesting Question
on 22 May 2012 at 9:53 pm
The guy is a nut . St Pats PS should look at bringing a malicious slander case against him .
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Comment on Normality and rugby
on 19 May 2012 at 11:28 pm
Leinster took European rugby to a new level ,
Chelsea took jamminess to a new level ,
And Katie Taylor will take feel good stories to a new level at the Olympics this summer ….
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Comment on Normality and rugby
on 19 May 2012 at 4:07 pm
Snap Seymour re the sporting feast . Currently watching playoffs with the Hammers and Blackpool …Blackpool back level !
Bandwagon Leinster fan in recent years so with a few Ulster team regulary turning out for Ireland ( try to ignore all the flag and athem crap ) , Irish rugby has already won the day .
Tough shouting for Chelsea ( Terry and Frank Leboeuf ) tonight but I thought that before the Barca game and ended up cheering them on .
Mick , I don’t think there’ll ever be another ala City . I certainly hope not !
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Comment on “I do apologise for anyone who misunderstood the way I was using the metaphor…”
on 17 May 2012 at 4:46 pm
Like Mick , I was a junior member of a golf club until I turned 18 and the full membership fees were due . At the time a couple of grand seemed a waste of money and the public courses are fine for a round . What is it with this insecurity over Golf Clubs and for some strange reason by association ” the middle classes ” ? I know plenty of Golf Club members who are normal people who happen to enjoy golf as a pastime / hobby and a way to relax and socialise . You’ll always get someone bashing the middle classes and it’s normally to score points and there’s the usual begrudging and envy doing the rounds . The same people who if they met someone on their holidays or away from their home patch would if asked , say they were middle class …..not everyone but quite a few .
I wounder if you stopped 100 people in the North / Northern Ireland this evening and asked them If they thought they were in anyway sectarian ………how many would say yes ?
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Comment on Would the legalisation of cannibis help reduce the drug problem in Derry (and elsewhere)?
on 16 May 2012 at 5:11 pm
Harry ,
It’s funny you should mention Airline pilots because before Thaksin came to power , yaba was used by alot of taxi drivers , long distance truck drivers , hotel porters etc mainly to staying awake ( I’m sure a few took it for the buzz ) . Once Shinawatra started to clean house the price went from 10 baht to 500 baht in 12 months for one tablet .
Re the lack of booze , maybe it’s not a bad thing . In one weekend in Thailand while I was there , over 450 people were killed on the roads due to drink driving and I think it got a quick mention on page 10 of the Bangkok post . Practically most people who drink wouldn’t think twice about getting behind the wheel . As we all know , there’s drink driving and there’s drink driving but I’ve seen locals being carried to their car and place in it . Nearly most of the young people I met could point to an injury they received from a motorbike accident when they were drunk .
It is a funny old world alright .
Getting back to the legal argument , when the head shops opened down here , it took alot of business away from the dealers who within months had fire bombed a couple of shops ( one on Capel st ) . The Govt shut most of them down but appartently alot of stock had been bought so it had to sold one way or another . It just made it’s way back onto the streets with the illegal stuff . When chemists examined the legal highs that the shops were selling . they found that most of the ingredients in the drug could be found under your kitchen sink . And it sent people who took it cuckoo for days .
For anyone who’s seen the film American Beauty with Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning , there’s a scene when spacey is buying grass from his daughter’s boyfriend . The boyfriend is giving Spacey the lowdown on which grass is better and why . When he comes to the price of the grass they happen to be smoking at the time , he tells Spacey that the Govt / Army had ” grown ” it and that’s why it’s two grand instead 200 bucks for that ” Mexican shit ” .
It could work but the underworld being your biggest rival …..
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Comment on Would the legalisation of cannibis help reduce the drug problem in Derry (and elsewhere)?
on 16 May 2012 at 11:26 am
Same product different name Harry …the country I was refering to would be a northern neighbour where recent elections took place .
A friend imports furniture from Java though and says shabu shabu is quite popular amoungst the locals as well . Most countries in that neck of the woods would experience the same problem .
JR , this may sound a little bizzare but many combat sports people incl boxers , tri athletes , jujitsu and mixed martial artists etc would smoke a couple of joints before training . Former athletes have giving interviews stating this and in a recent MMA World Title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Conduit , Diaz tested positve for grass but it turns out he has a medical license from Calafornia so there is a debate going on in the states to see whether he will be banned or not .
There is also a sexual element to taking drugs which can enhance one’s feelings …………that’s what I read in the dentist’s waiting room anyway .
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Comment on Would the legalisation of cannibis help reduce the drug problem in Derry (and elsewhere)?
on 15 May 2012 at 10:41 pm
According to various news outlets , the Vietnamese have cornered the market in the Skunk production industry in the South . Alias is correct when he talks about the TCH content . It can be up 5/6 times stronger than what was previously available . In some quarters ( colleges ) , it has become the drug of choice because of the recession . I’ve never seen a gang of stoned lads turn into violent thugs but I’ve seen plently of drunken louts turn …… Some say the reason there was little football violence the last time the Netherlands hosted the Euros ( 2000 ? ) was because all the firms were sitting in the cafes stoned .
When Thaksin Shinawatra came to power in Thailand , it was on a promise that he would sort out the drug problem , clean up the country . So he told the army to start killing the dealers . The army went beserk and shot anyone they deemed involved in drugs …….dealers , users , friends of users . They got rid most of the dealers and the drug use virtually stopped . It went undergroud but the Thais don’t mind grass , they grow it they just dont advertise it but they wont tolerate speed which is the real problem in Thailand . The army killed about 2500 people in about 3 years and most of them were yaba ( speed ) dealers but the problem with yaba is some say that a neighbouring country is producing the tablet and then smuggling it into Thailand .
The Dutch Government don’t seem to have a problem with their own citizens getting stoned but aren’t that keen on Johnny Foreigner smoking their pot . They’re talking about bringing in a license scheme for the locals to use the cafes . Can’t see that working as that’s the second most popular thing to do in Amsterdam after a canal ride .
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Comment on 2012 Irish Open: Executive swingers
on 14 May 2012 at 11:13 pm
Yeah why are the golfers gettin stick . They were the best thing since sliced pan a few months ago , all the exposure , the chance of the ” famous ” British open coming to Northen Ireland ? .
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Comment on Man City’s real triumph may be the undoing of Premiership’s featherbedding of past champions…
on 14 May 2012 at 11:06 pm
City fans should aim to be the ” new City ” as opposed to the ” new ” MANU for starters .
I know the point you’re making Mick but it feels like the memory of United’s 13 titles are being sullied .
I said this before , when Ferguson retires football will never be the same for millions of fans around the world . Most of this is on another link so forget the four teams he successfully created , or the class of 92 or the fact that United because of Munich( for a generation ) are considered more than just a football team . You cannot predict sport esp football as yesterday proved so I agree with DC , No Ferguson No billion pound Premiership ……but the bread did help .
Please don’t turn this into a Northern Ireland Water thing at least for a couple of days …….( would add smiley if knew how too ) I don’t wanna end up like Joey Barton …
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