Brian O'Neill 
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
Reuters reports on the ‘holy war’ against Iran: “It’s the same language as the crusades of the Middle Ages. You know, we must stop the infidel, we must defeat the wicked,” said John Fea, a history professor at Messiah University who has written extensively about evangelicals and politics. “We’ve never seen anything like this in American history.” The prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has praised the strikes on Iran in biblical terms and likened Trump to the biblical figure of Esther, …
Well humanity survives for another day. I am sure I am not the only one who went to bed last night wondering if they would wake up in the morning. But wake up I did and to the nwws of a two-week ceasefire. Is this another case of Trump Always Chickens Out or did the self-proclaimed ‘Master of the Deal’ manage to to pull it off? Sources on Twitter are saying the 1o point plan is: 1) Security Guarantees: A …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of …
To be honest, space travel has never interested me that much. I can appreciate the technical achievement of sending a rocket into space and the bravery of the astronauts, but I prefer to concentrate on terra firma and solving the many problems we have down here. I am reminded of the Gil Scott-Heron song: Still, I wish all the astronauts godspeed in whatever it is they’re doing, even though it was all done 60 years ago with less technology than …
The Financial Times reports on discreet but “advanced” discussions between the UK government and Dublin over a potential transfer of selected Northern Ireland public assets to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Sources close to the talks describe the move as a “creative fiscal solution” that could help London reduce its long‑term liabilities while giving the Republic a foothold in strategic infrastructure north of the border. A senior Treasury official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposals were being framed …
In most parts of the world, when the housing market crashes, people stop buying. But in certain parts of China, a property bust has created a bizarre new “growth” sector: apartments for the dead. Known as “Bone Ash Apartments,” these residential units are being bought by families not for living, but for storing the cremated remains of their ancestors. As of March 2026, the FT reports that the Chinese government has officially begun a massive crackdown on this practice. The …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
Yesterday I wrote about the Education Authority’s decision not to run summer schemes for children with special needs. By the afternoon, that position had quietly evaporated. Suddenly, everything was back on. Funding found, problems solved, show back on the road. Which does raise an awkward question. If this could be fixed in the space of a few hours, why was it apparently intractable for the past year? You can take a charitable view. Large public bodies are slow, messy things. …
The Olympics has taken a new stand on one of the most toxic culture war battlefields over the last few years – that of transgender athletes. From The Guardian: In a 10-page document outlining its new policy, the IOC makes it clear transgender women, who have transitioned from male to female, and athletes with a DSD retain the advantages of going through male puberty. “There is a 10-12% male performance advantage in most running and swimming events,” it says. “There …
It’s fair to say our general expectations of Stormont are on the low side. The best we can hope for at this stage is they do no harm, but every now and again they manage to surpass themselves with their sheer ineptitude. You like to think there are certain red lines in society we don’t cross, and one of those is when it comes to children. And even in the area of children, there is a further red line that …
There’s nothing especially new about making money from other people’s suffering. What’s new is the mechanism. The betting scandal suggests a shift from blunt profiteering to something closer to financial engineering, where those with sight of decisions before they land can quietly place their bets and collect billions once the consequences unfold. $1.5 BILLION. Let me say it again – a $1.5 BILLION BET. Bigger than any futures purchases made at the time. 5 minutes before Trump's post. Who was …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
In addition to our normal open Sunday, we have a politics-free post to give you all a break. So discuss what you like here, but no politics. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any …
The Imagine Festival starts this week, and you really should check out the massive selection of events they have this year. Sluggers is part of the festival, but I’m pleased to say our event is sold out! Fear not, there are lots of other events you can attend. Here are some of the highlights. Most events are free or low cost. Imagine! Belfast – 10 events not to be missed -A snapshot of events from this year’s Imagine! Belfast Festival …
I can’t think of a more stressful situation for Taoiseach Micheál Martin than having to meet with Trump. It’s like juggling with live grenades. The sheer unpredictability of his mood, along with not knowing what questions will be lobbed at you, is a test of the mettle of any skilled politician. Do you go all sycophantic and give him some kind of babble or prize, or do you stand up to the bully and risk his wrath? To be fair …
The idea for Open Sunday is to let you discuss what you like. Just two rules. Keep it civil and no man/woman playing. Comments will close at 12 pm on Monday. Brian O'NeillManaging Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not …
