Society

As Babblogue notes, Tempel 1 got clobbered early this morning.. that’s the comet Tempel 1, although, more accurately, it clobbered a NASA probe – at a relative speed of 37,000km/h. As the NASA report put it – “After 172 days and 431 million kilometers (268 million miles) of deep space stalking, Deep Impact successfully reached out and touched comet Tempel 1.” Result of impact caught here.. with more images available here. Hat-tip Isaac Newton. Pete Baker

As the hailstones clatter against the window.. [summer, eh?].. spare a thought for pilots Steve Fosset and Mark Rebholz currently somewhere above the Atlantic and heading for Clifden, Co Galway. They’re attempting to recreate the 1919 flight of Alcock and Brown, the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic, and they’re using a replica Vickers Vimy bi-plane, navigating by sextant and compass.. and the moon and the stars.. estimated landing at 3.30-5.00pm.. here.. although they’ll be hoping for a smoother landing …

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Regardless of my criticism of the campaign itself.. and I will note that there are rumours [from Andrew Marr – no links yet] that perhaps the most important issue, that of trade, will not be sufficiently addressed at the G8 meeting at Gleneagles.. but my personal pick of the concert in Hyde Park has to be [most of] The Floyd re-uniting and, in particular, Comfortably Numb.. acid flashbacks optional – feel free to make your own nominations. Pete Baker

Though it’s always hard to quantify such things, the apparent growth in race-related crime in Northern Ireland has disturbed many. Mary O’Hara in the Guardian has been back to the city recently and provides a thoughtful, thought-provoking analysis. In particular she suggests that the reason for the crime may not actually matter to the perpetrators. It may simply be that it has become the norm in some parts of the community. Thanks to Mark for the heads up!She draws on …

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The Guardian’s Angelique Chrisafis takes a peek at the Court Case of the Century™.. and some quotes from St. Bono – “They sound like trivial items, they’re really not. They are important items to the group and we take them seriously”.. ah.. yes.. and there’s something about Bono feeling threatened by this book.. The case continues. Pete Baker

The RTE Radio’s Marian Finucane Show poll is now closed and the results are in.. despite the extensive coverage [which probably skewed the result], disgraced Olympic swimmer Michelle Smith was not voted Ireland’s Greatest Woman, that honour went to Nano Nagle, an 18th century nun credited with establishing girls’ education in the State, just ahead of Mary Robinson.. although there was, IMO, a much more interesting candidate in fifth place – the sixteenth century pirate Grace O’Malley Pete Baker

The BBC are reporting that the contentious Whiterock parade, previously scheduled for Saturday, has been called off by the equally contentious North and West Belfast Parades Forum – following two rejected applications to the Parades Commission to reverse its decision to impose restrictions on the parade – the NWBP Forum has said that a protest parade will be held in the Shankill instead. Pete Baker

The Guardian’s Andrew Clark profiles Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who, regardless of your opinion of him – and he is regardless of your opinion of him – is in the business of providing transport for the massive increase in the number of people wanting to fly throughout Europe.. as cheaply as possible. He also has a penchant for withering one[or two]-liners. Pete Baker

Writing in the Irish Times, David Adams sets out his concerns about a Truth Commission [subs. req.], following a one-day conference, “Telling the Truth in Northern Ireland”, at Trinity College Dublin, organised by Nigel Biggar, professor of theology at Trinity’s School of Religions and Theology – “We met to discuss whether there should be some kind of “truth process” in Northern Ireland; if so, what form it might take; and, crucially, the many problems such a process would face.”Despite the …

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David Gordon picks up on an article by Ulster born Leo McKinstrey in the Spectator this week which is interesting for a number of reasons – not least the media hysteria around the Michael Jackson trial (reg needed). In essence, McKinstry argues that, in the rush to protect children there has been a massive loss of perspective. He argues that Michael Jackson’s not guilty verdict has virtually been set aside by many commentators, hooked by the bizarre nature of his …

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Monica McWilliams, a former mover and shaker behind the Womens Coalition is expected become the new Human Rights Commissioner. Up to seven other commissioners are expected to be announced today. It’s thought she has a tough task ahead to turn the fortunes of a body that has seen multiple resignations and more than its fair share of flack from all sides of the political equation. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of …

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As a “fawning capitalist lackey and a World Bank-loving, anti-poor, rich world boosting, multinational adoring sellout” *ahem* I tend to agree with the Guardian Newsblog’s Neil McIntosh’s thoughts on Sir Bob’s ill-tempered outburst against Ebay.. and his ill-tempered threats. Also worth noting, as pointed out by Neil McIntosh – “It’s not, after all, like there’s not already posh seats on sale – quite rightly, but somewhat inconsistently, they’re offering £1,250 tickets, including champagne breakfast, to corporates who just [want] to …

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Tying in with Gonzo’s post on the Spotlight programme, the Observer’s Henry McDonald defends the right of Pastor Clifford Peoples[or Peeples?] to be an anti-Catholic sectarian bigot.. and argues that, as the Labour Government introduces its Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, it is the only way to ensure that we can be free to call Clifford Peoples an anti-Catholic sectarian bigot – he also quotes the excellent tagline at Harry’s Place, “Liberty, if it means anything at all, is the …

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ROLY-POLY paramilitary pastor Clifford Peeples has been in the headlines more than his fair share of times over the past few years. Last night Spotlight revealed how he is now involved in a curious power struggle at a Shankill evangelical church. It’s repeated tonight on BBC2 at 11.20pm.There is much more to be told about Peeples, his relationship with the LVF, Orange Volunteers, and DUP in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement and referendum, but I’d like to see …

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The Northern Ireland Statistics Agency has released further table breakdowns on the 2001 census requested by users, which show some interesting trends among the main religions.The “all persons aged of working age in employment” table shows that in the 16-74 age group, Catholics make up 35.1% of those in “higher managerial and professional occupations”. However, in the 16-40 age group this rises to 41.8% while in the same grouping, Catholics account for 50% of “small employers and own account workers”. …

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The BBC continues with its extravagant coverage of the build-up to Live 8.. TV rights secure, guys? ANYway.. Not content with calling for school children to ‘bunk off for a week’, Bob Geldof now wants boat owners on the south coast of England to help out with the “continental adventure”.. and transport his, hoped-for, assembled masses from the shores of France all the way across La Manche.. one of the busiest, and most constricted, shipping routes in the world.. nice …

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The BBC are reporting that the 2 men arrested recently, as part of the McCartney murder investigation, are to appear in court in Belfast tomorrow. According to the report, one of the men is to be charged with the murder of Robert McCartney and the other with attempted murder of Brendan Devine. However, as the Press Association report on UTV indicates, as the Guardian report indicates, the McCartney family’s campaign has always maintained that a wider group of people were …

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Here’s Jude Collins’ piece from last week’s Daily Ireland. It features an old friend of Slugger’s, Trevor Ringland, and Chair of the One Small Step campaign. He’s broadly sympathetic, but argues that the campaign has so far failed to take on the challenge of encouraging citizens to challenge political parties and professional politicians. Well worth five minutes of anyone’s time!He acknowledges that Trevor is “…just the kind of person needed to mastermind One Small Step campaign, an organisation dedicated to …

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Tom Kelly argues that one of the victims of the last thirty years has been respect for others. This he argues has real and positive effects on working class communities where ASBOs have proved popular in England. In Northern Ireland this has been compounded by the additional effects of long term paramiltary control in certain working class areas: Whatever about the low crime rates in the north – the fear and type of some crime has changed; add into the …

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Catholic women in the North are three and a half times more likely to be unemployed than Protestant women, according to new British government statistics. This follows the release of “deprivation” statistics by the NISRA which show that three of the four areas of highest unemployment in the North are in mainly nationalist areas.Local Government District Percentage of population living in most deprived areas in Northern Ireland by parliamentary constituency: 1 Belfast West 79% 2 Belfast North 60% 3 Foyle …

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