I heard it on the radio

Two unrelated radio items to relate to you.

First, last night I was listening to TodayFM when they were playing their Friday night 80s program. A song finished and the DJ came on and said that someone had called up to ask for some Level 42. Now that has to be a lie. Nobody has ever spent the time or the money to call a radio station to request Level 42.

Then the DJ informed us that Level 42 is playing in Dublin next week. Then I knew. Either the band is already in town and they called or someone involved in promoting the concert must have called. Nobody else would have.

The other item was from a report on Radio 1 from the National Ploughing Championships. They were talking to a farmer about cattle and the farmer said that because so many farmers are part time these days cattle are getting wilder. He said cattle had less contact with human beings and, therefore, a bit more dangerous to be near. That's the kind of thing that I, a 'townie', would never even imagine. Interesting.

Fun over talent

Two weeks ago the NY Times Fashion section had a ridiculous article about the rush of fair-weather fans to the Mets. Now we have a similar, slightly less ridiculous article, not from the Times's Fashion section, but from New York magazine.

Stephen Rodrick's theme is that the Mets are more "fun" than the Yankees. Well, duh, this has ALWAYS been the case. Okay, not always, not when the Mets have been God awful, but nobody roots for the Yankees because the team is fun. "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for US Steel", was a saying back in the 50s. Yankee fans don't care if the team has 'fun'. The Yankees are 'professional' - like hitmen. Yankee fans want a team that will win - big. Total annihilation is what Yankee fans want, not 'fun'.

Rodrick goes on a fantasy trip to late October and has the Mets playing the Yankees for the World Series. He predicts the Mets will win in six games? Why? Because the Mets are more fun.

It's not impossible (at least not to me even after the worst ten days of the season), but it seems pointless to write a long (and it is long) article detailing how the Yankees are better to then just choose the "feel-good" team. Let's face it, if fun teams won with any regularity the Yankees wouldn't have won a quarter of last century's titles. Ultimately, Rodrick's only slightly better than Andrew Mayer, the "feel-good" fool Met fan, erstwhile Yankee fan, from the NY Times's fashion section.

Kick me, please

I'm not sure it's an admirable quality, but there's no doubt that Bog Geldof loves causing trouble. In his speech to the Labour Party conference on Wednesday Geldof praised President Bush's efforts in combating AIDS in Africa. Although less incendiary, I would bet that the President's initiative – Pepar – would be even less popular among Labour delegates than is his Iraq policy.

"Pepar, which is Bush's almost personal response to the Global Fund, is a highly effective Aids combatant mechanism.

"It works. It's uncomfortable for people to speak these unspoken truths but a lot of that stuff is working."

He continued: "In general in rural Africa women have no power. They also cannot refuse sexual favours. I've seen marked in chalk on these rural huts - 'safe sex, fidelity' ".

He added: "It's giving women a weapon they can use."

At least Geldof is keeping his eyes and his mind open to the possibility that programs he doesn't support might actually do some good. That is admirable.

DUB-ALB?

That Irish Independent article (see below) is actually about a really interesting development for people flying between Ireland and the US. Although no start date is given, we will soon be able to pre-clear all immigration and customs checks in Ireland before flying to the US. That means flights from Ireland can pull up at domestic gates rather than the international ones.

It's hard to say how big an advantage this will be to travelers, however. When immigration was transferred to Irish airports, that was a big help - especially for non-US passport holders. I can remember seeing hour-long lines at immigration at Kennedy Airport.

This change doesn't seem to offer the same benefit, unless the luggage transfers are quicker at the domestic gates (I'm mostly thinking of Kennedy here). The only wait I've had upon arrival in recent years is waiting the three quarters of an hour for my bags to appear on the carousel.

But, could this mean that someday flights from Ireland could land at airports that are not normally "international" airports? I'd love to imagine that someday I could fly from Dublin to Albany. Unfortunately, I doubt my custom will be sufficient to warrant regular flights between Albany & Ireland.

Eastern Hemisphere

Oops. From today's Irish Independent:

Dublin and Shannon Airports are currently the only airports in the Eastern Hemisphere where US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel screen US-bound flights, enabling passengers to avoid passport checks upon arrival.

What? Now Irish people are afraid to share the same hemisphere as America?

Well, I've got news for the Independent. Dublin Airport is at 6º16' WEST and Shannon is at 8º54' WEST. So there!

Intelligence leaks

Good God. The other day the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times all reported on an intelligence leak. The Irish Times ran a story (sub reqd) on Monday with the headline, "Iraq war has boosted terror threat, says US intelligence". For all the excitement, it turns out that Congress had the full classified report back in April, so the leak is nothing more than a political stunt.

What's worrying, however, is how bad the report is. No, not that the situation is dire, but that it's so basic in its conclusions that I could probably have whipped it off in about half an hour, after a couple of beers on a quiet Tuesday night. I hope the full, classified report is better than what was declassified yesterday.

I honestly don't think there's a single conclusion here that has not been everywhere in the media for a LONG TIME. Here's one 'out-of-the-blue' point:

The jihadists regard Europe as an important venue for attacking Western interests. Extremist networks inside the extensive Muslim diasporas in Europe facilitate recruitment and staging for urban attacks, as illustrated by the 2004 Madrid and 2005 London bombings.

That never would have crossed my mind. Here's another:

The Iraq conflict has become the “cause celebre” for jihadists, breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement. Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight.

Whoa! You mean, Iraq is a mess and the terrorists are loving it, but if things turn around that will be bad for their cause. Such insight.

Then there's my personal favorite:

We judge that groups of all stripes will increasingly use the Internet to communicate, propagandize, recruit, train, and obtain logistical and financial support.

This I can't get over. Terrorists apparently use the internet to communicate and gather information. If only the Federal government was doing the same we could seemingly scrap most of the intelligence infrastructure for a few people who are good with Google and one person who can put together a short report on what they've found.

With a little help from my friends

In 1993 and 1994 Bertie Ahern was earning a salary well in excess of the average wage. Yet, he was so financially strapped that his friends had to bail him out to the tune of nearly £40,000. Bertie's just the latest proof that politicians do a better job of making friends than do the rest of us.

Here's a political insight that you probably won't find anywhere else: it's not a good idea for the Minister for Finance to be getting gifts of £39,000 (€49,530) from his friends. The Taoiseach tells us that the money was to cover his legal bills from his divorce. Hmmm.

I'm no expert in these matters, but this sounds like a very expensive divorce. £39,000 was not chicken feed in those days - you could get a three bedroom house in Celbridge for about that much.

The Taoiseach said he broke "no codes - ethical, tax, legal or otherwise". I guess we'll have to take his word for that. The Taoiseach also says "£20,000 of those payments from friends were put towards providing for the education of his two daughters". This statement is very interesting as it seems to indicate that the Taoiseach did not anticipate being able to meet those costs from his annual salary. Maybe he thought he'd lose his political career and earning capacity? If not, then why was his daughters' education suddenly beyond his means?

I can't help wondering if he mentioned these funds to his wife. We know nothing about the divorce, so all we can do is speculate. However, it's possible that she intended to 'make him hurt' and this money may have spared him any 'hurt'. Maybe she could even have claimed a share of this "income"?

I like Bertie Ahern and I think he's done a good job, but this just looks odd, bad, wrong. If he was just a top accountant with money troubles this (the gifts, loans, whatever) would never have seen the light of day, but that's one of the downsides to working in politics. Everything you do is subjected to scrutiny. I can't see how he can continue, but I'm always wrong trying to predict what will happen in Irish politics.

Notre Dame & Israel

I'm a little behind on this, but on the 16th of this month 61 academics signed a letter to the Irish Times (sub reqd) calling on the EU to stop awarding grants and contracts to Irsaeli universities until "Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories". They also want EU academics to refrain from "further joint collaborations with Israeli academic institutions".

I had heard about this, but hadn't paid much attention until I saw Jon Ihle's post on the subject and his mention of Notre Dame. All the signatories are based in Ireland except for three - all of whom are on the faculty of Notre Dame.

• Prof Seamus Deane, Institute for Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame;
• Prof Luke Gibbons, Dept of English, University of Notre Dame;
• Dr Breandán Mac Suibhne, Institute for Irish Studies, University of Notre Dame;

What's going on here? Why is Notre Dame the only non-Irish university listed? Are these three working to ban contacts between Notre Dame and Israeli universities? Is Notre Dame a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment?

Clinton & al Qaeda

President Clinton reportedly went to town on a Fox News interviewer on Sunday when asked about his efforts to halt al Qaeda/kill Osama/what-have-you while he was President. I didn't see the interview, but from what I've read Clinton defended his record and accused others of claiming he only struck at al Qaeda in August 1998 to deflect attention from his 'Lewinsky troubles'.

I don't remember what was said or written about President Clinton in the US at the time nor do I know what the general mood in America was. I remember having a few "discussions" with people here where I defended the President's decision and tried to explain that the Wag the Dog premise was way more Hollywood than possible in real life.

My clearest memory was one of being a bit annoyed by things I read in the newspapers. I also remember that there were protests during President Clinton's visit in early September by the "Clinton Protest Committee" (scroll down), many of whom are still at it – full-time protest professionals. (And, no, for the 3,216th time – the protests, etc. didn't start with the Iraq War.)

TY

Until this year I've suspected that Transition Year was a ridiculous concept, and, potentially, educationally disastrous for some 15/16-year-olds. Now I have the evidence of my own eyes to see that I wasn't wrong.

It's not that I have a problem with the content - although much of it is way too trendy, leftist stuff - it's more that I don't think kids need a whole year 'break' from the rigors of education. It would be much better if these lighter, more fun lessons were interspersed throughout the final three years of schooling. Transition Year is nothing more than a year to do nothing hard as far as the Transition Year students are concerned.

I told you so

Okay, not you, but there's at least one man in Dublin (assuming he's still alive) who I told in 1993. I told him that the decision to build a two lane each direction M50 was a disaster. At the time I said it should have been at least three lanes each way, but now four looks like the minimum required. He argued that Dublin would never need a road that big.

Anyway, today it's a 'car park' for '12 hours a day'. Just so I can say 'I told you so' again (but I'll be one among the many this time), six lanes will be totally insufficient even when the new and improved road is finished in 2011. We need eight lanes on the M50 and another 6 lane ring road further out.

Among the five billion

Last week the Belfast Telegraph repeated the claim that a billion people would watch the Ryder Cup. I missed it all. Was it the big deal that we were led to believe? Is it really "the third biggest sporting event in the world"? (After what? The World Cup & Olympics, but bigger than everything else? I don't think so.)

I can tell you from casual observation that there was no buzz about it the way there is when Ireland has a big soccer game (or a even rugby international or All-Ireland). The pubs around me were not, from what I could see, packed with excited fans. In fact, one pub I walked by on Saturday was advertising that it was showing live football (soccer), not the Ryder Cup. Maybe it depends on where you live?

Anyway, I don't really have a problem with the Ryder Cup. I hope the golf fans enjoyed it. Didn't sound like it was much of a competition in the end, but these things happen. What bothers me is that government agencies buy into the hype around such an event, spend my money to help out those who promote the event and then justify doing so with wild and (I would wager) unsubstantiated claims of big financial returns to the country.

Try this, the "Ryder Cup is expected to generate €10 million in additional revenue for the Irish food and drink sector". First of all €10m doesn't sound like all that much. How much did Bord Bía spend to be a sponsor of the event? Secondly, €2m of the €10m is food sold at the event. Well, how much of that food would have been sold even if the Ryder Cup was not held here? Presumably all those who live in Ireland would have bought some Irish food and drinks regardless of whether they were in Straffan or Miltown Malbay.

This is what annoys me about government figures. They NEVER seem to consider the net returns. It's always what they can easily measure and what can't be easily measured (like the downside) is dismissed as unimportant. Never mind that the proposition that Guinness and Kerrygold need the Irish taxpayer's money to sell their products is almost laughable.

Or what about Bord Fáilte's claims that the Ryder Cup return to the Irish economy will be approximately €130m? I won't hold my breath waiting to read the independent audit on that one.

Wrong flag?

Why are fans of the Europe team not waving the EU flag rather than the Irish flag? This is something that I've been wondering about ever since Paul McGinley (or was it Padraig Harrington - don't remember, don't care) 'won' the Ryder Cup for Europe in the late 90s.

Bord Fáilte nightmare

On Wednesday I mentioned that Bord Fáilte was over the moon with Tiger's big catch from the River Liffey. What a difference a day makes.

Yesterday's sports talk shows in America were all about two Ryder Cup stories: (1) The fake nude pictures of Tiger Woods's wife published by Dubliner magazine and (2) the stormy weather.

Okay, the first story was just way overblown, but still these things leave an impression. I'm not sure I've ever seen an issue of Dubliner. They got a lot of attention with these stupid pictures. Of course, sports talk shows have to talk about something and this 'story' got their attention. {The reaction here has been ridiculous too. Everyone in Ireland seems to want to give Tiger a hug and beg his forgiveness for the behavior of a few 'adolescent' Irish people.}

The weather's another story, however. Sure it rains in Ireland. A lot of people in America would have a vague understanding of that, but the weather we've had the past few days is actually unusual for Ireland in September. Yet, I heard two prominent sports talk show hosts describe our recent hurricane conditions as 'normal for Ireland this time of year or any time of year really'. Oh boy.

If the weather clears up then that'll be fine for Bord Fáilte. But, if the weather becomes the main talking point, then all the ad campaigns will be useless compared to what people are seeing and hearing with their own eyes and ears. The possibility exists that the Ryder Cup will have a negative impact on tourism.

He meant it

I've been thinking about the Pope's speech again. What was he really saying? Did he really mean anything with his reference to Islam?

There have been a lot of commentaries claiming that the speech was about faith and reason and that he referred to Manuel II Paleologus just to make a point. Fr. McBrien of Notre Dame says that the Pope's mentioning of Manuel II had "much less to do with the justification of violence attributed to the Prophet Muhammed than it did with the role of reason in the understanding of faith".

If the Pope were still an academic theologian I'd buy that. Fr. McBrien is an academic and he presumes the Pope is only talking to people like him when he makes a speech that is "dense and intellectually demanding - too demanding for anyone not schooled in theology, philosophy, history or cultural studies".

But, Fr. McBrien is missing the bigger picture. If Benedict had wanted to address theologians and only theologians, he'd have made this a much less public speech. He'd have had a private audience in Rome. But, the Pope was speaking in Regensburg, his home town, where the press coverage was complete. He knew this speech would reach a wide audience.

This Pope has been in the habit of making some strong statements to a wide audience for many years. He doesn't pull his punches. For all the great things John Paul II did while Pope, he didn't halt the decline of the Church in Europe, which is what Benedict sees as his primary mission. He doesn't consider it a lost cause, but he clearly sees that it will be a struggle.

If it's not too crude to make an analogy with the business world, Benedict believes that there's a growing market for spiritual support and guidance in Europe. And, he knows that to most Europeans the Catholic Church is 'against abortion, against divorce and against contraception' and that's about it. That is, the Catholic Church is not well placed to capitalize on this growing market despite (or maybe because of) the Church's market penetration and infrastructure.

The Pope sees Islam making huge inroads in 'Christian Europe' and asks, "Hey, what are they doing right that we're doing wrong?" Well, one thing they're doing right is proselytizing in Europe while denying the right to others to do the same in 'the Islamic world'. So, the Pope seeks "reciprocity" - Christians should be able to worship as freely in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere) as Muslims are in Europe. Such reciprocity would cause Muslims to have to pay attention to the home market, where they currently have a stranglehold.

However, more importantly, the Pope has decided it's time to differentiate the Church in the market. That was the main thrust of the Pope's speech. "If you're a European looking for answers, this is what the Catholic Church has to offer. We think you'll like this better than what the other guy is offering."

Despite what Fr. McBrien might believe (or wish) I think an audience of MBA students would more clearly understand what the Pope was saying last week.

Bord Fáilte loves Tiger

I love this from the NY Times about the Ryder Cup.

Tiger Woods began his week on Monday at the K Club by fishing the River Liffey, which meanders 75 miles, including a scenic stretch of the Palmer course.

After a patient wait, Woods pulled a fish from the water, an achievement that became a quick talking point for the Irish Tourism Board, which did everything but weigh and interview the fish.

I thought I was going to hate the Ryder Cup, but so far anyway, what with the weather, the wacky security arrangements and the coverage in the press I'm enjoying it a lot. I just don't care about golf.

How 'bout this from the Boston Globe.

There are hardly any one-pub villages in Ireland, but this is one of them.

So you'd think getting a stool at the Straffan Inn, or just a good view of the TV, when the 36th Ryder Cup is on at the nearby K Club next week would be a Herculean task. But the real challenge is just getting into Straffan, whose 1,400 residents have gone into a lockdown that conjures images of a zip gun being found in a cell at Alcatraz.

Not everybody's happy, of course, including Bruce Selcraig of the South African Mail & Guardian.

In a country whose courses are famous for legendary sand dunes, demonic bunkers, historic quirkiness (Ballybunion's first tee sports a cemetery) and sight lines that have you looking for church steeples and ancient Celtic ruins, the K Club offers 18 holes of mum's backyard.

Umbrellas allowed

Whew! The Irish Examiner reports today "that umbrellas are one of the few items not banned by the Ryder Cup organisers for visitors to the K Club this week". That's a lucky break given the forecast for heavy rain. However, as any American golf fans here are about to discover, the umbrella can often be a useless item in Ireland as the wind seems to bring the rain at you from all angles.

Clinched

Last night the Mets accomplished something they haven't been able to do for 18 years - win their own division. I never gave it a thought before I relocated, but for fans of sports on this side of the ocean the fact that in American sports they combine the 'league' (division) with the 'cup' (playoffs & World Series to come) means that winning a division crown is somewhat diminished if the team flops in the playoffs. Not just somewhat diminished, actually; totally discredited is more like it.

Well, I don't care. Right now this is fantastic. It's been a great season, especially for me as this is the first time I've followed the Mets on a daily basis since 1990 thanks to broadband and internet radio.

Back in April I mentioned that Met fans had more hope going into this season than they had in years. Even the hopeful fans didn't expect the team to be this good. The Mets have won their 'league' with 13 games to play. Fantastic.

Where'd it go?

This morning around 7:30 I came across an article on the Irish Independent's web site with this headline: "Reciprocity is the key word in Benedict's tougher line on Islam". Now the URL is dead, this is an "invalid story ID". I know for certain it was valid this morning, so where did this story go? I'll have to see if it's in the print edition.

"Never apologize mister …

… it's a sign of weakness". I wonder if the Pope ever saw She Wore a Yellow Ribbon?

If you read the Pope's 'apology' for his remarks on Islam last week you'll see nothing along the lines of "I'm sorry for saying …"

… At this time, I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims. These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought.

He's sorry "for the reactions", not for what he said.

What's going on here? Surely the Pope knew those words would stir up a hornet's nest even if they don't represent his "personal thought" on Islam. I doubt he's in the least bit surprised. So, why did he do it?

I'm not a dedicated Pope watcher. I prick up my ears when I hear something interesting, but for the most part I don't check in with him on a daily/weekly/monthly basis to see what he's been saying. However, from the moment he chose the name Benedict, it's been obvious that Pope Benedict perceives his greatest challenge to be the (re)Christianization of Europe.

I'll be honest and say that I'm not sure I follow everything in the speech that caused all the controversy, but the Pope is basically saying that there's more to understanding than what can be measured. "Theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences."

Okay, fine. The Pope's against rigid secularization. But, that reference to Islam? Either the Pope's a fool and/or totally switched off to what's happening in Europe today or he's reading the tea leaves and sees that there may be an opening for the Church in standing up to Islam. No, not a new Crusade, but an argument. The Pope as much as said that Islam is incapable of co-existing with the rational whereas Christianity requires it. When you see people rampaging, burning churches, murdering in response to what the Pope said you can almost hear him say, "quod erat demonstrandum".

Benedict XVI has decided that the Church is not going down without a fight.