Favorite Clash song

If someone asked me to name my favorite song, I'd be hard-pressed. My answer to such a question depends on my mood, the time of day, the season, the weather, whatever. Still, if someone pinned me down and forced me to proclaim one song as my favorite Clash song, it would be Lost in the Supermarket. At least, that's the answer I'd give today.

The Observer asked a few well-known people what their favorite Clash song is. Two votes for White Riot, which might have been my answer at a different time of day/season/etc.

Detention for the Minister

I love Brenda Power. Okay, love is a little strong seeing as I've never met the woman and am unlikely to. And, when I hear her on the radio something about her voice puts me off. But, when I read her columns on Sundays, ahhh …

Today she punishes Minister Hanafin for failing to do her homework. The whole column is worth reading, but I figure I can't quote the whole thing here. So, here are some snippets.

If it wasn’t for the students, their pesky parents, their inconvenient lives, their outlandish expectations and their utterly selfish residential preferences, we’d be able to enjoy the education system that is within the power of the education minister to provide.

If only we arranged our communities to yield neat homogenous class sizes across the country then the problem of overcrowded schools, for a start, could be solved overnight.

If only we didn’t allow the trivial distractions of work and mortgages and commuting distances to influence our life choices, we’d be far more considerate consumers of the education system.

… Despite not having access to the minister’s private intelligence on this matter I very much doubt that families moved to Newbridge because they fancied a superior quality of bathroom decoration. I doubt they even did it with the pig-headed intention of completely and freakishly derailing the minister's carefully drafted projections, although this is what she clearly suspects.

And to suggest, as Hanafin did, that the families moving to Kildare are just well-heeled flibbertigibbets, trampling all over the local infrastructure on a passing design whim, is hugely invidious and unhelpful.

Sergeant York

Lt. Col. Douglas Mastriano believes he has found the exact location of Sergeant York's heroic sweep down on German trenches in WWI. Mastriano has been researching this for six years and thanks to a large find of empty Colt .45 cartridges he believes he has all the proof he needs to be sure he has the right place.

York led a team of 8 that killed a couple dozen Germans before another 132 had had enough and surrendered. The legend has it that York captured all those Germans alone, but that's not the official record.

Of course, it's the legend that inspired Hollywood. If you haven't seen the 1941 movie Sergeant York, you should. It's great fun. I particularly love the early part of the movie before York is drafted.

Just noticing

Ever since I read that article about the EU's intention to wipe out the old style measurements, I've been taking note of those products and services still using inches/pounds/etc.

Two examples I saw yesterday: pizzas - generally still sold based on the size of the diameter in inches and rubbish skips, rental price determined by how many cubic yards the skip is. And, as Brendan helpfully pointed out in the comments, there are one or two people still using the pint as a measure in this country.

Stay where you are, the school's full

You know you've been in a job way too long when you're damning the citizens who vote you in because you're not capable of solving the problems you're supposed to solve.

The Minister for Education damned a lot of parents with these remarks:

"I really wish parents who are choosing to move house within term time would make arrangements for their children to be in a school at the beginning of the term."

She added it was "entirely unacceptable", in the educational interests of their children, that parents "checked out the colour scheme in the bathroom of their new house but would not have found out if a place was available for a child within a school".

Look, Minister, you're the one who's in charge of this excessively centralized education system so it's your fault if you can't move resources around sufficiently quickly to ensure that those areas that are experiencing rapid growth can have schools that grow with them. And, I don't remember hearing you say anything about decentralizing funding and control of education, so it's not like you can claim any "I told you so's" here.

People choose to move for all sorts of reasons. They buy a house that suits their budget, work, family-size, and, yes, taste. Often they don't have much choice about when they move. The state's monopoly on education (and don't talk to me about the Church, the Church has almost no say these days in building or staff numbers) means it's the state's responsibility to provide schools and teachers where people live.

For the Minister to condemn parents because they choose to live where she'd rather they didn't is an indication that arrogance and hubris are now setting the tone in the Department for Education.

Black pudding

Black pudding is something I've liked since I first came to Ireland in the mid 80s. Maybe it's fortunate that I found out what it was after I found out that I liked eating it, but knowing it's a 'blood pudding' hasn't put me off one bit.

Today's Washington Post reports that these scrumptious 'treats' made from animals' blood are even rarer today in American butchers' shops than they were 25 years ago, and they were pretty rare then. For what it's worth, I highly recommend the black pudding and blutwurst and would be willing to try most - maybe all - of the other national dishes made from blood.

Come Ye to Ireland

FÁS is advertising for people to come live and work in Ireland on the New York City subway this month. Thanks to Eddie for this picture, which shows the FÁS ad.

I had meant to say something about this last week, but that event about which nothing more will be said knocked it right out of my head. The reason this was on my mind, if only fleetingly, was because the New York Times reported on last week's FÁS jobs fair. According to the Times, more Americans moved to Ireland than vice versa last year. Quite a turn-around. When I first moved here people used to say that Boston (or the Bronx, take your pick) was the 33rd county. How long before I can claim that Ireland is the 51st state?

There isn't a whole lot to say about this, really. Ireland's got a booming economy so it's hardly a surprise that some Americans want to come try their luck here. I just wonder how many Americans at the jobs fair are hearing about the property prices here. I don't know what a middle of the range family home in the suburbs of New York might cost these days, but anyone moving to the Dublin area better be ready to fork out at least €600K or around $750K (and a lot more if they don't want 60-90 minute commute).

The Sunday Independent had a short piece this weekend describing how a New York area real estate agent was shocked to find out that top of the line properties here go for a lot more than they do in the New York area. Is it possible that the family home prices are also a lot higher here?

That's 84¢ you won't be getting back

Last week I cast my ballot in the elections for the U.S. Congress. On the same day the ballot arrived I received an election flyer from Sam Pitcheralle, who is running for Saratoga County Treasurer. Unfortunately for Sam, I'm not entitled to vote in any local or state elections so his flyer and postage (84¢) were wasted on me.

I hope for Sam's sake he doesn't find himself short of funds as the election winds down or he may regret all those letters to overseas citizens who are only entitled to vote in Federal elections.

Arrogance, ignorance & opulence

Yes, I'm getting old, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I still believe that a large number of the under 30s in this country are a let less gracious/considerate/intelligent than those who were under 30 twenty years ago.

Maybe this is a never-ending complaint, I don't know. I guess it's possible that if I wait another twenty years I'll believe that those who are under 30 in 2026 are less gracious/considerate/intelligent than those who are under 30 today. Maybe.

Anyway, I had another encounter with an arrogant under 30 jackass on Saturday at the local service station. He jumped into the space for the air pump ahead of me despite the fact I was waiting long before he arrived. His answer when I confronted him was, "What? You want me to wait?". (Seriously, that's what he said.) Of course, he was driving a smart, expensive-looking sports car. Money & ignorance - a lethal cocktail that too many seem to be drinking these days.

The only upside to the incident was that I was so angry that it took my mind off that recent event about which I'm saying nothing more.

Give em an inch . . .

Three years from now it will be illegal "for any products made in or imported into the EU to carry any reference to non-metric measures". Illegal simply to make reference to pounds, ounces, inches, etc.?

This is exactly the kind of excessive control that makes so many people absolutely despair of the EU. What purpose is served in banning service station air pumps from listing the PSI measurements for air pressure? How long will it be before it's illegal for someone like me to ask for a pound of steak or to talk about suit sizes in terms of inches?

Then there are the simple practical concerns of businesses that want to export from the US to Europe and vice versa. These sorts of changes are easy enough to deal with if you're a mega-conglomerate transnational corporation with vast resources to devote to new packaging and warehousing, but if you're a small Irish company selling boxes of hand-made chocolates, for example, such a law change can mean the end of selling to the US market and, possibly, the end of the line. What possible benefit does the EU derive from this?

Two days later

I expect this will be the last time I write about the Mets for a few months.

I woke up this morning and I'm still replaying the 9th inning in my head. Errrrr. The "agony of defeat".

If you're not a die-hard sports fan this may sound strange, but there's a hole in my life now. Ever since April 3 I've been listening to the Met games on a nearly daily basis. I probably listened to 135 of the team's 162 games and watched another 15 or so. When you add in the blogs and newspaper articles I've read, well that's a lot of time I suddenly have free. And, at the moment the only thing filling the gap is all those "What if's?".

Some Met fans feel the team underachieved by not making the World Series. Maybe, if you put a lot of stock in the regular season. The regular season is important, but it's been seriously undermined by baseball authorities, who believe that 8 teams should compete for the World Series title despite such a long season. Anyway, the Cardinals may have underperformed during the regular season, but they were clear favorites to win the National League back when the season started. The Mets were expected to be no better than the 4th best team in the league.

This was a great year. It should have ended in victory because that's how fairy tales end. Sure I'm looking forward to next year, but next year hope will be replaced by expectation. 5 months to Opening Day.

Pointless apology demand

The head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal O'Brien, wants Muslims to apologize for September 11 and the July 7, 2005 bombings in London. He was claiming that such an apology would somehow be a reciprocal action after the Pope's recent 'apology'.

Pardon me, Your Eminence, but you're way, way off on this one. First of all, if someone insults me and apologizes, fine. However, if they kill thousands of my fellow citizens and desire to kill thousands more then an apology is slightly insufficient.

Second, is Cardinal O'Brien saying that Muslims generally are responsible for September 11, etc.? If not, then why should Muslims apologize? And, if he is then how is an apology sufficient? Shouldn't all Muslims then be treated as enemies of the state seeing as the acts he wants Muslims to apologize for were acts of mass murder, crimes against the state?

The key question is not whether Muslims should or should not apologize for what's happened so far. The key question is whether there is something about Islam that renders its adherents incapable of being law-abiding, loyal citizens in a democratic state. I believe the answer to that question is yes, but it's pretty clear there are many who don't believe that. And, I don't think I can make a strong enough argument to try and change anyone's mind on that score.

Disappointment

Mets lose and are out. Nothing left now, but a long, dark winter.

Cape Cod wind farm

The Irish Wind Energy Truth Alliance has allies in the anti-wind farm movement in a couple of Massachusetts politicians: Senator Kennedy and Governor (& Presidential contender) Romney. They're both opposed to an off-shore 130 turbine wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod. Each turbine will be 440ft high and will be visible from the shore as they're only 6 miles out.

According to the article from the New York Sun MIT is conducting research into floating, tethered wind farms that can be located further out to sea. That would enable them to be placed beyond the visible range, which would probably ease the concerns of large shoreline property owners, such as Senator Kennedy.

Hiccup

My bank's online banking system is down and could be down for "a few days". I couldn't help laughing when the guy on the other end of the phone explained to me that there is "a hiccup in the system".

Once a system is down more than ten minutes it's more than a "hiccup". There are a lot of expressions one could use to describe the situation, but "hiccup" is not one of them.

Lies, damn lies & statistics

Statistics is more science than art, but projections generated by statisticians are not as certain as those produced by a physicist studying the effect of gravity on a falling object. The physicist can say with 100% certainty that a brick dropped from a height of 20m will hit the ground in just over 2 seconds (I hope I'm remembering my physics correctly). He makes this statement without any fear of someone proving him wrong.

The same is not quite true with statistics and statisticians. Projections are not as sure and depend on the methodology of the data collection, which can be influenced by factors that can require adjustments based on judgment. In other words, a key question for any statistical study is, "Is this methodology sound"? To some degree that is along the same lines as, "Is this painting beautiful"?

Steven Moore questions the methodology used by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in their study of the Iraqi death toll since the March 2003 invasion. Moore's focused on the number of clusters and the failure to ask demographic questions in the surveys.

Moore is a political consultant who has done work for the International Republican Institute and the Coalition Forces in Iraq, so he clearly has an agenda. However, there's no good reason to assume that the Bloomberg School of Public Health doesn't also have an agenda, always releasing their findings in the last month of an election cycle. {The last study's findings were released in October 2004.)

Unlike the numbers provided by the physicist, these statistics are built around a very soft scientific core, which means anyone can accept or reject the findings without fear of being proven wrong. I think I'll take the 650,000 death toll figure with a large pinch of salt.

The Dow & the Mets

By the way, look for the Dow to come down significantly if (when? I hope not) the Mets do make their exit from the Playoffs. Okay, so I don't put too much stock in it (hey - that's a good one), but there is something of a historical correlation between the market's performance and the extent to which New York's teams exceeded or failed to meet fans' expectations.

There has to be some explanation as to why October is the primary month for 'crashes'. Right?

Not my fault

You can't pin this loss on me. Despite the fact that I wore the lucky shirt through the whole game the Mets lost 4-2 and now trail 3 games to 2. Two straight wins is a MUST.

Duped

Italians in Boston (& elsewhere across America, presumably) thought they were getting a chance to see, touch, have their pictures taken with THE World Cup. They paid $5 for the privilege. Boston's Mayor Menino kissed the trophy and other politicians posed for photographs with it. However, the trophy that made it to Boston is a fake.

Anheuser-Busch, sponsor of the fake trophy's tour, released a statement "insisting that the gold-plated dome is just as important in Italy as the real deal". If this is true, then why didn't they leave the fake in Italy and tour the real trophy? And, why claim to be "proudly hosting the FIFA World Cup Trophy in six cities around the United States, including St. Louis; New York; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Miami; and Chicago".

I can't understand what FIFA or Anheuser-Busch are doing sending a copy of the trophy around the US all the while pretending it's the real deal. I hope Tony Soprano is looking into this matter.

EU-Tube

According to today's Times, the EU wants to control web videos now. The proposed Television Without Frontiers directive would require web sites to obey the same regulations as currently control television.

I'll be honest I don't know too much about this proposed directive, but I can guarantee you that it has nothing to do with extending anyone's personal freedom. When the EU proposes a new directive it's all about making sure you don't get out of line.

Based on what I see on the Irish government's web site, this directive will suit the television industry just fine. This line from the government's web site tells me everything I need to know: "Following a consultation process with those operating in the Irish television sector, the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources made a submission to the Commission." So, the government asked the t.v. industry how it wanted to be regulated and, if the Times is to believed, how to control any potential threats to itself.

It's no surprise that web videos are now targeted for control. Stifling initiatives like 18 Doughty Street is, I'm sure, part of the thinking here.