Finkelstein

I never heard of Norman Finkelstein before this past weekend. Finkelstein is an American Jew who is, from what I heard, implacably opposed to most of current Israeli policies and practices with regards to its dealings with the Palestinians.

I don't really care about Finkelstein or his views. What annoys me is the treatment he received on Newstalk 106 this weekend on the Wide Angle. First of all, Finkelstein may be a s**t-stirrer (actually, I suspect he's a lot worse) in the US, but over here he's preaching to the converted with his "It's all Israel's fault" line. That's bad enough, but then gets the softest of interviews from Coleman. Good God. She proved she could be a more fearsome interviewer when she had Cliff May on a few weeks ago, but with Finkelstein she did nothing other than support his views.

And, on top of all that, she did a great job of plugging his book, which, based on her description of how it's doing in the US, must be out-selling the entire Harry Potter series. I can just imagine how she'd treat Alan Dershowitz if he was a guest on her show.

Lieberman

Why is nobody in the Bush Administration able to make such a clear statement about America's aims and progress in the war as Joe Lieberman?

Irish Ferries

In a comment below, Miranda wants to know what I think about the Irish Ferries dispute. I have to admit I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to the ins and outs of this one, but I guess I wouldn't be going too far out on a limb to say that the company could have handled this better.

My free market instincts and my sympathies for the eastern Europeans who are getting the new low paid jobs have me leaning towards the company, but it's not quite so simple as that. It is almost always those who are not earning a whole lot who lose out when low paid immigrants or cheap imported goods make the local labor or product too expensive. It's all well and good for talking heads to ramble on about "upskilling" or the "knowledge economy", but not everyone is cut out for "upskilling" or the "knowledge economy". I also have sympathy for those who feel threatened by the eastern European workers.

I have no idea how true it is that the company could collapse. I can't see how this would benefit the company or the workers. I'd like to imagine that a reasonable solution can be found.

I do have one question related to this dispute, however. Anytime I've flown with Ryanair, most of the cabin crew were not Irish or British. I've thought that many of them were eastern European. Do those employees get the same pay as their Irish or British colleagues?

'Hey, we're overcharging you and you're still shopping here'

Shopping. Have I mentioned before how much I can't stand it? I thought I had. So it doesn't take much to distract or amuse me during my annual outing into an endless number of stores that I would otherwise happily avoid from now until Kingdom come.

On Sunday I was in a store called Wallis (I think that was it) when the price tags caught my eye. They had prices in both pounds and euros. At first I thought they were giving us the Irish pound equivalent, but no, they were sterling prices. I guess they didn't want to have to produce two separate price tags for their operation in Ireland - north and south?

What really caught my eye was that the exchange rates were all over the place. (I'm working from memory, so my numbers may be off, but the gist of this is right.) Every item that was £25 was €45. And, any item that was £27 was €47 and any item that was £35 was also €55.

Ignoring VAT for a moment, how can one item have an exchange rate of €1.80 per £1.00 while another has a rate of €1.57 for every £1? So this had me amused for a few minutes until I started thinking about VAT. The Irish rate is 21% and the UK rate is, I believe, 17% (but I'm not sure if that is the rate on clothes).

Like I said, it takes little to amuse me when I'm shopping. So, as I stood there and started doing some mental math I started to realize that even allowing for VAT, the exchange rate was not really that close to the official €1.47 for every £1, particularly on those lower priced items.

It's one thing to feel like you're being overcharged for items, but it's another all together for a company to flaunt their overcharging so blatantly and still expect you to part with your cash. No purchases were made in Wallis.

Down, but not out.

I'm a bit under the weather at the moment, which sort of explains the quiet around here.

Dissin the Boss

It is 30 years since Born to Run was released. Last week two US Senators from New Jersey sponsored a resolution to congratulate Bruce Springsteen on the thirtieth anniversary. {No, I have no idea why this kind of thing goes on, but it's pretty common.)

Anyway, the Republicans in the Senate killed the resolution. It seems the reason for this was Springsteen's support for John Kerry last year.

Look, I think Springsteen was mistaken, but this is pettiness beyond the call of duty. As Harlan Coben notes in today's NY Times, many of Springsteen's fans are Republicans. They may disagree with him and even wish he'd just "shut up and sing" at times, but I think most would accept that he's not your usual Hollywood/show business dingbat. He clearly thinks before he speaks. So he's not perfect, but then nobody is. Imperfection doesn't bother me nor does it bother Bruce.

The screen door slams
Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith, there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

It was a great moment in American culture. Grow up Senator Frist.

Joining the Irish Brigade

The Columbia Rifles is a Civil War reenactors organization the members of which are seriously devoted to authenticity. "The reenactor who is dedicated to authenticity will divide his efforts between three facets of equal importance: man, methods, and material culture". They should look, act and think like the men in uniform at the time.

Yesterday's Irish Independent provides some details from the Columbia Rifles' manual. Chapter 1 is "Playing Paddy Right" dealing with what is expected of anyone who wants to join an Irish unit. A knowledge of Irish history - up to the 1860's, obviously - an Irish accent and some spoken Irish and, importantly, a good understanding of the importance of Catholicism to the Irish soldier.

The Independent failed to note the section on alcohol and fighting where the author says drunkeness is not essential. He then tries to explain the stereotype as it existed then.

... Irishmen may have a lower alcohol tolerance than other European ethnic groups. Former Irish Brigade Association president Liam Murphy who, while serving in the United States military once spent time training doctors to be army officers, stated, "There is a liver enzyme called ethyldehydrogenace [?] which metabolizes drinking alcohol. If a full-grown European can metabolize, say, one ounce of alcohol per hour, he must consume more than that for ethyl alcohol to show up in his bloodstream and, therefore, in his brain. If the standard is 1.0, then the Native American Indian runs at only 30 percent of the European norm and, according to the MDs I trained, the average Irishman metabolizes alcohol at only 70 percent of this norm."

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Shopping in the US

Today's Boston Herald features an article (now part of an annual ritual) about shoppers from Ireland descending on the big stores and shopping malls looking for Christmas presents. Another part of the ritual is the warning from the Irish authorities that such shoppers could be prosecuted if they exceed the €175 limit on purchases.

The other day I heard someone on the radio - not sure who it was - mention that Macy's was offering an 11% discount to all shoppers with an Irish passport. If true, I wonder how they'd distinguish between those who had flown in to shop and those who flew in years ago to take up jobs in the city?

Irish dancing

When I was in college there was an annual céilí on the campus organized by a local Irish organization. Almost no students went, but a couple of my friends and I used to turn up, partially (okay, mostly) because for $10 the bar was unlimited for the night. That was a bargain even then (mid 80s).

Still, we used to have fun. These middle-aged Irish women would insist on dragging us out onto the dance floor and instruct us in that tolerant, but firm tone that middle-aged Irish women have. Most of the women were older than my mother, which explains why I was alarmed to read the following from a court case in North Carolina:

Dr Hanna's argument was that Irish dance "involves a rigid upper body and a leg pounding upon the ground [which] can be associated with the phallus pounding the female."

Whoa! Even with twenty elapsed years this is a heart-stopping revelation. I presume this means that at the very least I should immerse myself in the River Jordan as an act of atonement.

Happy Thanksgiving

Lunch out with a friend today and a big family meal on Saturday. And, despite the fact that it's still not a holiday here - must ... try ... harder - I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

You know, with all the talk about American cultural imperialism, I'm not sure why something as good as Thanksgiving hasn't taken off here. I think that the faster pace of life in Ireland today and the excessively pressured Christmas season strengthens the argument for a Thanksgiving pause around now.

Athens "fiasco"

I have to admit I can think of no good reason why the Irish government should spend a single penny to boost the Irish Olympic team. Are people really that desperate to hear the national anthem at the Olympic Games?

Apparently Athens was a "fiasco" and required that the government pay €16,000 to analyze and report back on what could be done differently next time.

Agenda Consulting surveyed the opinions of athletes, coaches and organisations, such as the Irish Sports Council and Olympic Council of Ireland.

In its 13 recommendations, the report calls for more funding for coaches and athletes and talent scouting of young athletes with the potential to be future stars.

While work is already well under way for the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, Ms Keaveney said the sporting authorities need to be looking ahead to London in seven years. London will be a "cataclysmic factor" in Irish international sport, she said.

The report concluded that we (the taxpayers) need to spend more money on Olympic athletes. Why? What return is there to the nation for this investment?

The head of the Dail Committee looking into this "fiasco" said that

[a]fter the scandals of Athens and Atlanta, the main hope for future Olympic performances was that Irish athletes would not only be successful but tarnish-free, Ms Keaveney said. The important factor was not the number of medals won.

"Given that the last two Olympic Games were remembered for gold medals that became no gold medals, we would like to see is athletes performing to the best of their ability without any scandal. A clean Olympics, simple as that," she added.

Well, duh, if all you want is a clean Olympics the best way to guarantee that is to (a) remove all state funding for athletes – there'll be fewer Irish athletes competing and, therefore, fewer potential positive tests and (b) remove the tax breaks available to top athletes – these are furthering the incentive for athletes to cheat. It is better for the state not to be involved so that when a medal-winning athlete tests positive the state is not responsible for having encouraged the cheating.

How's that Kyoto thing going?

Ireland's not unique among EU states in failing to meet its Kyoto commitments.

Eleven of the fifteen old member states have reported emissions going up instead of down since 1990, with huge increases seen in Spain (41.7%), Portugal (36.7%), Greece (25.8%), Ireland (25.6%), Finland (21.5%) and Austria (16.5%).

The US exceeded its Kyoto targets by 13.3%.

The UK turned in the best performance in emissions reduction in the EU (can ignore Germany, which 'benefited' from E. Germany's emissions levels). And, yet, the UK won't make its Kyoto targets.

Kyoto is dead - deader than the EU Constitution, which is actually far from dead as far as the bureaucrats are concerned.

Cycling with Bush

A rarity from The Guardian today - an article about President Bush that is light and almost totally lacking in cynicism. Cycling correspondent Matt Seaton is impressed with Bush's cycling equipment and it's not just all show.

Last year, a journalist from Associated Press joined the president on a lap of his Crawford ranch. Bush's heart rate, Scott Lindlaw reported, peaked at 168 beats per minute during the 18-mile loop. For a man of his age (59), that's likely to be about 95% of his maximum - which is the sort of intensity only elite athletes train at. According to AP, Bush completed the ride in an hour and 20 minutes. That's more than 13mph, which may not sound all that fast, but for an off-road cyclist, believe me, it's shifting. His resting pulse - a good rule-of-thumb indicator of fitness - is down in the 40s. On this form, Bush could not only hold his own in age-related cross-country races, he'd win some.

Seaton comments that the President's jacket was baggy, but when I saw that picture over the weekend I was wondering if he had on his bullet proof vest underneath the jacket. I had figured that if there was one place he wouldn't need it that would be in China.

Message for Minister Callely

Tinted windows don't kill people, people do.

For the record, I really don't like blacked out windows in cars. I think they're ugly. I do, however, own a car with some windows blacked out. This is because when the car was for sale it was too good a deal to pass up even though I hated the dark windows. The car's an estate (station wagon) and the back window and two other small windows along the side at the back are darkened.

Thanks to the Minister I started taking note of people driving cars with blacked out windows yesterday. I saw seven and not one of them fit the description of "boy racer". Four were women of 35 or more years. Not one of the drivers I saw was a man under 25 years of age. As for the cars, three were people carriers, two were big Mercedes, one a SEAT (as is my own) and one was a small commercial car/van.

This idea is so stupid in so many ways that a blog post cannot really do it justice. I have no idea whether the tint can be removed, but if it can't - and the back window has the rear defrost wires on it too - then my car will be worthless next year.

Two Chinese students

Thanks to Warren in The Corner for this cultural highlight - two Chinese students lip-synching to the Backstreet Boys.

I'm not sure it is as good as the Fat 'Dutch' Kid, who turned out to be much more New Amsterdam than Amsterdam. {And, just in case you were missing him, the Fat Dutch Kid, Gary Brolsma, has a fan web site - GaryBrolsma.net.}

Newshound - Nov 20

There is a technical problem with my site's hosting company. I don't know when I'll be able to update the Newshound today.

All of the links are available at nuzdown.com.

UPDATE 9:56am - Problem seems to be resolved now. Update of main page is complete.

Before the levees burst

According to this story in yesterday's New Orleans Times-Picayune, it seems that there was a pretty good indication that all was not well with the levee system before Katrina blew into town. Over a year ago residents near the Canal levee complained that their yards were wet and not drying out. The Army Corps of Engineers never found out despite the fact that the residents reported the problem. The water was tested and it was from the Canal. That was pretty much the end of the issue.

But investigators on forensic engineering teams probing the failures said they aren'’t surprised the corps didn't know about that leak -- or about numerous other leaks and problems with the levees that residents reported to them. That ignorance reflects a minefield of twisted bureaucratic jurisdictions, poor levee maintenance, missed opportunities and suspect engineering they say likely contributed to the costliest natural disaster in American history.

ROS goes down

Eek. One day after I noted how good the Revenue Commissioners' web site is, it's unavailable this afternoon. And, this ain't good, today is the DEADLINE for filing via the web. I'm sure the two are not unrelated, but the Revenue folks should surely have anticipated a little extra traffic today.

The Revenue On-Line Service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. Thank you.

If you wish you may contact the Revenue On-Line Service information desk at 1890 20 11 06 from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Thursday and from 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on Friday or by e-mail to roshelp@revenue.ie

Shopping in Dublin

I can't stand shopping in Dublin. I'd much rather drive to a suburban shopping center, park my car - for free - in a large parking lot than go through the hassle of shopping in Dublin. And, it's always crowded in Dublin.

In truth, I can't stand shopping anywhere, but if I have to endure it I want to be sure that it's as easy as possible to get in and get out. So, when I say that shopping for furniture in Dublin's city center is worth it, I'm saying something.

Most of the furniture stores that used to be on Capel Street seem to be gone, but we got what we were looking for when we were there last week. The quality, to my eye, was as good as what I'd seen in the numerous suburban furniture stores we had been to and the price was much better - about €400 better. It was a worthwhile trip, even though it cost me €2.50 to park.

Uh oh

Last week the Wall Street Journal let the cat out of the bag - US companies love setting up in Ireland because with a little slight of hand they can claim to have earned vast profits here that were, in fact, earned in the US. The companies save a ton of money on taxes thanks to Ireland's 12.5% tax rate and Ireland gets a ton of tax money it wouldn't otherwise get.

Everybody's a winner, right? Well, emm, no. The US government is the loser here and is now looking to crack down on this sort of thing. The focus of the Journal's article and this Sunday Business Post follow-up is Microsoft's use of an Irish-based subsidiary to license the rights to its software.

While there is nothing illegal in what Microsoft is doing, Richard Murphy, an accountant and tax expert with the Tax Justice Network, said that arrangements by some multinationals may contravene the spirit of the law, even if they obey its letter.

No laws are being broken, but laws can change.

Despite all the nonsense about our "well-educated work force", what really drove the Celtic Tiger was that it was cheaper to do business in Ireland than any other EU country. This is why Ireland's EU partners despise the low Irish corporate tax rate. And, now it seems the US government is an enemy too.

An editorial in today's NY Times means that rather than going away quietly, this story is growing. It could become a real problem. I suspect that once the IRS gets through checking on intellectual property registrations, they'll turn their attention to large fund transfers among financial institutions (IFSC) and other nifty accounting practices used by Irish-based operations of large multinationals. Next thing you'll know, Congress will be holding hearings on Ireland's status as a 'tax haven'.

The economy could quickly collapse if the US and EU decide to bring the Tiger to heel. Might be a good time to sell that investment property. On the upside, an economic collapse would end all discussion of immigration problems.