Governments in the west spend over $300 billion a year on farm subsidies. Think about that figure. Imagine what could be done if that figure was invested in health care in the third world? But not also is it diverting finds that could be used for better means it also hurts people in poorer countries. […]

I loved MacGyver as a kid. Maybe one of the biggest reasons I became a physicist. So after CK showed the clip in his top Friday I felt nostalgic and watched an episode. Alas on watching it I noted it was factually incorrect. This scene is from the pilot. Note it was mentioned that the […]

So I have been adding links to my newly registered Netvibes homepage. A page full of modules, essentially snapshots of each of the sites I visit daily as well as a google search function, rolling updates from the news sites I visit, a link to Youtube, an email wizard and a calendar. I fully intend […]

I while back I posted a post about the divide in American politics and how it could be a Civil war. Here are the comments I got.

Tom Jolly said… […]

So the hours of my life I am spending on compiling lists like these is borderig on unhealthy. Nevertheless this one was good fun. The programmes in question may not have endured the ravages of time or our sophisticated tastes but these opening credits have left a legacy all of their own. There are no […]

There are few constants in life, but Sally Fletcher in Home and Away has been one of them - a character on our screens for close to 20 years now in a show that replaces cast members like normal people change socks. Ranking along the likes of the Duckworths and J.R. Ewing, Sally is up […]

‘The West Wing’ meets parish pump politics tonight in a new programme, ‘The Running Mate’ beginning a run on TG4. Lead by Don Wycherley (Bachelors Walk) and Frank Kelly (Father Ted) the premise is a local politician willing to go to any lengths to win a constituency seat. TG4 are masters in scheduling, smart promos […]

Conor made some interesting points on the nature of incentives to build houses pointing out the amount of empty houses that are in the country sighting.
The national average for unoccupied housings is 12.1% - and it’s 15% when holiday homes are added into the picture. For example, there’s 45,000 empty housing units in Dublin (25,000 […]

I don’t think the moment has passed for an appreciation of Nessun Dorma, the late Luciano Pavarottis signature theme for those of us uniniated in the ways of such fine music. Having listened to it aplenty over the past few weeks, it struck me I have no idea what the song is about. A random […]

The Guardian offers a helpful description of the progression of events in Burma, one of too many conflicts I have a superficial understanding of, and one which is mightily fascinating to have barefooted, normally happy to chant, monks leading the protests. Read on here.

Robert Fisk covers an issue, which though not a priority in the […]