Night is gone, a dawn comes up in birds and sounds of the city. There will be light to live by, things to see: my eyes will lift to where the sun in vermilion sits,…
Monthly Archives For September 2008
September 28th Lunchtime: The Recession Diaries
I was pulling my hair out when a friend rang me pulling her hair out. A lot of hair being grabbed. Let’s start with my hair. Noel Whelan has given us the benefit of his deep and comprehensive research…
From Marx to the Market: On the Road in Cambodia and Thailand
The view from the world’s second-tallest building, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, is a bit of an anti-climax – once you get near the top there’s not much to see that can compare with…
Imitation of Life
I’ve always found dubious the notion that certain times in the past were ‘a more innocent age’; it is bandied about a lot when referring to the more demure sexual mores of times gone, the…
The Appalling State of Irish Maternity Services
The state of the Ireland’s maternity services is deeply unsatisfactory. In August of last year, in considerable frustration and anger at the lack of any cohesive action to make improvements, I wrote to the Irish…
Work in Progress
Work in Progress Catalan director José Luis Guerín's illuminating essay on his wonderful 2001 film 'Work in Progress' (original title 'En Construcción'). The film charts, in semi-documentary fashion, the demolition of a century-old building in…
September 23rd Morning: The Recession Diaries
Ah, the low-paid – if words were money they’d be living on easy street. Everybody wants to help the low-paid. Certainly, Fianna Fail was determined to. Shortly before becoming Taoiseach, Brian Cowen had this to…
Half-Housed Assets
“If you owe us £1,000, it’s your problem; if you owe us £1 million, it’s our problem” was how Justice Moriarty described the AIB’s attitude towards lending when he was chairing the tribunal investigating Charlie…
The Sacred Book of the Werewolf
Victor Pelevin – Faber & Faber, 2008 Towards the end of the film The Lives of Others, the dissident writer Georg Dreyman, who has out-lasted the Stasi and its state to find a comfortable perch…
September 20th Afternoon: The Recession Diaries
Good riddance. Or as WorldbyStorm writes over at Cedar Lounge Revolution, ‘The PDs get a a four week reprieve. Then they die.‘ Can’t come soon enough. The only downside is that we’ll have to endure…
In country after country, democratic reforms are in retreat. The surprising culprit: the middle class – The Boston Globe
In country after country, democratic reforms are in retreat. The surprising culprit: the middle class – The Boston Globe As seen recently in Bolivia, democracry quickly loses its lustre for the middle classes when elections…
Stop Watching the Skies!
This is how the Inquisition deal with Nosey Parkers! I have read this week about how the telescope was invented not in Netherland but in Spain, a fact which everyone has known for years here…
September 17th Evening: The Recession Diaries
As of this writing, the full text of the draft pay deal is still not readily available but the broad outlines are clear. The pay element contains real wage cuts, the provision for the low-paid is…
September 16th Evening: The Recession Diaries
I admire people who have absolutely no shame about going public with their proposals, no matter how weird, strange and utterly nonsensical those proposals might be. Such people don’t care whether they appear foolish; they…