ok so ireland is like the richest most succesfull country in a universe at the moment allegedly.
the roads are full or brand new mercs and bmws'
everybody has new designer clothes and gardeners to keep the homes looking smart
but i've a question
when the boom time ends which it has to as that is the way things work what will we have to show for it
slightly better roads
public services that we'll never be able to keep funding at the rate we do given their inefficiency (some exception i know but this is a rant not analysis)
old cars with big engines that have to be filled with expensive petrol
an unfit malnourished population who find it difficult to engage with each other since they spent their youth in their bedrooms playing playstations
parents who can't relate to their children since they did little together except spend money when they were growing up
we'll have a nice o'connell street
and a lot of memories about the good old days when we were all rich
but we probably won't remember them because we'll have spent the whole time trying to get richer.
maybe we should build a huge monument to money so at least we'll have an idea
what we did with it all.
or maybe i'm just bitter
probably
i'm just bitter
but the general point is what are we going to have to show for all our success and wealth?
answers on a postcard to
the boy
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005
perspective
i've just realised i posted twice in recent times about perspective
and i'm sure if i looked further i''ve don'e it a few more times
not sure why that is
maybe i'm pretentious and think i know everything
and everybody else is wrong in my eyes
or maybe i like to sound smart
maybe i need some perspective
and i'm sure if i looked further i''ve don'e it a few more times
not sure why that is
maybe i'm pretentious and think i know everything
and everybody else is wrong in my eyes
or maybe i like to sound smart
maybe i need some perspective
on winning
it's about perception really
it's what people believe and not what is the real truth
and therefore since people write the history
what the believe to be true becomes true
if you get what i mean...
ok you don't but thats beaciae i didn't explain.
a couple of weeks ago unionists ran amok in the north acting like big eegits
today the IRA announced that they broke all their weapons
(i know that i said they should give them to less fortunate terrorists but thsy didn't listen)
to unrelated acts
but history won't see that
they will write
amid rising unionist antagonism and a resurrection of violence on the streets of violence the IRA laid down their arms and
chose a peacefull future
you see perception
who looks like the bad guys now?
*i'd just like to say i'm no expert on this topic and to my mind anybody that acts like an eegit is an eegit
and if you act like a scumbag you're a scumbag i dont care about your 'cause'
so don't start picking it's just my opinion
it's what people believe and not what is the real truth
and therefore since people write the history
what the believe to be true becomes true
if you get what i mean...
ok you don't but thats beaciae i didn't explain.
a couple of weeks ago unionists ran amok in the north acting like big eegits
today the IRA announced that they broke all their weapons
(i know that i said they should give them to less fortunate terrorists but thsy didn't listen)
to unrelated acts
but history won't see that
they will write
amid rising unionist antagonism and a resurrection of violence on the streets of violence the IRA laid down their arms and
chose a peacefull future
you see perception
who looks like the bad guys now?
*i'd just like to say i'm no expert on this topic and to my mind anybody that acts like an eegit is an eegit
and if you act like a scumbag you're a scumbag i dont care about your 'cause'
so don't start picking it's just my opinion
Saturday, September 24, 2005
happy birthday
to me
yes it is my birthday
a not very exciting one cause i'm getting all old but a birthday nonetheless
it's early in the morning so not a lot has happened yet but i'll let you know.
yes it is my birthday
a not very exciting one cause i'm getting all old but a birthday nonetheless
it's early in the morning so not a lot has happened yet but i'll let you know.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
makes you want to cry
43 bodies are found in new orleans hospital
more than 30 bodies removed from a nursing home.
i remember a quote from the movie 'a few good men'
"we're supposed to protect people who can't protect themselves"
i dont know who's fault it is that this disaster has been handled so badly
but
i think it's time we look at our priorities
in other news
petrol prices hit €1.37 per litre at some petrol stations in dublin
perspective?
more than 30 bodies removed from a nursing home.
i remember a quote from the movie 'a few good men'
"we're supposed to protect people who can't protect themselves"
i dont know who's fault it is that this disaster has been handled so badly
but
i think it's time we look at our priorities
in other news
petrol prices hit €1.37 per litre at some petrol stations in dublin
perspective?
Monday, September 12, 2005
thoughts
been a bit of a busy few days so haven't had the time or inclination to post.
a close family member passed away on friday morning and over the last few days there's been a lot of reflection and rememberence, tears and laughter and it made me think
* live life to the fullest each and every day
* never be afraid to take a chance, if it's what you want to do, even if everybody else thinks you're mad, do it.
* failures are just lessons to be learned for next time.
* treasure your friends and family because when you go it's through them that you live on.
* with passion is the only way to do anything
* love
maybe in a week or two i'll write about albert, there are a lot of great stories, but i think he needs to rest for a while first.
safe home
a close family member passed away on friday morning and over the last few days there's been a lot of reflection and rememberence, tears and laughter and it made me think
* live life to the fullest each and every day
* never be afraid to take a chance, if it's what you want to do, even if everybody else thinks you're mad, do it.
* failures are just lessons to be learned for next time.
* treasure your friends and family because when you go it's through them that you live on.
* with passion is the only way to do anything
* love
maybe in a week or two i'll write about albert, there are a lot of great stories, but i think he needs to rest for a while first.
safe home
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
bon voyage
a few of my friends took off to see the world today.
they're going all the way round and back home again in a year or so.
take care guys
cya soon
they're going all the way round and back home again in a year or so.
take care guys
cya soon
Monday, September 05, 2005
the world lost a dear friend
awards and titlesdon't say enough.
a couple of days a go Prof. Sir Joseph Rotblat passed away at the age of 96.
Sir Joseph graduated from Warsaw University and worked there until 1939. while on a research trip to the uk his homeland was invaded by germany and he was forced into exile.
while in england he became concerned that germany were building the bomb and convinced the government to do something about it. as a result he was sent to work on the manhatten project in los alamos. however when he learned that the germans had stopped their work he protested that so should the allies. when the officials refused to stop their work he became the only scientist to leave the project on moral grounds. an action for which he was branded a traitor and barred from re-entering the us for a number of years.
in 1955 he signed along with 10 other eminent scientists and intellectuals the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, the document calls for the worlds leaders to seek peacefull resolutions to conflict and highlights the dangers of nuclear conflict.
"There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death." excerpt from russell-einstein manifesto.
following the publication of the manifesto Prof Rotblatt formed the Pugwash conference on science and world affairs. an organisation dedicated to convincing scientists to use their gifts and knowledge only for peaceful means and to promote the taking of an oath for scientists similar to the hipocratric oath for doctors whereby scientists would vow to do only good.
the conferences were unique in that they called together all the worlds leading scientists on the understanding that they gathered only for science and did not speak on behalf of governments but only as themselves. the conferences enabled scientists to discuss openly and freely their views on nuclear weapons.
for this work Prof. Rotblat and the Pugwash organisation shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.
at a conference i helped to organise in 2001, Sir Joseph was an invited speaker. the conference was a small, international conference for physics students. sir joseph spoke for over an hour about his life and his dedication to ridding the world firstly of nuclear weapons and then of war. he held a room of over 300 young students in awe as he an ageing man in his 90's spoke with passion of how we were the future and how it was our responsibility to take up the struggle for peace.
i recall thinking at the time of the power of mankind and how the power of one man over the course of his life was slowly but surely changing how the scientific community thought. more and more now adays sicentists are heard to say 'should we' instead of 'can we'
im glad to say i met Sir Joseph after his talk and later when he came to party with all the students. he spoke with a few of us about his correspondance with einstein and max born. his love for science and his hatred of war. he convinced me that the conscious is once of our strongest tools and if we live by our own we're probably on the right track.
it has always been one of my treasured moments to meet one of the worlds great thinkers and humanitarians and i'm deeply saddened that he is no longer with us although for the time he was among us the world was truelly blessed.
Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat
Rest in Peace
a couple of days a go Prof. Sir Joseph Rotblat passed away at the age of 96.
Sir Joseph graduated from Warsaw University and worked there until 1939. while on a research trip to the uk his homeland was invaded by germany and he was forced into exile.
while in england he became concerned that germany were building the bomb and convinced the government to do something about it. as a result he was sent to work on the manhatten project in los alamos. however when he learned that the germans had stopped their work he protested that so should the allies. when the officials refused to stop their work he became the only scientist to leave the project on moral grounds. an action for which he was branded a traitor and barred from re-entering the us for a number of years.
in 1955 he signed along with 10 other eminent scientists and intellectuals the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, the document calls for the worlds leaders to seek peacefull resolutions to conflict and highlights the dangers of nuclear conflict.
"There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death." excerpt from russell-einstein manifesto.
following the publication of the manifesto Prof Rotblatt formed the Pugwash conference on science and world affairs. an organisation dedicated to convincing scientists to use their gifts and knowledge only for peaceful means and to promote the taking of an oath for scientists similar to the hipocratric oath for doctors whereby scientists would vow to do only good.
the conferences were unique in that they called together all the worlds leading scientists on the understanding that they gathered only for science and did not speak on behalf of governments but only as themselves. the conferences enabled scientists to discuss openly and freely their views on nuclear weapons.
for this work Prof. Rotblat and the Pugwash organisation shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.
at a conference i helped to organise in 2001, Sir Joseph was an invited speaker. the conference was a small, international conference for physics students. sir joseph spoke for over an hour about his life and his dedication to ridding the world firstly of nuclear weapons and then of war. he held a room of over 300 young students in awe as he an ageing man in his 90's spoke with passion of how we were the future and how it was our responsibility to take up the struggle for peace.
i recall thinking at the time of the power of mankind and how the power of one man over the course of his life was slowly but surely changing how the scientific community thought. more and more now adays sicentists are heard to say 'should we' instead of 'can we'
im glad to say i met Sir Joseph after his talk and later when he came to party with all the students. he spoke with a few of us about his correspondance with einstein and max born. his love for science and his hatred of war. he convinced me that the conscious is once of our strongest tools and if we live by our own we're probably on the right track.
it has always been one of my treasured moments to meet one of the worlds great thinkers and humanitarians and i'm deeply saddened that he is no longer with us although for the time he was among us the world was truelly blessed.
Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat
Rest in Peace
Friday, September 02, 2005
two birds one stone
following from the tragedy in new orleans this week there are a huge amount of problems to solve
examples;
looting
and
loss of tourist industry
solution
organise safaris to shoot looters
examples;
looting
and
loss of tourist industry
solution
organise safaris to shoot looters
Thursday, September 01, 2005
if you think your job sucks
read this
i've copied it from a great site
www.iworkwithfools.com
definitly worth checking out
.....
>> Satan's List of Rules
[ Boss ]Anonymous writes...
"These are a list of rules that I can remember from my previous job - a hellhole (a very nicely decorated one, but a hellhole nonetheless). I worked for an egotistical, sexist, racist, egomaniacal, megalomaniac nutcase Satan(who was also extremely rich and eccentric) and here is the proof: Just a few of his rules:
1. All staples should be made at a 45 degree angle. If anything is turned into his office with a staple in any other form, it will be returned to the person and asked to be restapled.
2. Only large shiny silver paperclips will be used in the office. The use of any colored paper clip is not permitted because it is (in his 'humble' opinion) tacky. (Small shiny silver paperclips are permitted sometimes, but only if there are less than 5 pages in a set of papers.)
3. Binder clips of any size are strictly forbidden. He hates binder clips. No one knows why.
4. Always say please, thank you and I'm sorry. If you have been reprimanded, say "I'm sorry" even if it's not your fault. Even if you are innocent, your name has been involved in some sort of a problem thus, you should feel some regret.
5. When you walk down the hall, please pick up your feet. Do not trudge or slide your feet. Doing so gives you the appearance (and sound) of a herd of buffaloes (we got an email to this effect once- am NOT kidding.)
6. Eating at the desk is strictly forbidden. Also - food papers, food particles, soda cans and drink receptacles are NOT to be disposed of at your desk trash can, but in the designated can in the kitchen (under the sink).
7. Please smile and say hello to your coworkers whenever possible. If you don't, you will be labeled a snob.
8. Loud talking - especially over the cubicles, is NOT permitted. Keep your voice at a low even decibel.
9. The use of blue ink is strictly prohibited, because in his humble opinion it is "queer". Use only black or red ink. Use red ink only for corrections.
10. When you turn in corrections, place the sheet with red marks directly above the corrected sheet for his viewing. Do NOT do this in reverse order or there will be trouble.
11. You must account for every moment of your day in the daily log- which is due at 5:00 pm at the end of the day.
12. Radios and music are STRICTLY prohibited, for listening to music at one's desk is an enjoyment which takes away from actual work (he equated listening to music at one's desk as literal theft from him). However, you may, if you so wish, listen to the hold music, which consists of American Marches by such great composers as John Phillips Sousa and could possible stir you to work harder.
13. If you have three items in a sentence (such as jim, joe and jeff) NEVER place a comma before the article. To do so is treacherous.
14. Misspelled words are an abomination. You must write detailed explanations and apologies each time you make a mistake. (You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.)
15. Periodically, there will be an unannounced test that the entire office staff must take. On this test, you will be asked to name all of the executive staff as well as their titles, and the EXACT titles of several of the periodicals we publish. Failure is NOT a good sign. It says that you don't care about the organization. It says that you are not aware of your environment and thus, are not a team player.
16. Oh - and the use of the word team player is only permitted to his liking. At other times, he uses the quote "everyone's work is nobody's work" - either way - you're screwed.
17. If you don't change the toilet paper when it's getting low (or if you, GOD FORBID, leave the empty cardboard on the roller) an email will be sent to the entire building about the condition of the bathrooms and about the laziness of the staff. Change the toilet paper, FOR GOD'S SAKE! 18. Remember, the boss man is watching how you park from his window in his "lair". (His corner office is high above the lot). He can tell what kind employee performance you're going to put in just by the way you park and how you exit the car. So - do so with an upbeat attitude. (He told us this at a meeting once!)
19. Do NOT slouch at your desk. POSTURE is important. If you are caught slouching, it might be put into your performance review (as it was put into mine) as one of your employee flaws.
20. Also, try not to look tired and worn out at the end of the day. He doesn't like that. It sickens him. This is another thing that could show up in your performance review (again - it showed up in mine).
21. NEVER call in sick on Monday or Friday. He thinks it looks bad. If you call in sick on Monday, it makes you look like you're hungover from a weekend of partying and if you call in sick on Friday, it looks like you're starting your wild and raucous wine-bibbing early. And - if you are genuinely sick - oh well. (He had a hard time believing people were ever really sick. This is the type of person who, if you were bleeding out of your eye sockets would say something like - Well - put on these goggles. You don't need your eyes to type, do ya? Didn't you learn the QWERTY method?)
22. There are 1 million more writing and editing rules that I won't go into."
i've copied it from a great site
www.iworkwithfools.com
definitly worth checking out
.....
>> Satan's List of Rules
[ Boss ]Anonymous writes...
"These are a list of rules that I can remember from my previous job - a hellhole (a very nicely decorated one, but a hellhole nonetheless). I worked for an egotistical, sexist, racist, egomaniacal, megalomaniac nutcase Satan(who was also extremely rich and eccentric) and here is the proof: Just a few of his rules:
1. All staples should be made at a 45 degree angle. If anything is turned into his office with a staple in any other form, it will be returned to the person and asked to be restapled.
2. Only large shiny silver paperclips will be used in the office. The use of any colored paper clip is not permitted because it is (in his 'humble' opinion) tacky. (Small shiny silver paperclips are permitted sometimes, but only if there are less than 5 pages in a set of papers.)
3. Binder clips of any size are strictly forbidden. He hates binder clips. No one knows why.
4. Always say please, thank you and I'm sorry. If you have been reprimanded, say "I'm sorry" even if it's not your fault. Even if you are innocent, your name has been involved in some sort of a problem thus, you should feel some regret.
5. When you walk down the hall, please pick up your feet. Do not trudge or slide your feet. Doing so gives you the appearance (and sound) of a herd of buffaloes (we got an email to this effect once- am NOT kidding.)
6. Eating at the desk is strictly forbidden. Also - food papers, food particles, soda cans and drink receptacles are NOT to be disposed of at your desk trash can, but in the designated can in the kitchen (under the sink).
7. Please smile and say hello to your coworkers whenever possible. If you don't, you will be labeled a snob.
8. Loud talking - especially over the cubicles, is NOT permitted. Keep your voice at a low even decibel.
9. The use of blue ink is strictly prohibited, because in his humble opinion it is "queer". Use only black or red ink. Use red ink only for corrections.
10. When you turn in corrections, place the sheet with red marks directly above the corrected sheet for his viewing. Do NOT do this in reverse order or there will be trouble.
11. You must account for every moment of your day in the daily log- which is due at 5:00 pm at the end of the day.
12. Radios and music are STRICTLY prohibited, for listening to music at one's desk is an enjoyment which takes away from actual work (he equated listening to music at one's desk as literal theft from him). However, you may, if you so wish, listen to the hold music, which consists of American Marches by such great composers as John Phillips Sousa and could possible stir you to work harder.
13. If you have three items in a sentence (such as jim, joe and jeff) NEVER place a comma before the article. To do so is treacherous.
14. Misspelled words are an abomination. You must write detailed explanations and apologies each time you make a mistake. (You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.)
15. Periodically, there will be an unannounced test that the entire office staff must take. On this test, you will be asked to name all of the executive staff as well as their titles, and the EXACT titles of several of the periodicals we publish. Failure is NOT a good sign. It says that you don't care about the organization. It says that you are not aware of your environment and thus, are not a team player.
16. Oh - and the use of the word team player is only permitted to his liking. At other times, he uses the quote "everyone's work is nobody's work" - either way - you're screwed.
17. If you don't change the toilet paper when it's getting low (or if you, GOD FORBID, leave the empty cardboard on the roller) an email will be sent to the entire building about the condition of the bathrooms and about the laziness of the staff. Change the toilet paper, FOR GOD'S SAKE! 18. Remember, the boss man is watching how you park from his window in his "lair". (His corner office is high above the lot). He can tell what kind employee performance you're going to put in just by the way you park and how you exit the car. So - do so with an upbeat attitude. (He told us this at a meeting once!)
19. Do NOT slouch at your desk. POSTURE is important. If you are caught slouching, it might be put into your performance review (as it was put into mine) as one of your employee flaws.
20. Also, try not to look tired and worn out at the end of the day. He doesn't like that. It sickens him. This is another thing that could show up in your performance review (again - it showed up in mine).
21. NEVER call in sick on Monday or Friday. He thinks it looks bad. If you call in sick on Monday, it makes you look like you're hungover from a weekend of partying and if you call in sick on Friday, it looks like you're starting your wild and raucous wine-bibbing early. And - if you are genuinely sick - oh well. (He had a hard time believing people were ever really sick. This is the type of person who, if you were bleeding out of your eye sockets would say something like - Well - put on these goggles. You don't need your eyes to type, do ya? Didn't you learn the QWERTY method?)
22. There are 1 million more writing and editing rules that I won't go into."
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