123 thoughts on “Wednesday’s Papers

  1. Charger Salmons

    I’m usually too modest to say I told you so.
    But let’s be fair, in this instance I did.
    Project Fear just coughed up a big furry hairball.

    ‘ Over 70% of British imports arriving into Dublin Port clearing without delays ‘
    ‘ The percentage of cargo coming into Dublin Port from Britain and getting Revenue clearance to immediately enter the State has jumped from less than 50 per cent to more than 70 per cent in a week as carriers and importers grow accustomed to new customs regulations.
    … when freight was delayed as a result of the changes to the rules regarding imports from Britain, the time goods vehicles were being detained was typically measured in hours rather than days. ‘
    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/over-70-of-british-imports-arriving-into-dublin-port-clearing-without-delays-1.4456608

    If you have the correct paperwork computer says yes.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      What your figures don’t show is that the number of trucks arriving has drastically reduced. https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/brexit-trucks-ireland-holyhead-stuck-19595751

      Haulers are struggling to get backloads, due to the fact that UK companies don’t have the ability to complete documentation.

      Stena Line has cancelled sailings because of this already. so, no surprise that some companies have got their house in order and can ship without problems.

    2. ReproBertie

      “the volume of goods coming into Dublin Port so far this year was down on the same period last year, something he attributed at least in part to advance preparation and stockpiling by some importers in advance off [Sasamach]”

      Of course we did say that the teething problems would be ironed out but it’s interesting that the article doesn’t mention Revenue temporarily easing the customs arrangements for businesses importing goods from Britain which was done as traders were experiencing significant difficulties coping with post-Sasamach border controls. Have the full customs arrangements been imposed again?

    3. SB

      Maybe because the Irish Revenue decided on a temporary relaxation on customs checks so as to allow goods to flow into the country from the UK without further delay?

    1. benblack

      Now, let’s do aborted babies on the front page.

      Sorry, no names, didn’t even get to that.

      Moral outrage.

          1. millie bobby brownie

            Nice try but not tonight. Feel free to look up some old threads from May 2018 if you want to rehash that debate, but I’m not biting.

            I’ll bid you a pleasant evening and leave it there, thanks.

          2. scottser

            Does the living creatures thing apply to the rat that’s living down the end of the garden? Cos that fooker is getting poisoned this week.

          3. benblack

            @scottser

            I had a rat in my attic over Christmas – long story – however, he must have got in when the door in the shed was open because the window in the shed was shut and made his way in through there – that is, my attic.

            I seriously believed that the rat was following me around the house because no matter where I was in the house – he seemed to follow. Instead of dreaming of greater things over Christmas, I dreamed of rat poison – which I did not have.

            And, then, an epiphany:

            Perhaps he was not targeting me but was looking for a way out and followed my meanderings around the house as possible exits.

            Long story short, I opened the window in the shed and he/she was gone within the hour.

            Simple.

            Thou Shalt not Kill.

            Lesson learned.

          4. Nigel

            Priest sermon voice: And in a way, don’t we all have a rat in our attic following us around scratching away and nibbling the insulation? And we want to kill that rat, but rats are big and scary and we’d prefer to pretend it wasn’t there but it just won’t stop scratching and scrabbling and you can’t sleep and it’s driving you feckin mad MAD. But put down the hammer. What if all that little rat wants is to be set free? Released from the attic of your heart to scamper away into the compost heap of life. And that rat? Is Jesus. And you were going to smash his skull in with a hammer. This Christmas open your heart attic and set the Jesus rat free. And that will be the greatest gift of all.

          5. scottser

            Good for you black. I’ll just let the rat infect the end of the garden with Weil’s disease then. Or maybe you could come around and do your pied piper of crumlin trick on it?

          6. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            get the loan of a jackie, mine would sort that out for you in five minutes

          7. benblack

            If I venture outdoors, then my risk of Covid is much higher than normal.

            To suggest that I should leave my house and go into my garden is criminal.

            #StayAtHome.

            Believe or not, I was lucky to have a smart rat.

            He/She knew the way out.

      1. Cú Chulainn

        Typical RC response.. oh look over there, think of de unborn babies.. you and your ilk disgust me.. what happened is a terrible indictment on our society and the Church. What has happened with this report is arguably far worse. There was a defensive of ‘we knew no better’ which no longer applies. Whoever steered the report is likely a member of Opus Die, or some such.. may they rot in hell…

          1. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            he loves them them the way the church loves children conceived out of wedlock #drownedkittens

      2. Gerry

        Abortion is a separate topic, voted on by the citizenry. It’s a complicated issue of balancing rights between the pregnant woman and her zygote/foetus.

        Here we have a classic example of religious orders acting wickedly, with the connivance of the state, like the Magdalene laundries and the industrial schools.

        Even if we accept your disingenuous whataboutery your logic makes no sense, even if (and I don’t believe it is) abortion is wrong, how does that excuse babies dying of neglect and disease buried secretly with no record?

        Don’t get me started on the lies, the coverups, the bull€&@? justifications. Damn the religious orders, damn the clergy, damn them all, shameless hypocrites protecting child rapers, lying to organs of the state, avoiding liability, neglecting and secretly burying babies, arranging illegal adoptions etc etc etc.

        Corruptio optimi pessima

          1. benblack

            @Gerry

            And, by the way, religious orders and governments did not do this – individual human beings – people – did this, whether collectively or otherwise.

          2. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            that’s because you can only test for certain disorders or even realize you are pregnant depending on your cycle etc by week 9 or as late as 12, as you can only abort until 12 weeks here it’s actually not that helpful

          3. millie bobby brownie

            Yeah I’d have missed out on that window on both my pregnancies. My periods are like busses. They show up maybe sometimes and only if they’re in the form for it.

          4. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            I was training hard for a marathon ( virtual boo) and sometimes they get fairly sketchy when I amp it up, I didn’t cop until week ten ( was curiously getting thicker instead of leaner :)) and then I did all the chromosome testing because of my age, if there had been something seriously wrong I would have had no options in Ireland.

          5. millie bobby brownie

            Oh that must have been such a kick in the teeth. All that training, only to be told no more fun for you madam.

          6. ( ̄_, ̄ ) AKA Frilly Keane

            I was coming up on 18 weeks when the GP asked
            after a very dodgy few days that included the Munster Hurling Final that was a afternoon tea time and night before do n’ all – so ye can only imagine..

            Vanessa – Is there any chance you could be pregnant

    2. Junkface

      Millie
      “That’s a brilliant front page by the Examiner.”

      +1
      A grim reminder of Ireland’s inhumane and religiously controlled past. Tragic.

  2. LT

    My, that Examiner page is something. A shameful, shameful episode which continues to have ramifications for so many. I just saw a recap of cervical scandal on one of those year in review programmes. Those poor, poor women. Ineptitude, turning a blind eye, play to the tune of the process, basic humanity forgotten, women disproportionately affected….is it endemic in our systems? In our psyche?

          1. Nigel

            ‘I’m putting together a team for a very special Mass.’
            ‘No. Count me out. I left all that behind a long time ago.’
            ‘You know you can never really leave. It’s in your blood.’
            ‘Get someone else. I have a family now, a life.’
            ‘We need you. Nobody else knows how to work the thurible.’

  3. Charger Salmons

    To be honest old bean that’s only a slight improvement on writing Troll Troll Troll 15 times a day.
    But we are talking about the barest of all margins.
    Still, if that’s what passes for rib-tickling humour up there near the Artic Circle you go with it pal.
    Marvellous.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      Well, well, well. The UK media have run with the school meal scandal in the UK. Pity Charger didn’t point them to his ‘information’

  4. ce

    Question – what would Jesus do?
    … he’d hand over the birth certs and documents with no questions asked
    shame about the earthly followers

    1. Charger Salmons

      Meanwhile the EU’s very own poodle in RTE has popped up to assure Irish viewers that everything is hunky-dory with the EU vaccine procurement programme and that we should all move along as there’s nothing to see here.

      https://amp.rte.ie/amp/1189121/?__twitter_impression=true

      Apparently the reason Tony Connelly has been much later getting to the story than anyone else is that his article had to be translated from German and then wiped down to remove the lubricant before he could post it.
      But even his bosses at RTE drew the line at this sentence and asked for it to be removed.
      ” Mein Gott, Ursula von de Leyen is some babe – hubba,hubba,hubba.”

    2. Charger Salmons

      Charger’s Vax Fact # 14

      Latest overnight UK total shows 2,843,815 doses have been administered.

      No figures yet for Ireland.

      1. Charger Salmons

        Charger’s Vax Fact # 15

        The UK has a Vaccines Deployment minister appointed specifically to deal with the roll-out of the various vaccines and absolutely nothing else.
        At this moment Nadhim Zahawi is being questioned extensively by the UK Parliament’s cross-party Science & Tech Select Committee about every aspect of the delivery and roll-out.
        Among the items being considered are 24-hour vaccination centres.
        There is no hiding place for him because it is being broadcast live on Sky News and the BBC.

        Where is the same accountability and information being provided in Ireland ?

        1. Charger Salmons

          Boris being quesioned this afternoon about C-19 and vaccines by the UK parliament’s Health Select Committee.
          Again live on TV and open to MPs of all sides to grill him.
          Meanwhile Ireland’s BOGOF leaders Mehole and Varadkar cower being formal non-televised briefings and PR spin.
          They cannot believe their luck at getting away with it.

          1. Joe F

            You were throwing around a lot of numbers earlier clown man. Could you tell us the death rate per million population in the UK and Ireland? And also the number of cases per million population for both countries?

      1. Nigel

        That whole sanctity of life thing really is half a centimetre wide and half that again deep, isn’t it?

        1. Daisy Chainsaw

          Like most so called “pro life”, benblack is really just anti choice. Once you’ve evacuated the vaginal canal, benblack stops caring.

  5. Steph Pinker

    FAO Alick Douglas (or any other virologists): is there a correlation between blood type and severity of Covid-19 symptoms?

    1. alickdouglas

      Like any of these population level associations, it’s unclear, but there’s a fair bit of literature which suggests there might be something going on.

      Here’s a relatively recent reference https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19623-x

      It’s a pretty readable paper actually. A couple of highlights. 1) the magnitude of the risk isn’t clearly mentioned; when you look at the figures, it’s a very small risk associated with non-O types, and it’s statistically fragile, with wide error margins. 2) It seems that certain blood groups have increased risk for infection, and some increased risk of intubation. They seem to be referring to intubation as a proxy for ‘severe disease’, which you could argue about (I think it’s not too bad myself). 3) The discussion of the bias and potential for error in the study is very well discussed at the bottom, and it would overall make me extremely suspicious of whether it’s a real association or not. I’ve done a fair bit of research in the past on ‘ethnicity’ and risk of infectious disease, and it’s a minefield. However in short, in Britain at least there is a clear association between ethnicity and risk of infectious disease (I appreciate that this is not exactly news). The authors of the Nature paper from New York noticed that when they made statistical correction for race/ethnicity there was a major impact on the result (although I believe the association with ABO remained, although slim). Given there is some association between blood group and ethnicity, there could be a more complex relationship.

      Finally what are the policy implications of such a finding if it were true? On a population level, relatively few people know their blood group. On an individual level you might want to adapt your behaviour if you fall into an ‘at risk’ category, but I suspect there are other, more obvious factors which would adapt behaviour than blood group.

  6. Tommy Bohan

    Good to see the Irish Times shown here. Hope Broadsheet make this a permanent feature. I for one am sick of the “Oirish” Daily Mail and its obsession with Megan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate and other members of the British Royal family. It’s far more like an English paper than an Irish paper.

    1. Charger Salmons

      Poor Tommy is upset that the Irish Daily Mail isn’t printed in green and written by leprechauns.

  7. ReproBertie

    Ireland is set to be awarded more than €1 billion as part of a European Union fund to offset the impact of [Sasamach].

    The State’s allocation is around one quarter of the total amount to be paid out of the [Sasamach] Adjustment Reserve Fund this year.

    Ireland’s allocation is the largest in the bloc, followed by a proposed €757.4 million for the Netherlands, €455.4m for Germany, €420.8m for France, €324.1m for Belgium and €247.6m for Denmark — the countries that trade most closely with the UK.

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/ireland-awarded-over-1bn-from-eu-fund-to-offset-brexit-impact-1.4456771?mode=amp

    1. Charger Salmons

      It’s ever so sweet that you copied and pasted the Irish Times report then went to the trouble of replacing every Brexit word with Sasamach.
      I bet you did a secret high five with an imaginary Michael Collins when you’d finished.
      Keep the faith Begorrah.
      Respect.
      ( Just a shame there was nothing you could do about the link – heh,heh,heh.)

      1. ReproBertie

        I’ve been doing that for years Spoofer. Perhaps you’re just less gin-soaked than usual this morning.

        I notice you had nothing to say about the actual article. It wasn’t that long ago where you were telling us that France would get the most and we’d be left empty handed but, look, France are 4th and getting less than half the amount allocated to Ireland.

        1. Charger Salmons

          I can understand you writing Sasamach instead of Brexit in something original of yours.
          We all have our foibles.
          But to copy and paste an Irish Times article on here then go to the trouble of removing every use of the word Brexit to replace it with Sasamach ?
          And to do this for years ?
          And be proud of it ?
          Man, that really is sad.
          You have my sympathies.
          But you’ll understand I’m going to be chuckling about that for hours.

          Heh x duine

          1. ReproBertie

            I did it twice in that article. It took seconds. It undoubtedly takes you longer to type in some misogynistic insult anytime you feel the need to comment on a female EU politician or the wife of an EU politician.

            Still no comment on the article of course. Best to deflect than face up to the benefits of EU membership.

          2. Charger Salmons

            Okay, keep you gruaig on old sport.
            I just thought it made you look a bit of a leathcheann brónach.

            Heh x Naoi déag a sé déag

          3. ReproBertie

            Bheul féach ar tusa ag baint triail as an Gaeilge. Maith thú.

            Ach arís níl focail asat faoin airgid ón AE.

            Heh x €1Bn mar a deirtear.

          4. Brother Barnabas

            “you’ll understand I’m going to be chuckling about that for hours”

            now THAT is a sad existence

            in fairness

    1. ( ̄_, ̄ ) AKA Frilly Keane

      All that stuff about coding n’ stuff is like reading an instruction manual in Dutch to me

      But I was surprised to read that it was a WordPress site

      Which probably – now that I think about it, kinda encourages my own (only recently developed btw) theory that Q n’ all that was actually the second half of the great Awakening / Trust the Plan enterprise

      1. Rosette of Sirius

        Parler. Funded by the same family that brought us Cambridge Analytica. Parler. Required a government ID to verify members on sign up (in the US, read social security number). Parler. Built such shoddy coding that every singe message posted by every single user is no longer just in their possession. Parler. In time, will possibly be viewed as the greatest tech con job since the one that was Facebook/Cambridge Analytica. Parler. A treasure trove of evidence that will most likely cement the convictions of hundreds if not thousands of its members.

        1. ( ̄_, ̄ ) AKA Frilly Keane

          Like I said

          QAnon etc was only the 2nd half of the Plan / Great Awakening

          Getting Trump into the White House was the first Half

          Now the real reset can begin

          I know tis just me, but still

          btw folks – had a real great conversation last evening about the role of the Secretary of State for the State of …. and how they get appointed, and take turns etc. Also stuff on how Candidates deliberately whip up rural back woods voters into loud angry ranty mobs to try and drown out the larger districts in more populated areas, municipalities and big Cities.
          It might be a Stay Tuned eile

          1. Junkface

            I always find it strange and a little ironic that Mitch McConnell, the man who regularly destroys working, and middle class lives in America, one of the most powerful men in the USA, comes from Kentucky. A broke, almost bankrupt, basket case of a state who completely rely on funding from the tax payers of wealthy New York and California. Without those states giving Kentucky handouts, it would be ruined. Yet in turn, the man from Kentucky makes their lives hell. The level of injustice in the USA is off the charts.

          2. Rosette of Sirius

            Not disagreeing with you at all V. How man wake up calls is that now for them? Five or is this one an extension of the last now?

            Be hilarious to find out that Trump actually hails from Kolob.

            Should make that a thing.

          3. V aka Frilly Keane

            Think the point there JunkFa
            Is that lads at Mitch McConnell’s level on ‘Merkican politics actually don’t represent Constituents
            All they care about re-election is making sure they raise enough money
            An example to compare with – and I’m annoying myself here as well,
            But a good example, is Bertie Ahern
            No matter how high up the ladder he got – even to Taoiseach
            No matter what kinda trouble he was after causing or was in
            He was still knocking on doors most Saturdays
            And made sure every call was answered by one of the St Jude’s lot

            Mitch McConnell is a play maker
            And long game player
            I’m sure of it
            And he was no stranger to Trump’s latest impeachment
            ‘sure of that too

            He should behave guided Trump better since November
            And he didn’t
            Why?

    2. Junkface

      Wow! They were fairly amateur about their ‘Twitter beater’. It’s kind of poetic justice. A load of right wing trolls engaged on Parler because they were ousted from Twitter for bad behaviour, or just plain old crazy Qanon rubbish, now all of their nasty messages were copied and they risk being exposed. It’s kinda funny. I’m sure there were thousands of innocent users who were not being trolls, so hopefully they have nothing to worry about.

      1. Rosette of Sirius

        The most valuable piece of personal identification we have here in Ireland is our PPS number – our lives are anchored to that one single identifier. And in the US it’s social security. Imagine giving that up to rant, rage and plan the executions of the ‘Libs’….

  8. V aka Frilly Keane

    Here’s all anyone needs to know

    If the Catholic Church could do it all over again
    All of it

    They f’ing would

    The biggest oldest and most successful criminal enterprise of all time

    So no matter what your own engagement is with the Catholic Church
    Remember that

    1. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

      +1
      I really don’t understand why people still baptise their children with an organization proven over and over to hate them

      1. Cian

        Based on my peers:
        – To get into school
        – To please granny.

        (and a small number actually Believe and want their children to go to heaven)

        1. Brother Barnabas

          that’s really only an issue in DLR-Rathdown from what I can see

          and there are ways around it

        2. ( ̄_, ̄ ) AKA Frilly Keane

          The biggest failure of the Irish Labour party
          and I know there’s plenty competition
          But this is my top pick

          When Labour had Education (2011-2016)
          Ruari Quinn (followed by Jan O’Sullivan) but particularly when Ruari was in the office

          They should have taken the schools back
          That was our moment

          He was the lad to get it done
          meanwhile, Ed is now back in the hands of the 1950s with Sr Norma (herself no stranger to corruption while in public office btw)

          What actually upsets me most about the Taoiseach yesterday is that he would have known girls sent to Bessborough and other places
          And there was zero demonstration from him that he finds that hard to live with

          Of course it must be remembered he may actually still be employed by the Presentation Brothers, even if he isn’t, its still a conflict of interest, as influence is most defiantly present.
          Likewise with Sr Norma

          You have the Catholic Church with their own people around the Cabinet table
          do ye think Sr Norma declared a Conflict of Interest when the Cabinet spoke about this?

          1. Brother Barnabas

            in fairness to you, frillz, you’re on fire with your comments these last few weeks

            (and on Norma – I try to avoid commenting on a politician’s appearance and personality etc, but its hard not to with this one: an appearance, demeanour and set of attitudes that belong in the 1940s. and when a government puts her in charge of something as important as Education, it doesnt say much for its commitment or interest in cultivating anything progressive or innovative. they dont give a sh 1t)

          2. ( ̄_, ̄ ) AKA Frilly Keane

            Nothing at all to do with her Appearance

            Sr Norma is a title she was known as even before getting elected

            Remember her own local party didn’t put her on the ticket
            It was Michael Martin, who backed her up with HQ recourses

            Local FF did a lot of work cleaning up the reputation of the party
            Corruption is never far away from Norma Foley

            And for that alone she is Unfit for a Senior Ministerial Post

            I know I’ve been doing loads of talking about it, but ‘Probity 2021’ is on its way, if I could stay off the internet and keep the head down, I’d have had it done ages ago

            BTW I know you mean well by your comment about my comments here
            but don’t – it actually pokes a few .itcy digs from a few ‘special purpose’ login is that lie beneath
            besides the Broadsheet lads don’t like it

      2. Micko

        As an ex catholic (atheist) I had my daughter baptised Church of Ireland for the schools. They have lower class numbers than the catholic schools. At least in my area. So I was gaming the system. Plus i saw the Church Of Ireland as the lesser of two evils. :)

        I wasn’t too happy about it at the time and thought I was gonna be one of those Dads who would contradict everything the school was teaching her.

        But, it hasn’t turned out like that at all. She’s 6 now and I kind of like the fact that she’s getting a religious education.

        I don’t know what it is, it’s like there’s some mystery or magic to things for her still. Plus, when my Mum died it was much nicer to say she’s gone to heaven rather than “the eternal nothingness”. It comforts her to think her Gran is looking after her.

        Maybe it’s like Santa Claus and she will come to the realisation herself that it’s BS. But for now – it’s kinda nice.

        All the stories she hears about Jesus and stuff are all nice stories with good messages.

        I don’t see the harm – right now anyway.

        1. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

          I was in Church of Ireland school ( I’m x presbyterian ) , if I may the difference is you are allowed to ask questions and disagree and there’s none of the confession mikarky of sins etc,
          I was with the nuns briefly as a teenager….the hail mary every 40 minutes …what !!! and harassed by every nun in the building saying they pray for me etc,
          In Paris it was easy because no religion in schools, ( I remember the young fella asking me who was the dude on the stick at a wedding …haha ), I remember tears when he understood things die and some day so would Daddy but kids bounce back,
          this time around I’d probably see Church of Ireland as lesser of two evils too plus smaller classes as you say but would prefer education together if poss.

          1. Micko

            “… the dude on the stick” – now that’s really being out of the loop! Ha!

            Yeah, the confession element of Catholicism always freaked me out. Used to make up sins going to tell the priest. Plus, my local church didn’t do the traditional confessional box thing. It was just a room, so the priest knew exactly who you were. ;)

            I wonder would that be allowed nowadays – child and priest in a room alone? Or any adult for that matter?

          2. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            well I explained he was a human sacrifice that somehow proved love etc ,
            in fairness he was more upset by the whole suckling pig at the meal after

          3. Rosette of Sirius

            I had the nuns and the Christian Brothers for my primary education up to 4th class. The were utter muck savage barbaric animals. Then I had the Jesuits right thru to the leaving and they were a mad oul bunch. Was more a humanist education than anything else. I went into school believing because that what you did as a kid. I finished school an atheist. But with a strong moralistic and humanist approach to life.

  9. Nigel

    Not trying to cheer anyone up or anything, but:
    “‘A ghastly future’: Leading scientists offer bleak prediction for civilisation
    Biodiversity loss and climate change coupled with inaction ‘threatens survival of all species’”

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/a-ghastly-future-leading-scientists-offer-bleak-prediction-for-civilisation-1.4456653

    Eco-Eye episode on the killing of Lough Carra
    https://twitter.com/EcoEye/status/1348711834287796226

      1. Nigel

        0 Dem no votes, 10 Rep yes votes. This is apparently historic, the most bipartisan impeachment eva.

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