Author Archives: Bodger

USS Connecticut

This morning/afternoon.

Almost a dozen sailors have been injured after a U.S. nuclear attack submarine hit an unknown underwater object in the South China Sea, USNI News has learned.

The Seawolf-class nuclear attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN-22) suffered an underwater collision while operating in international waters on Oct. 2 and is returning to port in U.S. 7th Fleet, a U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman confirmed to USNI News on Thursday.

Attack Submarine USS Connecticut Suffers Underwater Collision in South China Sea (USNI)

Meanwhile…

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region.

Statement regarding USS Connecticut (SSN 22) (US Navy Pacific Fleet)

Anyone?

Pic: US Navy

Warsaw’s long-running confrontation with Brussels escalated yesterday when Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the country’s constitution takes precedence over some EU laws

This morning

Via Politco:

French European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune has blasted Poland’s controversial court ruling, which states that the Polish constitution takes precedence over some EU laws, as an “attack on the European Union.”

Beaune said Friday on BFMTV that if there is “no basic respect for the common rules of rights and freedoms of Europe,” there can be “no support” for Poland.

Accusing Poland of breaching its “contract” with the EU, Beaune added: “It is therefore very serious, it is the risk of a de facto exit.”

In response to the ruling of the Polish court, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said that the EU “will use all the tools” at its disposal to protect the primacy of European law which is “at the heart of the Union.”

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, dismissed the idea of a so-called Polexit from the EU and said on Facebook Thursday evening that “Poland’s place is and will be in the European family of nations.”

Bić się!

French Europe Minister slams Polish court ruling as ‘attack’ on the EU (Politico.eu)

Getty

Football legend John Giles

Last night.

On Off The Ball:

“A lot of players are not being vaccinated, which I don’t agree with.

“I think they should be vaccinated, he (Republic of Ireland forward Callum Robinson) has had it twice himself who knows where he spread it to when he did have it.

“I think footballers are being given a lot of freedom in this particular situation. I think they’ve been privileged in some of the things that they can do because they’re footballers.

“I read the other day that some of the journalists weren’t allowed in (to the Ireland press conference) because they weren’t vaccinated.

“I can’t understand it and I think in this case I think they’ve (footballers) been too privileged.

“They’ve created an awful lot of rules so that they can go on trips and continue to play and do various things that I don’t think people on the other end of it are being taken into consideration.

‘”think it’s wrong, I think professional footballers are privileged, but when it comes to this they’ve been very loose in allowing certain things to happen.”

John Giles on Off The Ball last night.

John Giles slams ‘privileged’ footballers refusing to get vaccinated (Extra.ie)

Yesterday: One For The Team

RollingNews

Meanwhile…

Um.

Meanwhile…

The decision to demolish the iconic Merchant’s Arch area in Temple Bar and build a new hotel in its place has caused fury

This morning.

Via Irish Times Letters:

The decision of An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for the development of a hotel at the Merchant’s Arch in the face of public opposition and against its own inspector’s recommendation is another egregious example of “hasten now to regret later” thinking that is an unfortunate mark of so many developments within Dublin city.

The wholesale emphasis upon building hotels to accommodate tourists has angered the many people who are increasingly unable to secure accommodation, either temporary or permanent, within the city.

The capacity to build hotels makes the oft-expressed concerns regarding a shortage of construction material and workers sound hollow. The unthinking desire to bring even greater numbers of visitors into the city is making it increasingly unlivable for its citizens.

The Merchant’s Arch development was permitted despite the fact that “none of the architectural or planning jargon that swirls around this scheme can justify it”.

Quite apart from this observation and the anger and upset already caused, is it unreasonable for the public to expect that even the most blinkered of planners should recognise that the partial destruction and defacement of an historic landmark, which is an element of what attracts visitors to the city, in order to accommodate those same visitors, is absurd?

Joseph O’Gorman,

Dublin 8

Irish Times Letters.

Wednesday: Arch Villains

Pic: Wikipedia

Meanwhile…

This morning/afternoon.

Via New York Post

President Biden is being widely mocked on social media for running a “Truman Show presidency” after he was pictured speaking from a fake White House set that features a digital view of the Rose Garden in full bloom from a fake window behind him.

Twitter erupted after Biden was spotted sitting in front of the digital projection window on Wednesday as he held a meeting with business leaders and CEOs on the need to raise the debt ceiling.

Some ridiculed Biden for using a “literal game show set” as president, while others accused him of deliberately trying to deceive Americans into thinking he was in the White House.

Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser of President Donald Trump, claimed Biden only used the imitation White House set so he could read a script directly from a face-on monitor.

Biden mocked for ‘Truman Show presidency’ over fake White House set (New York Post)

Alternatively…

Conservatives online are continuing to push a conspiracy theory that President Joe Biden was in a “fake Oval Office” as they tried to spread accusations about his fitness for office. But in reality, he was just using a set in an auditorium across the street from the White House.

The “fake Oval Office” conspiracy tends to insinuate that Biden isn’t mentally fit to be president, or is not actually the president. It crops up frequently, most recently when Biden received his COVID-19 booster shot and yesterday when he held a meeting with business CEOs about the debt limit.

But the answer is much more simple: Biden was holding the meeting in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The Biden ‘fake Oval Office’ conspiracy once again makes waves online (Daily Dot)

Getty/EPA

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney this afternoon

This afternoon.

Merrion Street, Dublin 2.

West Brit hits the fan.

Coveney to attend event marking NI centenary after President Higgins declined invitation (Independesnt.ie)

Meanwhile….

Um.

RollingNews

Above from left: Conor Keane (son of the late playwright John B Keane, who wrote Sive); Conor Doyle (godson of much-loved Dublin actor and comedian Jimmy O’Dea); Ellen Bonner of Riverdance; and Joe Conlan, Gaiety Pantomime Dame, with the An Post stamps celebrating 150 years of opening nights at the Gaiety

This afternoon.

King Street, Dublin 2.

An Post celebrates 150 years of opening nights at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre with a series of stamps that show scenes from Abdication’ (1948), ‘Dick Whittington’ (1957), ‘Riverdance’ (2017) and the Druid theatre company’s ‘Sive’ (2018) by John B. Keane.

Stamps available here

Photo: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland