Author Archives: Bodger

Aung San Suu Kyi (second right)  is greeted at Dublin Airport in 2010 after her release from house arrest in Myanmar with then Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore (right), and from left: Bill Shipley, of Amnesty Internatonal, and U2’s Bono

This morning.

Myanmar’s military has seized power and detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of her governing party after they declared the November 2020 Myanmar general election results fraudulent.

In 2017, critics called for her Ms Suu Kyi’s Nobel prize to be revoked, citing her silence over the persecution of Rohingya people.

Via BBC:

All authority has been given to the top army commander and a one-year state of emergency has been declared, a statement on military TV said.

The coup follows a landslide election win by Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

She urged her supporters “not to accept this” and “protest against the coup”.

In a letter written in preparation for her impending detention, she said the military’s actions put the country back under dictatorship.

Myanmar coup: Aung San Suu Kyi detained as military seizes control (BBC)

RollingNews

GameStop share price as of 4.30pm.

This afternoon.

Further to a Wall Street backlash against trading shares in GameStop, the US video game retailer, whose share value climbed more than 900% since members of the Reddit community WallStreetBets banded together in an effort to push the stock higher…

Via CNBC…

…At some point, the thinking goes, shares of GameStop will stop climbing, either because most of the shorts have given up and are no longer forced into buying the stock to cover losing positions or because brokers or U.S. market regulators intervene.

At that point, human nature kicks in: Retail investors will watch as their paper profits evaporate, and the natural impulse will be to sell, according to the executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak frankly. Latecomers to the party will sell in fear, contributing to a stampede for the exits and a drop in the shares, they added. The same forces that helped the stock catapult higher will contribute to a rapid decline.

Still, there is no telling when a true unwinding will occur or how long it will take. The shares were rebounding sharply in Friday’s premarket, up another 80% to $332 a share, after Robinhood reversed course and said it would allow limited purchases of the stock…

.with millions of Redditors wielding free trading apps, full saving accounts and not much else to do, it’s possible that there is a new playbook for fast gains in the stock market.

This is how Wall Street thinks the Reddit-fueled GameStop trade unravels (CNBC)

Yesterday: Gaming A Rigged System

Owen Keegan, former Director of Traffic Dublin City Council,in 2003

Boo, hiss.

The council is seeking approval from councillors to introduce a 12-month pilot scheme to allow fixed-charge notices to be issued to motorists whose vehicles are blocking bus lanes, cycle paths, clearways and access to driveways.

It is also proposed that such on-the-spot fines will be issued for vehicles parked on footpaths and non-commercial vehicles parked in loading bays, as well as illegally-parked coaches and buses.

In a report to be discussed at a meeting of the council’s traffic and transport committee next week, council officials will outline how clamping vehicles parked illegally in bus and cycles lanes as well as clearways is not the preferred option as it ensures the disruption continues until the owner returns, pays a release fee of €80 and the clamp is removed…

Took your bleedin’ time.

Motorists in Dublin city could face fines instead of clamping (Irish Times)

RollingNews

Rik Daems, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, addressing council members this week

The Council of Europe  – an international Strasbourg-based organisation comprising 47 countries aimed at ‘protecting human rights and the rule of law in Europe ‘- has adopted the following ethical guidelines for member states ‘with respect to ensuring high vaccine uptake’…

7.3.1 ensure that citizens are informed that the vaccination is NOT mandatory and that no one is politically, socially, or otherwise pressured to get themselves vaccinated, if they do not wish to do so themselves;
7.3.2 ensure that no one is discriminated against for not having been vaccinated, due to possible health risks or not wanting to be vaccinated;
7.3.3 take early effective measures to counter misinformation, disinformation and hesitancy regarding Covid-19 vaccines;
7.3.4 distribute transparent information on the safety and possible side effects of vaccines, working with and regulating social media platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation;
7.3.5 communicate transparently the contents of contracts with vaccine producers and make them publicly available for parliamentary and public scrutiny…

Covid-19 vaccines: ethical, legal and practical considerations (Council of Europe)

Earlier: Nothing To Read Here

Oh.

This morning/afternoon.

The European Commission published a redacted version of its contract with drugs giant AstraZeneca on Friday, hoping to prove the company had breached a commitment on coronavirus vaccine deliveries.

Releasing the document, EU spokesman Eric Mamer said it would show that the contract covers AstraZeneca plants in the UK and that “these plants will contribute to the effort … to deliver doses to the European Union”.

EU publishes redacted AstraZeneca vaccine contract (RTÉ)

Yesterday: Non-Vintage

Meanwhile…

Ah here.

When asked to sum up the year in an emoji, the top five chosen by teens were the face-mask emoji, the crying emoji, the sick emoji, the confused emoji and the poo emoji.

Are the kids alright?

Katie Allen writes

An online survey of over 1,000* secondary school students by Irish mobile education app, Exit Entry has highlighted the challenges faced by Irish teens during 2020. The vast majority (88%) stated that their education had been adversely affected in 2020, due to having missed out on a conventional school year.

At an age when friendships are all-important, over half of those surveyed (55%) found not seeing their friends to be the most challenging aspect of Covid-19, ahead of home-schooling, the disrupted school year or anxiety about contracting the virus.

While a lifeline for some, only 5% of students have used Zoom to connect with friends. TikTok currently reigns supreme as the social media app of choice with 58% choosing it as their favourite, with Snapchat as second choice with 20%….

…To find out more about the Exit Entry app and how to enter to win one of 5 Huawei Smart Phones, visit here.

Exit Entry

From top: Tommie Gorman and Vincent Kearney

This morning.

RTÉ have announced the appointment of Vincent Kearney to replace  Roy Keane-bothering veteran Tommie Gorman as Northern Editor for RTÉ News.

Via RTÉ:

Vincent has previously worked as a reporter and producer for daily news and documentaries at the BBC including four years with BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight programme. Prior to joining RTÉ he was Home Affairs Correspondent for BBC Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Correspondent with The Sunday Times and also worked for the Belfast Telegraph for nine years. Vincent is a native of west Belfast but has spent the last 31 years living with his wife Louise and family in Lurgan, County Armagh.

Meanwhile,paying tribute to Tommie Gorman, RTÉ News boss Jon Williams said:

“For 41 years, from Brussels to Belfast, via Sligo and Saipan, Tommie Gorman has been the beating heart of RTÉ News. He has earned the trust of audiences, north and south – and of all sides in Northern Ireland, telling their story, sharing his insights, and championing RTE’s role as an all-island news organisation.”

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