Author Archives: Bodger

This Christmas.

Give pot a chance.

Brian Colhoun writes:

My uncle Jim Behan from Carlow is a pure craftsman. He has been, for the 35 years I remember, making pottery. His dedication to it is astounding.

His kiln in his garden in Carlow is one of the most amazing places you could be, 1000s of items created there. A staple of his nieces’ and nephews’ childhood visiting Carlow.

He now, finally, has it available online. The work is intricate as it is beautiful.

In fairness.

Dolmen Pottery

Irish-Made stocking fillers to broadsheet@broadsheet.ie marked ‘Irish-Made Stocking Fillers’. No fee.

 

Incidents of spitting and the use of anti-spit hoods (top) as used by An Garda Síochána

This afternoon.

Ahead of a report by the Policing Board of Northern Ireland on the PSNI’s use of spit hoods expected at Midnight…

Via RTÉ:

…Gardaí have used anti-spit hoods 118 times while policing during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report from the Policing Authority.

The hoods, the use of which has been criticised by both the Authority and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, have been used 100 times on males, 18 times on females and six times on children.

They have been deployed mainly in Dublin (on 51 occasions) and mostly during assaults and public order incidents – 54 times for public order offences and 34 times during an assault.

In 79 cases, the person appeared to be intoxicated, while in 16 cases the detainee was believed to have a mental health issue. In one case, the person was perceived to have “obvious signs of a learning disability“.

Report in full here

Policing Authority report finds strong compliance with virus restrictions (RTÉ)

Above from left: Minister for Housing Darrah O’Brien TD, Peter McVerry, and Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust,

This morning/afternoon.

Haddington Road, Dublin 4.

Minister for Housing Darrah O’Brien helped launch the Peter McVerry Trust annual report and announce a ‘major new construction programme of social housing units’ by the charity at the construction site of 18 new housing units.

Annual Report (Peter McVerry Trust)

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump

This afternoon.

Via CNN:

Biden is taking calls with leaders of the country’s top allies and appearing on camera, which reflects the inevitability of his ascent to power. Meanwhile the President is staying behind closed doors, tweeting in wild block capital letters and unleashing a purge of the Pentagon’s civilian leadership in what one current defense official called “dictator moves.” And William Cohen, former Secretary of Defense and Republican senator, told CNN’s Don Lemon the administration’s conduct is “more akin to a dictatorship than a democracy.”

Meanwhile…

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Says She Has 500 Sworn Affidavits on 11,000 Incidents of Voter Fraud (Gateway Pundit)

Pennsylvania is ground zero for President Trump’s efforts to establish that he won the 2020 presidential race with all legal votes counted. While it is not the only state where Trump is contesting the results, without Pennsylvania, he has no viable path to a majority in the Electoral College.

Lawyers for Trump’s reelection team have raised several issues with how the commonwealth conducted the 2020 election, alleging voter fraud, a two-tiered system for mail-in and in-person voting, a lack of meaningful access for Republican poll watchers, and the acceptance of ballots after Election Day in violation of Pennsylvania election law.

Meanwhile…

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar revealed  that roughly 10,000 mail-in ballots were received between when the polls closed on Nov. 3 at 8 p.m. and Friday at 5 p.m., the time window considered a grace period after a controversial state Supreme Court ruling.

Many of the 94,000 provisional ballots also mentioned by the Democratic official are still being counted, according to PennLive.com, and 49,000 ballots cast by mail and arrived before polls closed have yet to be tallied.

Alarm grows over Trump administration acting ‘more akin to a dictatorship’ as he denies election defeat (CNN)

Pennsylvania received 10,000 mail-in ballots after polls closed on Election Day (PennLive)

A user’s guide to Trump’s Pennsylvania election challenges (Washington Examiner)

Meanwhile…

VOIGHT! FIGHT!

From top: Village magazine website; Tanaiste Leo Varadkar arriving at the Dáil in the Convention Cerntre

Yesterday

“There is more to this story than the sharing of a confidential document. I wish to speak about that for a moment.

“Our democracy is strong but we are not immune from the corrosive forces being experienced in other established democracies. I refer to fake news, conspiracy theories, the far right, the far left, unregulated fringe publications and unverified social media grievances, score-settling and smears masquerading as journalism, activism or some sort of anti-corruption crusade.

…I wish to put on the record that many of the claims made about me were trumped-up or simply made-up. Monday’s [Village] article was just one example of this. It alleged ten encounters, many of which simply did not and could not have happened, particularly as I was in Brussels on two occasions, Barcelona on one, out of Dublin on another or demonstrably doing Government business. It claimed four meetings with the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Harris, which also never happened. All could have been easily verified and checked if the truth mattered. Truth did not matter, however, and was not the objective.”

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar during his no-confidence debate yesterday.

Anyone?

At least 10 times not 2 or 3 (Village)

RollingNews

Last night.

‘The Healthy Debate’ presented by Lindie Naughten in association with Health Freedom Ireland.

An hour-long show where Broadcaster George Hook (top left) and investor and commenter Graham Neary (right) take issue with the mainstream media’s coverage and response response to Covid restrictions and strategy.

Thanks KN

Adrian McCusker, founder of the PostASelfie App

This morning.

Helen O Dwyer writes:

The Irish PostASelfie app from a small business based in Kilkee in Co Clare is an ideal way to stay connected without leaving home.  It is now FREE to send a PostASelfie postcard to Nursing homes in just a few clicks.

PostASelfie want to help keep people connected and bring a smile to people in Nursing Homes by offering their service FREE until the end of the Level 5 Restrictions.

The postcards are covered with a wipeable laminate so they can be easily wiped down on arrival for extra safety.

Simply write the word FREEPOST | NURSING HOME above the address of the nursing home or residential facility.  It is imperative to include this in order to ensure delivery. Then swipe left to bypass the payment system and enter the voucher code: withlove (all lower case)…

Post A Selfie

Irish-made stocking fillers to broadsheet@broadsheet.ie marked ‘Irish-Made Stocking Fillers’. No fee.

Pic by Arthur Ellis

HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry

This morning.

The HSE has suspended distribution of the flu vaccine to GPs and pharmacies after it emerged that claims for 600,000 doses are missing.

In a letter sent to doctors and pharmacists on Monday, the HSE said that approximately 1.3 million vaccines have been distributed to date, but only 700,000 of those have been recorded as administered vaccines on the claims system used by healthcare professionals to reimburse costs.

As a result, it is not clear whether or not the remaining 600,000 vaccines have been administered.

However.

Via RTÉ News:

The Health Service Executive has rejected newspaper reports that hundreds of thousands of doses of the flu vaccine have gone missing.

The executive’s Chief Clinical Officer said 50,000 doses were held back to ensure they are delivered to those areas most in need.

Dr Colm Henry said there have been unprecedented levels of demand for the vaccine this year and 1.3 million doses have been distributed already – an increase of 20% from the same period last year and the most the HSE has ever distributed.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said the HSE normally holds back a certain amount of the vaccine to ascertain where the gaps and priority areas around the country are and where the vaccine needs to be delivered to.

HSE won’t release any new flu vaccine jabs as 600,000 ‘go missing’ (Independent.ie)

HSE rejects claims over missing flu vaccine (RTÉ)

RollingNews