Category Archives: Misc

Tonight

Leinster House, Dublin 2.

Meanwhile..

Earlier…

Labour Party Leader Alan Kelly with Labour TD for Fingal, Duncan Smith (in background)

Update: Alan Kelly will make a statement about his political future at 7pm this evening at Leinster House.

Earlier…

This evening.

Sources have confirmed there had been criticism of Mr Kelly’s leadership style as the party continues to stall in the polls.

One representative said that Mr Kelly’s plan to improve the party would involve him “travelling around the country, pressing the flesh”.

Another source said that issues had come to a head in last week’s parliamentary party when Mr Kelly faced serious criticism from the representatives present, with one TD saying that they ultimately felt that the decision on Mr Kelly’s future would lie with Dublin Fingal TD Duncan Smith.

“If Duncan says he has to go, he has to go,” they said.

Anyone?

Alan Kelly’s leadership of Labour Party in doubt after months of internal strife (Irish Examiner)

Leah Farrel/RollingNews

A Troxler Nuclear Moisture Density Gauge

STOP!

It’s a Troxler, you damn fool.

This afternoon.

Via RTÉ

A nuclear gauge containing a radioactive source is among a number of items stolen from a van in Drogheda, Co Louth.

The van was parked in The Downs, Highlands, and the items were stolen sometime between 6pm yesterday and 6.30am today.

A Troxler Nuclear Moisture Density Gauge containing a radioactive source was taken. The device is used by engineers to measure density and moisture content in construction materials.

The Environmental Protection Agency said there is a potential risk of exposure to radiation, particularly if the case is opened and the equipment is activated.

Great.

That’s all we need now.

Radioactive device stolen from van in Co Louth (RTE)

Pic via Troxler Labs

This afternoon.

Take that, keyboard warriors.

Also: please don’t join the Azovs.

FIGHT!

Thanks Stephen Moran

Meanwhile…

…The Ukraine or simply Ukraine?

Anne Marie Devlin, of University College Cork, writes:

The word Ukraine may be understood in a particular way which can have a profound impact on how the country itself is viewed. For many Russian speakers, the word Ukraine is transparently broken down into two main parts or morphemes.

They are ‘u’ and ‘krai’. ‘U’ can roughly be translated as ‘at’ in English. ‘Krai’ means ‘edge’. As a result, the word ‘Ukraine’ may conjure up an image, not of an independent nation, but of a region at the edge of a sovereign country, which presumably is Russia.

This mental image of a region on the edge of a country was further solidified in Russian and Ukrainian by the preposition which traditionally accompanied the country’s name; and in English by the use of the definite article (The Ukraine).

The word Ukraine had been collocated with the preposition ‘na’ (on) instead of the more common ‘v’ (in) in both Russian and Ukrainian despite the fact that ‘na’ (on) is more commonly used for regions and ‘v’ for countries.

This may seem superficial. After all, it’s only a preposition, but feelings around it run extremely high. In 1993, the Ukrainian government formally requested that the Russian government change the preposition from ‘na’ to ‘v’ in official documentation with the aim of receiving ‘linguistic confirmation of its status as a sovereign state’. While the Russian state reacted nonchalantly, over time, the new linguistic form was adopted by many people.

However, in a 2016 study I conducted into the weaponization of the use of prepositions in Russian social media during the Crimean crisis, results strongly suggest that the use of ‘na’ vs ‘v’ was deliberately used by many people as a political football to demarcate political and ethnic faultlines.

In short people intentionally used ‘na’ to position themselves as pro-Kremlin, thus denying the sovereignty of Ukraine; and ‘v’ to position themselves as anti-Kremlin and to acknowledge Ukraine as an independent nation.

‘na’?

Or ‘V’?

You must decide.

Kyiv vs Kiev: why the right names matter in Ukraine (RTE)

This afternoon.

St Canice’s Hall, Finglas, Dublin 11

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien at the launch of a new development of 32 homes through Co-operative Housing Ireland (CHI), an Approved Housing Body (AHB).

Minister O’Brien said AHBs are expected to provide over 40% of the newly built social housing this year provide housing through home-ownership, shared ownership and social rented co-operatives.

AHBs to provide 40% of social housing this year – O’Brien (RTE)

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Dirty Dreamer – Piano 39

A song in the key of life.

Formed out of the ashes of Come On Live Long, Dirty Dreamer (top) fly the flag for ambient electro-folk on their new single. Their album The Everyday In Bloom is out on April 8.

The trio are Louise Gaffney, Daithi O’Connor and Ken McCabe.

Louise writes:

“Piano 39 was one of those tracks that almost wrote itself. Daithí started quietly humming a gorgeous melody while jamming a middle section. In between chords I managed to hit the mic so it swung around on the stand and just caught it as he was coming up with it. That little passing moment became the hook.

“The final verse is trying to describe one of those shiny moments of clarity you can have at random when you notice an everyday moment of beauty and you are completely pulled out of yourself.”

Nick says: Don’t shoot the keyboard player.

Dirty Dreamer

Ah here.

This afternoon.

The Royal Canal.

Lockkeepers Cottage, Strand Road, North Strand, Dublin 3.

Jdawg writes:

In a short while I saw 3 microwaves, at least 10 kids scooters, 4 bikes and a bunch of tyres picked up between two lock gates at Lock 1 North Strand. Was chit chatting and was told this is just the last skip load. There were several more taken out.

Last night.

US State of the Union.

Happy out.

Meanwhile…

Fair enough.

Meanwhile…

Seems to have gone well.