Category Archives: News

news as it is happening-ish

A COMMITMENT that the Government will not delay a decision on the sale of State assets has been given by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin.

He was responding to the report of the review group on State assets and liabilities, chaired by economist Colm McCarthy and published yesterday, that details how €5 billion could be raised through the sale of State assets.

Mr McCarthy advised against a “fire sale” of State assets, saying “they can’t be put up on Ebay tomorrow”. He added, however, that assets would never recover the value they had at the peak of the boom, and that waiting for 2006 or 2007 prices would mean waiting forever.

So, sometime next week, then.

Companies identified for disposal worth €5bn (Irish Times)

(Photocall Ireland)

The Winkelvoss twins, who claim they were defrauded by Facebook when the company settled their lawsuit over Zuckerberg stealing their idea for Facebook, filed an appeal Monday of a decision telling them to be happy with the $65 million payout they negotiated.

The twins, former Olympic rowers who hired their Harvard classmate Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 to help with their social networking site, were told a week ago by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to drop their attempt to undo a 2007 settlement.

That settlement, created in mediation, gave the twins $20 million in cash and $45 million in stock.

Winkelvoss Twins Appeal Dismissal of Facebook Lawsuit (Wired)

Why Winklevoss’ Latest Appeal Petition Will Go Nowhere (Paid Content)

pic via bibliojunkie

 

On Friday, the FBI shut down three of the world’s most popular online poker sites, replacing their home pages with the screen above.

The three sites are: Poker Stars (based in the Isle of Man); Absolute Poker (based in Costa Rica) and Full Tilt Poker (founded in Los Angeles but relocated to Dublin after the US Congress attempted to shut down online gambling in 2006).

From Joseph Menn at the Financial Times:

US prosecutors have charged the founders of three of the world’s largest online poker companies with bank fraud and other offences, in the largest crackdown since Congress banned electronic gambling transactions in 2006.

In an indictment unsealed on Friday, the government accused the creators of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker of illegal gambling, money laundering and bank fraud.

From Nathaniel Popper and Tiffany Hsu at the LA Times:

Eleven people, including the founders of the three largest poker sites open to U.S. players, were charged by a federal grand jury with bank fraud, money laundering and violating gambling laws. The government also is seeking to recover $3 billion from the companies.

Full Tilt Poker has since responded to the shut-down.

Dublin Ireland (April 15, 2011) – Full Tilt Poker is saddened by today’s charges against its CEO Raymond Bitar and offers its full support to Mr. Bitar and Nelson Burtnick.

Online poker is a game of skill enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the United States and across the world. And, Full Tilt Poker remains as committed as ever to preserving the rights of those players to play the game they love online.

Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal – a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States. Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abiding by the law.

“I am surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick’s and my exoneration,” said Mr. Bitar.

Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend “real money” play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.

Also: Poker Companies Face Online Fraud Charges (Irish Times)

Via BoingBoing

Walter Breuning’s earliest memories stretched back 111 years, before home entertainment came with a twist of the radio dial. They were of his grandfather’s tales of killing Southerners in the Civil War. Breuning was 3 and horrified: “I thought that was a hell of a thing to say.”

World’s oldest man dies in Montana at 114 (Google News)

 

SARAH CAREY RESIGNS AS IRISH TIMES COLUMNIST

March 25th 2011

Following a meeting with Editor Geraldine Kennedy earlier today, it was clear to me that I had no choice but to resign my position as columnist with The Irish Times.

The background to my resignation is as follows.

In January, 2003, I provided Stephen Collins, now Political Editor of The Irish Times, then Political Editor of The Sunday Tribune, with data about donations made by Denis O’Brien to all political parties. Included was a letter from Michael McDowell of the Progressive Democrats, acknowledging one such donation.

When queried by the Moriarty Tribunal on this, in order to protect the confidentiality of my dealings with Stephen Collins, I told my legal team I had not been the source of the leak. (Because it was a Tribunal, rather than a court case, I had no right to protect myself by remaining silent.)

It is important to reiterate that I did not lie under oath to the Tribunal. Indeed, when I came to give evidence under oath at the Tribunal, I told the whole truth about the leak and denial.

All of this was known to The Irish Times – indeed had been reported in that paper by Colm Keena on Thursday January 22nd 2004, four years before they hired me as a columnist. When discussing my impending appointment, the Editor made it clear that she had no problem with my past involvement with Denis O’Brien, and would be happy for me to write about the Tribunal and related issues, as long as I clearly stated, at the beginning of any such column, that I had worked with O’Brien and appeared at the Tribunal. This I did.

On Wednesday morning, at 11.30, I was instructed to scrap a column I had written for the paper for this week and, instead, to write about the Moriarty Report and what it said about me. At no time was it indicated to me that my position was in question.

When I met the Editor today, I pointed out to her that she had known since 2004 all of the facts on which her current attitude was based.

I have told TV3 that I would like to take a break from TV presenting. TV3 have confirmed that they respect my decision. I will present my Newstalk show tomorrow and in the following weeks.

I will make no further comment on this.

Sarah Carey


Two of the Fukushima Fifty pour over plans as they try to work out how to fix the stricken plant

Workers collect data in the control room for Unit 1 and Unit 2. They must wear rubber suits to prevent as much radiation from entering their bodies as possible

Workers in protective suits work on a transmission tower to restore electricity to Units 5 and 6

Like the ‘liquidators’ who risked, and in many cases lost their lives cleaning up in the immediate aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the heroes of Fukushima have been hard at work in unimaginably horrific conditions since March 11.

Although some power has now been restored to the facility, the workers known as the “Fukushima Fifty” face a difficult job getting pumps and circuits to operate the crucial systems that provide cooling for the reactors and the spent fuel stored on site.

The photos released by Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency are the first look inside the plant since the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami that flooded the facility and crippled the back-up generators needed to cool the radioactive fuel.

Pictures: A Rare Look In side Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant (National Geographic)

Fukushima: Get Ready For the Chernobyl Solution (Big Science News)

additional pix via Mail Online

Meet Maire Whelan, the new government’s legal advisor and the first female attorney general in the history of the state.

Maire, a barrister from Kinvara, Galway, was chairwoman of the free legal aid service FLAC and is a protégé of of Michael D Higgins. So we’re guessing/hoping she might be the first progressive AG for a couple of decades. Maire also knows a thing or three about Nama having literally helped write the book (below).

It’s a rollicking read as you can imagine and makes an excellent weapon should an intruder come into your room at night. Maire’s now working on the much-anticipated sequel, Nama And The Deathly Hallows.

(Photocall Ireland)

SHELL EP Ireland has hired the Transocean-owned Sedco 711 rig to carry out work on a number of wells in the Corrib gas field 80km (50 miles) off the Mayo coastline.

Mobile Drilling Rig Returns To Corrib Field (Irish Times)

Transocean?

Owner of the Deepwater rig used by BP which sank in the Gulf of Mexico last year killing 11 workers and spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the sea.

But wasn’t that a one off?

Not quite. A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed: “Nearly three of every four incidents that triggered federal investigations into safety and other problems on deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico since 2008 have been on rigs operated by Transocean, according to an analysis of federal data.”

Oh.

Gulf Rig Owner Had Rising Tally Of Accidents (Wall Street Journal)

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency (Nama) may have to consider lending to property buyers to kick-start the flagging market, according to Steven Seelig, one of its board members.

Mr Seelig, a former senior official at the IMF, said Nama might have to offer loans to property buyers, including residential homes, to stimulate sales as the banks are not lending on property.

Nama May Need To Lend To Property Developers (Irish Times)