This afternoon.

The Irish Open, Lahinch, County Clare.

Via Extinction Rebellion Ireland:

Members of Extinction Rebellion Clare who disrupted the first day of the Irish Open golf tournament in Lahinch today  say they wanted to appeal to its global TV audience to demand urgent action by the world’s governments to prevent a climate catastrophe.

At 1:20 pm, just as Shane Lowry was approaching the 18th green, the Clare-based climate activists unfurled a huge banner that read, “Game Over: Climate Action Now!”

Aisling Wheeler of Extinction Rebellion Clare said:

“We disrupted the golf event for a few moments to draw attention to the unimaginable disruption to our world that is threatened due to climate breakdown. If governments do not take radical action very quickly, the result will be catastrophic extreme weather events, drought and food shortages, from which Ireland will not be spared.”

She added:

“This action is not anti-golf. We expect real golf lovers to understand. Some of the best golf courses are by the coast, so golf is the sport most threatened by climate breakdown. And golfers love the outdoors.”

FIGHT!

This afternoon.

Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Mother and baby Home survivor Sheila O’Byrne, from Irish First Mothers outside the Dáil. Sheila says Mother and Baby Home survivors are seeking a national memorial as well as justice and payment owed due to the amount of work they carried out while being kept in homes around Ireland.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

This afternoon.

Dublin Castle.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar  the ‘Church State Structured Dialogue Process’ to discuss “issues of shared importance”. between the government and religious institutions.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Behold: the 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL Coupe. They called it ‘The Batmobile’ and you can see why.

Based on the E9 Coupe, the CSL reigned utterly supreme in its day – taking the European Touring Car Championship trophy in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979 along with a legendary win at Le Mans in 1973.

The monstrous rear aero wing shipped in the boot for installation at the owners’ discretion as it was illegal in Germany at the time.

Up for auction next month.

uncrate

Alas, now getting shorter again.

A composite image of the time between the Winter and (nearly) Summer Solstice (December 21, 2018 to June 16, 2019) all compressed into a single point of view. To wit:

 Dubbed a solargraph, the unconventional picture was recorded with a tall, tube-shaped pinhole camera using a piece of photographic paper. Fixed to a single spot at Casarano, Italy for the entire exposure, the simple camera continuously records the Sun’s daily path as a glowing trail burned into the photosensitive paper. Breaks and gaps in the trails are caused by cloud cover. At the end of the exposure, the paper was scanned to create the digital image. Of course, starting in December the Sun trails peak lower in the sky, near the northern hemisphere’s winter solstice. The trails climb higheras the days grow longer and the June 21st summer solstice approaches.

(Image: Gianluca Belgrado)

apod

An Army driver with the USA 3rd Infantry Division, 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, drives a Bradley Fighting Vehicle into place yesterday by the Lincoln Memorial, Washington ahead of today’s Fourth of July festivities

This morning.

Washington DC.

Thousands are gathering  in the US capital to celebrate the birth of America with a parade which this year will feature Army tanks, a flyover of military jets, Air Force One and fireworks.

Via USA Today:

The centerpiece? A speech from President Donald Trump — the first time in decades that a president has addressed the crowd.

But protests are expected and Trump is facing criticisms over the costs of the event and has been accused of injecting politics into a traditionally nonpartisan event. This year’s celebration won’t just attract tourists, Washington, D.C., residents and families looking to observe the holiday.

Both protesters and supporters of the president are descending to the heart of the nation’s capital – potentially putting the patriotic holiday on a collision course for partisan fights.

Thousands expected for Donald Trump’s 4th of July celebration, featuring tanks and lots of protests (USA Today)

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile…

Oh.

Pic: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

We have literally no idea what this means.

Is this encryption code?

Anyone?

Ye pups.

Go on outta that.

Mad tings.

*shakes fist*

Thanks Bebe

Yesterday evening.

In the Dáil.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar compared opposition leader Micheál Martin to a parish priest “who preaches from the altar, telling us to avoid sin while secretly going behind the altar and engaging in any amount of sin himself”.

It followed questions from Mr Martin about the National Development Plan and its costs and Mr Martin asking the Taoiseach not to be “petty, silly and idiotic” in his response.

Good times.

Taoiseach compares Fianna Fáil leader to sinning parish priest (RTE)

Broadsheet.ie