To be fair, they didn’t say the first bit. But it’s hard to argue that politics didn’t influence the timing, for reasons we’ll come to shortly. But first, the news: As I type these words, stock markets are surging globally. And why wouldn’t they? A 90% effective Coronavirus vaccine means, well, the end of the […]
In the face of massive protests, the government of Poland has delayed indefinitely the implementation of a law banning abortions of children with birth defects. The country’s supreme court ruled last month that this was unconstitutional, sparking huge demonstrations every day across the country. The government, led by the conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS), […]
China began its once-a-decade census on November 1st. About seven million community workers and volunteers will help to count the world’s largest population. It is expected to take two months to complete, with the results released in April 2021. Over 400,000,000 households will be included, from the country’s largest cities to its most remote villages. Though there […]
Nothing congeals in Ireland quite so quickly as conventional wisdom, and in the days since Joe Biden was declared President Elect by the US media, the conventional wisdom in Ireland has hardened like concrete: He’s going to shaft the British on Brexit and plant his flag firmly in the old sod of Ballina – take […]
Let’s face it: they’re not wrong. If ever there was going to be a time to legalise drugs, it’s now, right? We can all forget about this blasted pandemic and get high: Drugs could be decriminalised under the current government if all parties work together to help those with addiction issues, Labour said. Aodhán Ó […]
It wasn’t Leo’s fault at all you see, this whole fuss about the leaking of confidential documents. The real issue is that when you’re madly popular and powerful (and a media darling to boot), all these hangers-on start to think you’re their friend, when you’re not. It’s the kind of problem other globetrotting celebs like Prince Harry – and […]
On Tuesday, October 20, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Google Inc under the provisions of the Sherman Antitrust Act, charging that the firm is a “monopoly gatekeeper for the internet”. This is the first time the DOJ has used the Act since 1998, when similar charges were filed against Microsoft. The Microsoft case failed to […]
A stark image here, via Gavan Reilly: pic.twitter.com/QxyaTuWiLy — Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) November 7, 2020 This is, of course, an absolutely terrible development, but most people seem incapable of understanding why. That’s largely because attitudes to Trump fall into two camps, and they are almost irreconcilable. The first camp includes almost every Irish journalist, and […]
Much is being made here of Biden being a “friend indeed to Ireland.” Actually if you examine these paeans what you generally find is that the purveyor of this means that he will be a friend to their friends, and unlike Trump, knows some mediocre poet who is also their chum. Real cosmopolitans are our […]
One of the noticeable aspects of the Trump campaign, which Irish people would not have noticed inside the echo chamber of the lazy and biased reporting of RTÉ and other D4 emigres in Washington, was the prominence of non-white people among Republican candidates and supporters of the President. When it seemed that things were going […]
An interesting, but ultimately certain to be futile, move: NEW: Sinn Féin have put down a motion of no confidence in Leo Varadkar over the leak controversy. Will be debated next week — Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) November 6, 2020 With all the noise around the US election, the Varadkar/Maitiu O’Tuathail scandal has sort of faded […]
What will change over the next day or two? Who can say? Will we wake up to the smile of a victorious Joe Biden (likely)? A chastened and contrite Donald Trump (unlikely)? A messy and disputed election (O, please, God, no!)? What will not change is the groupthink at America’s leading newspaper, The New York Times. […]