Topics

Trying to sort out my home internet make the best use of all the gadgets that use the internet
Currently the broadband comes into the house away from where it is needed most. I have BT Powerline extender plugged into the socket and this feeds the Skybox direct. The rest of the TV stuff is off WIFI but not sure i am getting the best of out them ( i have Fire Stick, Android Box, Smart TV).
Should i be looking at getting some other type of kit so i can plug in direct to each of the boxes? Its not feasible to wire direct from the router to the TV

Serbia deports Russians suspected of plotting Montenegro coup
https://www.theguardian.com/uk

What the f**k is Putin up to now?

https://medium.com/@bestofthemail/i-was-upvoted-for-posting-nazi-propaganda-about-migrants-in-the-daily-mail-8996899810b4
We Were Upvoted for Posting Nazi Propaganda about Migrants in the Daily Mail
So as a social experiment, @DMReporter and I wanted to see what level of support the comments would get if we took some famous pieces of Nazi propaganda and changed the word 'Jew' with 'migrant'

Looking for advice on getting a new car and the finance options available if paying through a company ( lease hire etc)
Currently not registered for VAT but that will prob change soon, how does affect the different finance options?
Anyone able to summarise the different options available (leasing, contract hire, contract purchase, sale and leaseback) with the pros and cons?

With the Olympics fast approaching i find myself stumbling opon artlicles about past Irish sportsmen but the stories of these lads are rivetting expesially in the context of where Ireland was politially at the time

Irish Whales
For over two decades — from the second Modern Olympic Games in 1900 to the Los Angeles Games in 1932 — Irish-born athletes did exceptionally well competing for other countries — and Ireland after independence in 1922 — particularly in the strength events (i.e., shot put, discus, hammer throw). In the seven Olympic Games including the Intercalated Games in Athens, many athletes from the Irish-American Athletic Club alone won 26 gold, 22 silver, and 8 bronze medals with 21 of the medals coming in the strength events.[1]
The Irish Whales: John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan, James Mitchell    
The Irish Whales (1904)
John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan
and James Mitchell

In particular, the hammer throw was money for many Irish Whales. Beginning with the great John Flannagan in 1900 and continuing through to Pat O'Callaghan in 1928 and 1932.


John J. Flannagan (1873-1938) From Kilbreedy County Limerick, Flannagan began the Irish domination of the strength events in the early century by winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the hammer throw in 1900, 1904, and 1908 when he threw for an Olympic record 170' 4-1/4" on his last throw and besting world-record holder McGrath (silver) and Cork's Cornelius Walsh competing for Canada (bronze). (Note: the hammer throw was not an event in 1906). Between 1896 and 1909, Flanagan broke the world record 15 times. His last record in 1909 was 184' 4", more than 37' longer than his first record. This made him the oldest world record breaker in the history of athletics at 41 years and 196 days old. Flanagan returned to Ireland in 1911 and later coached Dr. Pat O'Callaghan to two Olympic gold medals.[2]
   

Martin J. Sheridan (1881-1918) The leanest of all the Whales, Sheridan was one of the greatest U.S. Olympic athletes who successfully competed in a variety of events. Sheridan won 9 Olympic medals — including five Gold medals — in jumping and discus events in 1904, 1906, and 1908. Sheridan also set the AAU U.S. All-Arouond record (later broken by Jim Thorpe in 1912).
   


Matthew J. McGrath (1878-1941) From Nenagh County Tipperary, McGrath had one of the longest and most consistent careers of any athlete. His second world record, set in 1911, was 187' 4". He won silver in the hammer in 1908 and then succeeded Flannagan in 1912 by winning gold in truly dominating fashion: his shortest throw was over 15' longer than any of the other competitors' best throws. In 1920, he finished fifth after injuring his knee and then took another silver in 1924 becoming the oldest American medalist ever at age 47. He barely missed making the U.S. team for the 1928 Games. He attained the rank of inspector in the New York City Police Department and received the NYPD's Medal of Valor twice.[3]


Pat "Babe" McDonald (1878-1954) The massive 6' 5" and 300lb McDonald, from Doonbeg in County Clare on Ireland's west coast was the son of poor farming parents. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1901 and joined the New York City Police Department in 1905, serving with distinction for 41 years. As a traffic officer in Times Square, McDonald was called the "Living Statue of Liberty" by the local press. In 1912, he won the gold medal in the shot put with a throw of 50' 4" and the silver medal in the two-handed competition (adding the best throw from each hand together to get one distance) with a total of 87' 2". At the 1920 Antwerp Games, he won the 56-pound weight toss (36' 11") at age 42.[4]


Patrick J. "Paddy" Ryan (1887-1964) From Pallasgreen County Limerick, Ryan emigrated to the U.S. in 1910. Not eligible to compete for the U.S. team in 1912, he set the official IAAF world record the following year with a hammer throw of 189' 6-1/2". This mark stood as the world record for 25 years and as the U.S. record for 40 years until 1953. In 1920 at age 33, he stood 6' 3" and weighed 265lbs. He won the Olympic hammer throw with a toss of 173' 5-3/4" with the largest margin of victory ever (14-1/2' over Swede Carl Lindh). He retired from competition in 1921 and returned to Ireland in 1924 to work the family remaining there until his death.[5]

Pat O'Callaghan (1905-1991) From Kanturk in County Cork, Dr. O'Callaghan was the first person from an independent Ireland to win an Olympic medal being a surprise gold medalist in 1928 with a throw of 168' 7". Shortly after, he was invited to compete for Great Britain in a meet against the U.S. He declined, stating, "I have seen too many Irish boys shot down in front of their homes to be willing to represent the British and I know too well how America has provided homes for the Irish, to compete against her."[pat] In 1932 he experienced a gut-wrenching surprise: the hammer circle had a cinder surface instead of the usual grass or clay surface and Dr. O'Callaghan had three pairs of shoes with long spikes for grass or clay that caught in the cinder and impeded his throws. He made it through the preliminary rounds, and before the medal round, he filed his spikes down to get a better grip and ended up winning the gold with a throw of 176' 11". Dr. O'Callaghan became physician and operated a private practice until he retired in 1984.

James Sarsfield "Jim" Mitchell (1864-1921) This 265-pound villianous-looking man from Tipperary won bronze in the 56-lb weight throw at the 1904 St. Louis Games. On the S.S. Barbarossa in 1906, Mitchell dislocated his shoulder saving distance runner Harvey Cohn from going overboard during a storm. The same huge wave slammed other athletes into the deck. Mitchell was favored to win the 14-lbs. stone throw, but couldn't compete due to his injury.


and Simon Gillis (birthplace unknown) who settled in Nova Scotia and competed for Canada.
Con Walsh (Cornelius E. Walsh; born April 24, 1881, County Cork, Ireland; died 1942) was an Irish Canadian athlete who represented Canada at the 1908 Summer Olympics. He won a bronze medal in the hammer throw, finishing third behind fellow Irishmen John Flanagan and Matt McGrath, both of whom represented the United States.[1] Another Irishman, Robert Kerr also represented Canada at the same games. Walsh had earlier played Gaelic football and represented Cork [2].

Walsh also competed for both the Irish American Athletic Club[3]and the New York Athletic Club.[4]He was part of a group of Irish weight throwers that were collectively known as the "Irish Whales."

In 1910, Walsh set the record for throwing the 56 pound weight for height, breaking Pat McDonald's record by throwing the weight 16 feet 7/8 inches high at the second annual athletic meet of the New York Press Club Athletic Association

While it is not entirely clear when this moniker came into use, and was likely not used in the face of any of these giant men, it seems to have first appeared in print in 1937 in John Kieran's New York Times column, "Sports of the Times," written by John Drebinger (who was substituting for Kieran).[3] The term was further popularized in "Sports of the Times" columns written by Arthur Daly in the New York Times, with the first reference to "The Whales" in 1942. On the subject of the origin of this nickname, Daly wrote:

    "It was on the Olympic trip of 1912 that the 'whale' nickname took hold. Dan Ferris, then a cherubic little boy, recalls it with relish. 'Those big fellows,' he related, 'all sat at the same table and their waiter was a small chap. Before we reached Stockholm he had lost twenty pounds, worn down by bringing them food. Once as he passed me he muttered under his breath, 'It's whales they are, not men.' They used to take five plates of soup as a starter and then gulp down three or four steaks with trimmings. That Simon Gillis would think nothing of having a dozen eggs for breakfast. But what fascinated me was the way he ate them. He'd put a dab of mustard on each and eat it whole, shell and all.' The Irish American A.C. behemoths always were the life of any party."[4]

Another tale of the Irish Whales voracious appetites came from Arthur Daly's typewriter twenty-two years later. In a Times column in 1964 he wrote:

    "Some of their more prodigious feats were at the table. The Irish American A.C. was competing in Baltimore when (Simon) Gillis placed an order for a post-meet snack with the head waiter at a local restaurant. He ordered 27 dozen oysters and six huge T-bone steaks. Slight Miscalculation - The waiter was ready when Gillis, McDonald and McGrath arrived. The table had been set for a party of 33. 'Do you want to wait for the rest of your group?' asked the headwaiter. He turned pale as he watched three whales devour 27 dozen oysters and six huge T-bone steaks."[2]


Also another great story is Tom Kiely who would not represent Britan or the US
Tom Kiely
Gold    1904 St Louis    Decathlon

Thomas "Tom" Francis Kiely (25 August 1869 – 6 November 1951) was an Irish athlete who competed mainly in the all-round championship, the forerunner of the modern decathlon.

He competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri, in the all-round, which consisted of 100 y run, shot put, high jump, 880 y walk, hammer throw, pole vault, 120 y hurdles, 56 pounds weight throw, long jump and 1 mile run. He won the gold medal.

Kiely was thirty-four at this time. The British team had approached him with promises of his fare and expenses, and American sponsorship was also offered but, as a committed nationalist, he decided to go on his own, representing his native country. He raised the fare partly by selling many of the prizes he had won over the years and sailed for the States at the end of May.

In America he had several more offers to join the American or British teams. But again he declined and made it clear in statements carried in all the American papers of the time[citation needed] that he would represent only Ireland in the Olympic Games. As Ireland was not independent in 1904 the IOC lists him as representative of the team of Great Britain and Ireland at the 1904 Summer Olympics.

Kiely hailed from Ballyneale just outside Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, and achieved his gold in 1904 becoming the first Olympic multi-event track champion for 16 centuries. All ten events were held on the same day.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pensioners-bought-at-least-18-homes-on-property-splurge-3087120.html
By Colm Kelpie and Edel O'Connell

Friday April 20 2012

THE pensioner and his wife forcibly evicted from their palatial home are major landlords -- with a nationwide portfolio of apartments.

Brendan (71) and Asta Kelly (63) had their home in one of Dublin's most exclusive neighbourhoods repossessed on Wednesday after failing to pay off a €2m mortgage from Anglo Irish Bank.

Bailiffs dragged the couple from the lavish detached five-bedroom house in St Matthias Wood, Killiney, Co Dublin. They have since been camped outside the property in protest.

The Irish Independent has learned their former home is just one of at least 18 different properties they bought around the country in an acquisitions binge since the early 1990s.

Mr Kelly, an ex-accountant, last night denied the couple had been the authors of their own misfortune, saying everybody in the country pushed themselves too far financially during the boom years.

"Everybody in Ireland overstretched, we didn't buy all of our properties during the boom.

"A lot of them were bought before the boom," Mr Kelly said

The couple insisted they were unable to move into one of their other properties as these were all currently leased out.

"Those properties are let and people have leases and cannot be disturbed. I am a landlord by profession and those properties are let," Mr Kelly said.

And the couple claimed it had been impossible to sell off any of their apartments to help pay the Anglo debt because of the depressed property market.

Mrs Kelly said the couple had put their Killiney home on the market two years ago but were unable to sell it.

Records indicate the couple borrowed heavily just before the financial collapse.

Five of their apartments -- three in Dublin, one in Carlow and another in Limerick -- were remortgaged in March 2008. A sixth apartment, in Dublin, was remortgaged that September.

All of the borrowings were with Irish Life & Permanent.

The couple also took a mortgage out against nine other apartments, all in Dublin, with IL&P in June 2007.

Some of the properties are in Dublin's leafy neighbourhoods -- Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Stillorgan and Rathmines.

A two-bedroom apartment in those suburbs is estimated to have been worth between €400,000 and €700,000 in 2008, but are now valued between €200,000 and €300,000.

Rental income from such properties is currently between €1,300 and €1,500 a month.

Sligo-born Mr Kelly and his German-born wife, a former teacher, spoke to the Irish Independent from a tent they have put up outside their former home.

Mr Kelly said the properties were meant to be the couple's retirement nest egg, and blamed bailiffs for adopting 19th century tactics.

"The bank are not doing anything illegal, what I am objecting to is 19th century eviction tactics. We were dragged out of our home -- it could have been 1860," he said.

The couple, who have been married for 40 years and don't have any children, lived in Germany for 23 years where they ran a successful business in the tourist resort of Sylt, selling Irish textiles to holidaymakers.

Support

Mr Kelly said all his properties have dropped in value and he questioned how the couple could repay their debts.

"Property didn't just go down it crashed. You can't sell them at even a third of the price. So what are we to do, how are we supposed to pay off loans?

"We want to get back into our own house. My office is there. I have no livelihood until I get back into my home. We have to get back in and we are standing our ground."

Mr Kelly claimed he had received 44 text messages of support, and insisted they will find a way to make money again.

"Life has changed for us obviously as we are living on the street," Mr Kelly said.

- Colm Kelpie and Edel O'Connell


I was going to put this into the WTF thread. Im not living in Ireland at the minute so dont know what the public reaction is? Id love to know if all their tenants refused to pay there rent would the landlords take the same line as they want the banks to?

Ive booked 5 days to north Spain ( Santander) for the june bank holiday. I was thinking of a road trip taking in Bilboa , San Sebastian/Biarritz  and heading into the Pyrenees and back to Santandar through Pamplona . anyone know much about this part of Spain?
I would love to head the other direction at some stage as well ( but not this trip) and go along the coast to Santiago De Compostela.

Anyone know the best sites for deals on flights?
I have to go to Dubai next march and would like to make it a stopoff on the way to Asia, id be looking to stay in Dubai for 4 night, will any airline give a 4 day stopover?

http://www.rte.ie/fashion/2011/0531/colec.html

Check out the Fashion queries at the bottom of the article, is MayoMick interested in Fashion??

Who is sweating on the weather and travel plans for the next few days?
I am in London and am due to fly into Knock on wednesday morning, tis looking dodgy in the extreme!
Seriously considering getting the boat tomorrow/wednesday.

Anyone watching Browne tearing him apart at the minute?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100311/tsc-oukoe-uk-dutch-nurses-1df2b7e.html
A union representing Dutch nurses will launch a national campaign on Friday against demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part of their standard care. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Hospital Enlarge photo More photos: Oddly Enough

The union, NU'91, is calling the campaign "I Draw The Line Here," with an advert that features a young woman covering her face with crossed hands.

The union said in a statement on Thursday that the campaign follows a complaint it had received in the last week from a 24-year-old woman who said a 42-year-old disabled man asked her to provide sexual services as part of his care at home.

The young woman witnessed some of the man's other nurses offering him sexual gratification, the union said. When she refused to do the same, he tried to dismiss her on the grounds that she was unfit to provide care.

"This type of action is not part of the job responsibilities of carers and nurses," NU'91 said.

The case has been reported to police, the union added

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0211/breaking6.htm

What the fook does all this mean?
Im sure the Greeks will be delighted to hear Brian Cowen is coming to save the day.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/27847/majority-republicans-doubt-theory-evolution.aspx

Who would have thought that both sides in the Stormont negotiations would have so similar views!

Anyone know?

A 16-year-old girl who was raped in Bangladesh has been given 101 lashes for conceiving during the assault.

The girl's father was also fined and warned the family would be branded outcasts from their village if he did not pay.

According to human rights activists, the girl, who was quickly married after the attack, was divorced weeks later after medical tests revealed she was pregnant.

The girl was raped by a 20-year-old villager in Brahmanbaria district in April last year.

Bangladesh's Daily Star newspaper reported that she was so ashamed following the attack that she did not lodge a complaint.

Her rape emerged after her pregnancy test and Muslim elders in the village issued a fatwa insisting that the girl be kept in isolation until her family agreed to corporal punishment.

Her rapist was pardoned by the elders. She told the newspaper the rapist had "spoiled" her life.

"I want justice," she said.
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/rape-victim-receives-101-lashes-for-becoming-pregnant-2031669.html


Apart from the lashing (and the fact the rapist got caught on CCTV and convicted) you could nearly swap this place for Listowel.

http://www.rte.ie/sport/tennis/2010/0119/sorensenl_australianm.html

Louk Sorensen became the first Irishman to win a grand slam match in 25 years when he defeated Yen-Hsun Lu in the first-round of the Australian Open

I have lost my trusted Creative Zen 30G so have to replace it. I have to say i have been very happy with it, when i got it at first there was a problem with the firmware but the shop took it back with no complaints and since then it has run smoothly ( over 3 years)
What would be the best option at the minute? Is the Ipod touch really the dogs bollix or is there something else worth considering?

Got a spare ticket if anyone wants it

[In another case the religious police are said to have arrested for "sorcery" and "charlatanry" an Asian man accusing him of using supernatural powers to solve marital disputes and induce others to fall in love.]

A man has been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for witchcraft because he makes predictions on television. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Enlarge photo Ali Sibat is not even a Saudi national. The Lebanese citizen was only visiting Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage when he was arrested in Medina last year.

A court in the city condemned him as a witch on November 9.

The only evidence presented in court was reportedly the claim he appeared regularly on Lebanese satellite issuing general advice on life and making predictions about the future.

The case is causing outrage among human rights campaigners but has made little news elsewhere despite the ludicrous nature of the charges and the extraordinary severity of Sibat's sentence.

"Saudi courts are sanctioning a literal witch hunt by the religious police," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

"The crime of witchcraft is being used against all sorts of behavior, with the cruel threat of state sanctioned executions."

Ali Sibat's supporters say he was denied a lawyer at his trial and was tricked into making a confession.

He is not the only victim of Saudi Arabia's literal witch hunt. Human Rights Watch says two other people have been arrested on similar charges in the last month alone.

It claims a lower court in Jeddah started the trial of a Saudi this month who was arrested by the religious police and said to have smuggled a book of witchcraft into the kingdom.

In another case the religious police are said to have arrested for "sorcery" and "charlatanry" an Asian man accusing him of using supernatural powers to solve marital disputes and induce others to fall in love.

In 2006 a Jeddah court convicted an Eritrean national Muhammad Burhan for "charlatanry" because he possessed a phone book that contained writings in the Tigrinya alphabet used in Eritrea.

Human rights campaigners claim prosecutors classified the booklet as a "talisman" and the court accepted that as evidence, sentencing him to 20 months in prison and 300 lashes.


I hope they dont open a mosque in Lisdoonvarna or they will be carnage