Messages

I have a young lad at home who is mad in soccer, particularly Arsenal.  I don't have Sky and have no intention to get it.  It's not just a money thing as I don't want him watching it morning noon and night instead of studying.  At the moment I bring him with me to the pub for the odd match but he is only 14 and the missus is in my ear about .

A friend mentioned NowTV to me as a possible solution.  I would buy a match pass/match day pass the odd weekend when he wants to watch it.

My questions are has anyone used this service and if so what is a good set up.  I don't have a smart TV.  I see option as:

1) Give him app on his phone and use chromecast
2) Android set top box with Wifi or lan connection
3) NowTV Box connected to Wifi

We have in the past used Live NetTV, TVTAP and Mobdro etc.. and our (crap) rural broadband managed okay but I found it better to be on the wire than the wifi.

Anyway any advice? 

/Jim.

Is it possible that Mannus made a judgement call that it was easier to risk upsetting Irish people ,than some NI loyalists for example, who have a history of intolerance for those who are seen to go against their DUP view of the world cf Neil Lennon, James McClean, Steve Aitken

Yerra, were there that many watching the formalities of the FAI Cup final in the hope of catching some outrage?

Time to move on and persecute people about poppies or lack of them.

/Jim.

I think everyone should respect all anthems and flags no matter what. The Tri-Colour is the flag of an independent and sovereign nation. He should respect it.
The question is did he disrespect it by not turning towards it? Probable not IMO.

Standing still while the anthem completed, whether facing the flag or not, is a fair improvement on how a lot of GAA teams respect the anthem.

I have observed inter-county teams at high profile games jumping up and down, stretching, spitting, clearing their noses, even picking their shorts out of their arse during the anthem and no one made a fuss out it.

Not a single incident, not matter how innocuous will escape a twitter tirade.  The Telegraph trying to create some klnd of story out of that doesn't deserve to be considered journalism.

/Jim.

My sympathies Jim.

But only one person here has resorted to insults.

No sympathies for me, I have a beautiful healthy boy and my troubles on understanding that are long past. 

The "Type" I am referring to is much more than trading insults.  It's talking about a woman who died a traumatic death without any sign of empathy towards her suffering, only trying to score points about her cause of death.  The real story there is a woman and her child dying and a distraught husband and family left behind.  That's the real story. 

Month's of hearing politicians acting as a medical experts, keyboard warriors, campaigners etc acting as medical experts using stories like hers to score points has hardened my view on this.

So I urge people to think of that too when they write.

/Jim.

Edit:  The exchange above while I was posting is exactly my point.

A close friend and his wife faced a similar situation to Emmett and it's a terrible thing to face.  My sympathies to you Emmett.

I am a proud father of a son with Down Syndrome I cannot bear read/watch reports about countries where abortion is used in this context.   That said, I know the absolute shock and pain his diagnosis brought at the time.   

Both experiences thought me that life is far from black and white.  I have learnt to adapt my judgement accordingly.

I thought Emmett's post would maybe stir a little bit of empathy among posters here.  However, we reflect the broader discourse I witnessed in the Republic last year which is absolutist, brutish and vicious beyond belief. It pains me to read people using deeply personal, individual and traumatic events as some kind of abstract to prove your point.

Just like my experience, my friend's experience and Emmett's experience these are real people with real experience.  Similarly for the likes of  Savita:  real people, real pain, real confusion.  A reality most are lucky enough not to know.  You cannot possibly know any individual or couples internal thought processes.

The fact lads here couldn't wait a page of posts here to revert back to type, insulting each other is a stain on those coming from both sides of the argument. 

I urge people to think before you write.

/Jim.

Less than two thirds turned out. So, you might say that 1/3 of people didn't care enough to vote. I knew for sure it would pass. Had I had a vote, I don't think I'd have bothered. The true figure for/against, we don't know.

I would find it incongruous that anyone who sees abortion as murder would not bother to go to their local polling station and mark their X.  I would concur it suggests most absentees didn't care strongly and were ambivalent about the topic.

/Jim.

Leinster's style is evolving, expect more off-loading and expanse this season.

Hopefully, would be good to see it across the provinces.  Especially if we have a desire to adapt that for the national game.

I remember reading an article on how the New Zealand manager works with NZ based Super Rugby franchises to have a consistency of approach to tactics and style.

/Jim.

Looking ahead to the next 4 year cycle Ireland and their new coaches will need to develop Carberry into a world class #10 which I am sure he has the ability to be with sexton hitting 38 in 2023 he probably won't be much more than a bit part player if even. We also need a new #9 whether thats gonna be McGrath who is definatley able to lead the new team or someone coming from the u20 squads of previous years.

Carberry not good enough, there has to be a better player to go with.

He seems the best bet at the moment.  For scrumhalf I would nearly put Cooney and Marmion ahead of Murray, let alone McGrath.  Of course neither even saw the plane to Japan.

I hear a lot of criticism of Best and his age.  Really though, did Scannell or Cronin put any kind of pressure on him?

Still think Henderson and Ryan have plenty to offer.

I would say that Beirne, Conway, Ruddock and Larmer all showed enough in pool stages to be starters yesterday.  Probably wouldn't have made a difference. 

Other than Connacht, I haven't seen our provinces play hugely imaginative rugby.  In fact Leinster have gone from having a bit of flair to quite a forward-driven game.   A bit like Ireland they came unstuck when they met a team that met them on that.   Munster or Ulster haven't exactly set the world alight.

Also I wonder would people tolerate a poor Six Nations campaign again after last year?  Hard to take that on the grounds of winning a match 4 years away? 

We could rock up the next World Cup playing expansive rugby to get bet up by a bunch of grunts playing a narrow, forwards driven game............

To be honest we might not ever again see a run like the first 5 years of Joe's reign.

/Jim.

Tiffany think we're alone now

Prefer the updated version tho

How do you feel about Catholics?

/Jim.

6 weeks ago 35N concrete was £64/m3
Co Tyrone

m³??

Roll on Brexit:  Blue passports and imperial measures only.

/Jim.

Agreed. And now she has the gall to say the supreme court must be respected when she was instrumental in the law being broken and lying to their beloved Queen.

This morning Jeffrey Donaldson said the Irish Government should apologize because Supreme Court refused to extradite Patrick Ryan. Within hours Arlene tweets:

"We have always respected the principle of the separation of powers upon which our constitutional law is founded. Therefore the judgement of the Supreme Court has to be respected."

I guess such separation of powers doesn't exist in the Republic?  I know we are accustomed to partisan views in just about anything in Northern Ireland but surely some sense of irony is left buried deep inside these people?

/Jim.

The phrase "pile of F***in Huns" is quoted in Belfast Telegraph but I haven't seen the video.

/Jim.

Well, well. Googling something else drew me to this site and well, it's a while since I even browsed, never mind posted, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Well, well indeed.  Just happened to accidentally find you way here on the day that this incident hit the headlines.

As Barry McElduff would say:  coincidences do happen.

/Jim.

Is it even true? Sure wasn't that long ago there was much worse going around about a certain UFC fighter that seemed to blow over extremely quickly.

Ewan McKenna is tweeting about this.  He has a regular enough pattern of using twitter to generate interest in a story that he might be of a mind to write.  He did it to great effect recently when he took a swipe a Munster Rugby team and bandwagon.   He also kept the speculation on Conor Murray going in this way.

He claims on twitter feed that he has 3 eye-witness accounts from trusted sources.  Given his dislike of rugby he could try and keep this going in social media and then publish a story on it.

More likely though it will disappear, dismissed as high-jinks.

/Jim.

Thoughtful article from Stephen Nichols, a recently defeated UUP candidate.

Unionism at the crossroads

There are many lessons to be learned by Ulster Unionism arising from the council elections, many internal issues need to be resolved but there is one lesson that all of unionism needs to learn, based on this election the Union is at a real and tangible risk of being brought to an end.

.....

Having power in the short term and defining unionism in narrow terms across all aspects of people's lives will eventually lead to the end of the union. An open unionism, embracing all faiths and aspirations, defining civil and religious liberty in its broadest terms, committed to delivering the new society that people want and guaranteeing that being British means being an equal citizen within the UK represents the best chance of maintaining the union. Ulster once stood at the crossroads, unionism stands there now.

I am not so thoughtful as just stating the bleeding obvious.  I have posted here before that I cannot understand how somewhere there isn't a paid adviser/strategist pointing this out to unionist politicians.

/Jim.