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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7480340.stm

Armagh manager Joe McDonnell said the experience of many players in his team ensured victory over Down in Sunday's Ulster SFC semi-final at Clones.

isn't it great that if you click on gaa on the rte site, the first story is about handball
http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d9_1206624103

This is the 15 minute film by the dutch politician Geert Wilders that is causing all the fuss in Holland. Islam is portrayed as being comparable to Nazism and Communism

feel free to join in

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League Name:    GaaBoard Baseball 2008
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Custom League URL:    http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/gaaboardbaseball

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2004/feb/22/usnews.theobserver

Interesting piece, 12 years and Britain could have a Siberian climate...
Where does that leave Ireland?

Now that Dowie has been sacked by Coventry, do you think there's a shot at him getting the nod ahead of Trappatoni?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7234009.stm

I would have thought they were "out" already...

from slugger o toole

http://sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/comments/rumour-mill-talk-about-resignation/

This one, as ever comes with a health warning... Rumour is not news... But Slugger hears from a Nationalist source that Ian Paisley Junior may tender his resignation as Junior Minister tomorrow... If it proved to be accurate, it could be indicative of a substantive shift in the internal balance of power inside the party. It would almost certainly be of some relief to his ministerial colleague Arlene Foster, who Mark Devenport has conjectured may use to tomorrow to pull permission (that she was previously minded to grant) to Seymour Sweeney for a privately funded Visitors Centre for the Giant's Causeway.

If both events turn up tomorrow, then it is suggestive of a party set piece: planned and orchestrated, perhaps with a few quiet deals lurking surreptitiously in the background. The downgrading of Ian Junior may buy Senior some time and space to take unhurried leave of the leadership of a party that is growing frustrated with his unwillingness or incapacity to play an increasingly subtle and nuanced game, now they are in a politically tricky partnership with Sinn Fein.

As he nears his eighty second birthday, his once almost faultless command of the semiotics of Unionism appears to be failing him. And having lent, as Tom Kelly hints in the Irish News today, (and Alex Kane outlined last Thursday) his imprimatur to the St Andrews Agreement, and his considerable powers as a totem for Ulster Loyalism greatly diminished by his Chuckle Brothers double act with Martin McGuinness, Ian Paisley Senior now has little of any value with which to barter with his party.

Whether tomorrow brings a resignation or not, it seems the power within the party has long since passed out of Paisley family hands.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/magazine/27world-t.html

I really didn't know where to put this. Its a great piece written speculating on where the world will be at the end of the next US president's second term. It speaks of the rising power of the EU and China and the slow decline of the US...
I happen to think Khanna (the author) is not that far out, however I feel his timelines are off, and he's missed the classic black swan. i.e. what big event is going to accelerate this process. Love to hear your comments.

next beer is on you. Congrats on the big news

[knows]

So I've tried to get a sense of what the actual position of the club is, and if you'd like to leave your club and county that would help get a sense of the distribution of the paid managers. If anyone knows (not as in I heard from a fella in the bar) what the manager/ trainer is paid and wants to post it, feel free.

Also any thoughts on what you think should be the GAA's position on managers getting paid.

What are the tax implications for a gaa player in the north who receives a grant from what is perceived by the inland revenue as a foreign government?

The band in croker thread got me thinking, I was home for a week there and managed to get to see the 4 of us play in the black box theatre in belfast. I'd have to say it was the best concert I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot...
1989 saw the 4 of us explode with songs for the tempted and 2 years later man alive kept them right up there, but only in Ireland. They never made it in the UK and despite some strong college radio play never took off in the states. Their last 3 albums have been critically acclaimed, they were voted recently one of the best 5 Irish singles of all time, and yet I was able to get a fifteen quid ticket to a 200 seat venue to see them play on a friday night.

Now I know there were some management issues and record company nonsense, but how is it that these guys have managed to fly under the radar of all but a handful of people. Just recently at the al gore earth day concert the djs played U2 REM the stones and... You've guessed it, the 4 of us.
What is it they missed? I just don't get it? Why was talent not enough?

I have got tickets through work to go and see the Rugby semi final on Saturday- what I was expecting to be a titanic battle- Australia vs New Zealand. However the sporting Gods (as they tend to) decided otherwise so I'm faced with England vs France. I'd like a steer on who to support from GAABoard public opinion, but I'll go with whoever can give me the best reason one way or the other.
Thanks
heganboy

Is he ok? 

(couldn't resist!)
the other one is asks person next to you
"Is there anything I can do for him/her?"
"yeah speak to me bitch"

As you may know Barry Bonds last night beat the home run record in baseball, i.e. he has now scored more Home Runs in major league baseball than any other player. In America this is known as  "the most revered record in sport".

Barry Bonds who broke the record has never tested positive for steroids, and has never admitted knowingly taking steroids but is one of the most polarizing figures in America. Although there was no mandatory drug testing in baseball at the time of the alleged offense, it is widely felt in the US that he did take steroids en route to bypassing the legendary record. Bonds continues to maintain that he never knowingly took steroids, however is is currently under investigation for perjury having testified to a Grand jury that he was told that the oil and cream he got was "flaxseed oil and arthritis balm". His trainer Greg Anderson has been sent to jail twice for refusing to co-operate with the investigation, the grand jury investigating the perjury case asked for and received a 6 month extension to build their case in July.

The attorney in charge of prosecuting Bonds has resigned in a scandal involving the Bush administration's firing of district attorneys due to their political beliefs.

So my question is first of all do you have any opinions on Bonds' record being broken under the allegations?

second- what thoughts would you have if it came out that GAA players had taken steroids, and say some had been involved in All Ireland winning teams?

In the Philippines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

If the cynical tactics used by Kerry to win this afternoons game with Cork had been employed by any other county all of the headlines would be about the death of football and how shocking the game has become.
Kerry cheated, stalled, fouled, dived and goaded their way through the second half of that game to buy themselves another Munster championship, and there won't be a word about it in the press tomorrow.
Disgraceful display.

I have seen some complete rubbish quoted as statistics, but can anyone top this?

Taken from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6707163.stm

Gay rights campaigner Andrew Muir said the comments were harmful.

"Our research proves that 29% of young people have actually attempted suicide because of homophobia in society and I think these comments are very concerning," he said.

29% of young people have attempted suicide because of homophobia in society? I think perhaps not...
(no Vic Reeves quotes please)

source:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6676585.stm


Viagra could aid jetlag recovery

Viagra used in combination with light could help jetlag symptoms
Viagra could be used to help people flying eastwards recover from jetlag, animal research suggests.

A team of Argentine scientists found the drug helped hamsters recover up to 50% faster from forward shifts in their daily time cycles.

However, the drug only worked in conjunction with light therapy, and only in one time direction - the equivalent to flying eastbound.

The study features in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In mammals, the light-dark cycle regulates the body's biological clock, which promotes activity during the daytime, when it is light, and sleep at night.


The researchers from the National University of Quilmes shifted the light-dark cycle of hamsters six hours forwards, by switching on lights six hours earlier than usual.

They then monitored the hamsters' running wheel activity to assess when their body clocks had adjusted to the new time cycle - the hamsters are active in the day but stop running when the lights go out.

Injection of Viagra before the time shift meant the hamsters adjusted to the new time cycle faster, even when low doses of the drug, which did not cause penile erections, were used.

Viagra, the drug sildenafil, was originally developed for the treatment of high blood pressure and angina, and is used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Viagra used in combination with light could help jetlag symptoms

When used without the shifts in light, the drug did not induce changes in the hamsters' activity, so it seems to work by enhancing the light-induced response.

Dr Diego Golumbek, who led the research, said the drug seemed to work via a molecule called cGMP which is known to have a role in setting the body's time clock - it is present at higher levels during the day.

The Viagra blocks the activity of an enzyme which breaks down cGMP, allowing higher levels to build up.

Dr Golumbek said the fact that different mechanisms may be used to slow down and speed up the body clock explains why Viagra only worked when the lights were switched on early, not late.

Professor Robert Lucas, from Manchester University, said although looking for ways adjust biological clocks was important, regulating light exposure was the most widely accepted strategy for doing this.

He said the new research raised the possibility of using Viagra in conjunction with this light treatment, but he added: "We will have to wait for more research to know whether this will work in humans."

Pfizer, the makers of Viagra, said the drug should only be used in accordance with the approved labelling.