Sunday, July 31, 2011

HEAVY on the MAYO; Throw away the CORK! Mayo 1-13 Cork 2-6

They say that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn; also, a stopped clock is right twice a day. Well, Mayo found the acorn today and, after going 0-2 on my picks on Saturday (Roscommon and Kildare both lost), I was spot on today with Kerry and Mayo. While Kerry's double digit victory over Munster rivals Limerick was expected, given their earlier meeting, Mayo's 4 point victory over defending All Ireland champion Cork was the shock result of the year. Heros for Mayo were everywhere, particularly Andy Moran, Ger Cafferkey and Richie Feeney. It was Kevin McLoughlin's 22nd minute goal that brought Mayo back into the game after Cork stormed out to 1-4 (7) to 0-1 in the 16th minute. Mayo's youthful panel scored a victory over Cork for the first time since 1916 though they will be hard pressed in 3 weeks to beat a resurgent Kerry squad which seems re-energized after their 2010 quarter-final loss to Down. For now, let's not dwell on Mayo's road ahead but instead celebrate the fantastic victory of Mayo's footballers despite being a 5 to 1 underdog. Here's to the Green and Red of Mayo and the Saw Doctors' musical tribute to to them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwFEAxJyic

Fairytale of Tel Aviv or West Bank La Cage Aux Folles?

It seems as if the West Brit brigade (those inside the Pale and their fellow travellers in the Irish media and academia) have hit a pothole once again on the road to electing David Norris as Ireland's First Queen, correct that, President.  Mr. Norris has "blown out" a third wheel on his campaign with the revelation that he wrote a clemency letter to the Israeli courts in 1997 on behalf of his "partner", Ezra Yizhak Nawi, who was convicted of having sex with an underage Palestinian youth in 1992. Senator Norris' campaign for President had previously had run a foul with the revelations that first, in his defense of Cathal O Searcaigh in a 2002 Magill's magazine article, he spoke of ancient Greek society where men would take young men as lovers as being a "model". Then, in another interview, he said "I do not believe in age of consent", a quote which became a front page headline in the Irish Sun. Despite these horrible faux paus which reflect poorly on his sense of judgment and certainly draw into question his fitness for the largely ceremonial office of President of Ireland, Mr Norris' candidacy remained alive and well till Friday when this latest revelation arose. This gaffe, however, may prove fatal to Senator Norris' campaign in that two of his leading campaign staff  resigned on Friday. Particularly deadly to his campaign is the fact the victim of statutory rape is Palestinian and Mr. Norris' lover is Israeli. For those of you who maybe unaware of "the lay of the land" in Irish politics (no pun intended), the Palestians are the "cause celebre" for two reasons: one, their overlords in the left wing British media tell them so and secondly, the Palestinans are lower on the global totem pole of victimhood than the Irish themselves, giving the Irish a chance to flex their moral superiority by their support to those who have been more screwed over by the Brits than even themselves. You may recall that a few weeks back the Gaza flotilla Aid ship MV Saoirse was damaged while in a Greek port preparing to sail to Israel. Many Irish demanded that Israel apologize for the sabotage, but a member of the opposition party in the Knesset described the damage to the ships' propeller as "an act of God".  If you drop the "G" say a "Mass" and re-jigger the letters (Mossad), then yes, that Knesset member is indeed correct.

In musical tribute to Senator Norris' campaign which is sinking quicker than the Titanic, I give the following two numbers:

For Mr. Norris' former partner and Palestinian boytoy lover: "Good" by Better than Ezra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TQSaqHBtM

And for Mr. Norris himself, Soul Asylum's "Leave Without a Trace"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNWR3OenaPk&ob=av2e

Friday, July 29, 2011

REAL FOOTBALL is BACK! No, not the NFL, the GAELIC variety!

The August Bank Holiday weekend (Monday) is when the Gaelic football championship heads into the homestretch as the All Ireland Quarter-finals signify that the third Sunday in September is but 7 weeks away.  The quarter-final participants are but 2 wins away from an opportunity to bring SAM home. 
Let's look into our crystal ball (Waterford of course) and make some predictions:

4th Round Qualifier Sat July 30th 4pm (11am EDT)
       Tyrone v Roscommon

PREDICTION: Tyrone 1-8 Roscommon 0-13
Just a guess that Tyrone's aging halfback line will have trouble with Roscommon's pacy half-forwards and that 23 year old wonder Donie Shine will return to form after a lacklustre Connaught Final in monsoonlike conditions. Tyrone with many of the great soldiers of its' 3 AI victories ('03, '05 and '08) is an old team, such squads don't get better, they just get older.

QUARTER-FINALS

Donegal v Kildare Sat July 30th 6pm (1pm EDT)

PREDICTION: Kildare 2-13 Donegal 1-9
I fancy Kildare to gallop to an easy win as Donegal's recent Croke Park history, particularly in the Quarter-finals, has been a bigger horror show than even Mayo's disastrous appearances (largely confined to AI Finals). Quarter-final thrashings in 2003 (Dublin in a replay) and 2009 (against Cork, a match that was over at half time) will weigh heavily on Donegal's psyche; the 2004 Ulster Final against Armagh played in Croke Park was a total blowout as well. Donegal can always be counted for at least one horrible turnover in their half of the field because of over-elaboration and too much handpassing. Even GAA rising star Michael Murphy will not be enough to overcome a Kildare panel has picked up steam on its' backdoor journey since losing to Dublin. The ageless John Doyle of Kildare would be an early favorite for Footballer of the Year honors.

Kerry v Limerick Sun July 31st 2pm (9am EDT)

PREDICTION: Kerry1-14 Limerick 1-9
A rematch of the Munster semi-final held on the June Bank holiday Saturday night in Limerick before 35,000 spectators disguised as empty seats and about 5000 people just killing time (at least I was) before the Saw Doctors' performance that evening at Dolan's Warehouse on the Limerick Dock Road. Kerry's 1-26 to 3-9 was not representative of Kerry's dominance of the contest, particularly in the second half. Two late Limerick goals were window dressing on a bad beating. That said, I look forward to Limerick  pushing Kerry in a much tighter contest this time as Stephen Lucey and Mark O' Riordan have been sprung from the hurling panel. Stephen Kelly and 2 others return from injury as well.

Cork v Mayo Sun July 31st 4pm (11am EDT)

PREDICTION: Cork 1-11 Mayo 0-15
Not since 1916 has Mayo beaten Cork in the championship, Why now? Cork's dominating win over Down will do them little good in terms of sharpness; the ankle injury to Daniel Goulding will be a bigger handicap as Cork loses a reliable left-footed free taker. Mayo has always been an enigma: every time you expect a big performance from, they fizzle; when little is expected, they stand tall (Tyrone 2004 Qtr-final). I may be crazy but this youthful Mayo panel seems not to be weighed down by the ghosts of the past as evidenced by Enda Varley's fearless match-clinching point in the Connaught Final, taken without hestitation from about 25 metres out along the left sideline. Cork has the superior footballing talent but has a rapidly aging panel; Mayo has the youth and hunger.  To quote John Paul II at his 1979 Galway mass for the young of Ireland, "I believe in youth".

Obama Care Coming to America SOON!

Checkout below what happens when governments keep on spending, including universal healthcare, until the music stops on the merry-go-round of deficit spending. The results are not to the liking of many. Great link to the article on Mark Steyn's Ports of Call roundup.

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Catalonia/to/close/one/in/healthcare/centers/over/summer/elpepueng/20110726elpeng_8/Ten

The Church Bashing Continues on IC (Irish Central) amongst it's "Ignorant Children"

Ironically, I just finished my own personal literary equivalent of a root canal this week, I was finally able to slog through to the finish of D'Niall O'Dowd's autobiography "An Irish Voice". While the puffery, self
adulation and praise were "beyond the Pale" (pun intended since Mr. O'Dowd hails from Drogheda which was inside the Pale), it was illuminating in that it provided great insight into D'Niall's psychoses and fetishes, particularly his habitual bashing of the Catholic Church at every opportunity. Yet, Da NOD and his minions in various publications, chose a Simon and Garfunkel mode (as in the "Sounds of Silence") when the Fairytale of Kathmandu episode exploded back in 2007-8. Not once did any of Mr. O'Dowd's publications ever do an op-ed piece or commentary on the "pride of Donegal": gay Irish
language poet Cathal O' Searcaigh (Charles Sharkey), a man who parades around in African garb because as a homosexual in Ireland he feels "simpatico" with the plight of the black/African man. Now,
back to Da NOD's less than epic tome wherein he reveals the roots of his hatred toward the Catholic Church, you see Da NOD attended Drogheda CBS where a couple of the Christian brothers cuffed him about a bit in a futile and fruitless attempt to knock some sense into his thick Irish skull. Sadly, they were unsuccessful as Mr. O'Dowd reveals "I repeated my senior year in college (high school) so I might get into a better school". Translation from Irish "code": he flunked his leaving cert exam and had to repeat his senior year; American "code": the thick cnut (sic) was "left back". For the record, Da NOD is now
"left" forward, center, right and port side as well; like Taniste Eamon Gilmour of the Labor Party, he is a "Sticky" bastard (see Hanley and Millar's 2009 book, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Socialist Workers' Party).

Check out the latest literary "reversals" (to use the term of July 4th Coney Island hot-dog eating) from the unwashed at IC: in this case, Molly Muldoon, who at the ripe old of age of 25 posits herself as a shaper of opinion and Mrs NOD (i.e., "beard"), Debbie McGoldrick who knows so much about Ireland because she grew up in the Jewish hamlet of Syossett on the south shore of Long(k) Island (FYI: the "k" is not silent).
You have now concluded the educational portion of your reading; click on the links below for the literary equivalent of "empty calories".

http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/new-york-state-of-mind/are-ireland-and-the-catholic-church-finally-getting-a-divorce-126390923.html

http://www.irishcentral.com/story/news/new-york-state-of-mind/are-ireland-and-the-catholic-church-finally-getting-a-divorce-126390923.html

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Entitlements, Entitlements Everywhere and not a penny to pay them; Aussie woman looks for workman's comp for injuries during sex on business trip

Really, you can't make this stuff up. Mark Steyn's Ports of Call column has the link below:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/public-servants-motel-sex-compo-claim/story-fn7x8me2-1226102406812

This story would be hilarious if not for the fact that it is a window into the creeping sense of entitlement permeating the Western (first) world, which is rapidly going down an economic sinkhole because of unsustainable benefits. This Aussie woman, who was injured by a falling light fixture in a hotel room during a robust sexual encounter, seriously believes that her injuries, because they occurred on a business trip, should entitle her to workman's comp benefits. Good thing she didn't contact HIV as no doubt that would be the responsibility of her employer for not providing her with condoms for her business trip. In the words of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, we continue to "define deviancy downward".

Sunday, July 24, 2011

IC Update: Budding New Writer Bursts on the Scene; You Get What You Pay For

Whenever I am in the mood for amusement, I wander over to Irish Central and never fail to be disappointed. The latest laugh is D'Niall's newest ingenue, Jordana Kozupsky. Special "K", after some minimal investigation, is a 21 year old college junior at Union College in Schenectady, NY., class of 2012. Her journalistic resume prior to joining the "literary lions" at IC (also known as "Ignorant Children") consists of high school newspaper articles and a letter to the Editor at the New York Times on the topic of "tutoring for the already brainy," where she expanded the debate to add that "she was lucky that her parents didn't criticize her for a few bad grades; instead, her parents asked of her that she just try her best." Given that her publisher Niall flunked his first Leaving Cert try, she should feel right at home at IC (also known as Ignorant Clowns). Also, the web's leading purveyor of "fine Irish whines", is the perfect place for Ms. Kozupsky who was diagnosed her freshmen year as "lactose, gluten and fructose intolerant", according to the Union College student newspaper Concordiensis. Thankfully, though, Jordana so far is free Celiac Disease (the original gluten condition) according to the student paper. Wonder how Ms. Kozupsky hooked up with Da NOD? Well, let's see if we can connect the dots: Jordana hails from Chappaqua, NY, where she would be a neighbor of our former commander in briefs, William Jefferson Clinton (post-Presidential secret service code name: BJ 4 Blythe), who of course had previously shown a fondness for nubile coeds as well as portly pepperpots. The NOD is a well known Clintonista sycophant type who has previously exhibited a propensity to assume the ostrich position to ignore behavior that most decent God-fearing people would be offended by. Just call me Dick "Effin" Tracy, thank you.

By the way, read Jordana's list of top ten Irish writers (see link below) where she omits George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats and John Millington Synge for literary heavyweights such as Anne Enright, John Banville and John McGahern. Also, she states that Brendan Behan "spent most of his time in pubs", except for a 14 year gaol sentence and a profilic body of work he produced. Oh Vey, as my Jewish brethren would say.

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/Our-top-ten-Irish-novelists-of-all-time-126080063.html?page=2


At IC, Ms Kozupsky should fit right in with the preternaturally stupid Kelly Fincham, who has recently re-appeared at IC following a hiatus. Ms. Fincham, in November, 2009, suggested that Notre Dame drop football like Hofstra University (where she is an adjunct Professor of Journalism, may God help those kids) had just done at that time. Of course, the fact that football is a huge revenue generator and profit center at Notre Dame wouldn't factor into Ms. Fincham's thought processes; nor would the $ 15 million annual NBC television contract, the $30 plus million in royalties from apparel sales or the revenue from alumni contributions (minimum of $150 annually for entry into the football ticket lottery for the school's 100,000). Shortly (as in two weeks later) after Ms. Fincham suggested the "Fighting Irish" drop football, Forbes magazine ranked Notre Dame as the second most valuable ($108 million) football program if it were a free standing business. Ms. Fincham's cluelessness about the University emblematic of Irish America is not really surprising given that she was born and lived in England till she was 9, and then moved to Drogheda, a town in County Louth, just north of Dublin that was considered part of the Pale. Given the propensity of D' Niall O' Dowd to surround himself with people from Drogheda, I like to refer to IC as the Wee County (Louth is the Rhode Island of Ireland) Boob Society, home of the Triple D's, as in Drogheda Dimwits and Dumbarses. Sadly, Mr. O'Dowd is on the Advisory Council of the Irish Studies program at Notre Dame. How did the Clown Prince of the unASSimilated Irish in America become affiliated with the increasing less prestigious (by the day unfortunately for this degree holder) beacon of Catholic higher education? It seems that Don Keough, former CEO of Coca-Cola, had put a bottling plant in Ireland in the early 1980's in a town where Martin Naughton (the space heater King of the British Isles), a sponsor of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies, happened to hail from. Anyone care to take a lucky guess what town in Ireland that Coca-Cola bottling plant was built in? How about DROGHEDA.; and guess whose brother Michael was the mayor of Drogheda?  You got it: Da NOD, D' Niall O' Dowd himself. Mr. O Dowd, suddenly went from bankrupt newspaper publisher (and former housepainter) in San Francisco to founder/publisher of Irish America Magazine in New York City, then the Irish Voice newspaper and the Irish Central website. A January, 2010 article in the The Sunday Business Post (Ireland's WSJ) identified Naughton and Keough as the investors behind IrishCentral.com to the tune of $1.2 million. As I learned doing compliance examinations on Wall Street early in my career, all you need to do is follow the money. Mr. O' Dowd belongs at Notre Dame as much as his pal Bubba Clinton belongs in the College of Cardinals.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Donkey Chronicles UPDATE; IC Columnist Cormac Eklof (i.e. The "Donkey Tamir Goodman") Fulminates Once Again. Would Someone Please Fumigate the Irish Voice as it has a rodent problem

Of all the clowns masquerading as writers on his website IRISH CENTRAL that Niall O' Dowd (aka, The NOD) rolls out, there is no more odious than former mASSachussets denizen Cormac Eklof. According to his bio, Mr. Eklof is a Bostonian AND former "Irish semi-pro baseball player" (that's not a misprint, typo or output from a drunk blogger), who at the conclusion of his storied career for the Dublin Donkeys, has mistakenly entered the field of journalism under the delusional notion that he has something to say that people would want to read. His view of the world is strictly Boston-centric as 75% of his putrid output relates to someone or something that tangentially is connected with "BAHston" (sic). Since he lives in Dublin after the conclusion of his illustrious baseball career as the "plastic Paddy" version of Tamir Goodman, the select few who click on IC must suffer through his pontifications about Premiership soccer as well as all things Boston.  For those of you with short memories, Tamir Goodman was a 17 year-old Orthodox Jewish basketball player from Baltimore who in a tsunami of media stories/segments (Sports Illustrated, NY Times, CNN  and ESPN) was christened (no pun intended) with the moniker "the Jewish Jordan". This was the most back-handed compliment since the late actor Spalding Gray was dubbed "the WASPy Woody Allen. See the link below for a sample of Eklof's literary regurgitation:

http://www.irishcentral.com/story/sport/from-the-bleachers/

One good thing, though, is that when reading his column you will not find yourself in "anal distress", such as is the case were you to read his fellow IC columnist caHER O'Doherty, the chief scribe for all the gay news that's fit to print. For the record, according to a January, 2010 article in Ireland's SUNDAY BUSINESS POST, Irish Central was funded by a $1.2 million investment from Don Keough and Martin Naughton. These would be the same folks who have funded the Keough-Naughton Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame, henceforth to be known as "Plastic Paddy U" or the University of West Britannia.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Enviro-whackos ASSail Beckhams for having too many kids; How about these critics joining the Hemlock Society and be part of the solution rather than just a propogator of the situation

http://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/07/21/enviros-slam-the-beckhams-for-having-too-many-kids/

Now, this may come as a shock to those who know me, but I am going to bat for David "Spice Fairy" Beckham and his female impersonator "bride"(Poss looks like a dude from the neck up) over the criticism directed at them for "overbreeding" (choosing to have a fourth child). Simon Ross, Chief Executive of the Optimum Population Trust, issued the following statment in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/17/population-control-beckham-family?INTCMP=SRCH

Mr. Ross, of the Optimum Population Trust, an organization that campaigns for the “gradual decrease of the population to sustainable levels,” had this to say: “The Beckhams, and others like London mayor Boris Johnson, are very bad role models with their large families.” He went on to state, “There’s no point in people trying to reduce their carbon emissions and then increasing them100% by having another child.”

How about this Simon, why  don't you have a "Zero Pop" ball @ Balmoral (Prince Charles buys into your nonsense, so I am sure that he will be happy to host). Since some folks in the South Armagh "engineering" department periodically wax nostalgic about the "glory days" of the Troubles  (see video below of Bruce performing one of his greatest hits, Glory Days, at Hyde Park in London, about 2 years after the Fighting Men of Crossmaglen performed one of their "greatest hits" in Hyde Park as well)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUyOZS-PyTA.  Perhaps, the lads could kill two birds with one stone (pun intended), when they re-enact one of their greatest hits and, at the same time, Simon, greatly help you achieve your desired goal of reducing the population. Thank you, God,for blessing me with the wisdom of Solomon and the wicked wit of Jonathan Swift. Yes, Simon, to dimwits like yourself, life must seem unfair, but C'est la vie, as Voltaire might say.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

IN Man Barred from Donating Blood WHY? He appeared to be GAY!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/man-says-rejected-blood-bank-seeming-gay-151627659.html

While this story appears to be an outrageous example of  homopohobia and a violation of the potential donor's civil rights, it is in fact standard operating procedure in the field of blood collection.  As anyone who has ever donated blood for a Red Cross blood drive at work, before you donate, you are asked to complete a rather extensive questionnaire with such probing questions as:
Since 1977, have you done any of the following:
        - had homosexual relations with a man;
        - visited sub-Saharan Africa, had sex with someone from Africa or someone who lived in Africa
        - ever used a needle to take drugs or steroids not prescribed by a doctor
How does the Red Cross get away with asking such questions? FDA guidelines put in place in 1983 to ensure the safety of the blood supply for patients requiring transfusions. You may recall that tennis great Arthur Ashe contracted the AIDS virus from a transfusion given during his 1983 open heart surgery. Why has the FDA not changed these guidelines despite the development of a test to screen blood for the HIV? The answer is that the test for HIV does not recognize the virus itself, but the antibodies to the virus that develop in the bloodstream.These antibodies, however, can have an incubation period of up to 6 months; hence, obtaining the sexual history of donors remains critical. During my career as an Investment Advisor in the 90's, one of my customers was the head of the blood bank at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; he told me the following with respect to AIDS testing: the only way to be 100% certain that some doesn't have the AIDS virus is to test them, lock them in a room by themselves for 6 months, and then test them again. Clearly, the careful screening of potential donors' sexual history is a better alternative. I am sure that the folks over at Irish Central will feel otherwise.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Patrick Kennedy Weds Jersey Girl; what about a West Village guy, Gay Marriage now legal in NY. If you're Irish Paddy, come out of the closet!

Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Edward "No MOORE" (thank God, he's no effin' more ) Kennedy, was married today at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, MASS before the "usual suspects".  His bride, a divorced schoolteacher and mother of one is the former Amy Petitgout of BRIGantine, NJ (no nautical Chappaquiddick jokes at this time please). Given that a DC publican once told me that Patrick Kennedy's problem wasn't drugs and alcohol but sexual dissonance (he would like to be gay, but he can't because he's a Kennedy and has a family tradition to uphold), I must wonder if Paddy Boy married Ms. Petitgout because he thought he would have a shot at her distant relation, former Notre Dame and NFL NY Giant lineman Luke Petitgout. For those of you unaware of this important fact, NO KENNEDY HAS EVER GRADUATED FROM NOTRE DAME! Many of the Kennedy litter have graduated from Boston College or BC as it known to their alums, or "Back-Up College", as it is known to Notre Dame graduates. Every "Domer's (ND grads) favorite joke is: What does every BC grad possess that an ND grad will never own? Answer: a rejection letter from Notre Dame. If I have offended any of you HC (Hyannis compound) Irish, well, that's the way thwe spud get mashed.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Roxanne Gets the Red Light; ND Board Term shorter than John Paul I

News Item: Notre Dame News - Roxanne Martino elected to Notre Dame's board of trustees

On May 10, 2011, Roxanne (O'Brien) Martino was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the University of Notre Dame (see link above); on June 8, 2011, she resigned from the Board (see link below) because of fallout from the revelation that she was a regular contributor to the abortion promoting group Emily's List, a fact first disclosed by the Cardinal Newman Society, which monitors Catholic Universities. Subsequently, after Ms. Martino's contributions to the group were disclosed, the Sycamore Trust, a group of Notre Dame Alumni dedicated to preserving the University's Catholic identity, began to beat the drums of protest against her appointment as well. Congrats to Bill Dempsey and the Sycamore trust gang, combined with the dropping of the charges by the University against the ND88 (protesters arrested at a prayer vigil on campus at the 2009 commencement), they appear to be on a roll of late.

News Item: Martino Resigns from Notre Dame board

Let's us wish Ms. Martino well on her departure with a video tribute from the Police: YouTube/Police

BACK FROM HIATUS & IRELAND VISIT

Reviews of the Queen & Obama visits along with the bizarre candidacy of Niall O' Dowd for President of Ireland to follow in the next week.