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Interesting Stuff Thread

18889919394132

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    legspin wrote: »
    Sorry.

    I've had my coffee now. :cool:

    That was Adrian's intention but Henry's eventual invasion had feck all to do with Rome so you were both right and wrong at the same time. :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,018 ✭✭✭legspin


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    .....so you were both right and wrong at the same time. :D

    I'm usually just wrong so that's an improvement at least.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    From the No Shit, Sherlock! folder comes a new study which shows that areas which have had outbreaks of whooping cough are closely correlated with areas where greater numbers of parents have sought legal exemptions to vaccination:

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=vaccination-opt-outs-found-to-contribute-to-whooping-cough-outbreaks-in-kids&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20131009


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    robindch wrote: »
    From the No Shit, Sherlock! folder comes a new study which shows that areas which have had outbreaks of whooping cough are closely correlated with areas where greater numbers of parents have sought legal exemptions to vaccination:

    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=vaccination-opt-outs-found-to-contribute-to-whooping-cough-outbreaks-in-kids&WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20131009

    Excellent programmes on BBC4 last night on disease, pandemics and search to find cures/ vaccines, First was Pain, Pus & Poison-The search for Modern Medicines and the second was Pandemic - A Horizon Guide.

    Cholera....:eek::eek::eek:
    Malaria....:eek::eek::eek:

    Shouldn't watch these things at 1 a.m. :(


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    legspin wrote: »
    Isn't there something about the early Irish church being influenced as much by the eastern school as the west.
    As B said Rome had more than a few issues with the Irish church, but yea they did have more Greek influence than expected. Even later in the game John Scottus(the bald lad who used to be on the old fiver(mad and clever bastid who sailed very close to heresy, always a good sign)) engaged with Rome the Pope's greek scholars were dumbfounded this "barbarian" was better versed in Greek(among other things) than they were. I seem to recall the annals mentioning "learned Arabic friends". Plus the discovery of the remains of a psalter in a bog with papyrus lining. They also had some knowledge of Hebrew, so there were definite connections with the east at play.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    Wibbs wrote: »
    As B said Rome had more than a few issues with the Irish church, but yea they did have more Greek influence than expected. Even later in the game John Scottus(the bald lad who used to be on the old fiver(mad and clever bastid who sailed very close to heresy, always a good sign)) engaged with Rome the Pope's greek scholars were dumbfounded this "barbarian" was better versed in Greek(among other things) than they were. I seem to recall the annals mentioning "learned Arabic friends". Plus the discovery of the remains of a psalter in a bog with papyrus lining. They also had some knowledge of Hebrew, so there were definite connections with the east at play.

    Scottus is responsible for the only 'joke' recorded in a Medieval manuscript.


    Some versions say the 'joke' was between the king of France and Jonny Scot* but I have been assured by a colleague who actually read William of Malmesbury's MS that it was between Jonny and Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald.

    Quid distat inter sottum et Scottum? Said Bald Chaz.
    Mensa tantum Retorted Jonny Scot.**










    * Ireland = Scotia hence Irish = Scot. 'Scotland' got that name after its west coast was colonised by the Dál Riata from Ulster.

    ** 'What lies between a sot and a Scot?'
    ' Only a table.'


  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,510 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    http://www.thejournal.ie/vatican-bling-bishop-suspended-1143067-Oct2013/
    Vatican suspends Germany’s ‘bling bishop’ over ostentatious lifestyle
    The bishop flew to Rome last week with low-cost airline Ryanair to explain himself to Pope Francis after the cost of his extravagant new residence complex blew out to at least €31 million

    So they'll suspend him because he spent their money. But its ok to keep people that were part of sexual abuse cover ups (I'm looking at you Sean Brady).

    Shows where the priority's are.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,232 ✭✭✭Brian Shanahan


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    Structure of the Gaelic church followed the Coptic monastic model more than the Roman diocesan one.

    That was one of the many issues Rome had with the church in Ireland but I haven't had my coffee yet so I'll spare you all the details.

    * that bit made me twitch.

    That would be an interesting read some time, if you're ever in the mood.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,300 ✭✭✭freyners




    Great video


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    Quid distat inter sottum et Scottum? Said Bald Chaz.
    Mensa tantum Retorted Jonny Scot."
    :D Yea it was Charlie the Bald alright. He was the guy who patronised the school John ran. He invited him in the first place IIRC? Charlie likely had a sense of humour anyway, given his name was in wide circulation even among his own.

    It's not the only wit he came up with that comes down to us. When asked to write his own epitaph on the death of some anti Irish bishop he wrote(from memory here so forgiveness is begged)

    "Here lays Billy the thief, but all his greed aside, he did one good thing, he died". :D

    Johnny boy's writings are well worth a read(much of it is online). It's dense stuff, but his philosophy is interesting, very interesting for the time and for a christian to be coming out with(he (very)basically starts arguing for a pantheistic god). Hence the church supportive enough at the start actually started to read his stuff later on and a couple of centuries later built up so much ire they promptly declared it heretical and ordered all copies to be burned.

    My favourite line from John is "Every authority that is not supported by true reason is weak, whereas true reason needs no support from any authority". This went down like a fart in a lift among the hierarchy at the time or later for that matter, even more so as it was aimed at the leaders of the church.

    There were other Irish lads in that neck of the woods at the time too. Ducial Scottus and Sedelius(sp) Scottus were others(geographer and philospher/state advisor respectively).

    It's a fascinating time for me, with fascinating men and women who while obviously driven by religious zeal were often quite different to what came later(and before). Much more "human" to my mind. EG St Brigid* has some interesting stories around her that you never got in catholic school when you were making her cross from rushes. There was some talk of her and her bishop having fun between the sheets. Also talk of her sharing her bed with another nun. Saucy. One even more interesting is the story of one of her young nuns who leaves the convent to see more of the world, gets up the duff after some frolics and Brigid "miraculously restored her to her previous condition". Brigid the patron saint of abortion. No wonder you didn't hear that stuff in school. :D








    *plus like Mary took on the mantle from the pantheon of Roman goddesses, it seems Brigid took on the mantle of the older local Celtic gods, so the stories often have this vibe to them.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    Wibbs wrote: »
    ... so there were definite connections with the east at play.
    Back in the day, ocean travel was usually easier and quicker than land travel. So North Africa was closer than either Rome or Greece.
    Hence there are lots of ancient settlements on what seem today "inaccessible" islands and coastlines in the south and west of Ireland.
    I remember a TV program a few years ago where they put forward the hypothesis that sean nós singing was influenced by rhythms in the Islamic call to prayer.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    recedite wrote: »
    Back in the day, ocean travel was usually easier and quicker than land travel. So North Africa was closer than either Rome or Greece.
    Hence there are lots of ancient settlements on what seem today "inaccessible" islands and coastlines in the south and west of Ireland.
    I remember a TV program a few years ago where they put forward the hypothesis that sean nós singing was influenced by rhythms in the Islamic call to prayer.

    When Baltimore was sacked by a raiding party out of Algiers the inhabitants were sure it was the O'Driscolls as the style of dress was so similar. Gaelic Irish men wore long 'shirts' dyed with saffron, the women usually wore linen dresses of a similar design and often wore turbans also dyed with saffron and both tended toward bare feet.



    It amazes me that this hasn't really been explored.*

    I mean where did this saffron came from - they must have had access to large amounts - or how they could afford such an expensive commodity- and then to use it to dye their clothes????

    Smells like wealth to me.

    Student of mine is writing her PhD on Irish textiles of the Early Modern period and did some experiments with other friends of mine who are archaeologists/re-enactors on dying hand woven raw linen to see how much saffron would be needed. Sh*t loads being the answer. :D


    *I suspect that this idea of the Irish being poor is being projected back and assumptions are being made which are not supported by the evidence. We already know that has happened with gender roles, family structure and level of involvement of religion in society creating a false picture of Gaelic Ireland.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,579 ✭✭✭swampgas


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    When Baltimore was sacked by a raiding party out of Algiers the inhabitants were sure it was the O'Driscolls as the style of dress was so similar. Gaelic Irish men wore long 'shirts' dyed with saffron, the women usually wore linen dresses of a similar design and often wore turbans also dyed with saffron and both tended toward bare feet.



    It amazes me that this hasn't really been explored.*

    I mean where did this saffron came from - they must have had access to large amounts - or how they could afford such an expensive commodity- and then to use it to dye their clothes????

    Smells like wealth to me.

    Student of mine is writing her PhD on Irish textiles of the Early Modern period and did some experiments with other friends of mine who are archaeologists/re-enactors on dying hand woven raw linen to see how much saffron would be needed. Sh*t loads being the answer. :D


    *I suspect that this idea of the Irish being poor is being projected back and assumptions are being made which are not supported by the evidence. We already know that has happened with gender roles, family structure and level of involvement of religion in society creating a false picture of Gaelic Ireland.

    More and more I'm starting to feel that everything I learned during History in school was so distorted as to be just one huge pack of lies ... it's an interesting feeling. Thanks :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    swampgas wrote: »
    More and more I'm starting to feel that everything I learned during History in school was so distorted as to be just one huge pack of lies ... it's an interesting feeling. Thanks :)

    Well, the evidence suggests that a certain religion used it's control over our education system to greatly exaggerate it's importance in Gaelic Ireland, underplay it's role in the loss of Irish independence and lie outright about it's part in the fight to regain independence. ;)


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,170 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wibbs


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    *I suspect that this idea of the Irish being poor is being projected back and assumptions are being made which are not supported by the evidence. We already know that has happened with gender roles, family structure and level of involvement of religion in society creating a false picture of Gaelic Ireland.
    +1000

    Even at the time period of the "saints and scholars", it's pretty clear they had cash and lots of it floating about. Look at the religious stuff that has survived from that time. The books, the gold and silver, the large complexes in stone etc. Something like the Book of Kells would have cost a small fortune at the time. The inks alone cost big bucks and some came from as far away as Afghanistan. The pages, just the pages would require a standing herd of cattle which was a big measure of wealth(considering how much of the Tain concerns itself with cattle as status). The monastic sites we see today are a small shadow of a footprint in the landscape. The settlement around Clonmacnoise was a large town. This idea of dirt poor monks in bee loud glades is a romantic one rather than the reality. Even such ascetics there were would require support. Many of the monks came from rich, noble families too and continued much of the noble traditions even as monks. Abbots would pass on the role to sons, monasteries would even go to "war" at times.

    Now one could argue, "yea well the church always had wealth but the people could be dirt poor" and that's true of course, but the Irish church was largely cut off from the Roman one and the same Roman one would hardly subsidise what was in many ways (to them) a wayward version of Christianity(plus the Roman church wasn't exactly swimming in moola at the time). Bede notes of the Irish church that they would clothe feed and teach foreign visitors for free, something he considered a WTF kinda thing. That kinda largesse requires cash.

    That's not even accounting for the fancy stuff that was "civilian" from that time, Tara broach etc.

    Rejoice in the awareness of feeling stupid, for that’s how you end up learning new things. If you’re not aware you’re stupid, you probably are.



  • Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 28,510 Mod ✭✭✭✭Cabaal


    Interesting how many of the searches relate to religion or religious views

    http://www.broadsheet.ie/2013/10/24/what-the-internet-thinks-of-women/

    women.jpg

    They are not made up either....thats worrying :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭sbsquarepants


    Not that worrying, replace women with men and the results are fairly similar.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    Not that worrying, replace women with men and the results are fairly similar.

    Sexist!


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Cabaal wrote: »
    http://www.broadsheet.ie/2013/10/24/what-the-internet-thinks-of-women/

    They are not made up either....thats worrying :(

    The article is entitled "What The Internet Thinks Of Women". I think it would be fairer to call the article "What google auto-suggests in some countries when you type in 'Women cannot/need to/should/shouldn't' into the search box".

    While lack of equality of opportunity, education, rights etc between men and women is undeniably a major problem in most countries, I don't believe that typing selected words into google proves it. Nor do I find it very honest of the ad-promoter to sell it as proof, unless somebody can convincingly demonstrate that worldwide opinions are reliably reflected by the text suggestions provided by google.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,182 ✭✭✭Genghiz Cohen


    Look at me being all controversial!
    XrcyXJS.png


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,097 ✭✭✭kiffer


    Look at me being all controversial!
    XrcyXJS.png

    What did it auto suggestion before you typed the great?

    And what does it auto suggest for "men should" and so on?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,371 ✭✭✭Obliq


    kiffer wrote: »
    What did it auto suggestion before you typed the great?

    And what does it auto suggest for "men should" and so on?

    Not much difference at all really - have typed in various words. Apparently men shouldn't wear shorts, sandals, white socks and tank tops, but we knew that already :D Women shouldn't wear bras, panties and makeup. Also says they shouldn't vote, work or go to college...but I think as robin says, it's more a auto-correct indication of what people discuss rather than an indication of the slant that discussion has taken.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Obliq wrote: »
    it's more a auto-correct indication of what people discuss rather than an indication of the slant that discussion has taken.
    As above, it's not clear to me one way or the other.

    I also suspect -- but again don't know (since Google's auto-suggest algorithm isn't to my knowledge, public) -- that the amount of public discussion kicked off by this very successful campaign has probably increased the rate at which these sexist comments are being provided by google.

    For the ad campaign for to be honest, the people behind the ad should show how google's autosuggest reliably reflects public opinion. Otherwise, well, it's an ad campaign as one-sided as any other. Which is a pity, since women's inequality is a serious concern worldwide and doesn't deserve to be treated in this offhand manner.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,097 ✭✭✭kiffer


    Google auto suggest on my phone...

    Men should...
    Men should be enslaved.
    Men shoulder bag.
    Men should weep.
    Men shoulder tattoos.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    HIV baby infected in womb is in long-term remission, doctors confirm

    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/hiv-baby-infected-womb-long-term-remission

    God, as usual, made no comment.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,094 ✭✭✭Liamario


    robindch wrote: »
    HIV baby infected in womb is in long-term remission, doctors confirm

    http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/hiv-baby-infected-womb-long-term-remission

    God, as usual, made no comment.

    He's sitting there with a big smug head on him/her/it, knowing that he's going to get the credit for doing nothing (yet again).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,232 ✭✭✭Brian Shanahan


    Liamario wrote: »
    He's sitting there with a big smug head on him/her/it, knowing that he's going to get the credit for doing nothing (yet again).

    That's Om, not god.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,474 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    This is fun :) I avoid Google like the plague and don't have any everlasting cookies already set to skew / searchbubble the results. Used google.ie domain.

    277503.png

    277504.png

    Scrap the cap!



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    ninja900 wrote: »
    [...] don't have any everlasting cookies already set to skew / searchbubble the results [...]
    You're already searchbubbled by the physical location of your IP address, as well as any address you might have set up with any google account you're logged in with:

    https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/179386

    They may also searchbubble based upon the precise IP address within the more general locale, but I can't find any comment from google that confirms or denies that:

    http://www.aspkin.com/google-search-results-based-on-ip-address/


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Sexist!
    In terms of gender equality, the World Economic Forum says that Ireland is doing well and has maintained its place as the sixth most gender-equal country in the world, coming in after Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Philippines (which, frankly, I wouldn't have expected):

    http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/world/ireland-maintains-6th-position-on-global-gender-gap-list-1.1573159

    The full report is here:

    http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2013.pdf


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,992 ✭✭✭✭recedite


    robindch wrote: »
    ... and the Philippines (which, frankly, I wouldn't have expected)...
    Its common for filipino women to work abroad as nurses or childminders while the men stay at home, often with the kids.
    In very recent times numerous call centres have opened up in the Phillipines (as their spoken English has an American twang and is much easier to understand than those gentlemen in India) and they are mostly staffed by women who would otherwise have gone abroad.

    In some African tribal societies the women go out to chop wood and carry water while the men smoke, chat and keep an eye on the cattle.

    This contrasts with a coffee shop I passed recently in Foxrock, South Dublin, on a midweek around 11 am, which I noticed was packed with "yummy mummy" type women happily chatting and spending money.

    Perhaps "spending power" should be looked at as much as "participation in the workforce" when measuring gender equality?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,474 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    robindch wrote: »
    In terms of gender equality, the World Economic Forum says that Ireland is doing well and has maintained its place as the sixth most gender-equal country in the world, coming in after Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Philippines (which, frankly, I wouldn't have expected):

    Ireland is gender-neutral country. Both men and women are denied abortions.

    Scrap the cap!



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭joseph brand


    3kTIouC.jpg

    They won't like that.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭joseph brand


    Fascinating site. The Journey of Mankind. Interactive map, begins circa 160k years ago.

    What causes an Ice Age?
    Milutin Milankovitch was a Serb. He was caught in the wrong country at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 and interned. Luckily a friendly Hungarian professor had him paroled and moved from his cell to Budapest where he had access to the library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Oblivious to the war, he continued his calculations and finally published his first set of predictions in 1920. The genius of Milankovitch lay in the correct combination of astronomical cycles and meticulous calculation. When he died in 1958, the theory was falling out of vogue partly because of various discrepancies between his predictions and geologists' findings. Since then, the older techniques of geologists, particularly the accuracy of carbon-dating, have been found wanting and the Milankovitch model has emerged triumphant, thus standing the test of time.

    A detailed description of the theory can be found elsewhere (see A.G.Dawson, Ice Age Earth, Routledge, London, 1992, chapter 13). But it is important to realise that frequent, apparently random, episodes of warming and cooling of the Earth can be explained to a great extent by the interplay of at least three celestial cycles, all running at different speeds. These cycles affect the warmth transmitted by the Sun to various parts of the Earth in a complex way. Of particular importance for the onset of glaciation is a decline in heat transmitted to northern temperate latitudes during summer with the resulting failure to melt last winter's snow. The amount of summer sun is controlled by three important heavenly cycles, which can be called respectively: the 100,000-year stretch, the 41,000-year tilt and the 23,000-year wobble.

    Every year when the Earth circles the Sun, it moves alternately nearer and farther at different points of the circuit. This motion is called elliptical and the Sun lies to one end of the ellipse rather than in the middle. Over a period of approximately 100,000 years this ellipse stretches somewhat, and then shortens and fattens until it is nearly circular. The process is rather like taking a child’s hula-hoop and distorting it intermittently with two hands to make an ellipse. Over the cycle, the distance between the Earth and the Sun varies by as much as 18.26 million kilometres (11.35 million miles). Although the change in heat delivery over this cycle is relatively small, the effect on the Earth's climate is, for some reason, greater than with the other two mechanisms. At present the Sun's circuit does not particularly favour an ice age, but the onset of the next major glaciation can be predicted accurately from the cycles.


    The human population was reduced to around 10,000 adults, due to Mt. Toba's super-eruption around 74k years ago. We were quite close to being wiped out. A fact which I seem to remember being mentioned by Hitchens during at least one of his many debates.

    The Lord works in mysterious ways. It's almost as if he rules through the laws of chance. :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    recedite wrote: »
    Its common for filipino women to work abroad as nurses or childminders while the men stay at home, often with the kids.
    Interesting to know that it's common. Our next-door neighbours have exactly this setup. Though it also appears that they went back to the Phillippines to give birth and then stayed there for the duration of her maternity leave, before coming back. Which to me is a ridiculously sensible thing to do.

    It's funny though, my wife has commented a number of times on how the wife appears to bully the husband and basically expects him to do everything because she is the one who goes out to work.
    They joined the rest of the neighbours for a picnic during the summer, during which she sat on the grass talking while ordering him around fetching stuff, looking after the baby, etc.
    While that would still be viewed negatively if the genders were reversed, it definitely stood out more because the roles were reversed.

    However, what it really showed to me is that either party in a marriage can play the overbearing and demanding "provider" and the other the submissive "carer" who does all the work at home. It's not something which bears any relation to the actual genders involved.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 31,967 ✭✭✭✭Sarky


    David Quinn would have exploded on the spot.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,775 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    Well, the evidence suggests that a certain religion used it's control over our education system to greatly exaggerate it's importance in Gaelic Ireland, underplay it's role in the loss of Irish independence and lie outright about it's part in the fight to regain independence. ;)

    Are there any books on Gaelic Ireland that would be accessible to the uninitiated that you could recommend?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    keane2097 wrote: »
    Are there any books on Gaelic Ireland that would be accessible to the uninitiated that you could recommend?

    Anything by this chap - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Nicholls.

    His Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages is a good 'primer'.

    He's my historian hero - and not just because we have wonderfully passionate discussions with the odd disagreement :D


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 24,420 Mod ✭✭✭✭robindch


    Well, well, well.

    The LA Times has announced that it will no longer print letters which deny that climate change is largely caused by human activity. I can't see the IT doing that any time soon, but it's a welcome change.

    http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-climate-change-letters-20131008,0,871615.story
    LA Times wrote:
    A piece this weekend debunking the claim that Congress and the president are exempted from Obamacare has drawn a harsh reaction from some readers and conservative bloggers. But their umbrage wasn't with the piece's explanation of why letters making this claim do not get published.

    Rather, they were upset by the statement that letters "[saying] there's no sign humans have caused climate change" do not get printed. Noel Sheppard at NewsBusters blogged about it over the weekend:

    "It's one thing for a news outlet to advance the as yet unproven theory of anthropogenic global warming; it's quite another to admit that you won't publish views that oppose it. As amazing as it may seem, that's exactly what the Los Angeles Times did Saturday in an article by editorial writer Jon Healey.... So letters to the editor 'that say there's no sign humans have caused climate change ... do not get printed. That's quite a statement coming from an editorial writer not named Al Gore."

    Point of order: Jon Healey didn't write that intro, and neither did Al Gore; as The Times' letters editor, I did. It ran without a byline because it was intended to be a straightforward editor's note introducing the piece; my apologies if that caused any confusion. Healey was responsible for everything beneath the boldface subhead, "Editorial writer Jon Healey explains why this claim in the debate over the healthcare law is off-base."

    As for letters on climate change, we do get plenty from those who deny global warming. And to say they "deny" it might be an understatement: Many say climate change is a hoax, a scheme by liberals to curtail personal freedom.

    Before going into some detail about why these letters don't make it into our pages, I'll concede that, aside from my easily passing the Advanced Placement biology exam in high school, my science credentials are lacking. I'm no expert when it comes to our planet's complex climate processes or any scientific field. Consequently, when deciding which letters should run among hundreds on such weighty matters as climate change, I must rely on the experts -- in other words, those scientists with advanced degrees who undertake tedious research and rigorous peer review.

    And those scientists have provided ample evidence that human activity is indeed linked to climate change. Just last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- a body made up of the world's top climate scientists -- said it was 95% certain that we fossil-fuel-burning humans are driving global warming. The debate right now isn't whether this evidence exists (clearly, it does) but what this evidence means for us.

    Simply put, I do my best to keep errors of fact off the letters page; when one does run, a correction is published. Saying "there's no sign humans have caused climate change" is not stating an opinion, it's asserting a factual inaccuracy.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,775 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    Bannasidhe wrote: »
    Anything by this chap - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Nicholls.

    His Gaelic and Gaelicised Ireland in the Middle Ages is a good 'primer'.

    He's my historian hero - and not just because we have wonderfully passionate discussions with the odd disagreement :D

    Thanks very much. If anyone is interested the book mentioned is going cheap on Amazon for Kindle:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaelic-Gaelicized-Ireland-Middle-Ages/dp/1843510030/ref=dp_ob_title_bk


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,218 ✭✭✭✭Bannasidhe


    keane2097 wrote: »
    Thanks very much. If anyone is interested the book mentioned is going cheap on Amazon for Kindle:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaelic-Gaelicized-Ireland-Middle-Ages/dp/1843510030/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

    Ohhh...I don't have it on my kindle...YET. :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,474 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    Dell is replacing laptops that smell of cat wee.

    Scrap the cap!



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,442 ✭✭✭Sulla Felix


    keane2097 wrote: »
    Thanks very much. If anyone is interested the book mentioned is going cheap on Amazon for Kindle:

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaelic-Gaelicized-Ireland-Middle-Ages/dp/1843510030/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
    Price is more or less the same on the .com for those of us that haven't switched to .co.uk :D
    It's something of a pet hate of mine as I've several relations who'd be both religious and of a nationalistic bent and the two seem to dovetail a little too neatly...


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,964 ✭✭✭✭PopePalpatine


    ninja900 wrote: »

    I smell wee. Where's that from?

    *looks around*

    It's this one here! This one smells of wee!

    *laptop growls*


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,578 ✭✭✭✭Turtwig


    This may interest some of the denizens of this forum.
    A subscription to nature generally costs over over €200 but for a limited time (very limited!) it's only €50. That's 51 issues for the entire year of a highly reputable science mag. :)

    http://www.nature.com/ecommerce/subscribe.action?productId=NATURE&source=EXTNSO13


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,442 ✭✭✭Sulla Felix


    Jernal wrote: »
    This may interest some of the denizens of this forum.
    A subscription to nature generally costs over over €200 but for a limited time (very limited!) it's only €50. That's 51 issues for the entire year of a highly reputable science mag. :)

    http://www.nature.com/ecommerce/subscribe.action?productId=NATURE&source=EXTNSO13
    Hmm, billing address restricted to US territories? Anyone have a workaround?
    Solved that, change location duh.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,578 ✭✭✭✭Turtwig


    Jernal wrote: »
    This may interest some of the denizens of this forum.
    A subscription to nature generally costs over over €200 but for a limited time (very limited!) it's only €50. That's 51 issues for the entire year of a highly reputable science mag. :)

    http://www.nature.com/ecommerce/subscribe.action?productId=NATURE&source=EXTNSO13

    I should really have said €55.:o Bloody VAT. :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,474 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    Shamsi Ali: The rise and fall of a New York imam
    The Islamic Thinkers' Society have taken to internet campaigns to denounce Ali. "Shamsi Ali is a moderate Uncle Sam Muslim who wants the Muslim community to imitate the west," the group writes on its website.

    Scrap the cap!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 35,474 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    There was an item in yesterday's dead-tree Irish Times (can't find it online) about how Senator Averil Power was doing white-collar boxing to fundraise for something or other.

    Hmm. Punch a Fianna Failer in the face. For charidee. Can't see that catching on :pac:

    Brian Cowen, your country needs you. Now hop up into that ring there...

    Scrap the cap!



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