Wording of the Scottish Independence Referendum

I always thought the Scottish independence referendum question isn't worded very authentically. It should be:

Should Scotland be an independent country?

'Och aye, I suppose so'

or

'Naw, I wouldny be bothered'.

A message from Ireland to the peoples of the New World

See the full "modest proposal" here.

Not ever!

McConnelling

There is a new sensation sweeping the nation thanks to Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, and the slightly surprising figure of Senate Minority Leader and Senator for the great state of Kentucky, Mitch McConnell.

McConnell is up for re-election in the fall, and his team last week released a 2.5 minute long campaign video, featuring Mitch doing things that people in campaign videos do: walking with students; sitting with his wife; making a speech; meeting workers.

And the message that went with it?  Well, there wasn't one.  There were no words at all in the video, just a weird background elevator-type piece of music.  The video is being put out so that so-called Super-PACs (political action committees) that are allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of McConnell's campaign so long as he does not co-ordinate or direct them can use the footage to make their own videos in support of him.

The Daily Show
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Viewers in the UK or Ireland should be able to see some of the DS footage here.

38 reasons we should hate the French (or at least dislike them mildly)

I posted this earlier today, and then realised that it probably requires a bit of context.

France v Ireland: preview

There is a big rugby match on tomorrow between Ireland and France.  A really big one, that will see the greatest rugby player of his generation, and the greatest Irish rugby player of all time, Brian O'Driscoll, retire from international play on the same turf where he first shot to stardom.

If Ireland beat France, and England don't run up a victory margin of 50-odd points against Italy, then Ireland will win the 6 Nations Championship.

But, we are really bad at beating the French, especially in Paris.  In fact we have only managed it twice in the past 40 years.

But this one's for BO'D.  For BO'D and Ireland.

38 reasons we should hate the French (or at least dislike them mildly) - The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 14, 2014

Numbers 1, 18 and 38:

Thierry Henry

Jesus chose 12 men first time round

This time it looks like he's settled on 5 Guys.

I was surprised when the cashier told me that water and wine were free.

You want to speak Belfast Northern Irish so you do?

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, there will be a lot of green shamrocks and leprechaun costumes being waved about, particularly here in the U.S. (where St. Patrick's Day was largely invented).


So, in honour of Ireland's patron saint, I was reminded of this little educational video, in case anybody happens to be planning on visiting my own little corner of Ireland to take part in the festivities.


It is a handy guide for learning to speak like a Belfast local, and in no time at all you'll blend in while you are there so you will.

BNP leader's lovechild to be Italian PM

The world seems remarkably nonchalant about the fact that British National Party leader Nick Griffin's love child by Mr. Bean appears poised to become Prime Minister of Italy.

Above, Mr. Bean and Nick Griffin.

Below, the fruit of their secret love, Italian Democratic Party leader, Matteo Renzi.

Things Culchies Love

Yesterday's post of Feilim McHugh's brilliant da, reminded me of a list from many years ago of 'Things Culchies Love'.  If you're not Irish, you probably don't know what a culchie is: it's someone from the country; someone who engages in agricultural pursuits.  I think it's pretty fair to say that Feilim's oul fella is a culchie (the giveaway was the hat).

So, in honour of Feilim's da, here is, resurrected from the vaults of the interwebs, a list of things culchies love.

The most Irish thing you will ever see in your life

No really, this is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.  It is more Irish than Bono and Sinéad O'Connor dancing The Waves of Tory down O'Connell Street in giant shamrock costumes while knocking a sliotar back and forth between them and skulling a pint with a wee chaser.  It is, pure brilliance.

WARNING: There is some very, erm, authentic language used here.

NSFW, unless you are in Ireland.

Or Australia.

And don't work in a convent.

Unless all the nuns are Irish.

If the embedded video isn't working, click on this link.

Post by Feilim Mchugh's Driving License.

Europe According to Google Autocomplete

A map was doing the rounds on the internet last week that was a variation on a theme seen before:

The Atlantic ran a (flimsy) piece on the map, and what it says about America's national psyche.  It also made reference to other maps that had been done in the past, using the same format for Europe, for example.  I checked them out and they were a bit dated in terms of their results, so for your entertainment and delectation, I repeated the exercise, using two different formats:

1) To match the map above, "why is [insert country] so...?"

and then

2) "[Insert country] is..."

The results of the interrogative were, to be honest, pretty predictable: one of poor, rich, expensive or happy covers pretty much more than half the continent; of the remainder Ireland is green, Britain is great, Russia is big and France is gay.  No surprises there.  That people want to know why Turkey is dry is hardly shocking either (top tip: deep fry it to keep in the moisture), though Lithuania and Greece threw up a couple of curve balls.