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Guns and America
– El Gringo I am old enough to remember hearing about a quaint hunting rifle association that wanted to protect the rights of hunters much like conservationists want to protect Mother Nature. There wasn’t a political bend to their mantra, they were hunters who like hunting. Sorta like The Sierra Club members who drive Volvos and have a gun rack in the back. You find them on rural highways and byways going to or from opening xyzxyz hunting season. They’ve changed. Now they keep a friggin’ score card on each member of Congress. It’s like they’re all back in
Rivers of Dust: The Future of Water and the Middle East
Without international diplomacy, the Middle East is going to run out of water — and it won’t be alone. It is written that “Enannatum, ruler of Lagash,” slew “60 soldiers” from Umma. The battle between the two ancient city states took place 4,500 years ago near where the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers come together in what is today Iraq. The matter in dispute? Water. More than four millennia have passed since the two armies clashed over one city state’s attempt to steal water from another. But while the instruments of war have changed, the issue is much the same: whoever
Brexit Britain: The more demented our neighbour looks, the saner Ireland appears
As Ireland is one of the most globalised economies in the world, we should pay more attention to global trends than we pay to local or regional ones. Granted, given what is happening in London, this week has been an epoch-changing one in terms of Anglo-Irish relations. No one can be reassured by the complexion of the UK cabinet and their collective delusion that only Ireland now stands between them and their great neo-Elizabethan swashbuckling Brexit adventure. But Westminster is not the only story. Because of Ireland’s trade flows with the US and the EU, the outlook for the global
Record Heatwave Scorches Europe
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have recorded their highest ever temperatures, in a heatwave searing Western Europe. The Belgian town of Kleine Brogel hit 39.9C (102F), the hottest since 1833. The southern Dutch city of Eindhoven beat the 75-year-old national record, with a new high of 39.3C. Germany’s weather service said a new record of 40.5C – just 0.2C higher – had been set in Geilenkirchen, near the Belgian and Dutch borders. The new German record was still to be confirmed, it said, warning that it could get even hotter on Thursday. Source www.bbc.com
Driverless: Who is in control?
12 June 2019 – October 2020 A free exhibition at the Science Museum For decades, autonomous vehicles have been heralded as a new technology that could change the way we live our lives. Driverless: Who is in control? opening today at the Science Museum will explore how close we are to living in a world driven by thinking machines. From self-driving cars to autonomous flying drones and smart underwater vehicles like the Autosub Long Range fleet which includes ‘Boaty McBoatface’, the exhibition will explore how much of this seemingly futuristic technology already exists and extends far beyond the cars we’re
Deported man says ‘ruthless’ US immigration system leaves no options
A Co Down man who was deported from the US in 2013 says he does not have much advice for Cork native Keith Byrne because the country’s immigration system is “ruthless.” Cormac McGrady (45), who was sent home after being arrested for a public nudity offence while skinny-dipping with his wife on holiday in Delaware, says he cannot offer encouragement to others given his experience during his deportation. Mr McGrady, who now lives in Newcastle, Co Down, was applying for his green card as the husband of US citizen Caitlin Vennard when his arrest, six years ago, started a chain of events that led to
