Oscar time

A Trailer for Every Academy Award Winning Movie Ever -- powered by Cracked.com

Ha ha ha

Muppets for the win

The Muppets do Bohemian Rhapsody



via Shakesville

Jay Smooth on Polanski

As usual Jay brings it

No, no, no to NAMA

Considering positions

I love that "to consider hir positions" means "resign" again. It's really the 80s again.

Mr Cowen said there were no circumstances in which he would consider his position, regardless of the outcome of the elections.

Having taken some time to consider my position, I have decided that the time is right for me to step out of international competition

After the latest revelations, and the underhand and secretive way in which moves by the leadership were conducted, I will have to consider my position," he added.

I would prefer to consider my position in that respect before I decide when it should be published.

I will consider my position with regard to a motion under Standing Order 29.

The are quite a few others that really should consider their positions!

Those Cóir posters were so irritating that I made a vid

Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success

Wonderful new view of success

Need a laugh? I fucking do

Hump day humour

Ganked from Fatmammycat cos it's hilarious

Satire is dead

According to the IT

Observing that there were sectors which had yet to feel the “chill winds of economic reality”, the Tánaiste said “certain professions” had yet to reveal how they intended to reduce fees and charges and she went on to accuse them of “economic conceit”.

Seriously? Seriously? That's a bit rich coming from the Tánaiste (commonly called Sweary Mary) of a government that created our economic downfall.


ETA Thanks to Tom Lehrer for the phrase "satire is dead" and now for some Tom...

The Magdalene Laundries

Given Ireland's conservative sexual values, Magdalen Asylums were a generally accepted social institution until well into the second half of the 20th century. They disappeared with the changes in sexual mores -- or, as some say, as they ceased to be profitable. "Possibly the advent of the washing machine has been as instrumental in closing these laundries as have changing attitudes," according to Frances Finnegan.

The sending of "wayward women" to Magdalen Asylums was an example of what many feminists regard as the phenomenon in which even suspected sexual misconduct by women is punished harder than sexual misconduct by men.(Source)

In his own words

Watch this. It's Michael O'Brien on "Questions and Answers". He's a survivor of the Catholic church's child abuse.



Other posts to read:


Church of evil
I write letters
The savage reality of our darkest days
Indemnity and the Catholic Church
The Irish Catholic church and child abuse: it's not about bad apples
Pride - the Catholic church's deadly sin

"We didn't start the flame war"

 Because it follows a typical YouTube comment thread, there is offensive language and visuals. It's funny though, because this is exactly like so many unmoderated threads in the blogosphere.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Hump day humour

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Teabagging Protests
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Gay Marriage Commercial

Confused? Here's the explanation

Biffo's Hallelujah

Not quite Leonard Cohen. Only kinda funny considering it's true

Jack L

Can't stop listening to this. Also can't sleep.



Haunting

Hump Day Humour

Well it's late because I was gardening and stuff but here have a laff.



Oh purple sponge!



Ode to douchebaggery

Target Women

Sarah Haskins for the win again



I LOLed!

Hump day humour - Nob Nation edition

Hope some of this inspire some giggles. We need them after yesterday's bludget.

Firstly Thriller a la Nob Nation (MP3)

This is a crisis.
Something's lurking deep inside the Dáil.
We hit your wallet.
The price of fags will drive you up the wall.

You'll try to leave,
The taxman takes a tenner before you've boarded.
Your wages freeze as Brian O looks you right between the eyes
Ireland deprived.

The Nobs sing Those were the days... with a special appearance from Bertie. (MP3)

Once upon a time there was a tiger
To whom we used to raise a glass or two.
Remember how we built a million houses,
And dreamed of nonstop profits not of doom

Those were the days my friends...

And finally

"Provoked beyond reason"

David Bourke stabbed his wife to death in front of their children. The Irish Times covers it here.

A MAN who stabbed his wife to death in front of their three children has been given a life sentence for murder.

David Bourke (49) admitted stabbing Jean Gilbert (45) to death in front of their three children at the family home in Laverna Dale, Castleknock, Co Dublin, on August 28th, 2007, but denied murdering her.

He claimed to have been provoked beyond reason by his wife’s affair with English-born musician Robert Campion who had re-entered his wife’s life four months previously.

She had told Bourke that she was going to leave him.

The “last straw” had been the meal that Ms Gilbert had with Mr Campion at the family home two days before she died.

"Provoked beyond reason"? There is nothing provocative about a marriage ending. In Europe, one in every two couples divorces on average. Leaving a partner is a mundane and common, if sad, occurrence. He was not "provoked beyond reason". He chose to murder her. He chose to stab her in front of their children. This is gender based violence. Bourke stabbed his wife because he was angry. He murdered her for leaving him. He murdered her because he could.

Being born a woman is the single biggest risk of violence. Trigger warning on vids.





And for all those who would deny it, yes it happens in Ireland too.

Ireland - In Making the Links (1995), the first ever national research into the prevalence of domestic violence in Ireland, 18% of Irish Women reported they had been abused in relationships with male partners.

Ireland- Since the beginning of 1996, 134 women have been murdered in Ireland. Of those 84 were killed in their own homes. Of the cases which have been resolved, in just under half (49% of the cases, the murder was committed by a partner or ex-partner.

Ireland- In 1999, two out of three women who sought refuge accommodation were refused (1104 women were refused refuge accommodation in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area and 609 women were accommodated - Kelleher 2001)

Ireland- In 2006, 3,132 barring orders were applied for and 1,357 were granted. In the same year 1,221 Safety Orders were granted, 99 were refused and 1,726 struck out/withdrawn. 2,845 protection orders were granted whilst 99 were refused and 193 struck out/withdrawn. (The Courts Services Annual Report, 2006)

Ireland- 4 out of 10 women who had been involved in a sexual relationship with a man experienced violence (Reported frequency of domestic violence; cross sectional survey of women attending general practice, February 20002)

Ireland - Safety and Sanctions, research conducted by Women's Aid into domestic violence and the enforcement of law in Ireland in 1999, showed that children were present in the house or witnessed the violence in a significant amount of cases.

Ireland - A study conducted by the Rotunda Maternity Hospital found that in a sample of 400 pregnant women, 12.5% had experienced abuse while they were pregnant

I'm not denying the existence of violence against men by women but studies have shown that women are seven times more likely to need medical care afterward. Gilbert did not survive the domestic violence Bourke subjected her to.

Bourke was found guilty of murder. It was not a crime of passion. There was no provocation. It was premeditated.

In her closing statement, prosecuting counsel Isobel Kennedy argued that in order for a defense of provocation, there had to be a total loss of self-control. Mr Bourke had known for 10 weeks before Ms Gilbert's death that his wife was going to leave him, she said. He had told gardai that he had wanted to hurt her as she had hurt him, and had sent a text to a colleague on the night before her death saying that he hated her and would have killed her had he not left the house.

It is disgusting that this defense was even considered. It's classic blame-the-victim. Bourke's defense boils down to "she made me do it" and "she was asking for it". Gilbert did not make Bourke stab her four times in front of their children. Gilbert did not ask to be murdered. Gilbert did not ask for her children to be traumatised.

Bourke tried to cowardly free himself from the responsibility of his actions. But the jury has spoken. I'm sure Gilbert didn't ask for Bourke to spend his life in prison either. He has committed murder. It's his responsibility. Gilbert is the victim. Bourke was not "provoked beyond reason".