Friday's Rave

[Ruckedtobits]

Gatland's most recent out-half selection. Genius........or panic?

[hugonaut]

Tories getting voted out in the UK. They have been a dreadful government for our closest neighbour over the last decade.

Keir Starmer doesn't excite a lot of people either in the UK or people interested in UK politics over here, and I think that is just grand. Government is managing a society and an economy and dealing with the dozens of issues/crises that arise on a daily basis. It's not entertainment.

The way I see it, the role is dealing with multi-faceted problems as pragmatically and decently as possible so as to result in the best outcome for a majority of the people you are governing. And that majority will be composed of different people based on what the issue in question is.

You don't need to be inspirational, you need to be decisive, pragmatic and empathetic. I'm not sure in which order. I hope that he can get a good cabinet around him and start to make life a little better for the Brits.

[jimbobjoe]

Tories getting voted out in the UK. They have been a dreadful government for our closest neighbour over the last decade.

Keir Starmer doesn't excite a lot of people either in the UK or people interested in UK politics over here, and I think that is just grand. Government is managing a society and an economy and dealing with the dozens of issues/crises that arise on a daily basis. It's not entertainment.

The way I see it, the role is dealing with multi-faceted problems as pragmatically and decently as possible so as to result in the best outcome for a majority of the people you are governing. And that majority will be composed of different people based on what the issue in question is.

You don't need to be inspirational, you need to be decisive, pragmatic and empathetic. I'm not sure in which order. I hope that he can get a good cabinet around him and start to make life a little better for the Brits.

Living in the UK and completely agree. A steady hand at the tiller is sorely needed and I think Starmer is the one to deliver that.

Somehow the disaster of the Tory govt hasn't finished them as a party and they will always seemingly have a large number of people who will vote for them no matter what. The Cameron through to Sunak years and the Thatcher/Major years were disastrous and I can't for the life of me understand how so many can't/won't see that.

Good riddance to the bad smell of the SNP too, they've been just as bad and corrupt as the Tories and hidden behind the masks of independence and blaming Westminster.

Seeing Reforms numbers makes me happy there's no proportional representation here - they'd have a lot more seats if that was the case.

[Ruckedtobits]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

[kff15]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

Great post

[Dave Cahill]

The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

I agree with most of what you say, but never forget that the reason why "PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians" was because populations were saying 'ooh shiny and sparkly".

Never underestimate the capriciousness of the general population!

[offshorerules]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

Really good post but I'm not sure they thought a far left government would be the solution to their problems either. Interesting to see their next presidential elections.

[Oldschool]

The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

I agree with most of what you say, but never forget that the reason why "PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians" was because populations were saying 'ooh shiny and sparkly".

Never underestimate the capriciousness of the general population!

The politicians certainly don't.

[berliner]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

Really good post but I'm not sure they thought a far left government would be the solution to their problems either. Interesting to see their next presidential elections.

What are the key policies that constitute 'far left' in your mind? That's a genuine not a snarky question.

[Oldschool]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

Really good post but I'm not sure they thought a far left government would be the solution to their problems either. Interesting to see their next presidential elections.

What are the key policies that constitute 'far left' in your mind? That's a genuine not a snarky question.

Take from the richer and give to the poor.
Robin Hood style.

[offshorerules]

Having watched the demise, or at least radical reduction of the Torys, we have now seen another population reject the prospect of a radical right-wing governing group. This time in France.

The (probable) demotion of National Rally to third place in the French parliamentary elections suggest that European peoples want diverse, but not radical policies. They want honesty and collaboration for politicians but not policies which are extreme or seek to 'blame' only parts of society for the problems faced by all.

Yes, it may make for political uncertainty in France as a period of time will be needed to allow new 'concensus' policies to emerge from among diverse political groupings. But that is because populations in our multi-cultural countries are diverse and have different needs, views and dreams.

Germany will face the same electoral challenge later this year and we in Ireland sometime shortly after, whether in late 2024 or early 2025, the date is largely irrelevant. What will be relevant is that countries in Europe now need a breed of politicians in each country who are managers, not idealoges. The madness of the past decade where PR, Spin, Social Media influencers operating behind the scenes to create 'image' politicians, has come to an end and populations are saying: "Listen to our needs and manage our societies".

Hopefully, this trend will become even more evident and politicians WILL listen and start to manage, rather than herd their societies into discrete groupings, based on wealth, race, political outlook or any other of the different elements in our societies.

Really good post but I'm not sure they thought a far left government would be the solution to their problems either. Interesting to see their next presidential elections.

What are the key policies that constitute 'far left' in your mind? That's a genuine not a snarky question.

I don't think Communism will sit well with the French. Doesn't have a great track record. And while they are not all communists a lot of the 'far left' are or have leanings that way.

[Ruckedtobits]

Taken from the RTE website, I though this was one of the most insightful sporting interviews of the year and expresses how some guys get better with age:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/hurling/2024/0 ... ay-horgan/

[Ruckedtobits]

If ever there was a deserved Friday's Rave, it must be Kellie Harrngton. What an operator, a total genius boxer who does all the things her boxing coaches want her to do, often before they even suggest it.

She boxes orthodox (left jab, followed by right hook) or southpaw (the mirror-image combination), as she feels the need. She attacks and defends as she reads her opponent's mind. She smiles and grimaces as her thoughts are projected across her face for all to see.

She talks like a Dub or like a philosopher. She understands her people but recognises what her country needs and knows how to put it across.

Well done Kellie, no praise is high enough. It was a stunning win.

[offshorerules]

If ever there was a deserved Friday's Rave, it must be Kellie Harrngton. What an operator, a total genius boxer who does all the things her boxing coaches want her to do, often before they even suggest it.

She boxes orthodox (left jab, followed by right hook) or southpaw (the mirror-image combination), as she feels the need. She attacks and defends as she reads her opponent's mind. She smiles and grimaces as her thoughts are projected across her face for all to see.

She talks like a Dub or like a philosopher. She understands her people but recognises what her country needs and knows how to put it across.

Well done Kellie, no praise is high enough. It was a stunning win.

+1

[offshorerules]

In fact well done to all he medallists and competitors. You all did us proud.

[Ruckedtobits]

Brilliant win for Irish Cricket Women in beating Sri Lanka by 3 wickets in One-Day 50 overs game. Prendergast starred with 122 n.o. and carried her bat and participated in last wicket stand of 50 runs in last 6 overs

[Ruckedtobits]

What a fantastic achievement by Eddie Dunbar, the 27 year old Cork cyclist in getting a Stage win in the Vuelta today. This was a tough hilly 167 km stage and he did it the hard way, breaking from a breakaway group within a relatively short distance from the line. Dunbar has had a series of tough injuries this season and have shown great reliance to get back towards the top.

He's now in 17th overall.