What is the point in Knol (http://knol.google.com/k/knol)? This, to me, isn't a rival to Wikipedia, it's a different format for something Google already does. It's a blog. Yes it's a centralised blog with a more focused purpose, but it's a blog.

I don't think it'll work.

Northern Ireland is full of tourists. Spending money. Good.

The Conservatives have a quote from a speech by Iris Robinson, upholder of God's law, made in the House of Commons on the topic of sex offenders.

There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children.

Homosexuality is "viler" than paedophilia? The physical act of sodomy is perhaps not something I would care to picture while at the dinner table, and I can accept that Iris may not be happy about practices that contradict her religion, but when you make statements like that is it any wonder that "these days Christians are persecuted for their views" (especially when you're trying to force your views on others).

(And "persecuted"? Really?!)

Update: On today's TalkBack Iris claims "I clearly intended to say that child abuse was worse even than homosexuality and sodomy." where David Dunseith had claimed that Iris's original comment was her "voicing opinions probably shared by a fair proportion of the Northern Ireland population, if not the majority." Jesus wept!

It's easy to think, when you're travelling abroad in Europe (or even hopping over the border), that it wouldn't be a good thing if we were to join the Eurozone and do away with all the nasty changing money business.

The Irish Times carries a cautionary tale about the inflexibility of a central bank setting policy for such a large and diverse area as the EU though.

The European Central Bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, warned that the ECB has more important things to worry about than eurozone members like the Republic of Ireland [sic], Spain and Portugal that are experiencing economic difficulties.

"The ECB has to care for the superior interest of the euro area.
...
Our monetary policy must be optimal at the level of the whole euro area - exactly like the Fed [the ECB's American equivalent] would not look at what is in the interest of Missouri, California or Texas."

£3 million was budgeted last year on trying to reduce the relatively large number of people taking their own lives in Northern Ireland, a problem which the executive is resolved to tackle and one that disproportionately affects young people (and males at that).

With this in mind I find it a little odd that Newry and Mourne Council would glorify the taking of ones own life in a manner so overt as renaming a playpark in "honour" of hunger striker Raymond McCreesh. I might humbly suggest it's also something their equality unit may want to look at.

Over the past few months it's become clear that the DUP won’t take Gerry Kelly and Sinn Fein won't take Jeffrey Donaldson as Justice Minister. This has led to the crazy notion that the Alliance should do it, and utterly predictably they seem amenable to the idea. So much for their principled stand against the "sectarian consensus" (sic)

Liam Clarke in his column on Sunday suggested that this was the "missing piece of the jigsaw" and that the Alliance are the potential answer to a tricky question for the chuckle coalition.

Alliance is a creature so useful that if it didn't exist it would have to be invented. In some ways the party, which is linked to the Progressive Democrats in the republic and the Liberal Democrats in Britain, acts as Northern Ireland's conscience - a coalition of reasonable, middle-of-the-road folk united around an agenda which is liberal, pragmatic and non-sectarian.

It is just me suspects he write this specifically to get name checked on Alliance election literature next time out? This sort of gushing praise doesn't really add anything to the argument. After all, he is simply dressing up a party that stands for nothing more than "we're not them and, we're awfully nice". That isn't an ideology or an agenda; its political activism built on nothing more than middle class snobbery and intellectual cop-out.

Alliance have spent their time in local government, not as Clarke states ensuring power sharing, but selling their pretence of principles for office. I suppose it's only surprising it took them this long to sell themselves for ministerial office. They call themselves an opposition, yet we are now apparently seriously considering taking an executive with 97 of the 108 Assembly members represented, and making that 104. We need LESS of the legislature tied up in the programme for government, not more! The power sharing arrangements were designed to be short to medium term, SF and the DUP spent a little too long trying to fight their way out of their Belfast Agreement boxes, but now that they've accepted them the timer is going again. Progress towards normailising the governmental arrangements here will only be hindered by putting the Alliance into Justice just for the sake of spiting the UUP and SDLP. Look at the figure again, 104 out of 108 MLAs. And when one adds the rest of the Alliance's quasi technical group, it leaves only Dawn Purvis outside the Executive loop.

If the Alliance want ministerial office so badly, give it to them. But if it happens, my Party and the SDLP shouldn't be there. We would have moved from an involuntary coalition, to a voluntary one with Alliance's admittance to the Executive, which is a fundamental change to the situation. Critically for the UUP and SDLP though, the situation with a five party Executive would be utterly untenable, a bizarre elective dictatorship where the wranglings over legislation would take place behind closed doors in the Executive, with the Assembly as a rubber stamping body. Sound famaliar? It should.

This kind of thing really winds me up.

A Tory frontbencher has apologised after using a racist phrase during a House of Lords debate.

Lord Dixon Smith retracted the remark in the chamber, saying: "I apologise, my Lords. I left my brains behind. I apologise to the House."

The 73-year-old said later the phrase "nigger in the woodpile" was in common use when he was younger.

Fair enough. Something which used to be in the lexicon is now deemed unacceptable, he absent mindedly used the phrase, and immediately apologised. The guy had no malintent with his choice of words, just clumsiness.

But Labour MPs called for him to be sacked, with one saying the remark was "deeply offensive".

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs committee, said: "I regard this remark as racist, because it's deeply offensive.

"It shows a lack of understanding and sensitivity to the ethnic community and seems to come from a throwback age when people used that kind of phrase as if it was normal."

NO IT DOESNT! All the charges laid by Vaz may very well be true, but this instance is not evidence in itself. Racism is one of those instances where political correctness was obscured the real meaning of a concept. I once had a lecturer inform me that those who say the likes of "I fancy a chinkie tonight" are quilty of racism. Utter nonsense. There is no intent there, there is no feeling of hatred towards those of a different race, there is simply a clumsy use of the English language.

Keith Vaz - grow up. Collect whatever gong Geoff Hoon has promised you, and clear off. Criticise a Tory for a million and one things, but faux outrage at a genuine mistake, particularly when the it's a charge of racism, is just not on.

The European Parliament is set to vote on proposals that would ban airlines from quoting prices that don't include taxes and charges. Super, smashing, great!

Read more »

Miller wants Gaelic-medium schools to drop A-levels.

Writing in the Andersonstown News (page 10, hope that link works with their dodgy site), Marty Miller has suggested Gaelic-language schools drop A-levels to strike a blow for a united Ireland.

"The schools in [Northern Ireland] should follow the same curriculum as their counterparts in the Irish medium sector in the [Republic]. That means pupils sitting the Leaving exams [instead of A-levels]."
Mairtin O Muilleoir, Andersonstown News, 7th July 2008

He goes on to argue that there "should be one curriculum for the whole country [sic]" and that it would be "a boon for Irish unity".

When this sort of shite comes from the Sinn Fein party rag, is it any wonder you have to question Caitriona Ruane's bias against the English-medium sector?

It's something politicians, particularly in Northern Ireland, seem to be especially adept at. OK its their job, but some outlays seem to be more worthwhile than others.

A few figures appeared yesterday:

• Policing George Bush's one-day visit: £300k
• 1 prosecution out of 1,100 cold-cases re-opened: £34m
• Bloody Sunday enquiry: £188m (to date)
• Enquiries in the next year: £100m (estimate)
• Subsidy to Citi to create 145 jobs: £2m (£13,793 per job)
• Cuts to ambulance services to save £1.5m: priceless!

Ah well, at least Larne's council aren't paying for red, white an blue bunting.