Categories
News

It’s the leprechauns!

Standard & Poor’s report is out and Ireland is now ranked as the world’s wealthiest country… that is once you remove the miniature countries (or is it massive banks?) like Bermuda and the small oil-based economies like Norway (and you thought the Scandinavians made all their money from cell phones). 


Pink hearts, yellow moons & tax breaks for high-tech corporations!”

Turns out Ireland is actually ranked sixth.  Interestingly enough the US has dropped out of the top 10.

For more information you can read the article in the Irish Independent (but if you don’t want sign up, visit the telegraph instead).

Categories
Life News

Paula and I made the WSJ

PaulaAndReevesPseudoHedcut.jpg


The Wall Street Journal today had an article about US citizens moving to Ireland and it leads off talking a little about Paula and Me!  It’s really bizarre to see your name in print like that (and amazing to see how fast it gets forwarded around the office here in Dublin). 


If you receive the US edition you can find the article on page B4 of the October 31st issue.  In the European edition it takes up most of page 3.  I encourage you to cut it out, frame it and put it on your wall.


In other news my ego can now be seen from space.


satelliteego.jpg

Categories
Idle News

Alfred Anderson 1896 – 2005

The oft-romanticized Christmas truce of 1914 has lost its final witness.  Alfred Anderson was thought to be the last living veteran of the famed yule truce when German and British soldiers sang carols, exchanged gifts and, according to some reports, played a game of soccer.


Alfred Anderson was 109 years old.



British and German soldiers fraternize – Christmas 1914


I had no idea who this man was before today, but his association with the legendary truce makes me a bit sad at his passing.


From BBC News:




Prince Charles has paid tribute to Scotland’s oldest man and the country’s longest serving veteran of World War I, who has died at the age of 109.


Alfred Anderson, who served with the 5th Battalion the Black Watch, died in a nursing home in Angus.


Read the full BBC article




For those of you wanting to read a little more of the history of Christmas truces here is an very complete examination with excellent source documentation.  It is an excellent article, if slightly less romantic than the stories which come out at Christmas time.

Categories
Idle News

Oh-Are-Eee-Oh

Last night Kraft food announced they were raising prices on some of their products including Oreo cookies, Oscar Mayer lunch meats and even prices at California Pizza Kitchen.  They said the price hike is to help offset the rising cost of petroleum.


For Pete’s sake… just put less petroleum in Oreos, I’ve never been fond of the crude oil favor to begin with.


On a related note, Kraft continues to be tight-lipped about the color of Oreos:



Q: What color are Oreo’s, black or brown?


A: We do not have a color assigned to the cookie portion of an OREO. Some people think the OREO is a shade of brown, while others view the color closer to black.

Categories
News

Wendy’s Chili is People

Okay, this is just nasty.



Woman Finds Human Finger In Her Chili
Health Officials Confirm Discovery


Mar. 23 (ABC7) — Customers at a San Jose fast food restaurant became ill after seeing a foreign object in their chili and health officials have confirmed what that object was: a human finger. Now, a full-scale investigation is underway.


032305_finger_ruler.jpg


Want to curb your fast food cravings?  Read the whole story at KGO’s web site.

Categories
News

Michael Jackson shows off his new baby, from fourth floor balcony

MJ Holds Baby Out Window

Hey! Catch! … Psych! Watch Michael Jackson dangle his baby out a hotel window. This guy is just beyond weird.