Sad news

I had a restless night and woke at 4.00 am. As usual, the first thing I did was wake my iMac and check email. That's when I saw it, a message forwarded twice —

Subject: Re Nancy MacLarty

Dear Adrian,

This is a message from Allison, to let you all know that Nancy passed away in St. Mary's Hospital, Sechelt, on Sunday July 1st, Canada Day at 5pm.

Adrian used run the Apple Store in Sechelt, Nancy's home town. When she went in to hospital in April for a lung operation she arranged for her friend Allison to email progress reports to Adrian so he could keep Nancy's many far-flung contacts informed of how she was doing. The poor old girl had a really rough time. The initial operation was bad enough, but all sorts of complications developed afterwards, and she had a 'mild' stroke at the beginning of June. She did get home for a very short while before that, during which time I was lucky enough to speak to her, but the reports became increasingly discouraging since then. This morning's email was the first I'd got since mid-June, so the news came a s a terrible shock even if part of me was already prepared for the worst.

If anyone had told me five years ago that I'd develop such an attachment for someone I met through the internet on one of the Mac mailing lists I would have pooh-poohed the idea. But our contacts quickly expanded into areas other than help and advice with her Mac, and we came to exchange greetings and presents for all the special occasions people do. It was thanks to her that I developed an interest in Canada, and she insisted that Carl and I spend time with her last year when we decided that Canada was the place for our holiday. I'll miss her terribly.

Dubya decides Scooter Libby doesn't deserve jail

When loading pages to get the links for that previous entry I spotted a Wikipedia heading which gave the news that Dubya had used his presidential powers to commute 'Scooter' Libby's sentence. This is a quote from Wikipedia:

Bush's "Statement" explaining his "Proclamation" in his "Grant of Executive Clemency" to Libby states (in part):

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.

I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.

Let's face it: we always knew this was going to happen, didn't we? Libby was the fall guy, but he's still a good mate, isn't he? Can't have a good mate ending up in prison, no matter what he's done.

Everything you thought you didn't need to know

Blipfoto isn't just about photo journals. Oh no, blipfoto is also, and fairly importantly, a community of like-minded people who comment on each other's work, provide support to one another in moments of emotional stress, and share important information with one another. The most recent example of this was in connection this wonderful entry from a highly respected inhabitant of Blipland. There are 28 comments as I write this, and the 27th includes a link to a most wonderful information resource which I wasn't aware of before. The resource in question obviously has the potential to rival Wikipedia as the place to go when you need to know something about something. I can't imagine how I've only now heard of this, and I encourage everybody to bookmark this invaluable resource. Believe me, you will soon come to depend on Uncyclopedia. I know I will.

This image is included in this article about the introduction of the smoking ban in England as proof that God also supports the move.

Smoke-free England

So this is the day England joins the non-smoking club. At last, after years of agonising about it, they've finally seen the light across the water. With the rest of the UK already having implemented a smoking ban, it was certainly weird in the extreme to see England still puffing away. Already, though, I can see what I thought would happen actually happening. They have this knack over there when they do something which has already been done somewhere else to make it sound as if they're the ones who thought of the idea in the first place, and even if they're not, then their way is the best way. One report I read described today's introduction of the ban as 'the biggest' anywhere, because of the population of England. I can't find the link in my browser history to refresh my memory, but the article (from one of the British majors) was littered with the 'we are the greatest' attitude. It sickens me.

Anyway, welcome to the real world, you English people. Take our word for it as world leaders: a total smoking ban works. It improves things for everyone. There's no looking back. And if you want any help or you want to see how it can be implemented without any hiccups, then come on over here and see how it's done.

Looking forward to the French Grand Prix

First of all I must compliment Formula1.com on the excellent makeover of their web site. Then I hope Ferrari are listening when I say how good it was to see Felipe Massa snatch pole from that upstart Hamilton yesterday (well, I didn't see it, but you know what I mean). What about the unfortunate Fernando, though? More and more it looks suspiciously as if McLaren are definitely showing favouritism towards golden-boy and fellow-Brit Lewis. Still, I can't understand how it makes sense to turn your back on the reigning World Champion that you spend tons of money getting away from Renault, unless it's a cynical ploy to force Alonso to buy out of his contract and then make Lewis top dog for smaller money. I wouldn't put anything past that sneaky, creepy, no-good Ron Dennis.

Meanwhile, let's hope for a good race today. My preferred script would be for Massa to teach Hamilton a lesson on the first corner, for Alonso to drive a blinder and overtake his team mate, and maybe even for Hamilton to crash out. It''s time the Championship got a shake-up. Let's face it: this hamilton fairytale can't go on for ever. Or can it?

New World Bank top dog

The Executive Board of the World Bank has confirmed Robert Zoellick as the next head of the organisation, to take over on 1st july when the awful Mr Wolfowitz steps down (good riddance). This 'tradition' which sees the US appoint the World Bank top dog while European countries (which countries?) choose the IMF guy is an anachronism which is long overdue a change. Gentlemen's agreements like this are not good for the credibility of either organisation, and cannot instill any feeling of confidence on the part of 'customers'. Ability and suitability should be the deciding factors, surely. Things are even worse in the present-day climate, of course, since anybody nominated by Dubya is immediately tainted with everything that endorsement by that man entails.

Still, anything must be better than Paul Wolfowitz, whose nomination was a disgustingly cynical move which was inevitably seen as a deliberate snub to the organisation he was foisted on. Coming from the stable he does, Mr Zoellock is similarly tainted, of course, but at least he was neither an out-and-out proponent of the illegal occupation of Iraq nor a signatory of the totally reprehensible Project for the New American Century as Mr W was.

Canadian and US Grand Prixs

The ITV Grand Prix team have already crowned him Champion. The hour-long warmup to Grand Prix coverage has now degenerated into a Hamilton Appreciation Hour. During commentary references are always to 'Lewis' (first name), but 'Alonso' (second name). Jenson Button, their former golden boy even when he totally failed to produce the goods, has now been demoted from 'Jenson' to 'Button'. The jingoistic favouritism is becoming wearing and tiring. Okay, so Lewis Hamilton is rewriting the GP history books and he's doing remarkably well and he's now leading the Drivers Championship by a clear 10 points — but let's have a sense of proportion here. There are still ten races to go in the season, and we all know that Formula 1 is totally unpredictable. Back off, guys. Can we have at least some time devoted to the other 21 drivers. Please!

Getting down to specifics, the Canadian race was a corker. We were beginning to talk about boredom during the early stages, but then things began to take off with a vengeance, we had incident after incident, the safety car came out four times, it looked at one stage as if the race would finish because of allotted time running out rather than with all laps completed. And then there was Robert Kubica's horrendous crash. It says a lot for the safety features of modern F1 cars that he not only survived but actually escaped without serious injury. Okay, so he wasn't declared medically fit to drive in Indianapolis, but that was precautionary as much as anything else.

By contrast, Sunday's US Grand Prix was a bit of a bore. The only moment of interest or excitement was when Fernando Alonso almost overtook his team mate Lewis Hamilton but (all credit to Hamilton) wasn't quite able to make it. There'd been reports of bad feeling from Alonso after the Canadian race and claims from him that McLaren are favouring the local guy (which I totally believe), and Alonso showed his disgruntlement again in Indianapolis with a twitching move across to the pit wall which the commentators interpreted as a signal of dissatisfaction with the way the team were managing the race. At the end, though, Hamilton won comfortably, made it two wins in succession and continued his phenomenal achievement of being on the podium after every race in his inaugural Grand Prix season. It is an extraordinary achievement, and I don't mean to take away from it in any way. all that bugs me (and it bugs me a lot) is the unbalanced brouhaha of the British media. They're doing with Hamilton what they did with jenson Button before him and with Tim Henman and then Andy Murray. Jingoistic hysteria is offputting at any time. I'm already experiencing a personal backlash against Mr Hamilton because of all the hype, and I have to admit that I look forward to seeing the bubble burst.

A bad start

I've been distracted elsewhere (with work and with maintaining my various photoblogs), and must admit to neglecting the old reliable Jim's Rants. That doesn't mean that there aren't things out there which are rantable: far from it, indeed. Let's begin with politics, Irish style.

1. The M3 :: Fianna Fáil wasted no time shafting their new coalition partners, did they? The parting gift from Dick Roche, outgoing Minister for the Environment, immediately demonstrated the naivety of the Greens, who stated that nobody told them this was in the pipeline during coalition negotiations. It was certainly a right kick in the teeth for new Minister John Gormley to learn on his first day at the office that Mr Roche had signed a ministerial order allowing a National Monument near Tara to be studied and then destroyed to make way for the M3 motorway. Talk about shafted!

2. Beverley Flynn :: What on earth is Bertie thinking? How on earth can he seriously consider readmitting this woman to the party and even speak about there being 'a realistic expectation of [her] holding office at some stage during the lifetime of the administration' (as was reported by RTÉ)? To top it all, we then learn that's she's mounting a constitutional challenge against legislation which bars a bankrupt from being a member of the Dáil, and that this action is to brought on the same day on which bankruptcy proceedings against her are due to begin. What dirty deal has been done with her behind closed doors? If she's on the verge of bankruptcy, how she afford to mount a constitutional challenge?

3. Brian Cowen :: God help us and save us! The irony doesn't escape me. Having mentioned on Thursday how embarrassing I found Brian Cowen's performance in the Dáil when he nominated Bertie for Taoiseach, I was the one getting kicked in the teeth on Saturday when we learned that Bertie considered this bumbling idiot 'his obvious successor' (The Irish Times). Just imagine this man, who finds it difficult to express himself with any semblance of clarity or intelligence, and who couldn't even manage a short, but important, speech in the Dáil without sounding like a drunken mumbler, being Taoiseach one day and representing our country at EU gatherings! What an embarrassment.

Enough! I'll only get annoyed if I go on any longer. It's just too, too annoying. It was bad enough to see the PDs retaining a place in Government even after the electorate made it totally clear they aren't wanted. Now, with only a few days gone of the new Government's term, Bertie and Co have shown quite clearly the degree of their total contempt for us all and for normal rules of decency and fair conduct.

Update/Edit: One aspect of the Brian Cowen endorsement I forgot to mention is that I do not like the idea of an outgoing leader doing this sort of thing, and all the more so after watching the unseemly goings-on in the UK with the Blair/Brown thing. God knows we copy too much already of what they do across the water. Let's not do the same with the way we choose our political leaders. There needs to be a real contest within Fianna Fáil to decide who will follow Bertie.

3 in a row for Bertie

I actually watched the Dáil proceedings live as John O'Donoghue became Ceann Comhairle and Bertie became Taoiseach for the third time in a row. The beginning of proceedings were cringe-inducing, as the Clerk of the Dáil stumbled over his reading duties time after time and made me embarrassed for the appalling lack of skill of some of the people involved in public service.

I wasn't expecting any counter-nominations for the position of Ceann Comhairle, so I was surprised when Pat Rabbitte nominated Ruairi Quinn. Having been nominated first, a vote was first taken on John O'Donoghue's nomination and he was elected comfortably. He made a good speech, I thought, and then we moved on to the main business and the nominations for Taoiseach. Siin Fé objected to the arbitrary time limit for debate on nominations, but no vote was called when vocal Tá's and Níl's defeated his proposal for an extension. That's when we got to the next cringe-inducing point of the business of the day. The seating arrangements in the Government front bench had already made it clear that Brian Cowen was to be Tánaiste, as Mary Harney was no longer sitting beside Bertie. Oh no! And then he stood to nominate Bertie and that 'Oh no!' became a 'God help us!'. What an appalling speaker this man is. What on earth do his fellow EU ministers make of him, I wonder? I certainly hope he isn't elevated to leader of Fianna Fáil when Bertie goes. He's a bumbling embarrassment.

Anyway, there was a hiccup moment as Richard Bruton got up to nominate Enda Kenny befoore Trevoor Sargent rose to second Bertie's nomination. From then on we were treated to self-serving speeches of one sort or another as either Bertie or Enda were supported. The saddest such speech was the nonsensical mouthings of Mary Harney as she concluded her mournful list of dearly departed PD TDs with glowing words of praise for the dreadful Michael McDowell. The brightest moment was Jackie Healy Rea's contribution, which was witty, light-weight and self-effacing.

So off Bertie went to the Áras, then back he went later with his ministerial colleagues, among them the two Greens and the not-wished-for lone PD that the electorate so strongly rejected. Commentatoors all unanimous that Bertie has pulled a strong rabbit out of the hat and that this coalition will last the full term. I wonder.

G-Day

So, the Greens have voted overwhelmingly to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil. While the vote was totally decisive, nonetheless there were some at the special meeting who stuck to their principles strongly enough to vote against, and Trevor Sargent immediately his resignation as party leader.

RTÉ published what they describe as 'The Green Draft Programme for Government', and it makes interesting reading more for what isn't than for what is in it. It's being widely reported, of course that the Greens had to give way on three of their main policy points: use of Shannon by the US military, the building of the M3 motorway through the Tara valley, and co-location of private hospitals on public land. These are surely big points to give away, and it's difficult not to interpret the agreement as a sell-out in favour of ministerial cars. The inclusion of the reference to extraordinary rendition looks like a pretty meaningless sop, more aspirational than effective. What exactly does it mean when they say 'We will ensure that all relevant legal instruments are used so that the practice of extraordinary rendition does not occur in this State in any form'?

The other big issue is the inclusion of the PDs in the coalition. I cannot understand how this has happened. Surely the electorate made their feelings about the PDs crystal clear when they reduced their tally of Dáil seats from 8 to 2. Including them in government looks awfully like a disregard for the will of the people.

I know the commentators are all saying that what's been put together forms the basis of a stable government, but I wonder how on earth the Greens will manage to work amicably with the PDs. Interesting times ahead.

The greening of Fianna Fáil

I only heard of the dramatic walkaway of the Greens from the government forming negotiations when I met a mate of mine on Friday evening for our monthly chew & chat session. Another friend who works in the Dáil voiced the opinion the following day that this was a mere negotiating ploy and that a deal would eventually be hammered out. Latest indications strongly suggest that he was right, that Bertie Ahern will be elected Taoiseach on Thursday and that we'll see Fianna Fáil and the Greens together around the Cabinet table. I wonder who's moved the more, and what calming influence the Greens will have. On balance I'm happy with the mix, though I'll wait for six months or so before passing judgement.

White smoke today?

These talks between Fianna Fáil and the Greens are going on for a very long time. I suppose that means both sides are serious about sorting things out and thrashing out an agreement for goovernment. But where do what's left of the PDs come into things? And the independents? I'm not at all keen on having the PDs involved at all after the whipping they got from the electorate, but then again what say do we have after the votes are counted? I can't see the Greens and the PDs lasting too long around the same table. What about Shannon and the US military? Aren''t the Greens totally opposed to that, whereas Mary Harney came out with her ridiiculous statement that we couldn't afford to deny use of Shannon because if we did then US industry would hightail it out of the country.

I wonder what's going on behind those closed doors. I wonder what we'll see in the eventual programme fo government. I wonder how Fine Gael are faring in their bid to come up with a workable alternative. So many questions, too many rumours.

Exam time

My Dashboard weather widget shows sun, sun, sun from now until Monday, with temperatures in the high teens and low twenties. So that's right, it has to be time for the Leaving and Junior Cert exams. They begin today, and I learn from RTÉ that 113,000 students face the rigours, and also that, for the first time, some of these will beexamined in Romanian and Bulgarian.