Tiny Planet

After last night’s display of cowardice and its accompanying showcase of RTÉ’s lack of editorial independence, I am boycotting the station’s news broadcasts and even its website. It has no credibility anymore. Follow the debate on Twitter, hashtag #picturegate (see the Twitter feed on the left of this website).

Photo: from The Guardian website, which in turn got it from RTÉ

By apologising for broadcasting a report on the nude portrait hung in the National Gallery by a “guerrilla artist” (a fun, quirky story if ever there was one), our national broadcaster has shown it has no resolve and is at the whim of the government. It’s a story that deserved to be covered, purely on the question of how somebody got into the galleries and hung the painting without being stopped. Stories offend the people involved frequently, largely because they don’t want the world knowing about what’s going on related to them. That’s perfectly understandable. However, to give in and issue an apology for what on the face of it seems to be political reasons is just journalistic cowardice.

To quote Gavin Sheridan (who has the original story and apology here): 

Last time I checked, Brian Cowen was a servant of the people, not their master… RTÉ are now officially lapdogs of the Government. 

RTÉ should be ashamed of itself.

Enough books to keep you busy on a cold night

Some might even call them children. When in doubt, there is always the consolation of philosophy… or the consolation of books, at least. I find myself in a very strange place: I have far too many books for one man, and yet I feel as if I need more. This is not, I hope you understand, an impulsive binge-buying outlet, but rather my own little attempt at gathering my interests. I haven’t even read all of the ones I have, although in some cases I never will as that particular fancy has drifted off.

Perhaps it’s the simple fact that there is so much to be learned from books (I love learning). Perhaps I like how the occasional colourful turn of phrase keeps me interested (here’s a nice passage from Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, where an anarchist dwells on the futility of his endeavours: “He drank and relapsed into his peculiarly close manner of silence. The thought of a mankind as numerous as the sands of the seashore, as indestructible, as difficult to handle, oppressed him. The sound of exploding bombs was lost in their immensity of passive grains without an echo.”) Perhaps there’s an element of the collector in me (I especially like the Thames & Hudson and Norton Critical Edition series).

This collection was one of my biggest splurges. Only time will tell if it was a sound investment.

Whatever the root cause of my acquisitions, spending the last day or so cataloguing and tabulating my small library — because it has expanded in the last three years and some have gone missing — has put me more in touch with what had, for some time, been mere volumes on the shelves. Small flashes of memory and connection as I thumbed through a tome looking for some small detail or description. Paths abandoned for lack of time, others for diminished interest. And yet above all else came the feeling that this is not the end of it, even if I never read every book in full. There will be more additions, and there are decades yet ahead of me to pursue new and even more obscure interests.

But where will I put them all?

Former colleague (albeit in a different department) Jen Gerson takes a wry look at the options for print journalists facing the end of their industry.

Something went amiss with the Twitter feed I’d embedded in the website, but I think I’ve fixed it now. I’m leaving it in plain HTML rather than going for the shiny Flash option, which should maintain load times and give the widest possible readership. To the left, then, you’ll see an idea of what I’m up to while I’m away from Tiny Planet. Feel free to follow, but send me a message so I know it’s you!

With the US Federal Reserve embarking on a $1tn (that’s $1,000,000,000,000) programme of buying debt and government bonds in a bid to kickstart the US economy, you may be wondering what all those zeroes mean. Well, as you’re a clever person, you already know they mean a freaking huge number. But what does it look like? Check it out and be flummoxed.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig shona duit! Tá Gaeilge labhartha lag agam, ach is mo theanga é. Níl sé marbh fós, tuigeann tú. Fadó, nuair a bhí mé ag staidéar sa pobalscoil, bhí Gaeilge caoiseach mhaith agam. Ní raibh mé ar fheabhas, ach bhain mé taitneamh asat. Chríoch mé mo scrúdaithe tar éis triocha nó daichead noiméad (gnáthleibhéal). Ach seacht bliain seo caite tá sé caoiseach as láthair. Ó am go h-am, smaoin mé as Gaeilge. Ba fhearr liom é ós teangaithe eile (ach táim i ngrá le Fraincís).  I mo chroí is Gaeilgeoir mé. Freisin, tá tuirseach traochta agam Slán leat, agus tá súil agam go bain tú taitneamh as an lá náisúinta go hÉireann.

Dáithí

Happy St Patrick’s Day! I’m kind of weak at spoken Irish, but it is my language. It’s not dead yet, you understand. Long ago, when I was in school, my Irish was fairly good. I wasn’t excellent, but I enjoyed it. I even managed to finish my exams in thirty or forty minutes (ordinary level). But seven years later and it’s gone AWOL. From time to time, I think in Irish. I prefer it over other languages (although I love French). In my heart I’m a Gaeilgeoir. I’m also exhausted Bye for now, and I hope you enjoy Ireland’s national day.

David

From voodoo to Resident Evil, the idea that mindless, flesh-craving creatures will pursue the living in order to destroy them has festered in the human imagination. And you should be worried — because it could actually happen. Cracked.com lists five scientific reasons to support the apocalypse scenario, including one that has actually been used in real life.

Andrew “Test” Martin has passed away at age 33. I haven’t followed the industry for a few years but it’s still always sad when a worker dies — and it’s happened far too many times. The cause of death is as yet unknown. WWE veteran Jim Ross has a long blog piece remembering Test here.

My first reaction to the changes on Facebook? Complete botch job. If I only wanted a list of status updates I’d stick with Twitter. I’d publish a screenshot but it would be far too intrusive to the privacy of my FB friends.