Woman Registers Ownership of the Sun
The Incas and the Aztecs worshiped it. Ancient Europeans erected megaliths to it. Several civilizations based their calendars around it. Until now, however, no one has ever owned the sun.Back in September, one Angeles Duran of Galicia, Spain took bold steps to change that. Following in the footsteps of an American man who claims to now own the moon, the 49-year-old Salvaterra do Mino resident registered ownership of the life-giving star at a notary public in her area.AdChoices广告The notarized document states that Duran is now the “owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers.”Duran plans to charge for use of the sun. She won’t take all of the money herself, though. According to AFP, half of the money will go to Spain’s government, 20 percent will go to the country’s pension fund, 10 percent to research, 10 percent to world hunger. The other 10 she’ll keep for herself. A lady’s gotta make a living, after all.
Dogs are already used by the police and military for finding drugs, bombs and of course as guides (for the blind). But now, thanks to the team of scientists over at Auburn University, we have remote controlled dogs that could be guided and used in higher risk situations.We are not sure what these high risk situations would be, but in the real-world the system could be used to gain access to people injured on the battlefield (take medical supplies), to navigate minefields that would normally activate under pressure (a dogs lighter weight would not), or to be used to stealthy sneak into drug dens to gain film/photo footage – nobody would suspect a dog after all.The tech is incorporated into a custom harness that attaches to the dog. The harness contains a GPS, sensors and a radio that will be used to connect to a computer wirelessly. The pack can then direct the dog by vibrating on the left or right side of the animal whilst emitting slightly different tones.So far the scientists have been testing the technology on a Labrador (normal used as guide dogs and are highly trainable) named Major and he seems to be doing well when directed to set points that are hundreds of meters apart.Of course some people will not like the sound of this tech. After all, your pet is there for companionship and pleasant walks in the park, not for highly dangerous environments, right?However, I think it’s the remote control part that bothers me. If it’s forcing the animal to do something he does not want to do then surely this is a little cruel. That said, if it’s trained (similar to a solider) he will be used to it.Whatever way you look at it, if the tech can be used to save lives, similar to the way a guide dog makes the life of a blind person more manageable, then as long as the dog is treated properly we can see some merit in this.Read more at DiscoveryNews
Good news, air travelers: it’s now easier to hide your shame. The Transportational Security Administration this week showed of a new, more modest version of its controversial full-body scanners in that bastion of good taste, Las Vegas.The TSA finally answered the massive negative backlash over intrusive body scanners by updating the devices to feature more generic images of the person being scanned. Once in the scanner, the device’s display offers what ABC describes as a “generic, chalk-like outline of a body.” Any perceived “threat” will appear as a red box located on the outline in the position it appears on the traveler’s body.The new scanner software is currently being tested at Vegas’s McCarren Airport. Further tests will occur at Atlanta’s Hartford Jackson and Washington’s Reagan airports. If the tests prove successful, it will be tolled out to all millimeter wave machine scanners–that’s 239 of the 500 machines currently deployed in the US.
If you haven’t seen TeeFury.com before, you are missing one of my personal favorite internet addictions. The concept is mind bogglingly simple, and terrifyingly effective. TeeFury puts a single shirt for sale on their website for one 24 hour period. During that 24 hour period the shirt is $9 regardless of size, and offers many different sizes. Once that 24 hour period is over, the shirt is lost forever, unless the creator of the shirt decides to sell it themselves. The addiction comes from the daily need to check the website, to make sure you aren’t missing something good. Today’s addition to the TeeFury lineup is no different in it’s “must have” nature.Like Android? What about Futurama? What about BOTH? The artist responsible for today’s TeeFury offering blends the insanely popular animated series with the Insanely popular Android Logo to create a shirt that is bound to cause “the geek squeal” to be heard for miles around. Remember that it’s only available until Midnight EST, so go buy it NOW!AdChoices广告Read on at Teefury.com
The 8.9-magnitude quake in Japan will not only leave an everlasting impression on the country, but globally as a result of the quake’s effect on the rotation of the Earth and GPS coordinates.Incredibly, the earthquake in Japan was so powerful it sped up the rotation of the Earth resulting in the shrinking of a 24-hour day by 1.8 milliseconds. The estimate comes from Richard Gross who is based at NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Gross’ estimate could change as additional data about the quake is gathered. He had recently stated that the day shrank by 1.6 milliseconds, but has since updated the original estimate based on new information.AdChoices广告How could an earthquake speed up the Earth’s rotation? It turns out the answer is related to the distribution of mass. Since there was a change in the distribution of mass related to the Japanese quake, the rotation of the Earth sped up. This distribution in mass also influences the Earth’s axis which experienced a 6.5-inch shift as a result.While such a small change won’t cause people to change their clocks, the dramatic shift in geography will require updates to GPS devices and maps which rely on GPS coordinates. Japan has a network of 1,200 GPS monitoring stations across the country. These stations detected a maximum displacement of 13 feet with an average displacement of 8 feet recorded over a 300 mile area. Elevation in some areas has also changed including the coastline resulting in water depth changes of about 3 feet. As a result, GPS coordinates on maps, driving directions, property records and nautical charts are just some of the items which will need to be updated.Aftershocks in Japan could continue to result in further changes to GPS coordinates, the length of day, and the shifting of the Earth’s axis.Read more at Space.com and MSNBC
Samsung announced that it will soon launch a new WiFi only version of its Galaxy Tab on April 10th. The tablet will be powered by Android 2.2 and will come with a 7-inch TFT display capable of 1024×768 resolution. It’ll pack 32GB of internal storage plus a microSD slot capable of supporting up to 32GB of additional storage. All that storage is accessible while on-the-go since the tablet is only 12 millimeters thick, weighs only 13 ounces and can easily fit in a pocket or purse.We looked at the Galaxy Tab in the past and found it to be a good tablet, with some problems. It hasn’t encountered the same sort of problems we’ve seen hit the Xoom, but it hasn’t gotten the same sort of praise lavished on the iPad and, now, the iPad 2.AdChoices广告One thing that the Galaxy Tab will have over Apple’s iPad is that it will support Adobe Flash Player 10.1. There are cool perks like search-by-voice function and Google Goggles which is a visual search tool which can utilize pictures to find other relevant content online. If it’s entertainment you are looking for then you might like Media Hub, Samsung’s content service which includes films and television programs for rent or purchase.And of course the big news today is that the Galaxy Tab will be available without 3G. That means a more affordable device, no contracts, and no need to buy it through a carrier if you don’t want to. This change will drop the price of the 7-inch tablet down to a reasonable $349.99, considerably less then the $500 16GB iPad 2. The tablet should be available on Sunday.It’s good news for Android fans, but we’re still more excited about the newer Galaxy Tab 10.1 as well as Samsung’s iPod touch competitors, the Galaxy Player 5.0 and Galaxy Player 4.0.Read more at Samsung’s press release.
A Penn State grad student has created a real-life working version of the infamous player-killing turrets from the hit game Portal as his final project for graduation. I would say that after watching the video, any professor that doesn’t give this guy a Masters degree needs to be the first target of this amazing creation.Using an Arduino Uno and wiring to a bread board, the student who goes by the handle “kss5095” was able to achieve the motion and tracking using MATLAB, a programming environment used by robotics professionals to design algorithms for the operation of their creations. MATLAB allowed kss5095 to create a friend or foe differentiation for the turret based on the color of the shirt they are wearing, in this case anyone wearing a pink shirt is shot on sight, while others are just tracked.Complete with the sound effects from the game asking people nicely to “come closer,” the turret is eerily accurate when it senses a foe nearby. There is even a laser sight connected to one of the USB cannons that are controlled by the laptop the whole contraption is hooked up to. As you can see from the image above, this is still a work in progress because the frame of the turret isn’t accurate to the model from the game, but I have a feeling that the man behind the whole thing will take care of that quite satisfactorily in the future.Now to find out how to order four or five of these things to place around my house to nail my kids when they are misbehaving.kss5095’s YouTube profile, via Geekologie.
Microsoft is expected to announce and hopefully launch a successor to the Xbox 360 at some point in 2013. But what will the machine be called?The obvious choice is a doubling of the digits to create the Xbox 720, but is that really a name Microsoft wants to run with. A recent push to secure domain names through arbitration suggests otherwise.A man in China called Cheng Juan has just seen a number of Xbox-related domain names taken away from him and handed to Microsoft. These include XboxCompanion.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxTablet.com, and XboxPhone.com. But there are two more on the list that make less sense to have registered: Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org.Now it could just be that Microsoft demanded ownership be handed over for all Xbox domains he held. However, with Windows 8 also being released soon, and Microsoft pushing out the operating system to more than just the desktop, the Xbox 8 name does make some sense.If the next Xbox is going to run Windows 8 and have some form of its interface as a base, then including an 8 with the name makes sense from a marketing point of view. You can run your PC and tablet on Windows 8, your phone on Windows Phone 8, and then you have your Xbox 8. It all lines up, right?Another advantage of using Xbox 8 is it is a higher number than Sony will use with the PlayStation 4. It’s a small detail, but why do you think we got the Xbox 360 instead of the Xbox 2 when the PS3 was coming to market.Whatever the final name of the machine, we’ve already seen Microsoft’s plans for its underlying hardware. If they deliver on the 6x performance gain over the Xbox 360, I don’t think anyone will really care what they call it.Read more at Fusible
Google’s forward push with Chrome OS has been slow and steady. They’ve released several new pieces of hardware, giving companies more options to choose from. Most recently, Samsung and Google offered a desktop solution with the Chromebox Series 3.This $330 small form-factor desktop is quite the package. It offers tons I/O, including a pair of HDMI ports and DVI, 4GB of RAM, and an Intel Core i5 CPU, making this Chromebox significantly more powerful than previous Chrome OS hardware. Still, with a piece of hardware like the Chromebox, you begin to wonder what is actually going on in that little box.Breaking into the ChromeboxI was beyond surprised to find that it requires absolutely no effort to open the Chromebox. You don’t need tools, and you don’t really even need to know what you are doing. The bottom pan pulls right off, it’s not even held in with clips. As far as I could tell, there’s not a single “warranty VOID if removed” stickers anywhere on the device, so I decided to take a further look and see what was going on.Once I opened the cover, I could see that everything on the board was mounted with regular Phillips screws. No special tools needed — you could take the Chromebox apart with an eyeglass repair kit if you wanted to.It didn’t take me long to realize that basically everything was removable and replaceable. This included the Intel Core i5 processor, the pair of 2GB RAM cards, and the 16GB mSATA SSD on the other side of the board. The Atheros WiFi card was replaceable, and even the USB 2.0 card was only screwed into place. It seems like, despite the limitations of Chrome OS as an operating system, the Samsung Chromebox had some serious potential.In fact the only serious limitation was the power supply, and that is only a limitation for as long as I wanted the Chromebox to maintain the original form factor. So assuming that I did want to keep everything in this tiny box, and assuming that I still wanted to run Chrome OS for now, I decided to give the RAM and the SSD on this machine an upgrade.16GB of RAM… because we canThe pair of 2GB RAM cards that came with the Chromebox are more than enough to run Chrome OS. In fact, unless you compile your own version of Chrome OS, the maximum that the operating system can support is 4GB. If you’re the type to want to dual-boot with Linux, or just blow away Chrome OS altogether, maybe you’d like some more RAM.Thanks to the team at Kingston, we received two 8GB sticks of DDR3-1333 SODIMM RAM to put in the Chromebox. If all you are doing is putting more RAM in the box, there’s very little left for you to do. The shielding leaves the RAM exposed, and they just pop right out. Replace the RAM and you’re all done — it’s as easy as upgrades get.Supersize the storageThe SSD is on the other side of the board, so that requires a little more work. The shielding comes off very quickly, exposing the board. From here you need to disconnect the speaker and power supply, both of which come out very easily. You need to unscrew the Atheros WiFi card and detach it from the board too, but you can leave everything else attached. When you unscrew the motherboard from the plastic mounting frame, the whole board lifts out very simply. Here you have the entire computer, sans power supply and WiFi, on a single board.Flip the board over and you will see the SSD connected to the mSATA port. With a single screw the spring loaded port releases the chip, and allows you to slide another in its place. I put a Kingston SSDNow mS100 64GB SSD in its place, just to give us a little more elbow room for installing the OS and a few programs. The new unit slides right into place and screws back down. Everything on this board looks like it was intentionally designed to be extremely user serviceable.Final ThoughtsWe’ve really only scratched the surface of what this box is actually capable of. There’s an empty mSATA port, for example, that could hold anything from another SSD to USB 3.0. The heatsink and the processor are both completely removable, which means you could put an Intel PGA988 quad-core Core i7 processor in there if you really felt the urge. In fact, the i7 would probably make it so you could install more than 16GB of RAM. Chances are that most of these modifications would exceed the capabilities of the tiny power supply that is offered, not to mention the casing would likely no longer be sufficient for your use.The open nature of this hardware lends itself very nicely to Google’s early declarations that they wanted the hardware platform to be easy for system administrators to manage. With boxes like these, it would be nothing to replace parts that were damaged over time, especially when these pieces require very little skill or time to install. All told, replacing the RAM and SSD only took about 20 minutes, and that was without ever having done this before. With experience, swapping hardware on a Chromebox would take absolutely no time or effort.As we move ever closer towards sealed computing, with machines that don’t really have user serviceable parts, opening the Samsung Chromebox was a breath of fresh air. The next step is somewhat more complicated. Since the Chromebox lacks a typical BIOS, there are only hacks and workarounds for getting something other than Chrome OS on the system. Recently, ExtremeTech showed us how to dual-boot Chrome OS and Ubuntu, and if you look around in some of the Google Groups for Chrome OS it looks like support for crazy people like me isn’t that far away.
If there is a game out there right now that personifies the Nintendo gaming experience that isn’t made by Nintendo themselves, it is The Wonderful 101.Few people look to Nintendo for intense action, super realistic graphics, and the online experience that almost seems like a requirement with many titles today. Nintendo games have always balanced simple animations with either a cute but compelling story or uniquely addicting gameplay. Really great Nintendo games will capture all three, but in a world where the most popular Wii U titles are the latest Mario games (or worse, Zelda HD remakes) those games are few and far between.Enter The Wonderful 101, a new title by Okami and Viewtiful Joe creators Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba. It’s a fun, fast, and exciting game — exactly what the Wii U needs right now.The core of the game is simple, in that you’ve got big bad aliens attacking the planet and it is up to you and your 100 friends to wield superpowers to save the day. The superpowers used are where things get interesting. Your team has access to giant superpowered weapons, from fists to swords, whips and hammers, and even a great big gun that you use to take on the creatures that are much larger than you.What makes these absurdly large weapons amusing is that they are made out of your teammates. Whoever you have set as the leader during combat can assemble his or her giant weapon out of your teammates, and the more you use the bigger the weapon. You assemble these weapons by either drawing on the gamepad or rotating the right joystick until you’ve created the shape required for whatever you need to beat the bad guy. On top of this, you can assemble your whole team into giant springs to bounce out of the way of attacks or a huge serving of gelatin to reflect physical attacks and projectiles back at your enemies.The game quickly becomes one of strategy, where you pick the best tools to take on the specific enemy in front of you, with the occasional boss fight that requires you to demonstrate your ability to quickly shift between shapes in order to move on to the next stage. In each chapter you are graded on your performance in each segment as well as a final grade for completing the chapter. If you didn’t do so well in one area you can try again just as you are, or adjust your difficulty level before restarting the area.Playing The Wonderful 101 on the Wii U Gamepad is a great experience, so long as you don’t try and play exclusively on the giant controller. The dual screen experience offered here is great, especially when you get deeper into the game and need to switch quickly between weapons. While using the joystick is great for summoning the sword, trying to summon the hammer the same way is sure to quickly frustrate you.Being able to draw the corresponding shapes on the pad is quick and fun, but it does take your fingers away from the attack and dodge buttons momentarily. There are times in the game where you enter an underground area or step into a building where all of the gameplay shifts to the Gamepad, allowing you to take advantage of the gyroscope to see the whole area and solve puzzles. This is a fun diversion occasionally, but not so great experience full time. If you press the minus key on the gamepad you can shift gameplay to just the Gamepad, but you still need to flip between the two screen types. This is a really poor experience, and ultimately a perfect example of how not every game should be played on just the Gamepad.The Wonderful 101 is exactly what Nintendo needed for the Wii U at launch, but now it will serve as the best title for the console moving into the holiday season. In a few weeks, those looking for a new Wii U game to give as a present will have this one great title on a shelf filled with Nintendo titles that feel a little stale by comparison. It’s not hard to see this game becoming one of the most popular in the Wii U lineup by the end of the year.
https://jrnl.ie/3850891 Elk dies after leaping at low flying helicopter The two people on board weren’t seriously hurt. Wednesday 14 Feb 2018, 7:45 AM 81,484 Views Share110 Tweet Email2 By Associated Press Feb 14th 2018, 7:45 AM 33 Comments 
Photo of the helicopter after the crash. Image: Jared Rigby/Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office via AP Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Photo of the helicopter after the crash. Image: Jared Rigby/Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office via AP Short URL AN ELK LEAPED into a research helicopter that was trying to capture it and brought down the helicopter in a collision that also killed the elk, authorities said yesterday.The elk jumped into the chopper’s tail rotor as the aircraft flew about 10 feet above ground in a mountainous part of eastern Utah, with its crew trying to drop a net on it, said Jared Rigby of the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.The two people on board weren’t seriously hurt, but the elk died of its injuries Monday afternoon.The state-contracted Texas-based crew was trying to capture and sedate the elk and give it a tracking collar to research its movements in the area about 90 miles (145 kilometres) east of Salt Lake City.Helicopters are a frequently used and essential tool for monitoring remote wildlife in Utah, said Mark Hadley with the state Division of Wildlife Resources.The tracking collars help wildlife officials monitor elk migration paths and survival rates.The state captures about 1,300 animals each winter, almost all using helicopters, and yesterday’s downing of the helicopter was the first accident of its kind, he said.The crew had launched a net to catch the animal, but when that didn’t immediately work the pilot started to slow down so someone could jump out and hobble the elk, Hadley said.As the helicopter slowed down, the elk collided with the rotor, Hadley said.The helicopter was damaged on its tail rotor, right skid and underside, Rigsby said.State officials will review the incident that appears to have been a fluke accident, Hadley said.Environmental groups have protested the use of helicopters to monitor wildlife.The group Wilderness Watch is objecting to a plan to study mountain goats using helicopters in a central-Utah wilderness area, calling the aircraft “unnecessary intrusion into some of our most treasured lands,” according to the Deseret News.Read: ‘Victory for the victims’ – French court rules man who had sex with 11-year-old girl must face rape chargeRead: United Airlines plane forced to make emergency landing after engine cover rips apart mid-flight
Saturday 26 Nov 2016, 11:59 AM Short URL By Órla Ryan IRISH RAIL HAS said it will arrange a refund for drivers who were clamped when parking at Newbridge train station in Co Kildare during the week.The cars had valid parking tickets, but were not parked in marked spaces.Photos show that most of the clamped cars are parked along the car park’s fence so as not to block an entrance or exit.The carpark has been busier than usual lately due to opening of the Phoenix Park Tunnel.Local woman Patricia Helowicz told TheJournal.ie she’s been using the train station for over two years but the recent tunnel opening means the station has been “chock-a-block”.She said the carpark was full at 8am on Wednesday and her car, along with at least 11 others, were clamped despite having permits when she returned at 2pm.“As far as we’re considered we didn’t do anything wrong and we were penalised and fined … [The car park] was at full capacity when we got there so we made sure we found the parking spaces without obstructing anything,” she said.‘Gesture of goodwill’ A spokesperson for Irish Rail said the station has “extensive car parking facilities with 475 spaces provided over two main car park sites”.“With typical occupancy levels of no more than 50%, there is more than enough capacity for all customers to park in the marked spaces, and NCPS – who manage car parks on our behalf – are instructed by Iarnród Éireann to clamp cars which have not paid for parking or who do not park in marked spaces. Therefore the cars were correctly clamped.“That said, we do acknowledge that the notable increase in demand this week following the introduction of the new Phoenix Park Tunnel services may have resulted in customers who were unfamiliar with the car park travelling, and with those used to getting spaces in the area in front of the station arriving shortly before departure.As a gesture of goodwill, therefore, we will be arranging a refund of the clamp removal charge on this occasion only to the individuals involved who paid for parking but did not park in marked spaces. While the area is clearly marked as being one where parking is not permitted and clamping will apply, we will install new signage to highlight the availability of the secondary car park area.“We would remind all customers the importance of allowing sufficient time to park their car in either car park prior to travel, and stress that clamping will apply as normal at all times for non-payment of parking and for parking in unmarked areas.”Read: Local anger as row of cars clamped at “chock-a-block” train station Nov 26th 2016, 11:59 AM Irish Rail to refund clamping fees as ‘gesture of goodwill’ The cars had valid parking tickets but were not parked in marked spaces at Newbridge train station. Image: Patricia Helowicz Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article 32 Comments Image: Patricia Helowicz http://jrnl.ie/3103962 Share8 Tweet Email2 22,068 Views 
How Trump’s win boosted Japan’s top rubber mask maker Though Obama masks were more popular, the company’s manager says he has high hopes Trump will catch up. Share Tweet Email Sunday 27 Nov 2016, 7:10 AM 6,698 Views Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article No Comments Nov 27th 2016, 7:10 AM http://jrnl.ie/3099280 By AFP Image: Chris O’Meara/PA THE JURY IS still out on what Donald Trump’s election victory means for close US ally Japan. But at least one local business has emerged a winner.Ogawa Studios, the country’s top rubber mask maker, has seen surging demand for their version of the billionaire real-estate magnate since his shock 8 November win.“I am not sure if Mr Trump’s election victory is a good thing for Japan, but for us, a rubber mask maker, the demand has increased many times since he won,” said senior manager Takahiro Yagihara.“Mr Trump is always angry and yelling during his speeches, and that kind of performance is a great model to make a face mask out of,” Yagihara told AFP at his studio in Saitama, north of Tokyo. Source: Eugene Hoshiko“It wouldn’t have been the case with (Hillary) Clinton.”Trump has caused concern with campaign comments in which he said Japan should pay more to support US troops in the country and should even consider developing nuclear weapons.He has also promised to pull the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement championed by President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.The company started selling the Trump masks, which cost 2,400 yen (€20), in May and had shifted about 1,800 by election day. Source: Eugene HoshikoBut demand surged after Trump won, with sales of 5,000 masks within several days, Yagihara said.Ogawa Studios expects to ship a further 8,000 Trump masks by the end of this year, he added.The studio’s array includes those of politicians, cartoon characters, sumo wrestlers and even one modelled on a bronze statue of the Buddha.One of the more successful masks was of Obama, Yagihara said.“The popularity of Mr Obama’s was far beyond that of Mr Trump’s but I have high hopes he will catch up,” he said.© – AFP, 2016Read: Trump is selling gold-trimmed Make America Great Again Christmas ornaments for $149> Short URL Image: Chris O’Meara/PA
18,156 Views Friday 9 Dec 2016, 3:36 PM Updated 10 December 11.45am.BOXES OF SINN Féin newsletters, posters, leaflets and other promotional material were dumped in a forest in Rathangan Co Kildare.The rubbish includes newsletters, election campaign material, posters, leaflets, notices and other branded material.It also included leaflets and posters of Sinn Féin members including Kathleen Funchion, Michael Colreavy, and Brian Stanley – who is the Sinn Féin spokesperson on Climate Change and the Environment.In a statement, Stanley told TheJournal.ie, “A man called our offices stating some Sinn Féin election material has been disposed of at a forest. Party material had been taken during the election including posters.Within one hour, Sinn Féin members called to the site and found election material and immediately removed all of it and photographed the site. Sinn Féin members did not dump this material. Dec 9th 2016, 3:36 PM Leaflets from Sinn Féin’s environment spokesperson dumped in Kildare wood Sinn Féin said it wasn’t a member of the party who dumped the rubbish. Share Tweet Email1 Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article A Sinn Féin spokesperson said “The leaflets shouldn’t have been dumped, and were not dumped by any Sinn Féin members.As soon as the members became aware of it they went to the site themselves and cleared it all up.Although a local says that when the returned to the area, only the Sinn Féin material had been removed, the party says that it cleared all the rubbish that had been dumped with the Sinn Féin material.The spokesperson said, “Sinn Féin members cleaned up the Sinn Féin material that was dumped there.This is an area that sees a lot of illegal dumping. Sinn Féin members are not responsible for cleaning up the area.Stanley added that the same man contacted the offices the next day stating Sinn Féin material was still there.Party members again inspected the site and found Sinn Féin material and removed it. They again photographed the site.Stanley said this activity was reported to Kildare County Council.TheJournal.ie has contacted Coillte and Kildare County Council for comment on the incident.Additional reporting by Cliódhna Russell. Read: ‘It will destroy tourism here’: Islanders worried as ferry set to be decomissionedRead: ‘Just vile’: St Vincent de Paul on €1,500 Dublin charity shop robbery By Gráinne Ní Aodha 179 Comments Short URL Leaflet from Brian Stanley, TD for Laois/South Kildare and a spokesperson for the environment. http://jrnl.ie/3130388 
This week was extremely busy – it literally flew by. As part of my role with Meath Local Sports Partnership I was out visiting community walking groups this week. I assisted group leaders in areas including Carnaross, Navan, Donore, Castletown and the Hill of Tara, Co Meath.Each walk was approximately 5K which means I managed to walk 25K this week. That’s not including my two GAA football training sessions.Planning aheadI had a lot of people writing to me on social media last week following my first article. Some of the questions were how do I keep motivated and how do I manage to fit in my exercise and food prep when working full-time with a two-year-old child.My answer is to plan ahead, be prepared and make sure you get enough sleep at night. For example, I do my full week’s food shopping on a Sunday so that I have everything I need for the week going forward. I plan my breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner the night before. Then I am ready to go when I get up at 6.45am for work.I find if I don’t do that in advance I get carried away with my morning duties, getting Molly ready, and would end up leaving the house empty handed, eating on the go.I call myself the #PrepqueenI don’t care if someone sees me driving to work with tubs of food for my breakfast, snack and lunch sitting on the passenger seat. That’s what works for me. I call myself the #Prepqueen.Another thing I know gets in my way is that if I don’t get enough sleep at night I am a completely different person. I have no willpower and turn to food I shouldn’t throughout the day. My motivation comes from me, if I don’t look after myself – who will?This week I got swollen glands and a chesty cough which ended up leaving me with a few sleepless nights. This set me back a little. My energy levels dropped and all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed or on the couch with a cup of tea, chocolate and watch the soaps. But no. I got on with my daily agenda as I was determined not to let it get in the way.The weigh inI weighed in on 15/01/2017 (Sunday) and I was down one pound which leaves me at 14st 5lbs. I am a little disheartened as it’s just one pound but I am going to accept it and look at the fact that it’s a pound in the right direction. It’s all about taking the positives and acknowledging your hard work.Some people may think walking 25k and following a food plan will ensure you drop numerous pounds, but when your body is tired and you’re sick, it will rebel against it. Let’s hope my hard work will show on my weigh in next week.This week’s OT menu was adventurous. Some of my favourite main meals this week include mango chicken with sweet potato wedges, creamy courgette and prawn pasta, sweet and sour vegetable and cashew nut stir fry and creamy mushroom pasta.Creamy Mushroom Pasta Recipe Lucy’s creamy pasta dinner. By Lucy Dillon http://jrnl.ie/3191259 Operation Transformation diary: ‘I’m disheartened that I’ve only lost a pound but I’m going to accept it’ Planning your meals in advance and doing your weekly shop on Sundays are my two secrets to successful weight loss, writes Lucy Dillon. Lucy Dillon 53 Comments 90g almond milk1 mandarin (fresh or tinned in own juice) (70g)60g 3% fat natural greek yogurt2 teaspoons chia seeds1 cup frozen berries (boiled before use) (125g)½ cup spinach (10g)2 small carrots (80g)I will leave you all with a little motivation for this week: Take one step at a time, plan your exercise and food in advance, get enough sleep and smash this week.Anyone with any questions or who wants to follow my plan and see my progress can check me out on Snapchat at lucydillon1 and Facebook at Love Lucy x.That’s me for another week and I hope you all have a healthy one. Love Lucy xOperation Transformation airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8.30pm on RTÉ One.Operation Transformation diary: ‘I can actually go into clothes shops now and buy clothes I want to wear’> Wednesday 18 Jan 2017, 8:00 PM
Short URL Jan 18th 2017, 8:00 PM 333 Views Share Tweet Email 120g wholewheat pasta150g mushrooms, sliced125g spinach125g light cream cheese½ tablespoon lemon juice1 teaspoon oregano, dried1 tablespoon rapeseed oil1 reduced sodium vegetable stock cube added to 240mls waterPepper to seasonI usually have porridge every morning but I decided to mix it up during the week. I made the berry and chia smoothie which was delicious. I didn’t think it would fill me up until my mid morning snack but it sure did, and it was very refreshing.Berry and Chia Smoothie Recipe Berry and chia breakfast smoothie. Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
Woman subjected to ‘grossly offensive comments’ on fatal foetal abnormality on 98FM show A caller into the Dublin Talks show was also said to have “made allusions to her complicity in what he considered to be murder”. He then repeatedly accused her of not telling the truth and, while the presenter then took charge of the discussion, Ryan’s participation in the programme was ended. Jimmy, however, was allowed to air his views on separate topics on the show.The BAI adds: “The complainant states that, having been subjected to what she describes as horrific abuse and cross-examination from a listener, she was then denied any right of reply by the programme makers.The complainant believes that she was not treated fairly and honestly by the programme and would never have agreed to take part had they set out to her the format and approach to the programme when they contacted her in the first instance.98FM’s responseThe broadcaster took issue with the complainant’s characterisation of being “forced to go on the show”, saying that she had placed her story in the public domain and didn’t have to go on the show.In terms of the caller who accused Ryan of lying, 98FM said: “When one caller went too far and questioned the veracity of the complainant’s story, the presenter intervened and stated that to suggest such a thing was outrageous.”While they rejected her claims, they did say that, as a gesture of goodwill, they would offer to pay the roaming charges that Ryan incurred while taking the call on holiday.BAI’s determinationIn terms of Ryan’s claim that she had been given insufficient notice of the format the show would take, the BAI noted that “the programme format is well established and the style and approach of the presenter well-known”.They did note that Ryan and 98FM disagreed about the agreed nature of her contribution to the programme, and it had “insufficient grounds” to make a determination on whether Ryan had been fully informed about how the show would proceed.However, they did conclude that the programme “did not meet the obligation for fairness”.The BAI said: “As noted, the complainant should have expected to be questioned on her personal experiences and on any views she may have on broader issues of abortion.However, the caller in question repeatedly questioned the complainant’s honesty, made allusions (both direct and indirect) to her complicity in what he considered to be murder (the termination of her child), made suggestions that her story had the quality of a ‘Walter Mitty’ tale of fantasy, queried the burial of her child, stated that she was lying about her experience and implied that she was lying so as to advance the cause of those who favour liberalising Ireland’s abortion law.They added that by taking Ryan off air following these remarks, they had “failed to deal fairly” with her.In a statement, Ryan said that the whole experience had been “very traumatic”.“I had my personal faith and my funeral choices challenged,” she said. “I was accused of lying and participating in the killing of my daughter. I found myself in this position live on air and I was not adequately protected from this type of abuse.”Read: Today FM team given stern talking to about ‘weak c**k’ commentRead: Radio show allowed special needs children to be called ‘mongos’ By Sean Murray Jan 31st 2017, 2:47 PM 33,966 Views Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article For example, he said that she had the “audacity to take that child home”, “it’s killing an innocent child”, “abortion is murder – thou shalt not kill”, and “is this just a Walter Mitty pro-abortion story?” Image: Shutterstock/DmitriMaruta Share94 Tweet Email1 THE BROADCAST AUTHORITY of Ireland (BAI) has partly upheld a complaint made against Dublin’s 98FM after a woman who’d detailed her experience of carrying a child with fatal foetal abnormality was branded a liar live on air by another caller.The complaint related to Jennifer Ryan’s appearance on the Dublin Talks programme with Adrian Kennedy on 98FM on 26 August 2016.The BAI determined that the programme makers had “failed to take appropriate action so as to avoid undue offence to audiences and to the complainant”.They also point out, however, that they had “insufficient grounds” to judge whether Ryan had been given incorrect information on how she would participate in the programme.ComplaintRyan said that she had been on holiday in Spain with family when she received a call to appear on the show.She said that she had been assured by the production team that it would consist of a 10-minute chat where the presenter would ask her questions related to her and her husband’s decision to terminate a pregnancy following a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality.Ryan had brought the baby home for burial in Ireland, after terminating the pregnancy.She said that she believed she would directly answer questions from Kennedy and was unaware that people would phone in to air their views on the matter.The first caller detailed a situation where she had a stillborn baby and later learned that the baby had fatal foetal abnormalities. Despite being “unprepared” for such a situation, Ryan felt obliged to make a comment live on air.The second caller, named Jimmy, came on air and proceeded to cross-examine Ryan on her decision, as well as making what she referred to as “several hurtful and grossly offensive comments”.The BAI said: Image: Shutterstock/DmitriMaruta 95 Comments https://jrnl.ie/3214869 Short URL Tuesday 31 Jan 2017, 2:47 PM
By Eoin Lúc Ó Ceallaigh Now that the “detrimental” leaving cert is behind her, Scott is thriving in second year law at Carlow IT, where most of her training is also now based. After getting her athletics career back on track, Scott won her first national senior title in the 60m sprint in Abbotstown last week, qualifying to wear the green of Ireland at senior level for the first time in the process. Scott will kick off her senior international career at 11.13 in Glasgow this morning, and she spoke to us during the week about the transition from being one of Ireland’s hottest junior prospects to her dream of beating records and winning senior medals. Bernard Jackman joins Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey to discuss the backlash to World Rugby’s league proposal, captaincy styles, sports psychology and more in The42 Rugby Weekly. Source: The42.ie/YouTubeLAST JULY, MOLLY Scott ran the first leg of a race that caught the attention of the entire country, as Ireland’s U20 relay team won a silver medal at the World Championships in Tampere, Finland. The historic race finished off a tough couple of years for the 19-year-old from Carlow as she tried to balance her Leaving Cert and starting a law degree with her ambitions on the track. Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Share59 Tweet Email https://the42.ie/4520114 Saturday 2 Mar 2019, 7:00 AM Mar 2nd 2019, 7:01 AM 
Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud ‘I did get a World Championships silver medal, but I left Finland beginning my entire life again’ The Carlow-sprinter will represent Ireland at senior level for the first time today in Glasgow. “As a kid I was winning national titles. Then as the years went on I was second or third or fourth or a sub on a relay team.””I was getting sick of being in other people’s shadows and always being second-best.” 19,411 Views Short URL 2 Comments 
YesNoI’m not sureVote Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley https://jrnl.ie/4530026 Mar 8th 2019, 10:29 AM I’m not sure (450) Short URL 54,103 Views Share486 Tweet Email 101 Comments Poll: Should Karen Bradley resign as Northern Ireland Secretary? She has been sharply criticised for comments she made about killings during the Troubles. Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire/PA Images Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article Poll Results: Yes (13325) Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire/PA Images No (1363) Friday 8 Mar 2019, 10:29 AM By Órla Ryan THE FAMILIES OF the Ballymurphy massacre victims have joined those calling for Karen Bradley to resign. On Wednesday, the UK’s Northern Ireland Secretary told the House of Commons the deaths in the North “that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes”.Her comments caused uproar, with many politicians and others deeming them deeply offensive to victims’ families.Bradley later apologised, saying she was “profoundly sorry for the offence and hurt” that her words had caused, adding that she didn’t believe what she said.However, many people have called on her to resign over the remarks.What do you think: Should Karen Bradley resign?
85 Comments This happened at a walking pace. No vehicles were flipped. The malfunction was quickly fixed and vehicular traffic went in and out of Garda HQ as normal that day. Tuesday 9 Apr 2019, 4:03 PM Sinn Féin’s Ó Laoghaire, in his statement today, also said questions needed to be answered in this area. “Our understanding is that PSNI officers are not ordinarily permitted to carry firearms in the Republic,” Ó Laoghaire said. In a statement yesterday, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan offered his support to both police forces while also appearing to distance himself from the incident.The Minister acknowledged the reciprocal arrangements between gardaí and the PSNI for those travelling between both jurisdictions, saying they are “practical” and “risk-based”.But he added: “Having said that, I understand that there has been a minor incident involving a car travelling at about walking pace.“I am advised that the travel and security arrangements on this occasion were in line with standard practice.”- With reporting from Stephen McDermott Garda statement on Drew Harris vehicle controversy: ‘There was no security incident’ “A newly installed bollard malfunctioned,” a statement from the force said. A newly installed bollard malfunctioned and caught the underside of the vehicle the Commissioner was travelling in. Image: Sam Boal Short URL As per our previous statement, normal movement procedures were followed in relation to the Commissioner.It’s understood the Commissioner would normally be transferred from a PSNI vehicle to a Garda one when travelling from the North, but it appears that in this case that didn’t happen.Responding to today’s Garda statement Sinn Féin justice spokesman Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire said it raised as many questions as it answered. “First of all, it appears to offer a new explanation for the bollard striking the Commissioner’s car, as a malfunction, where previously it had been reported as being as a result of a Garda sentinel responding to an unknown car, that is the unmarked PSNI car containing Mr Harris. It is hard to understand how it took 48 hours to clarify this point,” the TD said in a statement.“There are some outstanding issues that must be addressed. These issues are being raised by former members of the Gardaí and Security experts as well as by opposition TDs.“Clearly there must be a review of what took place, so that there is no repeat. It has since emerged that when Mr Harris became commissioner in September, the Garda and the PSNI agreed to draft a memorandum of understanding on how to handle his security arrangements. However, it is understood this has yet to be completed. That needs to happen to ensure the best possible security arrangements.”Speaking to this website yesterday security analyst Tom Clonan said that because of the change in jurisdiction, the border region is the most vulnerable area, a “weak link” for security.“They should have been travelling by air, by helicopter,” he said.I don’t know why they weren’t. A few people have been killed over the years being moved from one vehicle to another.Clonan also described how, as a former Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI, Harris was a target for dissident republicans on both sides of the border.As a high-ranking garda and former police officer, he said the Commissioner would have been travelling with the armed Close Protection Unit in Northern Ireland.“There’s no way they would have driven anywhere in Northern Ireland without him on board,” he said.“There were members of the PSNI Close Protection Unit carrying weapons in Ireland. And they are not allowed to do that under law.It’s a violation of our sovereignty, and an unlawful and illegal act. Image: Sam Boal
https://jrnl.ie/4583277 Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article 30,457 Views By Daragh Brophy There was no security incident at Garda HQ on 25 March 2019. GARDAÍ HAVE INSISTED there was “no security incident” involving the Commissioner’s vehicle at the force’s Phoenix Park HQ on 25 March and that a malfunctioning security bollard was to blame for damage to the vehicle. It comes in the wake of calls for Drew Harris to clarify what happened in the incident, and why he was travelling in a PSNI vehicle rather than a Garda one. News reports about the incident first emerged at the weekend. The vehicle the Commissioner was travelling in was damaged after a security barrier rose from the ground as his armed escort arrived at Garda HQ, having travelled from the North. Although there were no major injuries, the episode brought controversy upon the Commissioner, who faced questions about his time with the PSNI before his appointment.Opposition TDs and security analysts have called on the Commissioner to clarify what he was doing in a PSNI vehicle and whether his security arrangements on the day were appropriate, or even legal.One early report on the incident asserted that Harris’s vehicle had ‘flipped over’, while reports from a range of outlets, including TheJournal.ie, detailed how an emergency button was pushed by a garda on duty at the gates of HQ as they didn’t recognise the car containing the Commissioner. The force stated on Sunday that normal procedures were followed during the armed escort and that both the gardaí and PSNI were satisfied with this. Today’s statement issued by the Garda Press Office (and attributed to a Garda spokesperson) read: Share336 Tweet Email Apr 9th 2019, 2:03 PM 