You got News in my Opinion

There are many things about America that perplex me entirely. One, is how it matters hugely how much of a God fearing man a President is. I can safely declare now that if our own Prime Minister was to proclaim " God bless you and God bless Ireland", he would most certainly be laughed at by all of those listening to his speech.

Second, how the largest economy in the world has only recently passed any form of universal healthcare is completely beyond the imagination of those of us in Ireland and the UK at least. The fact it has constantly faced controversy is even more unimaginable.However, as someone with a mild interest in journalism the state of journalism in America is totally shocking for me.

Me and Studio Ghibli

I figured its been a good few days since my last post unrelated to current affairs so I decided that Id write about something close to my heart, the movies of Studio Ghibli.  This brilliant animation studio was founded in June 1985 by the studio's two current major directors, Hayao Miyazaki and the less celebrated but certainly no lesser genius, Isao Takahata. Over the course of the next couple of weeks I will be running a series of blog posts covering all of the studio's breathtaking catalog of releases over the past twenty five years. I hope that my profiling each of the films gives you an insight into both my own personality and the magic of the worlds greatest animation studio (in my opinion : ) ).

Women in Politics

One of the major current international stories is the resignation of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The resignation seemed to come as a shock to all. Indeed, anyone in a failing European economy is likely to be aware of the mass emigration to the supposed greener pastures of Australia. And while the country has of course not been immune from the recession the economy is unlikely to continue to suffer for as long as its European counterparts.

But the fact remains, after a number of notable U-turns particularly on climate change, Welsh born Julia Gillard has emerged as the Labor Party's new leader after the party voted to oust their Prime Minister of 3 years. It appears to have been a good decision. Gillard is clear favourite in the polls to keep her position at the time of the country's next general election. It would make her one of the few female leaders of Goverment in our world. So I thought for today's post Id take a look at the role of women in politics worldwide and why so few of them rise to the highest echelon in their chosen careers.

Eritrea:Forgotten World

Foreign Policy, a prominent US magazine, has published a list of its 23 most tyrannical dictators in ranked order. The list is an eye opening one, perhaps shining a light on the ignorance of myself in the sheer number of dictators still in power across the world. While I don't much approve of ranking the inherent evilness of people like Kim-Jung Il and Robert Mugabe and the obvious blurring of the definition of dictator in the article, I have to say it has given me some food for thought.

Perhaps like I said it is just my ignorance but this list has made me wonder how and why certain countries gain prominence in the media while others fail to do so. For example, number one on this list is Kim Jong Il undoubtedly a tyrant who has crippled his country's economy and subjected his people to years of famine and his most irrational behavior and threat of developing nuclear arms surely make his behaviour newsworthy, which also accounts for the inclusion of the Iranian leader (his Israeli hatred the icing on the cake in America).

Fury in France

I rarely, if ever take more than the slightest of interest in any soccer tournament, including the World Cup. However, I am always keenly interested in the relationship between society at large and sport. How, for example when the major debate of China's controversial choice as host nation of the Olympics and the talk of boycotting the games based on whether or not sports and politics a should be linked. Personally I was all for the boycott. Sure the athletes pour their heart and soul into training but many Tibetans have staked their lives on the pursuit of freedom. I recognise the capacity of sport to heal and unify (North and South Korea marching under one flag in previous Olympic games) but I also recognise how it can be used as a political tool and should therefore not be immune to political ramifications.

Although the topic I am talking about today is a far cry from the gravity of the 2008 situation in Beijing it does show how sport can capture the imagination of an entire nation and even lead to the political involvement of major leaders. Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few days you will no doubt have heard about the abuse given by France's Nicholas Anelka to his team's manager during their clash with Mexico on Saturday. For those who have in fact being just that, I will provide a lose translation. Anelka told his manager after being replaced to " Go f*** yourself, you son of a b****." And thus the escalation of the story began.

Irish Politics in Mildly Interesting Shocker!

The first thing I do whenever I meet with my brother is discuss whatever is happening in the world. I had been away for a full week without a hint of news. Where I was staying was internet-less and Tv-less so i was hoping to be caught up with all the goings on in Gaza or if BP had fixed the leak. Imagine my shock and horror then, when it was the name of our very own dear nation that escaped from his lips.

Because let me explain just a little bit about the political system of this small island nation. We of course are a Republic and we use a Proportional representation system which has lead to a coalition being in power every year of my living memory. And it has been the will of the people of this nation in its 90 odd year history to make the centrist Fianna Fail Party the states largest since 1932. The states second largest party is Fine Gael and equally centrist party that has only formed part of 3 Governments since its inception in 1933.

BP: Crisis in the Gulf

With my break from the site starting tomorrow I thought I should make this entry before delaying it any further. Indeed the BP oil crisis has almost been going on for almost two months now and is threatening the reputation of BP and of course the President himself with many claiming he hasn't been hard enough on the organisation.

BP has stated it will harness all its resources to help solve the crisis and plug the leak and was spending somewhere in the region of $7 million daily on trying to do just that. However, if we take into account that the companies daily profits for the first quarter of this year were in fact $61 million we see that this figure may not be as large as it seems in perspective.