buster budget busters

Scratch what i foolishly claimed in my first blog; that i had developed a 6th sense that gave me the ability 2 foresee, & thus avoid, the ‘how-much-worse-can-this-get?’ stories of economic depression (remember, & in my defence, this blog is advertised as bunkum). i’m trying but it’s hard 2 avoid the continuing doom & gloom, end is nigh economic stories... those reporting on bankrupt banks (that has 2 be the big daddy of all oxymoron’s), disappearing pensions, plummeting stocks & general global financial meltdown. hard?... umm, i’d actually go so far as 2 say it’s impossible, assuming 1 chooses 2 interact in any small, even semi-eremitic way with society. not that i’m ever likely 2 practice asceticism where keeping abreast of worldly matters is concerned... but still, even if 1 chose 2 do so lately, & even if, like me, 1 really doesn't give a shit about economic armegeddon, i reckon you’d still find it hard not 2 wonder where all the money has gone. somewhere it isn’t coming back from is where, & with the irish government's delivery of the annual budget yesterday us irish can be sure that the light @ the end of the economic depression tunnel the country has entered is still a long way off. income tax, road tax, ‘what-the-hell-is-this-tax-for?’ tax... all up (they cunningly branded the income tax hike as a 'temporary levy' but they are not fooling anyone). petrol, cancer sticks, wine... all up. & they didn’t stop there either; with the old reliable's looked after they even found the audacity 2 remove a large cross-section of the populace - only the most vulnerable, the over 70's - from automatic free medical coverage, & hike the price, by a mere 100%, for anyone unfortunate enough to end up in an irish a&e room. oh, & not forgetting the introduction of a few hitherto unheard of taxes, like the flight tax that we're all going 2 have 2 pay 2.. well, fly. i'm not 2 sure what the official name of this new tax is but i'm labelling it as the ‘we’ll get you even when you’re trying to escape’ tax (btw, don't we already pay 'taxes & charges' on flights? of course we do - they are as unavoidable as... as, well taxes i guess - just now we pay 'more taxes & charges'). & so it went. it’s all a far cry from the spread-the-wealth budgets of the past 10 years & a stark reminder, if 1 were needed (it wasn't), that the poor old celtic tiger is well & truly dead. dead as disco. & guess who's paying for the funeral.

‘the return’ – an update

the wait for me 2 bail from the sinking ship that is the irish recessional economy drags on, & on, & on. the korenns have received my transcripts (the collection of which you may recall brought me on my recent trip down memory lane) so now i’m just sitting tight waiting for the green light... & the interview.

this & that news

speaking of the koreans, i see they have created a dancing robot... & because it’s Korean it dances, of course, 2 wonder girls tell me. now that it has dancing down the word on the street is that they are working on getting it 2 proficiently smash soju & teach english, negating the need for foreign teachers. watch this space.

& i read with alarm today how it has now been claimed that drinking beer shrinks the brain. i was almost prepared 2 consider curbing my beer intake until i delved deeper into the article & discovered it, the shrinkage, is more pronounced in women. wow, close 1. sorry girls... get a good man 2 look after you while you still can, especially if you're a booze hound.

just for laughs is all

check out this video, a satirical take on the u.s. presidential race. trust me, the subject matter aside, & unless you're void of a sense of humour - or have no idea what it's about - you'll find it funny.

lets stick with the yanks for now. & why not when they provide comedy such as this. the video below has over 17 million hits, & counting, on youtube, so that should tell you how popular it is... & for good reason. "we make a big blast crater out of the fucking middle-east for all i care." classic stuff.



a quote worth sharing

"Not that I don't feel like I'm part of the team, but when you get that nice celebration coming in the dugout and you're getting your ass hammered by guys, there's no better feeling than to have that done."
– Matt Stairs, Philadelphia Phillies baseball player after he hit a homerun to secure game 4 of the nlcs.

what i'm listening 2 right now

sia, soon we’ll be found, & doves, the cedar room