the little bird
that whistled shrill
from the nib of
its yellow bill:

a note let go
o’er Belfast Lough -
a blackbird from
a yellow whin

A free translation from the 9th Century Irish by Ciarán Carson

Ireland With Emily by Sir John Betjeman ( Read more... )

Now, this is the sort of Facebook group I can really dig!

Are you sick of conspiracy theories and Da Vinci Code-style "history" that are based on twisted evidence? Does it annoy you that a pseudoscience like homeopathy can be taught at degree level in an established university? Are you scared by the spread of anti-Semitic Holocaust denial through ( Read more... )

From The Dutchess vs 'white trash' Britain in spiked:

The Duchess in Hull is one big advert to show how jolly nice Fergie is. So it’s not surprising that it avoids asking one very obvious question: why does she have an apartment in New York and staff while the Sargersons - who seem like thoroughly decent people in a rut - have to feed themselves ( Read more... )

Them Derry wans obviously have more fun than I gave them credit for!

A GROUP of women who were spotted carrying a six foot inflatable penis along the Strand Road in Derry have been accused of "behaving like harlots" by a local pastor ( Read more... )

Robert Boyd, aka Buho the Elf has got two years for robbery at Belfast Crown Court. Enthusiastic readers of Sammy Morse will remember that Boyd was arrested for stealing lingerie and suspender belts at oh-so-feminine-not-a-sex-shop-honestly Orchid on Belfast's Lisburn Road. Boyd's defence was that he got confused between real life and his ( Read more... )

No, I didn't make this one up.

"A woman has appeared in court accused of marrying another woman in a lesbian civil partnership ceremony while still being married to a man."

I wonder will this make it into the Shropshire Star.

First it was Richard and Judy and the X-Factor, now even that staple of motherhood and apple pie children's programming Blue Peter has been caught running a bogus phone-in competitionHas anyone actually been sacked over this corruption? For corruption is what it is. And if not, why not ( Read more... )

According to the BBC, The UK military is awaiting the launch of Skynet.

Just as long as its neural net doesn't go haywire, causing it to start a nuclear war to erase the virus of humanity from the planet...


( Read more... )

One for all you roleplayers. This sort of thing could only happen in Belfast.

A man accused of a stealing underwear from a shop in a knifepoint raid believed he was a female elf at the time, Belfast Crown Court has heard ( Read more... )