#irish sea border

[frsturt]

1001+ New British And Irish Themed Jokes

New Adult Jokes Daily – Guaranteed To Make You Laugh Or Your Tonsils Back! Welcome! Céad Míle Fáilte 欢 google-site-verification: google4de88e90fa1080a9.html Original jokes – created and crafted by Francis R Sturt JOKES OF THE DAY: 21/01/2024What did the police officer say to three monks having sex? Halo! Halo! Halo! What is Scouting For Girls? Boy Scouts without the sex. Two agents are in the…

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 17th of January 2024 is now closed.

Here is a recap of today's major events.

It is 12am in Ireland now so I have to go to bed.

I'll be back to resume live updates on Sunday as I unfortunately have to work.

For continuous updates while I'm gone, click the link below:

[head-post]

Work on Irish Sea border post begins

Construction work began on a border crossing in north Wales that would check goods from the Republic of Ireland after Brexit, according to the BBC.

The facility at Holyhead is due to be operational in 2025. When the UK left the EU in 2021, products destined for the EU were immediately subject to customs and regulatory procedures.

However, the UK government was not ready to implement controls on EU goods, and the introduction of such controls was postponed several times. EU agri-food products arriving at English Channel ports started being checked earlier in 2024.

Products from the Republic of Ireland were not inspected due to a shortage of facilities at ports on the west coast of the UK. Holyhead in north Wales is one of the main ports for Irish goods entering the UK.

Sarah Morton, regional director for Kier Construction, the main contractor on the project, stated that the company’s design and realisation team had worked closely with the Welsh Government in planning the construction of the post.

We are excited that the project is underway.

Meanwhile, goods from Northern Ireland travelling directly to the UK will not be subject to any new checks or controls as the UK government has guaranteed that they will have “unfettered access.”

The Scottish port is the main entry point for goods from Northern Ireland entering the UK. The previous decision to check goods at Northern Ireland ports did not work out well, as the government feared that local goods would also be detained for inspections.

Read more HERE

[seachranaidhe]

President of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald says Boris Johnson 'mislead' the Democratic Unionist Party and urges Rishi Sunak to not repeat the actions of his predecessor.

‘…start being honest, truthful and pragmatic with the DUP.’@AndrewMarr9 | @MaryLouMcDonald President of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald says Boris Johnson 'mislead' the Democratic Unionist Party and urges Rishi Sunak to not repeat the actions of his predecessor.'…start being honest, truthful and pragmatic with the DUP.'@AndrewMarr9 | @MaryLouMcDonald pic.twitter.com/d4nOxBcS3D— LBC (@LBC) January…

[girlactionfigure]

🟣 Wed morning - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

▪️IRELAND OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZES STATE OF PALESTINE.. Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris officially announced the recognition of a Palestinian state. Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez: We will recognize a Palestinian state on May 28.  The Prime Minister of Norway, who also said they will recognize: "The goal is to establish a Palestinian state based on the Palestinian Authority. We believe that a two-state solution is in Israel's interest."

▪️ISRAEL WITHDRAWS AMBASSADORS.. Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered the immediate return to Israel of the Israeli ambassadors in Ireland and Norway for consultations against the background of these countries' decision to announce their recognition of a Palestinian state: "I am sending a clear message today - Israel will not be complacent against those who undermine its sovereignty and endanger its security."

▪️AID FROM PIER - PENTAGON, HAMAS GOT IT.. (Pentagon Spokesperson, CNN) None of the aid from the temporary pier the US constructed off Gaza has been delivered to the civilian population.  Pentagon spokesperson: initial aid brought into Gaza was “intercepted by ‘some people’ who took that aid off those vehicles.”

▪️MERON DECLARED A CLOSED MILITARY ZONE.. IDF Home Front Command has declared the Mount Meron area (and village) a closed zone to avoid people coming for Lag B'Omer celebrations typically held in huge numbers at the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at the top of Meron village.  (Lag b’Omer is Saturday night-Sunday this year.)  The closure starts at 11 p.m. tonight and until Monday, May 27, at noon.

Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked Mount Meron, which is located some 8 km (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, launching large barrages of rockets at the mountain and village, as well as guided missiles at the Israeli radar base that sits atop it.

▪️WHO CHANGED THE LAST DEAL? CNN SAYS - EGYPT.. CNN: Egyptian intelligence secretly changed the details of the cease-fire proposal that Israel, the US and Qatar agreed to - which led to Hamas's unacceptable cease-fire proposal earlier this month. "We all felt they had misled us," said a source.  The head of the CIA, Bill Burns was "furious and embarrassed”.

▪️GAZA ISRAELI TOWNS?  Prime Minister Netanyahu in an interview with CNN: "Gaza resettlement was never on the agenda and I said it openly, even though some of my partners don't like it.”

(( The calculus at the time: Gaza Israeli villages required heavy IDF protection and cost soldier lives every month under constant attacks by the Gazans, with a relatively small Israeli population of just under 10,000 - much of Israel society felt the ongoing cost in lives was terrible given the small Israeli population and world optics.  

What Israel and the leadership failed to realize is those villages and the defense efforts thereof was preventing developing Gaza into a full anti-Israel war posture. ))

♦️JENIN (Samaria) COUNTER-TERROR.. major operation going for 24 hours so far, with ongoing gun battles and explosives at the fighters and vehicles.  Airstrikes!

♦️RAFAH (Gaza).. while reading statements from US media that “Israel has accepted the US’s recommendations for a more careful attack plan with civilian protection in Rafah”, we are also seeing videos from Rafah and the statement “During the night, IDF forces launched a massive attack from the air, sea and land while advancing towards the center of Rafah city” and that that a 5th combat brigade has entered Rafah.

There are now 10 combat brigades in Gaza, 5 brigades in Rafah, 3 in Jabaliya and 2 in the corridor in the center of the strip.

⭕ HAMAS fires ROCKETS at SDEROT, no alarm!

⭕ HEZBOLLAH fires ROCKETS at Ma'ayan Baruch, Dafna, Malkia.

******

Minister of Finance, Smotrich, following the recognition of a Palestinian state by 3 European countries:

I do not intend to transfer the liquidation funds to the PA anymore, from now until further notice,

I do not intend to extend the indemnification to the correspondent banks at the end of next month.

##

The meaning of this: the collapse of one of the PA's main sources of funding.

The PA will have difficulty paying salaries to its officials.

[luimnigh]

What happened to Brexit and the impact on the Irish border? It seemed like a really big deal and then Covid hit and I lost all news about it. I imagine putting a hard border there made life much worse for many commuters. Did the border become a target for terrorists the way some people worried it would? Also if you know anything about the situation in Hong Kong that seemed to fall off the radar too.

So the problem in regards to Northern Ireland and Brexit was that there were three option on where to place a border. And there needed to be a border, legally, in order to do customs checks.

Those options were:

Between the two islands and Europe, which couldn't be done because Ireland has no intention of leaving thr European Union.

Between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would be a breach in the legal obligations set forth in the Good Friday Agreement, an internationally recognized treaty.

Between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, also known as the Irish Sea Border. But this would hurt the feelings of the DUP, the major unionist (pro-UK) party in Northern Ireland.

Now, the reason why the Irish Sea Border was unworkable was because Theresa May held an early election, and lost the Conservative Party's majority. So they turned to the DUP to supply them votes in Parliament. An Irish Sea Border became impossible, because the DUP would pull out of the supply agreement and end the government.

Then after May resigned, Boris Johnson held a new early election, and won a majority without the DUP. So guess what suddenly became an option again?

The UK finally did a deal with the EU that agreed to a Irish Sea Border, called the Northern Ireland Protocol, in December 2019. It means that officially Northern Ireland is outside of the EU, but agrees to follow all EU customs and free movement of good rules. There are no customs checks on goods moving from Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK, but there are customs checks on goods moving from the rest of the UK to Northern Ireland.

This upset the DUP, and in February 2022 they brought down the Government of Northern Ireland. Elections happened in May 2022, and they lost their position as Northern Ireland's largest party to their nationalist (pro-Ireland) rivals, Sinn Féin. This upset the DUP even more, so they've refused to start a new Northern Irish government (it's legally required that the biggest nationalist and unionist parties form a coalition to make the Northern Irish government).

So yeah. We avoided the hard border, but now Northern Ireland is without it's devolved government, and the UK Government doesn't care enough to force a new election. Ireland and Northern Ireland are becoming closer economically, while the UK and Northern Ireland are shifting away (with recent announcement of product packaging that labels items as being "not for EU"). The Unionists are angry, but not enough to do much more than their usual posturing and mild rioting.

Overall, probably the best we could have hoped for.

[scotianostra]

The Pirate station, Radio Scotland began broadcasting in the dying embers of Hogmanay, 1965.

Radio Scotland was a Scottish pirate radio station which broadcast at various points off the Scottish coast between 1965 and 1967, with a mix of pop music and programmes of Scottish interest. It was conceived of and run by publicity and advertising executive Tommy Shields onboard a former Irish lightship, built on the Clyde, named The Comet. Radio Scotland's first broadcast was at 11:50pm on Hogmanay, 31st December 1965, on 1241 kilohertz, 242 metres.

After refitting for her new role in the Channel Islands she had been towed to a position four miles off Dunbar, in the Firth of Forth. Because of delays during the journey north, the ship didn't arrive at the anchorage until early on 30th December, giving the engineers only a few hours to set up the equipment. It was a frantic race against time but the station just made it on air before midnight, albeit at reduced power and with no opportunity to run tests. The first voice on the new station belonged to DJ Paul Young a former presenter of Scottish Television's Roundup programme who welcomed the listeners. He introduced the managing director Tommy Shields, who went on to detail their plans. Radio Scotland was on the air and open for business. The station also broadcast from water near Troon and Northern Ireland over its one-and-a-half years.

While navigating and planting the boat, crew had to be careful to avoid territorial waters, primarily due to the strict laws imposed on the pirate stations by the government of the day. Featuring everything from “modern” rock’n’roll to ceilidh favourites, the station soon became a sensation across Scotland as well as Ireland and northern England, where the signal was also picked up.

With its audience of one million listeners a week in its prime, Radio Scotland was very close to realising Shield’s dream of becoming a successful independent Scottish station.

Joining English stations such as Radio Caroline, Radio Scotland was the only pirate radio station to be formed north of the Border, and soon took its place amongst the big six pirate stations.

People could join the membership of the station and become Radio Scotland “Clan Members”. As a reward, the Clan had their own show every Saturday where they could send in requests, which, alongside Jack McLaughlin’s ceilidh slot, was one of the most popular programmes broadcast.

The station even had its own fanzine called “242” – named after its frequency. The 242 magazine featured interviews with the biggest stars of the day, including The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Tina Turner, but station managers never quite tempted any of the stars on board the infamous boat.

The pirate station’s theme song was a jaunty wee number sung by folk band The Carrick Folk Four. Finishing off the upbeat ditty were the lines: “Oh Radio Scotland’s playing just for you/So beat the ban, and join the Clan, on station 242.”

Although they received many a plaudit, Radio Scotland was plagued with troubles from the very beginning. A poor signal and periods off-air led to a steep decline in advertising revenue and a frustrated fanbase, while fires on board the vessel and the hazardous North Sea conditions did little to help ease its problems.

In a piece in the Edinburgh Weekly just days after the station was laid to rest, Tony Mark wrote: “The death penalty in this country is supposed to have been abolished, yet here we are mourning the execution of what was surely the sound sensation of both 66’ and 67’ as far as Scotland is concerned.”

Although the station had a short life, as is often the case with such ventures, and was taken off the air in the 60s, Radio Scotland inspired a tribute station, which began broadcasting in the mid 70s.

Radio Scotland International, an independently run pirate station broadcasting to Europe from its base in Holland, started in 1975 and has been going ever since.

http://www.radioscotland.nl/

For around 20 months his modest little boat made huge waves and pulled Scotland into the "swinging sixties".

The first pic is Tommy Shields unveiling his pirate ship , the last is the stations first DJ Paul Young then, and as "Shug" in the BBC's Still Game

[historia-vitae-magistras]

On the subject of Arthur losing his mother's inheritance, how did the Norman invasion go for him? When he loses yet another identity and a new language slides onto his tongue?

It went incredibly shittily for him. I've read more than one academic that places the birth of British Imperialism in 1066, and I don't think they'd be entirely wrong. For many of the so-called 'high middle ages', sources from Welsh poetry, the Irish Annals or even Scottish records don't describe invasions from England as English incursions into their territory the way we today do. Instead, there's often this sense that 'England fell first.' Because while the Anglo-Saxons had been aggressive with their neighbours, see Offa's Dyke on the Welsh border and periodic problems in Scotland, there's nothing like the dominance we later see. If anything, Ireland, as the centre of Celtic Christianity, had more influence as Scots Gaelic came via Irish migration onto the west coast of Scotland. It's been argued by other academics that the Norman invasion is as equally responsible for the decline of Celtic Languages in England as the Anglo-Saxons themselves were.

But all that said, he spent about ten years in the Mediterranean as the Varangian guard took on a new Anglo-Saxon flavour and became something like the Byzantine Empire marines in addition to the usual sort of Emperor's bodyguard that was traditional. And in the 1070s we have a few scattered references to the first-ever use of a 'New England.' Somewhere on the black sea, maybe Crimea was settled by those English exiles. So Arthur is overseas from about 1066-1075 when there's finally no hope of a return of Anglo-Saxon rule.

He doesn't really lose his Englishness, English remains the tongue of the lower classes, but people stop writing in it almost completely. And a headcanon I've had for a long time is he made Matt learn how to read in English almost immediately after the Conquest of New France because he himself couldn't read Old French or Middle French very well for decades. He loses not an identity but the ability to express that identity.

[mariacallous]

It would, Grant Shapps says, be bad news for British democracy if Labour won too large a majority next month. For a moment I wondered whether his words reflected a realisation that his own party had only been able to manage stable government this century when it was in coalition with someone else, but I don’t think this was his point. 

It’s true that governments with small majorities are more constrained, but this isn’t obviously a good thing. Our years of Brexit deadlock were only broken once the government had a comfortable majority. And if you believe, as some on the right claim they do, that Britain needs planning reform and plenty of housebuilding, then a Labour government with a large majority is the likeliest route to those things. Certainly the Conservatives haven’t been able to deliver them with theirs.

But let me offer a different counterargument: it would be very good for our democracy for the Conservative Party to suffer a crushing defeat. The Conservatives have behaved terribly in government, and politicians, like children, need to know that their actions have consequences.

In 2019, British voters were faced with an unusual and appalling situation: a choice between two men both utterly unfit to be prime minister. Leaving aside Jeremy Corbyn’s political abilities — he could never persuade even Labour MPs that he ought to head a government — and his instincts — he would go on to suggest the British government had provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — he had neither the temperament nor the intellect for the top job. So voters opted for what they perceived to be the lesser of two evils.

The result was that Labour paid a price for offering an unfit leader, and the Conservatives were rewarded. And that has been a bad thing. It told Tories that integrity in public life was optional. Boris Johnson, of course, needed no encouragement on that score, but his weak-minded followers, in Parliament, on his staff, and in the media, thought they had won a free pass. “Voters don’t care,” we were assured, after each fresh scandal broke. Until it turned out that they did. 

For all their later cries of anguish as Boris Johnson’s character was laid bare on the public stage, Conservatives knew exactly who he was when they made him prime minister. If the precise details of his downfall were pleasingly novel — who had “locks up the nation while hosting a series of wild parties” on their bingo card? — it was no surprise that he thought rules were for other people and lied as was convenient. This had been his entire career. I hope my colleague Paul Goodman will forgive me reminding him of what was surely the greatest ever ConservativeHome editorial, which suggested that Johnson should be prime minister, but with rival Jeremy Hunt as a deputy, to handle the tedious business of running the country. Has any endorsement ever been less enthusiastic?

Conservative MPs knew who Johnson was during the 2019 election campaign, when he insisted his Brexit proposals wouldn’t create a regulatory border in the Irish Sea. Did any Tory correct the prime minister as he misled voters about a key feature of the deal that was the centrepiece of his election campaign? Of course not. Voters don’t care!

And that’s just Johnson. Is there any Conservative out there who wants to argue that, since their party took sole charge of the country in 2015, they have been a good government? Four years spent arguing about Brexit followed by 18 months of a lockdown policy that was conspicuously more interested in pubs than schools, and then three years of infighting. There are bright spots — the vaccine and the leadership on Ukraine — but the main theme has been chaos. We have had as many chancellors of the exchequer in the last nine years as we did in the preceding 30. 

And what is there to show for it? The party’s central economic policy has been to make it harder for British businesses to sell things to France. And, in fairness, it has achieved that — even if, for some reason, Conservatives are now reluctant to talk about it. Take that away, and you’re left with what? High taxes and a crumbling public realm. For months now, the most damning criticism of the state of the country at Prime Minister’s Questions has come from the Tory benches, as MPs complain that their constituents can’t see dentists or doctors. Not even Conservative MPs think that life is good under the Conservatives.

So I’m happy for the party to be crushed. I don’t go quite as far as the 46 per cent of the public who say Conservatives deserve to lose every seat, but I could live with that result far more easily than the party holding 250 seats. 

I want the Conservative Party from 2015 to 2024 to be a cautionary tale that politics professors whisper to terrify their students. Because if you can govern this badly, behave this badly, without any consequences, that would bode very ill indeed for our democracy.

[wylde-lore]

Doctor Wylde's character sheet

Name: Cedric Arlo Wylde

Alias/titles: Aldia Entrati (deadname), big guy, old fart, Doc, Doctor, The Good Doctor, General, Master, Enlightened One, Midnight Sun, Slayer of Lord Demogorgon

Race: Orokin

Sex: Male

Age: 10,948 years old

Height: 7 feet (2.1336 meters) while disguised as a mortal, 2,000+ feet (610+ meters) in his true form

Weight: 350 pounds (158.757 kilograms) while disguised as a mortal, ( 2.6 * 10^11 (260,000,000,000) tons in his true form

Physical appearance:

Additional characteristics: Despite his extreme age, he looks like he's merely in his late 60s to early 70s. His body is completely covered in countless scars, ranging from claw marks to lightning burns. He has the physique of an Olympic strongman and calloused hands that never so much as quiver under even the most stressful of situations and possess a vice-like grip that's almost impossible to escape from. His sharp nails are actually retracted claws, and are capable of rending flesh and metal alike when fully extended. His eyes are a rich golden color with red accents, and sport slitted, reptilian pupils. His ears are elongated and elf-like. His teeth are razor sharp and the canines are elongated into vicious fangs. His face is weathered and rarely shows emotion, but if you look closely there are clear smile lines. He has both crow's feet and dark circles under his eyes. Most of his hair has turned grey, but some still possess the coppery red of his youth. Though almost never seen as he's extremely good at hiding them -though the reason why is unknown - he has a pair of draconic wings with black and gold scales sprouting from his back, a draconic tail of similar coloration, the tip of which is bladed and impossibly sharp, and a line of bone spikes that protrude from his back and run along his spine. Much like most of his family, he has an Irish accent.

Profession(s): arcanologist, biomechanical engineer, licensed arms dealer, CEO of Wylde Labs, religious leader

Allied factions: the Orokin Empire, the ASF, the Drone colonies of Copper 9, Humanity

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: Demiromantic omnisexual

Relationships: @theblackcubeofdarkness Cube, @emily-and-friends Clown - spouse (polyamorous relationship) Evelyn, Emma, Oswald, Ruby, Lucy, Lily, @theblackcubeofdarkness Oliver - biological father Cyn, Delilah, @emily-and-friends Emily, @solvar-the-drone, @nate-doorman-elliot, @thad-the-jock, @p3nny-bakes-cookies - adoptive father Agent Arrow - master and mentor Slyvan - pet owner Natah - son Janus - host Margret, Tessa, Abby, Odin, Belnar, Alice, Sarah, Cephalon Eda, Elizabeth, Asmodeus, @emily-and-friends Mikan, @sea-slug-in-a-sweater, @r4m-has-horns - employer Andy - Champion Serial Designation J, Yeva, @emily-and-friends Serial Designation O, Adele, Valentine, Vivien, Koki, Mimi, @asknoridoorman, @roseamongrobots - close friend and associate @asf-director-turner - contracted employer Ko, @emily-and-friends Serial Designation V, Korrina, @serial-designation-mj, @worker-drone-alex - (potential) future father-in-law

Personality: He is extremely adept at hiding his true emotions, creating an illusion of perpetual calm. Though he never reveals this information to anyone but those closest to him, in truth he is haunted by his past and suffers from PTSD so severe that he's developed an irrational fear of falling asleep, for he knows the only things waiting for him on the other side are vivid and horrific nightmares. He has a bit of a smoking problem, though he usually only smokes when he's particularly stressed. He loves his family dearly, though can be a bit overprotective of his children - especially Ruby, his firstborn. He is known for harboring extreme hatred and prejudice - bordering on flat out speciesism - against demonic entities, with exactly one known exception. Contrary to popular belief, he does have a sense of humor. Though rarely seen, he is known for having a sadistic streak and is not above torture if the situation demands it. Though he loves the thrill of combat and is very much driven by honor, he is not above "cheating" or "playing dirty;" he can and will exploit your weaknesses at every chance he gets, and he never fights fair. He has a bad habit of consuming the souls of those he kills in order to steal their knowledge and power. He is deeply religious and has an unwavering sense of duty to keep his culture alive, as his home world is gone and he is among the last of his species. He's very slow to trust, and is extremely secretive. Not even his two spouses know all his secrets. He's a complete workaholic and loves his job.

Important lore tidbits: Like many of his kin, the Doctor's true form is incompatible with the comprehension of mortals, and so he devised a plan to hide it. He tracked down a human scientist named Cedric Wylde, killed him, and stole his name, flesh, voice, and even his very soul. The new Doctor Wylde now wears the old one's skin like a costume, though how he fits inside is unknown. He has worn this skin for just over 50 years, and once it finally gives out on him, he'll have to shed it and repeat the process. In order to keep himself from sinking into the ground as its crushed under his immense weight, the doctor is constantly using gravity magic to make himself lighter. At this current point in time it's become second nature to him, as effortless and automatic as breathing, and sometimes he forgets he's even doing it. He is a veteran of a great war known as the Fell War, and it is the cause of not only his PTSD, but also his prejudice against demons. Over the millennia he's developed a split personality; a twisted version of himself named Janus. Pray you never meet him, and that if you do the meeting is brief and nonviolent. Janus only emerges to "play" when Doctor Wylde nears his breaking point mentally. He is capable of allowing parts of his true self to temporarily break through the skin suit as "mutations" if needs be. He can also contort his body at inhuman angles at will.

Additional lore trivia: In his youth, he had a bit of a superiority complex and this obnoxious "holier than thou" attitude that only got more infuriating when you realize that he's right. Such things were snuffed out of him during the Fell War. Though fully ambidextrous as an adult, he was born left handed. Do NOT challenge him to a drinking contest, as not only does he already have a drinking problem and by doing so you're encouraging him, but the alcohol content needed to get him even slightly tipsy is enough to kill several people from alcohol poisoning. He absolutely despises the word "moist." His favorite color seems to change every few days. This is because his favorite color is actually outside the wavelengths of visible light for humans, and he's trying to find one that's the most similar.

Drip:

His theme song:

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

What might I need to take into account when I have multiple very large swaths of land being reclaimed? I'm talking large-scale projects, it would be comparable to having the waters between Great Britain and Ireland being reclaimed.

Licorice: If you want to learn about how to reclaim land from the sea, nobody knows more than the Dutch. Sources concur that around 17% of the Netherlands has been reclaimed from the sea, and according to wikipedia, which has an article dedicated to Dutch land reclamation, a quarter of the country would be under water if not for their continued maintenance of dykes, canals, and the the rest of the system. The Dutch have been reclaiming land from the sea since the Middle Ages, so they make a fascinating case history of what can be done as technology evolves - and also, of course, how need drives technological innovation, since necessity is the mother of invention. 

Here’s a short article from the Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors on some recent reclamation projects. You can find out more by researching the ones that are closest to the kind of project you envisage for your world.

https://ww3.rics.org/uk/en/modus/natural-environment/land/out-of-the-deep--7-massive-land-reclamation-projects--.html#:~:text=Land%20reclamation%20has%20been%20happening,from%20the%20sea%20or%20lakes.

One thing you’ll need to consider is what the land is going to be used for. Preparing reclaimed land for agriculture takes longer, I think, than reclaiming land for high-density human occupation. If it’s reclaimed from the sea there will be a degree of saltiness that needs to be removed before standard food crops can be grown.

The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan might also be an interesting study for you. If I recall correctly, Tenochtitlan was a massive floating city made of artificial islands, rather than reclaimed land per se, and the water was fresh rather than salt, so a different situation from that of Holland. 

Tex: So the Irish Sea, which sits between England and Ireland, has a width of 200 km, surface area of approximately 46,000 square km, a depth between 80 and 275 meters, and a water volume of 2,800 cubic km (Wikipedia). There’s other bodies of water technically between the two islands, but this one is eponymous and holding to the classical definition of a sea, so I figure it’s the best example to have on hand. Where is that much water going? Where are you getting that much dirt? Is this going to adequately match up to the soil and rock compositional layers of the islands bordering it? Will this be, relevantly, earthquake-proof (i.e. will the dirt stay where you put it)? What organisms are being deprived of their environment by these changes? How will this change water movement overall, and will it negatively impact the islands’ shape and their inhabitants’ well-being by unexpected rearranging of waterways? What about the economy? This is a major change in trade routes, and a lot of money presumably being sunk (ha) into changing topography. What prompted this? Is this the best solution for the given problem? Was there a problem in the first place that even needed solving, much less to this degree of influence? What do the local populations think of this? How will this affect the climate and ecology of surrounding areas (say, France)?

Wootzel: We were a bit confused about what you meant when you first sent in this question, so if the above answers aren’t what you’re looking for, please feel free to re-ask and clarify!

[olympic-paris]

John Duncan (British painter) 1866 - 1945 St. Bride, 1913 tempera on canvas National Galleries of Scotland, United Kingdom

According to the legend of the Irish Saint Bride she was transported miraculously to Bethlehem to attend the nativity of Christ. Here two angels carry the white robed saint across the sea. The seascape reflects Duncan's fascination with the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Iona. The birds and seal provide an effective naturalistic foil for the supernatural angels overlapping the patterned border. Scenes from the life of Christ decorate the angel's robes, and may include the artist's self-portrait as the tiny clown (a holy fool) accompanying the procession of the magi on the leading angel's gown.

* * *

In Celtic religion and Irish mythology, Bride, Brigit or Brighid (exalted one) is the daughter of the Dagda and one of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was the wife of Bres of the Fomorians, with whom she had a son, Ruadán. She had two sisters, also named Brighid, and is considered a classic Celtic Triple Goddess.

She is identified in Lebor Gabála Érenn as a daughter of the Dagda and a poet. The same passage mentions that she has two oxen, Fe and Men, that graze on a plain named after them, Femen. She also possessed the king of boars, Torc Triath, and Cirb, king of wethers (sheep), from whom Mag Cirb is named.[3] As the daughter of Dagda, she is also the half sister of Cermait, Aengus, Midir and Bodb Derg.

In Cath Maige Tuireadh, Bríg invents keening, a combination weeping and singing, while mourning for her son Ruadán, after he is slain while fighting for the Fomorians. She is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel.[ Brigid is considered the patroness of poetry, smithing, medicine, arts and crafts, cattle and other livestock, and spring.[5] Along with these attributes, she also is associated with fire. Any type of fire symbolism, including light, candles, illumination, heat, warmth or sunrises also belong to this goddess. Arrows, bells, thresholds and doorways are also included in Brigid symbolism. Several animal correspondences are also tied to Brigid, particularly ewe, dairy cows, bees, owls and serpents.

In her English translation of Irish myth, Lady Augusta Gregory (Gods and Fighting Men, 1904), describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night. And the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side was very comely. And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery arrow." Her British and continental counterpart Brigantia seems to have been the Celtic equivalent of the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena (Encyclopædia Britannica: Celtic Religion), goddesses with very similar functions and apparently embodying the same concept of elevated state, whether physical or psychological. She is the goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom, excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in warfare. In the living traditions, whether seen as goddess or saint, she is largely associated with the home and hearth and is a favorite of both Pagans and Catholics. A number of these associations are attested in Cormac's Glossary.

In the Middle Ages, Brigid was syncretized with a Christian saint. According to medievalist Pamela Berger, Christian "monks took the ancient figure of the mother goddess and grafted her name and functions onto her Christian counterpart," St. Brigid of Kildare. St. Brigid was associated with perpetual, sacred flames, such as the one maintained by 19 nuns at her sanctuary in Kildare, Ireland. The sacred flame at Kildare was said by Giraldus Cambrensis and other chroniclers to have been surrounded by a hedge, which no man could cross. Men who attempted to cross the hedge were said to have been cursed to go insane, die or be crippled. The tradition of female priestesses tending sacred, naturally-occurring eternal flames is a feature of ancient Indo-European pre-Christian spirituality. Other examples include the Roman goddess Vesta, and other hearth-goddesses, such as Hestia. Brighid was also connected to holy wells, at Kildare and many other sites in the Celtic lands. Well dressing, the tying of clooties to the trees next to healing wells, and other methods of petitioning or honoring Brighid still take place in some of the Celtic lands and the diaspora.

Saint Brigid's feast day is on the 1st February celebrated as St Brigid's Day in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and by some Anglicans. The Gaelic festival coincides with Imbolc, which is a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brigid.

* * *

[bondsmagii]

Does ireland have a more plausible path to reunification now that football fingers is in charge?

literally being 100% serious here but Ireland is going to reunify sometime over the next decade or so. here's how I think it's gonna happen.

Brexit has fucked over Northern Ireland exponentially. there's a border in the Irish Sea, effectively cutting off the whole island anyway, and any hard border on the land itself is going to be impossible. it's just not practical, because when Ireland was partitioned they did such a stupid job of it. I mean, the border runs through towns, farmland, and even people's houses. a hard border (with customs and immigration control and all the expected shit) would just not be feasable. what are you gonna do? stop people bringing their sheep from field to barn because one's in the EU and the other isn't? stop people from bringing their grocery shopping from the front door to the kitchen because the kitchen is the EU and the meat is from outside the EU? come on.

so Northern Ireland has become a pain in Britain's arse again, and this time they can't shoot at the problem or unlawfully detain and torture it, so they're going to go for the other tried and tested British reaction to a problem: they're going to listen closely and think practically. ha! no. they're going to ignore it. so Northern Ireland is going to continue to get fucked over, with more issues with operating businesses, supply chains to supermarkets and the NHS, uncertainty, general inconvenience, etc. alongside this is the growing cost of living crisis in the rest of the UK, which is felt all the more in Northern Ireland because it's always been Britain's lowest priority, so there is no longer any convenience or security in remaining part of the union. this is going to piss off moderate unionists, and it's going to really piss off all the Protestants who used to not give a shit at all. only the hardliners are going to remain loyal to a union who doesn't give a shit about them, and those guys are sticks in the mud. you're never going to persuade them to use their noggins, and they're such a minority at this point that they're not worth listening to. gradually, this dissatisfaction and annoyance is going to turn to anger and disgust, and the majority required for reunification is going to appear.

I have seen this start to happen already. I cannot tell you the amount of ex-unionists I've seen who have changed their tune completely, realising as they have that Britain has never cared about them. I have seen regular non-political Protestants getting so pissed off about this that they've gone full pro-unification. I've seen Protestants, who formerly exclusively described themselves as British, claiming their right to an Irish passport and beginning to describe themselves as Irish Protestant. this is unprecedented. and I have seen it happening a lot. if the Republic is down for it, and the people vote it, and Britain keeps its promise, this is very plausible. the only thing I would be :/ about is the Britain keeping its promise part, but Northern Ireland is now such an inconvenience for it re: Brexit meaning Brexit (🙄) that I think they'd be happy to let us go lmao.

(yes, this will cause trouble with some of the hardline loyalists. I imagine there will be some civil unrest and a few shootings. but the loyalist paramilitaries were always backed up by the British military, and without them they're pure shite. couldn't hit a barn door with a bazooka, as my old man used to say.)

anyway tiocfaidh ár lá, probably in 2024.

[this-daydream-is-dangerous-13]

Curious about your thoughts on this one: https://www.tumblr.com/notoriousbeb/727142332548431872/because-i-love-to-clown-three-days-before-harrys

Do you think LK is HS?

Hey B! Sorry for the delay on responding. I’m going to insert a screen shot of the post for ease:

Do you still think allusion to AIW or now to Keep Driving?

So I will be honest: I have never paid much attention to the shots LK posts other than to think “lovely image”. I have always just chalked it up to: establishing a fictional narrative of a fictional island, using photographs of seascapes (perhaps taken at some point by the author, perhaps licensed to use as images of “Eroda”) to set the stage. That particular spot is relatively well known; it’s called “Jock’s Nose”, and it’s on the *other Scottish coast*, the North Sea one not the Irish Sea one where the map placed Eroda.

That image was posted on April 4, 2022 and “taken that day” but based on my own experience visiting Scotland (this very region, the Scottish borders, included) in mid-May and visiting the windswept Newfoundland coast in late April: that picture does not look like it was taken in early April. I would guess it was taken at a warmer time of year.

In Newfoundland, there is often still snow and many icebergs! And in Scotland, it is still getting frost at night and limited growth, especially at such a windy location.

So my view that H is LK? Based on the lyrics and words and their timing, not on the images shared.

[seachranaidhe]

Predictions for 2023: The Protocol stays, Biden comes, and Donaldson goes – Irish Border Poll

#IRISHUNITY https://irishborderpoll.com/2022/12/28/predictions-for-2023-the-protocol-stays-biden-comes-and-donaldson-goes/

[clochanam]

okay, seven weeks and one day, and aisling's all time comfort food is colcannon! (for those of ye who haven't known the joys of a bowl of the stuff, it's mashed potato with cabbage (not kale. i have very strong feelings that border on rageful about this. if you try to add kale, it makes the texture tough and leathery and it also means that five million irish people will curse your bloodline.) and some fancy folks like to add scallions, but the important thing is good quality butter, sea salt and a scrunch of pepper. it's comforting and delicious and u all need to try it right now immediately!)

but yeah, if she's having a terrible time of things, stanley makes a big bowl of it and they just sit together and play rummy until things feel less terrible!