It was an attempt to solicit a further response so I could attack on the third mail. He obviously got too drunk to respond.
Untypical of such a learned member of the Oireachtas to fail to spot the spelling mistake in his reply. He also failed to include a proper break between paragraphs. Poor form.
Rocko’s done well here. Harte’s reply was that of an idiot who thought the request was serious.
The subtle reply to him should elicit more idiocy in return.
Here’s hoping.
Not so much woeful journalism but an interesting exchange between Der Spiegel and Il Giornale bolded
‘Concordia’ disaster brings national prejudices floating to the top
PADDY AGNEW
ROME LETTER : Some foreign media have gleefully used the accident as a stick to beat the Italian character with
“FOR TOO long, there has been a fatuous contempt for Italian arms in Anglophone countries, largely as a result of wartime propaganda. The truth is that Italian soldiers were tough and hardy, and on innumerable occasions they fought as bravely as any soldiers in the world. But the Italian record in adapting operational concepts to technology was almost uniformly disastrous.”
(The quote is from Alamein by Jon Latimer).
I belong to a generation that was brought up on the old joke about Italian tanks being equipped with five gears – four reverse and one forward. Yet, many who subscribe to that stereotypical view of Italian soldiery, especially during the North African desert campaign, are perhaps unaware of the fierce resistance put up at El Alamein by the crack paratrooper regiment, the Folgore. This lot simply refused to surrender, with 4,667 troops from the original complement of 5,000 being killed in battle.
Or what about the last message sent from the divisional commander of the Italian Ariete artillery regiment at El Alamein? “We have three tanks left. I am counter-attacking.” The commander of course died in this counter-attack.
In reality, military historians have for some time acknowledged that many of those Italians who fell in the North African campaign were courageous, innovative and skilful soldiers.
All of this is by way of preamble to a reflection on the inevitable, sustained bad international press generated by the behaviour of Capt Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, the Italian cruise ship which ran aground on Friday January 13th with the loss (so far) of 18 lives. Firstly, there was the bitter irony of David Letterman on his Late Show on CBS.
Not surprisingly, he made much of the captain’s explanation of how he had ended up in a lifeboat, thus abandoning the sinking ship approximately two hours before many of his passengers and crew. Remember, the captain had told investigators that he “slipped” and fell into the lifeboat. Sure, joked Letterman, we all know that on those cruises people are always falling into the lifeboats, it is a real problem for the shipping companies. People just keep “falling” into lifeboats, he jeered.
Defending Capt Schettino in relation to the accusations that (a) he provoked the tragic accident (18 dead so far), (b) that his indecision and lack of leadership in the hour following the collision may have cost lives and © that he abandoned ship before passengers and crew could prove a difficult task. In time – a very long time, no doubt – a court will establish his level of culpability and responsibility.
Not surprisingly, though, international public opinion has already made up its mind: this was a typically Italian piece of cowardice and a typically Italian “f…k-up”. Der Spiegel spelt it out the other day, in a piece which compared the captain to a hit and run driver: “Is anyone astonished by the fact that the captain of the Costa Concordia is Italian? It would be difficult to imagine a German or even a British captain doing a similar manoeuvre and then fleeing.” No sooner said than the Berlusconi-family-owned Il Giornale responded with a remarkably venomous piece, entitled “We Have Schettino, You Lot Have Auschwitz”, saying: “According to Der Spiege l, we are a nation of ‘Schettinos’ and there’s nothing surprising about the Concordia tragedy. We’re people to avoid, a burden for the European Union and a problem for the euro. On the other hand, the Germans are very capable
“We’ve already read in Hitler’s speeches of how the Germans are a superior race … It’s true, we Italians have the deaths of 30 or so liner passengers on our conscience but the German race has wiped out six million passengers … and unlike the Italians, the superior race of Germans did nothing to attempt to save even one of them. On the contrary we saved 4,200 passengers on the Concordia and we saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jews at the time of the wretched (1938) Racial Laws … ”
This futile exchange of prejudices clearly does nothing to ease the pain of those who lost friends and relatives on the Concordia. Just at this moment of euro crisis, too, both Germany and Italy come in for plenty of negative press. If international media labelled Schettino “Capt Cowardice”, Napoli football fans from his home village in Campania responded by taking a banner reading “Capt Schettino, We Are With You” to a recent Napoli home game.
There is maybe good reason to reflect on Italian safety standards in the workplace, on the roads, at home and elsewhere – but this is hardly the moment.
For example, my mechanic deactivates the seat belt alarm in his car – he says seat belts bring bad luck. That, though, is a debate for another day.
What is for sure is that, as the military historian quoted above would indicate, stereotypical national prejudices are neither accurate nor helpful.
Good to see the Italians and Germans getting on so well 
Fair fooks to the Giornale and the great Silvio Berlusconi, Forza Silvio, Forza Milan.
It says a lot about Ireland that the last written testament of a dead girl can be changed to protect the powerful, but the unwarranted vilification of an unemployed Polish immigrant doesn’t merit an apology, much less a retraction.
What it does tell us is, unfortunately, something we already know.
Ireland doesn’t do accountability.
Not from the politicians, one of whom saw fit to spoof his head off about “Magda” without knowing anything other than what he was told on the phone- by a non-Polish speaking journalist.
Nor can we get it from the fourth estate. Like the Irish Times before them, the Irish Independent has neglected to offer any apology or explanation, other than the following:
YESTERDAY’S story about a Polish woman living on welfare payments in Ireland sparked much discussion and controversy. Some parts of the original interview, on which the story was based, were inaccurately translated.
Let’s be honest here- they weren’t “inaccurately translated”.
They were wrong.
The article was wrong.
Publishing it was wrong.
Not deleting it immediately was wrong.
And not apologising to the readers and the Polish people is wrong.
What is most disturbing is the total silence from the two journalists who wrote the original cack-handed rubbish- where are they? Where is their explanation? Where is their apology?
Part of the job of newspapers is to hold others accountable.
And the major part of the problem with Irish newspapers is that they fail to hold either themselves or each other accountable, especially in cases like this or Kate Fitzgerald.
So there we have it- another scandal in Irish public life. There will be no resignations, no trials, no arrests and definitely no apologies.
It’s not what we do.
Those in power in Ireland are not accountable to anyone.
There is no-one policing those in power, and they cannot police themselves.
Is it any wonder we’re in hock to the world?
It might be apt to put this excellent article about woeful journalism in the good journalism thread (which I cannot find).
The colonel is on form/drunk as an ass here. He has a right go at wimmin and Aussies, calls Tennis a deadly game and compares net play in mens tennis to Vietnam.
Funny shit
One half of the journalism team that brought “Magda” to Irish acclaim hits back
Norma Costello writes:
I received a lot of comments regarding my article in the Irish Independent on February 1 which painted me as a racist, xenophobe and a careless journalist devoid of morals.
The quotes I used were inaccurate. I apologise to anyone I have hurt or upset or anyone suffering from the fallout of a story never intended to inspire racism. I have spent years traveling abroad and living in different countries and have experienced racism myself.
If you are sceptical, read my entire blog and previous published work.
I discovered this story on the site of Poland’s leading national, Gazeta Wyborcza, and I felt it was an insult to people who are unemployed or on low incomes in both Poland and Ireland; people who struggle to get by every day. The three stories painted a picture of an easy life of unemployment in Ireland. A life that was a lot less stressful than that of a working person.
I was also annoyed that it was circulated in Poland at a time when many people in that country are working long hours to feed their families, and that it could be interpreted as encouraging welfare tourism.
Jesus Christ above, what a twat.
[quote=“Piles Hussain, post: 451508”]The colonel is on form/drunk as an ass here. He has a right go at wimmin and Aussies, calls Tennis a deadly game and compares net play in mens tennis to Vietnam.
Funny shit
That’s funny as fuck. :lol:
‘wenches’.
She’s trying to justify being annoyed at something that wasn’t said?
[quote=“The Runt, post: 451512”]
She’s trying to justify being annoyed at something that wasn’t said?[/quote]
Seems that way. She acknowledges the quotes used were inaccurate but then goes on to tell us how she was right to be annoyed anyway. Bizarre.
I think this is what she’s trying to say, but seeing as she doesn’t understand the english language its awfully difficult for her.
Such a shame she didnt go into explaining how she translated the piece.
She spent years abroad though so it’s all ok.
I must say today’s lead ‘story’ in the Indo is a fucking disgrace. Because a guy didn’t publicly comment on what he’s doing with his state board fees he’s splashed across the front pages. There are litereally hundreds of people who haven’t made any indication on what they’re doing with their state board fees ffs, why was Lochlainn Quinn singled out as being ‘silent’? What a tawdry non-story, this paper is actually getting worse. The guy is a leading philanthropist in this country having donated handsomely to UCD and others over the years.
shouldnt have read this before going to bed
That magazine where the Magda article was first published is a nest of kunts
Remember when Italy ruled Europe? Arsenal and Chelsea should have nothing to fear now… Serie A on the slide
By MATT BARLOW
Last updated at 1:52 AM on 14th February 2012
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Out of the deep freeze comes the Champions League with two scoops of England versus Italy to send a tingle down the spine.
European football was created for these epic clashes of culture and history, evoking grainy images of master technicians in shirts featuring mainly black stripes, but Italian pride has been damaged in recent years.
This has nothing to do with the flight of Don Fabio but concerns the slide of a footballing nation which has brought home the World Cup four times and produced more European Cup finalists (26) than any other.
Cheer we go: AC Milan celebrate beating Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final in Athens
THE BIG FIXTURES:
Tuesday February 15
AC Milan v Arsenal
Tuesday February 21
Napoli v Chelsea
Tuesday March 6
Arsenal v AC Milan
Wednesday March 14
Chelsea v Napoli
Since the high-water mark of 2003 — when Milan beat Inter in the semi-final and overcame Juventus on penalties in a turgid final at Old Trafford — Italian teams have been a fading force in the Champions League.
In terms of lifting the trophy they have fared no worse than the English. Milan won in 2007 and Inter three years later. But Italian clubs have made only four appearances in semifinals since 2003, compared to 14 from England.
Milan have not reached the last four since 2007, when they beat Liverpool in Athens to avenge Istanbul and win their seventh European title, the last great achievement of Carlo Ancelotti’s Rossoneri vintage.
Jose Mourinho’s Inter won three years later without an Italian on the pitch in the final against Bayern Munich until Marco Materazzi appeared in the second minute of stoppage time.
Winners: Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho guided Inter Milan to the Champions League without an Italian on the pitch in the final
This year the trend becomes more tangible because UEFA’s co- efficient takes a grip and Serie A surrenders its fourth Champions League spot to the Bundesliga.
It is a sobering step backwards for a nation accustomed to the finest football and the trend is reflected across its domestic game in falling attendances. Snow fell in the first weekend in February but 200,000 empty seats at Serie A games were not all the fault of the Arctic snap.
‘The golden age is finished,’ says Roberto Perrone, of Corriere della Sport. ‘Until 2000, the top players in the world would come to Italy.
‘We had Platini, Zico, Maradona, Rummenigge and Falcao in the Eighties and the first players to leave the Soviet Union to play abroad came to Italy — Sergei Alenikov and Oleksandr Zavarov.
‘Then we had Van Basten, Gullit, Rijkaard, Ronaldo, Zidane.
‘Now the Italian clubs don’t have the capacity to compete with Spanish and English clubs. In the past, Messi and Ronaldo would play in Italy. Now it is impossible.’
The global financial problems have hit hard at clubs already weakened by the ‘Calciopoli’ match- fixing scandal which broke in 2006 and still rumbles on.
Where are the fans? Milan’s Thiago Silva battles with Tommaso Rocchi of Lazio in front of thousands of empty seats at the Stadio Olimpico
The personal fortunes of Milan president Silvio Berlusconi and Inter president Massimo Moratti may be safe but they are more prudent in the transfer market these days.
Milan wanted Carlos Tevez but settled for Maxi Lopez instead. The big Italian teams trailed Basle’s Xedran Shaqiri before he agreed to join Bayern Munich. ‘Twenty years ago, if Milan wanted a player, he arrived,’ adds Perrone.
Juventus, traditionally more cost conscious than the Milan clubs, have resolved to pay only their top three or four stars more than £70,000 a week at a time when Manchester City pay their best players more than £200,000.
Others offer more than City, as Samuel Eto’o, now playing for Russia’s Anzhi Makhachkala, found.
Deal and no deal: AC Milan wanted to sign Carlos Tevez and ended up signing Maxi Lopez
Italian clubs cannot generate match-day income to rival their English counterparts.
Almost all Italy’s stadiums are municipally owned and barely modernised since the 1990 World Cup. Corporate facilities are unsophisticated. Milan and Inter can attract 80,000 to the San Siro but sell their merchandise from a glorified caravan in the car park.
Meanwhile, the cash tills are ringing at Juventus as they bank the rewards of a shiny, new, privately-owned stadium, with capacity crowds close to the pitch, adjacent mall, megastore and museum. Revenue has risen by 12 per cent.
Fan-tastic: AC Milan regularly attract 80,000 supporters at the San Siro
As in England, financial issues bite a little harder in the game’s lower reaches. The top tier of Lega Pro (formerly Serie C) has 18 teams and nine of them have had points deducted this season because of financial irregularities, like unpaid taxes and salaries.
At this level, they regularly play to fewer than a thousand fans.
Albinoleffe — a Serie B club formed by a merger of Albinense and Leffe in 1998 — share Atalanta’s 25,000-seater stadium in Bergamo, less than an hour from the hotbed of Milan. Three sides of the ground are closed on match-day and, when promotion-seeking Varese visited earlier this month, the main stand was sparsely populated, mainly by weathered old men who seemed glad to be out of the house.
Not a crowd puller: Ruben Garlini of Albinoleffe in action but they struggle to attract fans for home games
Outside a bar, across the road from the point where away fans disembark their coaches, a small group of young fans gather, occasionally bursting into song.
Carabinieri vans are parked up nearby, with armoured policemen stamping feet and blowing into their hands to stay warm. This one is not about to kick off, but their presence is a reminder of the violent thread still running through the Italian match-day experience.
This was a game between the teams 19th and sixth in the league (that’s Ipswich v Hull in the most basic of comparisons).
The visitors, who won 2-1, brought maybe a hundred fans and the home side around a thousand.
A day later, in Serie A, 33,000 wallowed in the vast Stadio Olimpico as Roma beat Inter 4-0, fewer than 20,000 saw Genoa beat Lazio and around 10,000 watched Fiorentina beat Udinese in a stadium for 46,000. Only Juventus were anywhere close to capacity.
‘When I was playing in Italy, the stadiums were packed every week but now they’re just not getting the people in,’ says former England striker Mark Hateley, who played for AC Milan from 1984 to 1987 and is a TV pundit on Italian football.
As spectators vanish, clubs have become over-reliant on TV income (cameras now venture into the dressing rooms) and open-minded to foreign investment, the first of which arrived last summer with an American takeover at Roma.
Others are concerned about a void in the native talent pool. Former Chelsea, Napoli and Parma star Gianfranco Zola says: ‘Improving the atmosphere is a big thing, because the players will respond, but we also have to improve the quality of the young players.
Make some noise: Former Napoli star Gianfranco Zola believes the atmosphere inside the grounds
‘In the past Italy has produced good players from the streets — I learned to play on the street — and now the kids are schooled mainly in academies. The academies are good but they can’t give you that extra quality. Also, they have a tendency to choose young players who are more physical and tactical and sacrifice good young players who can play but don’t have the physique.
‘I wouldn’t have made it if they were choosing back then by the criteria they use today. Because I was so little I wouldn’t have been picked.’
Fabio Licari, of Gazzetta dello Sport, fears the combination of economic and cultural factors are conspiring at a time when Italy’s national team struggle to identify natural successors to their 2006 World Cup winners.
‘This is not a fantastic moment for Italian football,’ says Licari.
‘We are in a cyclical situation because there’s no generation to follow Buffon, Nesta, Cannavaro, Maldini, Pirlo, Gattuso, Totti, etc. We are slow to turn to young players. It’s a cultural problem. Claudio Marchisio is the best midfielder in Italy, but he is 26 and we still talk about him as a young player. If you are under 24 you are not considered ready for the big teams. Messi and Ronaldo have been playing at the top for years.’
It is a bleak assessment, yet Italian football can be inspired by crisis, taking pride in a mentality which excels in adversity and a tactical ability to grind out results, however ugly. Arsenal and Chelsea will be wary.
The Azzurri won the World Cup in 1982 and 2006 after two corruption scandals and national boss Cesare Prandelli has been applauded for his progress after a miserable defence of the World Cup, in South Africa.
‘I still say Serie A is a good league,’ says Hateley. ‘It’s of a high quality technically and tactically and competitive because it isn’t how it was when Inter were winning every year under (Roberto) Mancini and Mourinho. That competitive edge is driving them on in the Champions League.’
Rise again: Former England and AC Milan striker Mark Hateley believes Serie A can be a force again
There are three Italian teams in the last 16 of the Champions League — more than any other country.
Inter qualified as group winners, Milan came in behind Barcelona and Napoli, back in the competition for the first time since the era of Diego Maradona, advanced at the expense of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Juventus look dangerous in their quest to restore former glories, without the distraction of European football, as they strike for a 28th Scudetto and a first since 2003.
‘In the 1990s we had the best teams in Europe, probably the world and now is a difficult time,’ adds Zola. We have to learn from the situation and rebuild but I’ve no doubt Italy will be back to its best.
‘We have a big tradition in football and a lot of human qualities. These things are very important. In difficult times we always give our best and you must respect an Italian team because we know how to win games, and how to go through the stages.’
:rolleyes: