All posts by jcjosAdmin

Today is Bisexual Visibility Day.

What is Bisexual visibility day?
Well it’s a day to talk about and celebrate being Bisexual.

Bisexual erasure is something which happens a fair bit, it is the presumption that if a person who is Bi is in a relationship with someone of the same gender that they are now gay or if they are in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender that they are now straight.

The gender of the other person doesn’t change their sexuality they are still bisexual. They are still the person they were before.

There are a lot of negative assumptions about people who are bisexual and there is a lot of biphobia in society in both the ‘gay’ and ‘straight’ communities. The only way to try and reduce this is to talk about it and that won’t happen unless people are visible.

Celebrate Bisexuality day or Bisexual Visibility Day has been running for the last 11 years and has been spreading steadily.

There are groups and supports for those who are coming out as bi or who just want some support from others who understand.

Outhouse hosts a belong to group for teens to young adults and the Bi Irish group.

While a lot of people understand and accept people who are gay there are those who still don’t accept or understand that someone can be bisexual and that they are not greedy, or confused or afraid to come all the way out, or that they can not be in a monogamous relationship or that bisexuals are not likely to cheat more then anyone else.

Sexuality is not a binary, it’s not just homosexual or heterosexual there is a space in between, not everyone is one or the other some of us are attracted to people of either gender rather then just one.

Geek Gaming Sunday

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=138901812817395

Time
Tomorrow · 14:00 – 17:30
Location The Library Bar, Central Hotel, Dublin 2
More info
Come to Geek Gaming Sunday.

We’ll have some games with us – Gloom, Dominion, Pandemic, We didn’t Playtest this..

Bring along your own favourite boardgames, card games & strategy games

If you dont’ get it…

Then you haven’t watched The Big Bang Theory, and you should.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_big_bang_theory

The magic card created above refers top Wil Wheaton’s guest appearance in the show as Evil Will.
I am not going to put spoilers here but it’s about the lives of smart, nerdy, gamers who are physicists.

Prettying up Garda Sekrit File Fail!

Did you know there is a secure controlled document centre for garda reports and files in Santry? Makes sense there is there one.

Y’know what doesn’t make senses not using it and sending out a file on crimelords and gangs to be made more presentable resulting in someone tipping of the gang and saying they will copy it so more money was lost sending an armed response unit to pick it up.

Someone left their brains in their locker when they got into thier uniform that day.

Secret garda gang file was seen in copy shop
Ali Bracken: Crime Correspondent
Eamon Dunne: murdered

A HIGHLY-SENSITIVE secret intelligence file detailing the membership of one of the country’s most dangerous gangs was compromised when gardaí sent it to a Dublin photocopying shop.

The file was seen by somebody in the shop who immediately informed a gang member that he featured prominently in it.

The dossier – which was destined for the DPP in the hope of bringing anti-gangland charges against senior criminals – was sent to Reads of Nassau Street on the orders of a senior garda who wanted to make it look as attractive as possible.

In an unusual move, part of the intelligence file on the gang responsible for murdering gang boss Eamon ‘the Don’ Dunne was brought to Reads by a garda from Store Street station instead of to the official garda photocopying centre in Santry.

The information about the Finglas gang was compiled over the past six months and is the most detailed piece of intelligence ever collated on them.

It is understood that a chart detailing approximately 40 members of the gang, and their position in its hierarchy, was brought to the printing store.

While in the shop, it was seen by a person who recognised some of the names on the list.

The individual immediately phoned one of the men who was considered by gardaí as a key member.

Detectives from the crime and security branch who were monitoring the suspected criminal’s phone overheard the conversation.

The caller agreed to keep a copy of the list to pass on to this suspect.

After the conversation, specialist armed gardaí from crime and security and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s (NBCI) Organised Crime Unit (OCU) swooped immediately upon the store.

It was shut down for over an hour while detectives interviewed a number of people including staff members about what happened.

It is understood that gardaí questioned the person who rang the criminal and passed on the information. Nobody is expected to face charges as no criminal offence was committed.

Detectives are also satisfied that there was no copy kept of the highly-classified list.

A solicitor for Reads group said yesterday it “neither supports nor condones in any way any criminal activity in any shape or form”.

Detectives are hoping to secure charges against several gang members under the new anti-gangland legislation, which has made it a criminal offence to be a member of or direct a crime gang.

The gang was originally led by Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland but when he was murdered in 2006 by his own associates, Eamon Dunne took control and was murdered by his own gang last April.

There are official facilities at Santry for gardaí to have confidential documents copied, laid out and bound professionally.

If it’s too loud your too……..

With both kids being out of the house I was able to play what I liked as loud as I wished.
So I am bombing along writing with my music blaring and about 6 songs in there is a knock on the door. It’s the young lad next door and he asks me what Metallica album it is that I am playing and is it not a bit loud.

This of course makes me cackles and I say that it’s Slayer and then get asked if they are a new band. Given that I was listening to Regin in Blood, I then have to explain that what I am listening to is older then he is, bless.

New school, new term, new learning curve.

Spent the morning in meeting in the school, Secured permission for my eldest to read “novels” at the back of religion class must get Ghandi Rand Vedic texts prose Edda for him 😀

Had a bit of a show down with the Vice head who is in her sixties when I asked for my name to noted on the contact file as I was getting phone calls asking for Mrs X and letters addressed as Mr & Mrs X. “Oh we just assume that as his name is X that…” I pointed out how wrong the assumption was and that the majority of children born the last 10 years are to parents who are not married and she then said but it’s just easier, so I pointed out that even the primary school uses “parents/guardians of X” on all the letters and she was confused as to why and I pointed out that one of the new intake who was in my son’s class in primary had his mother die in the last 6 months and another girl is an orphan being raised by her grandparents.

Why a decade into the 21st Century am I having to point these thing out ?

CAO first offers.

It’s been intresting watching the traffic graphs for the cao site
http://www.hea.net/mrtg/cao4.html

We have come a long way from trying to read the tiny number by an orange street light having gone into town for the earliest edition.

So many young adults will be on tender hooks to today convinced that to have the life they dream of or to have any hope of it they need to get into the right college and into the right courses. Life is never that simple and there are many paths up the mountain.

I often worry that the points system and the CAO entry system leads to hot housing and that an education should be aiming at making a person well rounded rather then tasking them to just preform well in a set of exams spaced over two weeks.

As mishmash as the america direct applications system seems to be there is an inclusion of extra curricular activities, be it sports or arts or community work into the process.

As freaky as the thought is that it has been 18 years from when I stood under that street lamp and that kids which were only and not yet born are looking at the offers today, is the fact I will be trying to deal with my son no doubt pressing f5 like a loon in 5/6 years time.

At least he will have parents who have been through the system, I didn’t which made it even more daunting. And 18 years ago I didn’t get any of the course which I wanted and looking back this was a good thing as I was 17 and 2 months old and I knew better when I applied two years later and got exactly what I wanted.

I was blessed that I ended up working in DCU as a member of staff and in the evening took on City and Guilds courses in electronics and went on then to apply for electronic courses which would mean I would have to live away from home during the week but could come home at weekends.

So not getting my first preferences was a blessing. Hopefully those who don’t get their today will know it is not the end of the world but just a different adventure.