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  No, but I think he thinks that women are just that stupid!

First lesson yesterday morning at 07:30, student came in saying she’d had a terrible week, she had a pain in her beans.  I looked at her as she put her hand around to her back and I realised she meant her kidneys!  It was a brilliant start to an otherwise long day.

We were all brought up watching him on the Late Late and listening to him on the radio.  I used to work in a newsagents on the coast road at Dollymount and he used to sometimes call in for his newspaper on his way home to Howth, a kind man, I was so sorry to read this today. RIP

I remember it too. It wasn't that bad for you because you're a man.   It wasn't a fair society, but it's getting better.

Margaret Altwood, the author of "The Handmaid's Tale" made the following comments just this weekend about Ireland:   Margaret Atwood has described Ireland as a "little point of light" in the world amid the threat to liberal democracy. The 79-year-old author of 1985 novel The Handmaid's Tale was speaking about how the US may be moving towards a totalitarian regime like that of Gilead, which features in the novel.   "Ireland is really quite different from the Ireland of maybe 30 years ago. So it is an example of the fact that things can change and they can change quite radically.”   You can read more about her comments here: https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/radio/ireland-is-an-example-of-the-fact-that-things-can-change-and-they-can-change-radically-margaret-atwood-38654878.html

I've read that most supermarkets are designed to make us buy more.  We start with fresh fruit and veg, then bread, then meat and fish, then dairy.  It's an emotional journey, we look in our trollies and have the "feel good" factor because we see we've bought healthy things for our families.  Then, when we're feeling good, we arrive at the processed foods, cakes and sweet sections and we buy more because we're feeling very positive.  Someone told me once that we should be buying only from the edges of a supermarket because everything in the middle is either processed and/or sweet, which I find to be true in most supermarkets.   Also, the products at eye level are the products the supermarket is making the most on and want us to buy.  More expensive products are higher up and the cheapest are on the bottom shelves, it's actually quite scientific, and fascinating if that sort of thing interests you.

No, there was no divorce, and in the eyes of the church, there still isn't, which is something I discovered only recently.  Once you get married in a catholic church, they only recognise an annulment, otherwise they consider you still married, even if you are divorced by the state.

But she had been married, big difference.  In Ireland, when young girls got pregnant, under whatever circumstances, they were taken to Magdelene laundries to have their babies.   Often, the girls were left there for the rest of their lives, without the promised education or being paid for the work they were doing, and their babies were taken away from them and either put onto orphanages until they were 18, or they were sold for adoption, often in America. 

even after all these years....   ....I still can't pronounce "Zwetschgenkuchen" properly, so I just call it "Pflaumenkuchen"

Greater tolerance for single mothers and homosexual people - that use of language is an insult, these are not people to be tolerated, they are as much a part of society as the rest of us, thank goodness!

No worries French bean, as a female who grew up in Ireland in the 60s and 70s, things are changing for the better in many ways.  Maybe BMurphy has a point, maybe we've moved a bit too far away from our traditions and beliefs, but there's a lot of healing to be done and that can only happen when all sides accept some responsibility.

People don't turn their backs on religion for no reason. I also can't see how political correctness, concern for climate change or an interest in physical fitness are bad things, quite the opposite in my book.

We certainly have a dark past and it's time we faced up to it.   This topic should have a thread of it's own.

optimista, first of all, don't judge me, but I have 2 mp3s, a daytime one and a nighttime one.  The day time one is filled with Irish talk radio, some BBC stuff including one called Brexitcast that keeps me up to date with what's happening there.  I also download The Daily from the New York Times and 2 podcasts called Trump Inc and Can He Do That, which keep me up to date with Trump.  There's also a podcast called Trending that's interesting, they pick a topic that's "trending" at the moment and go into detail about it. There's one about Fred and Rose West called Unheard, the Fred and Rose West story, talking to family members and neighbours about them, I haven't finished that one yet.  There's an American one called Reply All which is a couple of geeks helping people with IT problems, but it's really interesting, they actually went to India to track down the people calling from Microsoft, that was fun.  The Real Story is also good, they go into detail about something that's been in the news.  The Tip Off is also good, it's investigative journalism, a bit like The Real Story, but I like things like that.   The nighttime one is more drama from BBC Radio 4 and Irish radio, documentaries from both, Crimetown which deals with organised crime in the States, 48 hours, 60 minutes, The Archers, The Chernoyble podcast was really good, they went into detail about the making of the series.  I love the Frank Skinner show, it's on Absolute radio every Saturday and can be downloaded in the afternoon.  All of this helps me sleep - I really am addicted!   By the way, I get an email from BBC Sounds every week with a list of the top recommended podcasts for that week: info@britishpodcastawards.com

Yep, listened to that too   I'm a huge podcaster