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    Originally posted by eamonhonda View Post

    Pity Boris didnt get the union jack printed on it as he wanted, to remind us all where the shittest vaccine came from.
    Think the Sinovac is winning that prize.
    Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.

    Comment


      UK is really circling the drain.


      Turning millions into thousands

      Comment


        Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post
        UK is really circling the drain.


        Trinity College protesters storm gate looking for Professor Luke O'Neill before anti-vaccine protest


        Security fence put up at Stephen Donnelly’s house following despicable ‘incidents’


        Leo Varadkar death threats scare sees constant armed Gardai protection issued for Tanaiste


        Every nation is just a few gobshites away from complete anarchy.
        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

        Comment


          My latest thing has been trading. I'm taking this course on Udemy and then trying to live trade by crypto based on the lessons. So, for example, here's the main market I'm trading. Was looking it up earlier and seems I've traded about 100k in the last few weeks, all the while just about breaking even. So its either all for nought, or a rather interesting way to spend time. Still very amateurish, but quite fascinating.

          0R6aqfF.png

          "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

          Comment


            I would think some rte personality’s who are constantly yapping about vaccines non stop would be looking over there shoulder as well. I think the best way to get immune is to take 4 jabs of every vaccine in case few boosters in late autumn I’m sure other cool sounding variants are enroute to put a few barely alive people out of there misery.

            Comment


              Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
              My latest thing has been trading. I'm taking this course on Udemy and then trying to live trade by crypto based on the lessons. So, for example, here's the main market I'm trading. Was looking it up earlier and seems I've traded about 100k in the last few weeks, all the while just about breaking even. So its either all for nought, or a rather interesting way to spend time. Still very amateurish, but quite fascinating.

              0R6aqfF.png
              Reminds me of the punter backing favs and 2nd favs all afternoon , breaking even but ultimately losing the loots when fees and the numbers catch up with you. Trading other people's money has always been the route to take . The Wolf of IPB will testify I bet.

              Comment


                Originally posted by Solksjaer! View Post

                Reminds me of the punter backing favs and 2nd favs all afternoon , breaking even but ultimately losing the loots when fees and the numbers catch up with you. Trading other people's money has always been the route to take . The Wolf of IPB will testify I bet.
                Perhaps. But then again, you won't learn unless you actually do it. So its a bit of a catch
                "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                Comment


                  Originally posted by DeadParrot View Post

                  SPOILER

                  Racing's dirty secret - Jim Bolger claims he knows who the drug cheats are


                  Paul Kimmage

                  There will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing, claims Jim Bolger, and he knows who the drug cheats are

                  Trainer Jim Bolger. Photo: Patrick McCann
                  June 13 2021 02:30 AM

                  The raids on the premises of (John) Hughes and (Philip) Fenton took place within 15 days of each other in January and February 2012. They showed that Irish racing had a serious problem with illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Though Fenton would be treated more severely by the courts, the Hughes case was more serious.

                  As a vet . . . John Hughes had a stable pass and was a licensed person at Irish race meetings. Investigations by the Department of Agriculture established that he had been dealing with a company called Nature Vet, based in Australia, and between 2002 and 2012 he had bought 250kg of Nitrotain from that company.

                  Nitrotain, which contains ethylestrenol, is a particularly potent anabolic steroid and the quantity Hughes had bought from Nature Vet was sufficient for 62,500 individual doses . . . The investigation into Hughes showed that illegal drugs have been a part of the sport for at least a decade.

                  David Walsh,

                  The Sunday Times,

                  November 30, 2014




                  Six months ago, a couple of days after his gorgeous chestnut colt, Mac Swiney, had won a Group 1 race at Doncaster, Jim Bolger gave an interview to Daragh Ó Conchúir for The Irish Field. The timing was fortuitous.

                  “He had had a very quiet spell, then Mac Swiney won at Doncaster, and Poetic Flare had won the week before,” the journalist says. “It was maybe my third (big) interview with Jim and he always gives an opinion, but I wasn’t expecting this. It was at the end of the conversation and I think I said, ‘Is there anything more you want to say?’ It was a complete fluke.”
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                  What Bolger said sent a storm through racing that would rage for months. Here’s the report the next day, Sunday October 31, in the Racing Post:

                  “Jim Bolger has said the number one problem in Irish racing is drug cheats, who are stopping the sport from being a level playing field, and has called on the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to introduce more hair testing with immediate effect.

                  “The trainer, who stole the show last Saturday by sending out Mac Swiney to win the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, has stressed he would be 100pc happy for his own horses to be hair tested at any time.

                  “Bolger said: ‘I have knowledge of problems and I would like to see the IHRB stepping up to the plate. There needs to be more rigorous testing, but action has to happen after that testing has taken place. I’m inclined to think we have had instances in the past where action wasn’t taken when it should have been.’”

                  A few days later, we requested an interview with the trainer. A month after that, we tried again. On Tuesday, we spent four hours with Bolger at his home in Coolcullen. It started with a visit to Mac Swiney — the winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas — in box number one of the yard.

                  Paul Kimmage: OK, Jim, let’s take it from the top. It’s the last week of October and a couple of days after Mac Swiney wins at Doncaster, you give an interview to Daragh Ó Conchúir at The Irish Field: “I am concerned with the lack of policing in racing. It’s not up to the mark. It’s not up to scratch . . . It is not a level playing pitch at the moment.”

                  Jim Bolger: I just threw it out there. He was sitting the same as you are now. I didn’t know how he was going to use it.

                  PK: You knew what you were doing. You’re no fool.

                  JB: Sometimes

                  PK: You knew this was going to cause an absolute shitstorm.

                  JB: Hmmm.

                  PK: You’re 79 years old. Why take that on at this stage of your life?

                  JB: It would be like you coming down the Champs-Elysees on a Sunday in July, knowing that the fellow in front of you is full of dope and you’re going to be second. And on the other side of the podium. That’s not easy to take. And if you’re half a man, you’re going to stand up for yourself. So I’m standing up for myself, and for the trainers who are playing the game straight . . .

                  PK: You’re standing up alone. You’re not getting much support.

                  JB: Well, I can understand that because a lot of trainers are terrified of authority. They never express an opinion on anything, and that’s their prerogative — they somehow want an easy life. But as soon as they realise what’s happening to them, I think they will be talking . . .

                  PK: You don’t think they realise what’s happening?

                  JB: Some may not, and others still haven’t plucked up the courage.

                  PK: How long have you realised there was a problem?

                  JB: I’ve been very slow on this one; I’d say it’s going on for 20 years, ever since steroids became well known. Before that, it was just a bit of sodium bicarbonate, but then the steroids came along. Now they weren’t used extensively, but they were used by some individuals.

                  PK: The Hughes case, the Nitrotain, was in 2012.

                  JB: Yeah. And in the 10 years before that [John Hughes] brought in a quarter tonne of the stuff.

                  PK: Who was using it?

                  JB: Yeah, well that’s (the question).

                  PK: Why weren’t you jumping up and down when Hughes was caught?

                  JB: There are only certain windows that I will get; and if you’re not going well and you say something, it will be ignored. I had an audience because I had won the Vertem Futurity with Mac Swiney and was asked for that interview. I was always going to raise it.

                  PK: The timeline was interesting. It was a few weeks after the contaminated feed story and the fact that a French lab was picking up traces of a steroid (Zilpaterol) that wasn’t being detected here. Was that part of it?

                  JB: It was more a question of having an audience.

                  PK: Having won with Mac Swiney?

                  JB: Yeah.

                  PK: Was there any blowback? Did anyone call you about it?

                  JB: No, there was just a few swipes in interviews on television. Nobody spoke to me directly about it.

                  PK: Six weeks later, Brian O’Connor wrote an interesting column in The Irish Times: ‘Jim Bolger’s incendiary statements should shake racing to its foundations’. Here’s the opening paragraph: “It’s six weeks since Jim Bolger declared drugs to be Irish racing’s number one problem. He doesn’t believe there’s a level playing field. These are incendiary statements from one of the sport’s grandees and should shake racing to its foundations.” And that’s the point, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t.

                  JB: Hmmm.

                  PK: The sport has its head in the sand: ‘Say nothing and it will blow over.’

                  JB: Yeah.

                  PK: Here’s another paragraph from the O’Connor piece: “If Bolger’s aim was to generate a conversation about drug testing in racing, then it isn’t a very public one. Colleagues of his passed the buck to the Trainers’ Association — of which Bolger too is a member — and it declined to comment. Even privately there is reluctance to discuss this . . . Bolger might be off a few Christmas card lists this year.” Have you had any support?

                  JB: Very little, but I can understand that because of the fear factor with the ruling body. Trainers don’t want to stick their heads above the parapet.

                  PK: Aidan O’Brien did.

                  JB: When he was asked.

                  PK: Yeah, when he was asked.

                  JB: And do you have his reply?

                  PK: He said he didn’t agree with you, and that he hadn’t spoken to anyone in racing who thought differently. I’ve scribbled it down here: “Jim is entitled to his opinion. It’s very clean, and everyone is doing a very good job.”

                  JB: I think he also said I should name names.

                  PK: Yes, he did.

                  JB: I’m not that big a fool! I don’t travel to Dublin very often, but I don’t want to be going up every day for three weeks to the High Court.

                  PK: Yeah, O’Connor made that point: “Invariably, there were a few grumbles that he shouldn’t toss around accusations without backing them up. But since naming names in such circumstances is a high-speed shortcut to the High Court, it’s a pretty empty demand.”

                  JB: (smiles) But they can rest assured I know who they are; like, if I had responsibility for rooting out cheats, I’d have them rooted out in six months.

                  PK: How?

                  JB: Because I know who they are.

                  PK: Lynn Hillyer (the IHRB chief veterinary officer and head of anti-doping) told The Examiner recently that they have been working with you for some time on the issue.

                  JB: I had had one meeting before (The Irish Field interview) and one after it.

                  PK: With Hillyer?

                  JB: Yes.

                  PK: On what needed to be done?

                  JB: Yes.

                  PK: You laid it out for her?

                  JB: Yes, but I didn’t name names.

                  PK: But you laid out the issues and how they should be addressed?

                  JB: Yes.

                  PK: How was that received?

                  JB: She seemed to receive it pretty well; I think she would be keen to do something, but I’m not sure she has the back-up. I mean, when you get the chief executive saying that there is no problem, and (in the next breath) saying they are taking on extra (anti-doping) staff. Why do they need extra staff if there’s no problem there? And, by the way, it was all supposed to be confidential.

                  PK: What was?

                  JB: The meetings and the conversations, but it suited them to break that confidence because it was known at that stage that they were doing precious little about it. And her defence was: ‘Oh, we’ve had meetings with him and we’re making progress.’ But as far as I was concerned, and I had made it quite clear, the meetings were confidential.

                  PK: I would imagine when that happened, and the confidence was broken, there was a pretty stern phone call?

                  JB: Well, at that stage, I was hoping that we could have further dialogue, which didn’t happen. But what progress have they made? I haven’t seen much evidence that there is anything happening.

                  PK: How do you gauge progress?

                  JB: When someone gets caught. I mean, that’s what has to happen.

                  PK: Here’s another question: John Hughes didn’t live too far from here.

                  JB: He’s only down the road. I know him very well.

                  PK: So why wouldn’t you?

                  JB: Why wouldn’t I?

                  PK: Yeah, why wouldn’t you dope your horses? Philip Fenton is back training again. The penalties for using prohibited substances are pretty laughable.

                  JB: I wouldn’t do it because it’s cheating, and I’m not a cheat. I know there’s an attitude in racing that it’s all about winners, fair means or foul, but I think there has to be an element of decency in the whole thing. You have to have some self-respect. And I know I have right on my side.

                  PK: Sure.

                  JB: It all goes back to the quarter tonne of Nitrotain. Where did it go? Philip (Fenton) did get a fair old suspension, but he could well have been the sacrificial lamb. And the reason I don’t have any confidence in the regulator is because they must have known that at the time. They may also, I understand, have had a list (of other trainers) and it wasn’t followed up on.

                  PK: You’ve introduced me to Mac Swiney and the clump out of his mane?

                  JB: (smiles) Yeah, a victim of my own invention.

                  PK: So you’ve no faith in all the trumpeting about hair testing?

                  JB: I’m not sure they’re very serious about it. The samples might have been taken but if they were tested properly, they would have had results by now.

                  PK: So it’s your sense that . . .

                  JB: There’s a problem, and I’ve had great support from my staff who know that I am one hundred and one per cent right. And they know more about it than I do, because they are right in the mix.

                  PK: What do you mean?

                  JB: They have contact with other stable staff. They are closer to the coalface than I am.

                  PK: I’m seeing a lot of parallels with pro cycling here.

                  JB: Well, there will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing.

                  PK: There will?

                  JB: There will.

                  PK: You say that with certainty.

                  JB: Yes.

                  PK: But you’ve just said the IHRB are not serious about it?

                  JB: When it is recognised that there is a need to really tackle this problem, I don’t think the IHRB will be in control. I think all of the European racing bodies should now invite Usada (United States Anti-Doping Agency) to deal with this.

                  PK: As they’ve done in the US?

                  JB: Yes.

                  PK: What about the perception — and I’m sure it’s been levelled at you — that by highlighting all this you are diminishing or damaging racing?

                  JB: I agree, I am, but in the short term. But in the long term — to use an expression I hate — after the swamp is drained, things will be much healthier. And it’s not for me, because I’ll be gone at that stage.

                  PK: This is a difficult stance you’ve taken, something you’ve never had a problem with, but what about your family? Jackie (wife)? Una (daughter)? Kevin (son-in-law)? Have you had any conversations about it with them?

                  JB: I’ve discussed it with them all, and with my staff as well, and it comes back to the same thing. When you have right on your side you have nothing to fear.

                  Can I get a few bottles of whatever he's giving Poetic Flare
                  Turning millions into thousands

                  Comment


                    Originally posted by DeadParrot View Post

                    SPOILER

                    Racing's dirty secret - Jim Bolger claims he knows who the drug cheats are


                    Paul Kimmage

                    There will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing, claims Jim Bolger, and he knows who the drug cheats are

                    Trainer Jim Bolger. Photo: Patrick McCann
                    June 13 2021 02:30 AM

                    The raids on the premises of (John) Hughes and (Philip) Fenton took place within 15 days of each other in January and February 2012. They showed that Irish racing had a serious problem with illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Though Fenton would be treated more severely by the courts, the Hughes case was more serious.

                    As a vet . . . John Hughes had a stable pass and was a licensed person at Irish race meetings. Investigations by the Department of Agriculture established that he had been dealing with a company called Nature Vet, based in Australia, and between 2002 and 2012 he had bought 250kg of Nitrotain from that company.

                    Nitrotain, which contains ethylestrenol, is a particularly potent anabolic steroid and the quantity Hughes had bought from Nature Vet was sufficient for 62,500 individual doses . . . The investigation into Hughes showed that illegal drugs have been a part of the sport for at least a decade.

                    David Walsh,

                    The Sunday Times,

                    November 30, 2014




                    Six months ago, a couple of days after his gorgeous chestnut colt, Mac Swiney, had won a Group 1 race at Doncaster, Jim Bolger gave an interview to Daragh Ó Conchúir for The Irish Field. The timing was fortuitous.

                    “He had had a very quiet spell, then Mac Swiney won at Doncaster, and Poetic Flare had won the week before,” the journalist says. “It was maybe my third (big) interview with Jim and he always gives an opinion, but I wasn’t expecting this. It was at the end of the conversation and I think I said, ‘Is there anything more you want to say?’ It was a complete fluke.”
                    Sport Newsletter


                    Get the best analysis and comment on the GAA Allianz Leagues, the Rainbow Cup in rugby and Rory McIlroy's revival with our free newsletter.

                    Sign Up





                    What Bolger said sent a storm through racing that would rage for months. Here’s the report the next day, Sunday October 31, in the Racing Post:

                    “Jim Bolger has said the number one problem in Irish racing is drug cheats, who are stopping the sport from being a level playing field, and has called on the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to introduce more hair testing with immediate effect.

                    “The trainer, who stole the show last Saturday by sending out Mac Swiney to win the Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, has stressed he would be 100pc happy for his own horses to be hair tested at any time.

                    “Bolger said: ‘I have knowledge of problems and I would like to see the IHRB stepping up to the plate. There needs to be more rigorous testing, but action has to happen after that testing has taken place. I’m inclined to think we have had instances in the past where action wasn’t taken when it should have been.’”

                    A few days later, we requested an interview with the trainer. A month after that, we tried again. On Tuesday, we spent four hours with Bolger at his home in Coolcullen. It started with a visit to Mac Swiney — the winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas — in box number one of the yard.

                    Paul Kimmage: OK, Jim, let’s take it from the top. It’s the last week of October and a couple of days after Mac Swiney wins at Doncaster, you give an interview to Daragh Ó Conchúir at The Irish Field: “I am concerned with the lack of policing in racing. It’s not up to the mark. It’s not up to scratch . . . It is not a level playing pitch at the moment.”

                    Jim Bolger: I just threw it out there. He was sitting the same as you are now. I didn’t know how he was going to use it.

                    PK: You knew what you were doing. You’re no fool.

                    JB: Sometimes

                    PK: You knew this was going to cause an absolute shitstorm.

                    JB: Hmmm.

                    PK: You’re 79 years old. Why take that on at this stage of your life?

                    JB: It would be like you coming down the Champs-Elysees on a Sunday in July, knowing that the fellow in front of you is full of dope and you’re going to be second. And on the other side of the podium. That’s not easy to take. And if you’re half a man, you’re going to stand up for yourself. So I’m standing up for myself, and for the trainers who are playing the game straight . . .

                    PK: You’re standing up alone. You’re not getting much support.

                    JB: Well, I can understand that because a lot of trainers are terrified of authority. They never express an opinion on anything, and that’s their prerogative — they somehow want an easy life. But as soon as they realise what’s happening to them, I think they will be talking . . .

                    PK: You don’t think they realise what’s happening?

                    JB: Some may not, and others still haven’t plucked up the courage.

                    PK: How long have you realised there was a problem?

                    JB: I’ve been very slow on this one; I’d say it’s going on for 20 years, ever since steroids became well known. Before that, it was just a bit of sodium bicarbonate, but then the steroids came along. Now they weren’t used extensively, but they were used by some individuals.

                    PK: The Hughes case, the Nitrotain, was in 2012.

                    JB: Yeah. And in the 10 years before that [John Hughes] brought in a quarter tonne of the stuff.

                    PK: Who was using it?

                    JB: Yeah, well that’s (the question).

                    PK: Why weren’t you jumping up and down when Hughes was caught?

                    JB: There are only certain windows that I will get; and if you’re not going well and you say something, it will be ignored. I had an audience because I had won the Vertem Futurity with Mac Swiney and was asked for that interview. I was always going to raise it.

                    PK: The timeline was interesting. It was a few weeks after the contaminated feed story and the fact that a French lab was picking up traces of a steroid (Zilpaterol) that wasn’t being detected here. Was that part of it?

                    JB: It was more a question of having an audience.

                    PK: Having won with Mac Swiney?

                    JB: Yeah.

                    PK: Was there any blowback? Did anyone call you about it?

                    JB: No, there was just a few swipes in interviews on television. Nobody spoke to me directly about it.

                    PK: Six weeks later, Brian O’Connor wrote an interesting column in The Irish Times: ‘Jim Bolger’s incendiary statements should shake racing to its foundations’. Here’s the opening paragraph: “It’s six weeks since Jim Bolger declared drugs to be Irish racing’s number one problem. He doesn’t believe there’s a level playing field. These are incendiary statements from one of the sport’s grandees and should shake racing to its foundations.” And that’s the point, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t.

                    JB: Hmmm.

                    PK: The sport has its head in the sand: ‘Say nothing and it will blow over.’

                    JB: Yeah.

                    PK: Here’s another paragraph from the O’Connor piece: “If Bolger’s aim was to generate a conversation about drug testing in racing, then it isn’t a very public one. Colleagues of his passed the buck to the Trainers’ Association — of which Bolger too is a member — and it declined to comment. Even privately there is reluctance to discuss this . . . Bolger might be off a few Christmas card lists this year.” Have you had any support?

                    JB: Very little, but I can understand that because of the fear factor with the ruling body. Trainers don’t want to stick their heads above the parapet.

                    PK: Aidan O’Brien did.

                    JB: When he was asked.

                    PK: Yeah, when he was asked.

                    JB: And do you have his reply?

                    PK: He said he didn’t agree with you, and that he hadn’t spoken to anyone in racing who thought differently. I’ve scribbled it down here: “Jim is entitled to his opinion. It’s very clean, and everyone is doing a very good job.”

                    JB: I think he also said I should name names.

                    PK: Yes, he did.

                    JB: I’m not that big a fool! I don’t travel to Dublin very often, but I don’t want to be going up every day for three weeks to the High Court.

                    PK: Yeah, O’Connor made that point: “Invariably, there were a few grumbles that he shouldn’t toss around accusations without backing them up. But since naming names in such circumstances is a high-speed shortcut to the High Court, it’s a pretty empty demand.”

                    JB: (smiles) But they can rest assured I know who they are; like, if I had responsibility for rooting out cheats, I’d have them rooted out in six months.

                    PK: How?

                    JB: Because I know who they are.

                    PK: Lynn Hillyer (the IHRB chief veterinary officer and head of anti-doping) told The Examiner recently that they have been working with you for some time on the issue.

                    JB: I had had one meeting before (The Irish Field interview) and one after it.

                    PK: With Hillyer?

                    JB: Yes.

                    PK: On what needed to be done?

                    JB: Yes.

                    PK: You laid it out for her?

                    JB: Yes, but I didn’t name names.

                    PK: But you laid out the issues and how they should be addressed?

                    JB: Yes.

                    PK: How was that received?

                    JB: She seemed to receive it pretty well; I think she would be keen to do something, but I’m not sure she has the back-up. I mean, when you get the chief executive saying that there is no problem, and (in the next breath) saying they are taking on extra (anti-doping) staff. Why do they need extra staff if there’s no problem there? And, by the way, it was all supposed to be confidential.

                    PK: What was?

                    JB: The meetings and the conversations, but it suited them to break that confidence because it was known at that stage that they were doing precious little about it. And her defence was: ‘Oh, we’ve had meetings with him and we’re making progress.’ But as far as I was concerned, and I had made it quite clear, the meetings were confidential.

                    PK: I would imagine when that happened, and the confidence was broken, there was a pretty stern phone call?

                    JB: Well, at that stage, I was hoping that we could have further dialogue, which didn’t happen. But what progress have they made? I haven’t seen much evidence that there is anything happening.

                    PK: How do you gauge progress?

                    JB: When someone gets caught. I mean, that’s what has to happen.

                    PK: Here’s another question: John Hughes didn’t live too far from here.

                    JB: He’s only down the road. I know him very well.

                    PK: So why wouldn’t you?

                    JB: Why wouldn’t I?

                    PK: Yeah, why wouldn’t you dope your horses? Philip Fenton is back training again. The penalties for using prohibited substances are pretty laughable.

                    JB: I wouldn’t do it because it’s cheating, and I’m not a cheat. I know there’s an attitude in racing that it’s all about winners, fair means or foul, but I think there has to be an element of decency in the whole thing. You have to have some self-respect. And I know I have right on my side.

                    PK: Sure.

                    JB: It all goes back to the quarter tonne of Nitrotain. Where did it go? Philip (Fenton) did get a fair old suspension, but he could well have been the sacrificial lamb. And the reason I don’t have any confidence in the regulator is because they must have known that at the time. They may also, I understand, have had a list (of other trainers) and it wasn’t followed up on.

                    PK: You’ve introduced me to Mac Swiney and the clump out of his mane?

                    JB: (smiles) Yeah, a victim of my own invention.

                    PK: So you’ve no faith in all the trumpeting about hair testing?

                    JB: I’m not sure they’re very serious about it. The samples might have been taken but if they were tested properly, they would have had results by now.

                    PK: So it’s your sense that . . .

                    JB: There’s a problem, and I’ve had great support from my staff who know that I am one hundred and one per cent right. And they know more about it than I do, because they are right in the mix.

                    PK: What do you mean?

                    JB: They have contact with other stable staff. They are closer to the coalface than I am.

                    PK: I’m seeing a lot of parallels with pro cycling here.

                    JB: Well, there will be a Lance Armstrong in Irish racing.

                    PK: There will?

                    JB: There will.

                    PK: You say that with certainty.

                    JB: Yes.

                    PK: But you’ve just said the IHRB are not serious about it?

                    JB: When it is recognised that there is a need to really tackle this problem, I don’t think the IHRB will be in control. I think all of the European racing bodies should now invite Usada (United States Anti-Doping Agency) to deal with this.

                    PK: As they’ve done in the US?

                    JB: Yes.

                    PK: What about the perception — and I’m sure it’s been levelled at you — that by highlighting all this you are diminishing or damaging racing?

                    JB: I agree, I am, but in the short term. But in the long term — to use an expression I hate — after the swamp is drained, things will be much healthier. And it’s not for me, because I’ll be gone at that stage.

                    PK: This is a difficult stance you’ve taken, something you’ve never had a problem with, but what about your family? Jackie (wife)? Una (daughter)? Kevin (son-in-law)? Have you had any conversations about it with them?

                    JB: I’ve discussed it with them all, and with my staff as well, and it comes back to the same thing. When you have right on your side you have nothing to fear.

                    ChavRacing
                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                    Comment


                      This time 5 years ago was the most intense and celebratory moment of my life.



                      We buried Phil, the guy jumping up and down in the blue suit, just a few weeks later. Carpe Diem
                      Turning millions into thousands

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post
                        This time 5 years ago was the most intense and celebratory moment of my life.



                        We buried Phil, the guy jumping up and down in the blue suit, just a few weeks later. Carpe Diem
                        Jaysus was Phil expecting it?
                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                        Comment


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                          "Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for reputation to fail conventionally than to succeed unconventionally." - John Maynard Keynes

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                            First jab done
                            "you raise, i kill you" El Tren :{)

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                              Seems loads of people are directed to Waterford for the vaccine shots.

                              #JabCity
                              ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

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                                Linguistic fail.

                                Just sent out a congratulatory email (work) for <female team member> 'and her fiancée Alex'.

                                Not realising that the additional 'e' changes the context quite considerably.
                                "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                Comment


                                  Originally posted by tylerdurden94 View Post
                                  First jab done
                                  Can I ask what you are TD? Still waiting on a text here at 41.
                                  "I can’t find anyone who agrees with what I write or think these days, so I guess I must be getting closer to the truth." - Hunter S. Thompson

                                  Comment


                                    Originally posted by AndyFatBastard View Post

                                    Can I ask what you are TD?
                                    Homo-sapien, male, photographer afaik
                                    Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.

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                                      I think it's safe to write off the Germans here. France team looks pretty sexy. Kante is in good form and should be walking into any world 11.
                                      Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

                                      Comment


                                        Originally posted by Wombatman View Post
                                        I think it's safe to write off the Germans here. France team looks pretty sexy. Kante is in good form and should be walking into any world 11.
                                        The man is an amazing workhorse and makes everything look so simple. Like all top holding midfielders, he promotes the flair players to go and do their stuff. He covers so well that even Pogba looks world-class.

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                                          Definitely finding, after just 2 days back in the office, that my productivity has gone up massively.

                                          Will be looking through jaundiced eyes at all home workers from here on.
                                          "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                          Comment


                                            Originally posted by Wombatman View Post
                                            I think it's safe to write off the Germans here. France team looks pretty sexy. Kante is in good form and should be walking into any world 11.
                                            Hes only human. Should be on a beach somewhere.

                                            Ze Germans are always dangerous, looking forward to this . Need a 2 2 for some tonnage .

                                            Comment


                                              Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                              Jaysus was Phil expecting it?
                                              Not at all. Early 60's came home from a quiet night out dinner and a few pints said he wasn't feeling great went to bed and his heart gave up during the night.
                                              Turning millions into thousands

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                                                Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post

                                                Not at all. Early 60's came home from a quiet night out dinner and a few pints said he wasn't feeling great went to bed and his heart gave up during the night.
                                                oh no!
                                                "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                  Soccer commentators drooling over Mbappe after he manages to get two goals disallowed by being stupidly offside.

                                                  "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

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                                                    How did I never hear this before. What a tune.


                                                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                      Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
                                                      Soccer commentators drooling over Mbappe after he manages to get two goals disallowed by being stupidly offside.

                                                      Listening to soccer commentary really should be avoided. I'm probably a misogynist for finding women talking shite about soccer in studio more yuck than men doing the same.
                                                      Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.

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                                                        Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                        How did I never hear this before. What a tune.
                                                        Have you tried testing for tone deafness? http://tonedeaftest.com/
                                                        Gone full 'Glinner' since June 2022.

                                                        Comment


                                                          Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post

                                                          Homo-sapien, male, photographer afaik
                                                          Lol what age*
                                                          "I can’t find anyone who agrees with what I write or think these days, so I guess I must be getting closer to the truth." - Hunter S. Thompson

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                                                            Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                            How did I never hear this before. What a tune.


                                                            Jaysus quick delete this before Hector Jelly gets here . I'll say nuthin

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                                                              Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
                                                              Definitely finding, after just 2 days back in the office, that my productivity has gone up massively.

                                                              Will be looking through jaundiced eyes at all home workers from here on.
                                                              Went in last Thursday. Left home at 6am and got home at 17.50. 60% waste of a day and I was wrecked afterwards….

                                                              My WFH productivity is easily 50% higher then in the office. Not good for upskilling my team and passing on my knowledge etc but very effective for getting shit done. I get 3/4 clients meeting a day done and keep loads of other stuff moving along in a way I just wasn’t before. Things will slow down massively if we go back to the office full time.

                                                              On a roll winning new biz and looks like serious uplift incoming too…all whilst sitting at home. It’s going to be an interesting time over the coming year….

                                                              ‘IF YOU had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” Genghis Khan

                                                              Comment


                                                                Originally posted by ComradeCollie View Post

                                                                Listening to soccer commentary really should be avoided. I'm probably a misogynist for finding women talking shite about soccer in studio more yuck than men doing the same.
                                                                I sent a message to a friend at the weekend asking if it were misogynistic that I don't enjoy most of the women doing the football, especially the young pretty interviewers smiling flirtatiously and the players responding in a somewhat similar fashion.

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                                                                  Originally posted by hotspur View Post

                                                                  I sent a message to a friend at the weekend asking if it were misogynistic that I don't enjoy most of the women doing the football, especially the young pretty interviewers smiling flirtatiously and the players responding in a somewhat similar fashion.
                                                                  But they say the exact same drivel, its just that you notice how dumb it is
                                                                  Turning millions into thousands

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                                                                    Originally posted by hotspur View Post

                                                                    I sent a message to a friend at the weekend asking if it were misogynistic that I don't enjoy most of the women doing the football, especially the young pretty interviewers smiling flirtatiously and the players responding in a somewhat similar fashion.
                                                                    One things for sure , when they turn into Dunphy like saddle bag faces, they'll be long retired . The wheel will turn back I hope . It's becoming a joke . We watch the footie and golf to get away from the wimmins and their opinions. All I hear is Gemma docherty

                                                                    I must say though when it comes to Opera I cant listen to a Soprano , however a tenor voice is magical.
                                                                    Last edited by Solksjaer!; 15-06-21, 22:23.

                                                                    Comment


                                                                      Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post
                                                                      This time 5 years ago was the most intense and celebratory moment of my life.



                                                                      We buried Phil, the guy jumping up and down in the blue suit, just a few weeks later. Carpe Diem
                                                                      Worked with his son for a year he’s a bricklayer likes bet possibly the worst tipster ive ever seen.

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                                                                        Originally posted by hotspur View Post

                                                                        I sent a message to a friend at the weekend asking if it were misogynistic that I don't enjoy most of the women doing the football, especially the young pretty interviewers smiling flirtatiously and the players responding in a somewhat similar fashion.
                                                                        The women who used to be on Five Live back in the day used to be great. But then again they were probably selected for knowledge rather than looks given it was a radio gig.
                                                                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                          Originally posted by V for Vendetta View Post

                                                                          Went in last Thursday. Left home at 6am and got home at 17.50. 60% waste of a day and I was wrecked afterwards….

                                                                          My WFH productivity is easily 50% higher then in the office. Not good for upskilling my team and passing on my knowledge etc but very effective for getting shit done. I get 3/4 clients meeting a day done and keep loads of other stuff moving along in a way I just wasn’t before. Things will slow down massively if we go back to the office full time.

                                                                          On a roll winning new biz and looks like serious uplift incoming too…all whilst sitting at home. It’s going to be an interesting time over the coming year….
                                                                          Yeah it's horses for courses. Doesn't suit some people and doesn't suit some roles. If I had to travel at 7am go back into an office jut a few km away simply to do zoom calls with people in Singapore and Melbourne it wouldn't last too long that's for sure. Thankfully It seems the company understands this.

                                                                          Just had an unstressed breakfast with my son and played two games of Dobble (which he won). Will settle down to write and edit with The Opening Show on in the background, have a lunchtime run and still get more done with less stress than if I was facing into an evening commute home.

                                                                          I spent half my career working from home as a freelancer (and abroad - I was a proto-digital nomad in the early 00s in Australia, China and Thailand working out of Internet cafes) so it has been a very small adjustment for me. But I appreciate that's not the case for everyone.

                                                                          Banks seems to be the nut-worst at adjusting to this play though based on what my friends are experiencing.

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                                                                            That second jab doesn't fuck about. Feel like I was hit by a bus
                                                                            airport, lol

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                                                                              Originally posted by eamonhonda View Post
                                                                              That second jab doesn't fuck about. Feel like I was hit by a bus
                                                                              Passes v quickly. I was quite lethargic last week after at the desk so took a few timeouts to relax. Next day though 'brand new . I was joking with the missus that the older generation were not complaining so much of tiredness as they probably feel that way all the time.

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                                                                                Snip. Old news
                                                                                Last edited by Solksjaer!; 16-06-21, 07:58.

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                                                                                  Originally posted by eamonhonda View Post
                                                                                  That second jab doesn't fuck about. Feel like I was hit by a bus
                                                                                  Did you notice the first jab much, just out of interest?
                                                                                  "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                    Originally posted by BennyHiFi View Post

                                                                                    Yeah it's horses for courses. Doesn't suit some people and doesn't suit some roles. If I had to travel at 7am go back into an office jut a few km away simply to do zoom calls with people in Singapore and Melbourne it wouldn't last too long that's for sure. Thankfully It seems the company understands this.

                                                                                    Just had an unstressed breakfast with my son and played two games of Dobble (which he won). Will settle down to write and edit with The Opening Show on in the background, have a lunchtime run and still get more done with less stress than if I was facing into an evening commute home.

                                                                                    I spent half my career working from home as a freelancer (and abroad - I was a proto-digital nomad in the early 00s in Australia, China and Thailand working out of Internet cafes) so it has been a very small adjustment for me. But I appreciate that's not the case for everyone.

                                                                                    Banks seems to be the nut-worst at adjusting to this play though based on what my friends are experiencing.
                                                                                    Definitely something in my brain that clicks into a higher gear when physically at my place of work.
                                                                                    "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

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                                                                                      It's interesting that V and Benny both focused on one significant benefit of WFH and ignored the other.

                                                                                      Productivity for V and work life balance for Benny.

                                                                                      I feel both have benefitted immensely (although I'm not WFH anymore) but would put more weight and importance into the life balance.
                                                                                      I hold silver in tit for tat, and I love you for that

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                                                                                        Originally posted by Lazare View Post
                                                                                        It's interesting that V and Benny both focused on one significant benefit of WFH and ignored the other.

                                                                                        Productivity for V and work life balance for Benny.

                                                                                        I feel both have benefitted immensely (although I'm not WFH anymore) but would put more weight and importance into the life balance.
                                                                                        Oh I can confirm 100% I get more done in less time at home. Productivity is way higher - much better focus and time management with fewer distractions. The productivity drag starts with commuting then interminable meetings, side conversations, lunching with colleagues etc... its all downhill in an office environment for me.

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                                                                                          The only thing I find is it's hard to find an off switch when WFH.
                                                                                          That and now 16 months in, my family still haven't fully grasped that working from home means I'm actually working and not on a day off
                                                                                          People say I should be more humble I hope they understand, they don't listen when you mumble
                                                                                          Get a shiny metal Revolut card! And a free tenner!
                                                                                          https://revolut.com/referral/jamesb8!G10D21

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                                                                                            I'm absolutely shite at WFH but I'm loving being able to switch computers and play WoW on my lunch break. Swings and roundabouts innit.
                                                                                            "I can’t find anyone who agrees with what I write or think these days, so I guess I must be getting closer to the truth." - Hunter S. Thompson

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                                                                                              Other work benefits:
                                                                                              • Get to dress like an adult
                                                                                              • Other people make me food
                                                                                              "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

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                                                                                                I didn't normally work in the office much, but when I did my only memory is of overwhelming tiredness from having to wake up early. Haven't woken up before 8am for about 18 months now. Most times just a small bit before 9am. Some of us simply aren't morning people, and its the rigid hours of working from the office that kill us off. Have barely felt tired in a year.
                                                                                                "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                  Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                                  Did you notice the first jab much, just out of interest?
                                                                                                  No basically nothing, but the nurse said it would be that way tbf
                                                                                                  airport, lol

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                                                                                                    Originally posted by eamonhonda View Post

                                                                                                    No basically nothing, but the nurse said it would be that way tbf
                                                                                                    ah feck. I had the first on Saturday and noticed only the mildest shoulder sensitivity, so thought I might be one of the rare breed of super-mutants who get no pfizer side effects. But it seems its all to play for with the second jab.
                                                                                                    "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                      Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                                      ah feck. I had the first on Saturday and noticed only the mildest shoulder sensitivity, so thought I might be one of the rare breed of super-mutants who get no pfizer side effects. But it seems its all to play for with the second jab.
                                                                                                      Yeah I'm on moderna, if that changes anything
                                                                                                      airport, lol

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                                                                                                        Lunch (yes, already eaten at 12:10pm) was some melon wrapped in parma ham and this beauty. Filling is 1 tbsp dijon, 2 tbsp olive oil, bit of salt, bit of pepper. What a triumph! my god. That lovely contrast between the dijon bringing the acid and the fat of the oil and avo.

                                                                                                        WDOjsI5l.jpg
                                                                                                        "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

                                                                                                        Comment


                                                                                                          Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                                          ah feck. I had the first on Saturday and noticed only the mildest shoulder sensitivity, so thought I might be one of the rare breed of super-mutants who get no pfizer side effects. But it seems its all to play for with the second jab.
                                                                                                          I felt nothing in the shoulder and just a bit of tiredness the next day. Jab 2 is apparently the one to watch out for but superhumans like ourselves have little to fear.
                                                                                                          "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                                                                                          Comment


                                                                                                            Cooking course is now on what seems like a very niche topic of how to maintain veg colour. Greens in boiling water with lid off (to allow the dulling acid released by green veg to escape the pot). Other colours with a bit of acid. Not sure why anyone really needs to know this. Except maybe a chef wanting to have these bright vibrant colours.
                                                                                                            "We're not f*cking Burundi" - Big Phil

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                                                                                                              BennyHiFi, any chance of regaling us with some China-living accounts?

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                                                                                                                Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                                                I didn't normally work in the office much, but when I did my only memory is of overwhelming tiredness from having to wake up early. Haven't woken up before 8am for about 18 months now. Most times just a small bit before 9am. Some of us simply aren't morning people, and its the rigid hours of working from the office that kill us off. Have barely felt tired in a year.
                                                                                                                Presumably in-person lecturing will be back from September?
                                                                                                                "We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."

                                                                                                                Comment


                                                                                                                  Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post

                                                                                                                  ah feck. I had the first on Saturday and noticed only the mildest shoulder sensitivity, so thought I might be one of the rare breed of super-mutants who get no pfizer side effects. But it seems its all to play for with the second jab.
                                                                                                                  You'll be grand it's only a bit of tiredness. Think hangover without the headache etc plenty of fluids and maybe a preemptive paracetamol if you are the headache type o guy



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                                                                                                                    Biggest WFH issue is food availability. Jaysus I can eat.

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                                                                                                                      Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
                                                                                                                      Other work benefits:
                                                                                                                      • Get to dress like an adult
                                                                                                                      • Other people make me food
                                                                                                                      You can literally do those things at home too.
                                                                                                                      I defo have eaten out more for WFH lunches.
                                                                                                                      ﴾͡๏̯͡๏﴿

                                                                                                                      Comment


                                                                                                                        Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
                                                                                                                        Lunch (yes, already eaten at 12:10pm) was some melon wrapped in parma ham and this beauty. Filling is 1 tbsp dijon, 2 tbsp olive oil, bit of salt, bit of pepper. What a triumph! my god. That lovely contrast between the dijon bringing the acid and the fat of the oil and avo.

                                                                                                                        WDOjsI5l.jpg
                                                                                                                        add a bit of balsamic vinegar to your vinaigrette to make it perfect. emulsify it before you put it in the avocado. delish!

                                                                                                                        Comment


                                                                                                                          Originally posted by Solksjaer! View Post

                                                                                                                          You'll be grand it's only a bit of tiredness. Think hangover without the headache etc plenty of fluids and maybe a preemptive paracetamol if you are the headache type o guy


                                                                                                                          Bang on really, back to sleep and some paracetemol and im pretty good again
                                                                                                                          airport, lol

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