There are 40 colours of green in Ireland

[Gloryfication]

Record unlikely despite more 'Glory' for O'Brien

http://www.independent.ie/multimedia/archive/00230/aidanobrien_230242t.jpg
Trainer Aidan O' Brien. Photo: Julian Herbert, Getty Images


By Chris McGrath



Thursday November 13 2008


<div class="body font-null"> Like any decent epilogue, the success of Fame And Glory in Paris (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Paris) yesterday not only drew together the central themes of the story but also sharpened appetites for a sequel.

[Gloryfication]

Resolved Question

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Are there really 40 shades of green in Ireland or is that just meaningless words from a song?


[url="http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=A0WTUKTFLCVJFx0AwwCj7RR.;_ylv=3?show= hhiAS1xRaa"] http://l.yimg.com/img.avatars.yahoo.com/users/1epWbDs7dAAECIcKcrUhiCg==.medium.jpg (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/nextQuestion;_ylt=A0WTUKTFLCVJFx0AwQCj7RR.;_ylv=3? qid=20080915013602AAmBveD&cid=396546144&state=resolved) by Liz (http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=A0WTUKTFLCVJFx0AxACj7RR.;_ylv=3?show= hhiAS1xRaa)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

There are so many different shades of green that I am not even going to start counting them all. lol. New colours are being developed all the time. Yes Ireland is full of greenery which gives it the nick name the Emerald Isle but I would say there are a lot more then 40 shades of green here.

[Gloryfication]

http://www.asianracing.nu/vb/images/smilies2/smile.gif
Irish Jokes

http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif



Young girl from Donegal leaves home to find work
among the bright lights of London.
Comes home 6 months later and steps out of a taxi,
wearing a full-length mink coat.
"Begorrah, Colleen" says her mother "'Tis a lovely
soft coat yer wearin' - an' it looks so
expensive. Where did ye get that?"
Colleen replies, "Sure now, I won it at the bingo.
Don't they have wonderful prizes in London."
When the weekend's over, Colleen returns to the
bright lights, but she's back to visit her
mom a few months later.
This time, when she steps out of the taxi, she's
wearing a beautiful gold wristwatch and a
large diamond ring.
(Same exchange with mom -- same "Won it at bingo.
" Then Colleen returns to the bright lights once again.)
A few months later, she's back again. And this time
she's sporting a beautiful emerald and diamond
necklace with matching bracelet and earrings.
She hands her mother 1,000 pounds and
explains that she won it all at the bingo.
Then she asks her mom to run her a bath as
she needs to freshen up. Her mom draws the
bath while Colleen gets undressed
in her bedroom, but when she gets to the
washroom, there's only a quarter inch of hot
water in the bathtub. Colleen, a wee bit peeved
at her mom being so cheap with the hot water after being
handed 1,000 pounds, calls downstairs,
"Mom! Sure now didn't I ask you to run me a bath?
There's only a quarter inch of water in the tub!"
"Indade there is, me darlin'" replies her mom.
"But we don't want ye gettin' yer bingo
ticket wet now, do we?"

http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif Sixteen year old boy from a tiny little village
in Ireland is the local football hero. Scores an
average of six goals every game himself.
Not too long before big English clubs are
making their way to his house to sign him.
Signs huge contract with London club,
guaranteeing him ten million pounds a year for five
years. When leaving home to go to Big City,
mother cautions him about evils of smoking,
drinking, loose women, and lectures him on
going to mass every Sunday.
Few months later, big limousine pulls up outside
her door. Surprise! Chaffeur has airline
tickets for her to go to London to visit son.
Drives her to airport. First class tickets. Big
limo waiting at other end to take her to son's house.
Arrives at son's house. MANSION!
Indoor swimming pool, sauna, hot-tub,
full-size gym, HUGE TV's etc. Also very well-built
young maid named Fifi. Son takes mom on tour
of house, and makes point of showing
her Fifi's bedroom, which is away at other
end of house from his bedroom.
Explains to mom that football club gave him
all of this for scoring four goals in European
Cup Final couple of weeks ago. Fifi just the
housekeeper assigned to him. Sleeps in her
own bedroom etc. No romantic involvement whatsoever.
Mom has dinner with son, served by butler in
big fancy dining room. Mom admires silver
soup tureen on large silver tray, and highly
decorated silver ladle. Son explains that set
belonged to Napolean. Given to son by club
for scoring three goals in English FA Cup
final, few months ago. Mom very impressed.
Mom leaves. Next day Fifi reports that silver
ladle mom was admiring has disappeared.
Son wonders if mom is guilty. After a week,
plucks up courage and phones mom.
Discusses weather. Aunt Maureen's chilblains etc.
Finally gets around to explaining that
silver ladle mom was admiring has disappeared.
Maybe mom borrowed it to show
neighbours and forgot to mention it?
Mom replies, "If dat whore of a housekeeper was
slaypin' in her own bed like ye said --
she'd have found the bloody ladle by now!"



http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif sean and michael were tipping in the pub one night,
vowing their lasting friendship they made a pact.
whichever one passed on first, the other would pour a
bottle of the finest irish whiskey over the grave of
the departed. sean replied "aye tis sure i will,
michael but do ye mind if it passes trew me kidneys
first?"


http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif Irishman went to a pet shop and
asked how many budgies were in
stock. "We have 99" replied the
shop owner "Give us the lot" said
the Irish man, paid for them and
left. He went to a tailors shop
and had 99 pockets sewn into a
jacket, put a budgie in each
pocket, went up to the Post
Office Tower and jumped off.
He hit the ground with an
almighty smack and lay there
groaning until a passer-by came
and asked him what had
happened. "I don't know sur" he
replied "but that's the last time I
try that budgie jumping"


http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

Walking into the pub, Patick said to the bartender,
"Pour me astiff one, Sean. I just had another tiff with
the little woman."
"Oh yeah," said Sean. "And how did this one end?"
"Well I'll tell ya now when it was over," Patick replied, "herself came to me on her hands and knees, she did."
"You don't say? Now that`s a switch! What did she say?" She said, "Come out from under that bed, you
gutless weasel!


http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

Where does an Irish family go on vacation?
To a diffrent pub


http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

When Clinton visited the Pope, he noticed a red
phone on a small table in the corner of the office.

After several minutes of conversation, Clinton asked
the Pope what the red phone was.

The Holy Father told him that it was a very special
phone with a direct line to God. However, the Pope
told Clinton he rarely used it because it cost
$20,000 a minute from the Vatican.

Clinton accepted this explanation without another thought.

Later, when Clinton visited Ireland, he saw another
red phone in the Archbishop’s office. Being curious,
Clinton asked the Archbishop what it was used for.

The Archbishop told Clinton it was a direct line to God,
and he used it whenever he had a puzzling question or concern.

Clinton asked if the calls were quite expensive since
the Pope had to pay $20,000 a minute when he used
his red phone in the Vatican.

"Oh no," replied the Archbishop, "In Ireland it’s a local call."

http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

A farmer named McBride lived along in the Irish
countryside with a pet dog he doted on. The dog
finally died and McBride went to the parish
priest and asked, "Father, the dog is dead.
Could you be saying a mass for the creature?"
Father Michael replied, "No, we cannot have
service for an animal in the church, but there's
a new denomination down the road. No telling
what they believe. Maybe they'll do something
for the animal."
McBride said "I'll go right now. Do you think
$50,000 is enough to donate for the service?"
Father Michael asked, "Why didn't you tell
me the dog was Catholic?"
http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

~~~ Gardening made easy! ~~~
An old man living alone in South Armagh,
whose only son was in Long Kesh Prison,
didn't have anyone to dig his garden for his potatoes.
So he wrote to his son about his predicament.
The son sent the reply, "For HEAVENS SAKE,
don't dig the garden up, that's where I buried
the guns!!!!!"
At 3 AM the next morning, a dozen British soldiers
turned up and dug the garden for 3 hours,
but didn't find any guns.
Confused, the man wrote to his son telling him
what had happened, asking him what he should do now?
The son sent the reply: "NOW plant the potatoes!"

http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

An Irishman's been at a pub all night drinking.
The bartender finally says that the bar is closed.
So he stands up to leave and falls flat on his face.
He figures he'll crawl outside and get some
fresh
air and maybe that will sober him up.
Once outside he stands up and falls flat on his
face.
So he crawls home and at the door stands up and
falls
flat on his face. He crawls through the door and
up the stairs.
When he reaches his bed he tries one more time
to stand up.
This time he falls right into bed and is sound
asleep.
He awakens the next morning to his wife standing
over him shouting at him.
"So, you've been out drinking again!"
"How did you know?" he asks.
"The pub called, you left your damn wheelchair there again."

http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/5023/ireline.gif

A group of Americans was touring Ireland.
One of the women in the group was a real curmudgeon, constantly complaining.
The bus seats are uncomfortable. The food is terrible.
It's too hot. It's too cold. The accommodations are awful.
The group arrived at the site of the famous Blarney Stone.
"Good luck will be followin' ya all your days
if you kiss the Blarney Stone,"the guide said.
"Unfortunately, it's being cleaned today
and so no one will be able to kiss it.
Perhaps we can come back tomorrow."
"We can't be here tomorrow," the nasty woman shouted.
"We have some other boring tour to go on.
So I guess we can't kiss the stupid stone."
"Well now," the guide said, "it is said that if you kiss someone
who has kissed the stone, you'll have the same good fortune."
"And I suppose you've kissed the stone," the woman scoffed.
"No, ma'am," the frustrated guide said, "but I've sat on it."

[Gloryfication]

The tote Scoop6 bonus rolled over yet again after the eight-winning ticket holders from last weekend's bumper payout failed to solve the Hennessy Gold Cup.

The victory of 25-1 shot Madison Du Berlais in the Newbury feature eluded those punters and saw the £1,529,525 go begging.

Totesport spokesman Damian Walker said: "Madison Du Berlais has come and done them all. The bonus will not be played for next week as there were only four races today as Newcastle was abandoned and you need all six for the bonus to be available."

He added: "The first chance punters will have to win that will be Boylesports weekend at Cheltenham on December 13."

Harry Findlay, owner of last year's Hennessy and Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Denman, held two of the eight tickets which had netted £437,011 each a week earlier.

And he secured the collaboration of the other winners in a bid to increase their chances of success.

They had the runner-up Air Force One and Big Buck's, who unseated his rider after the final fence when on the heels of the first two. Their other selections were Albertas Run, Dear Villez, Slim Pickings, Oedipe, High Chimes and Island Flyer.

[Gloryfication]

Why does Ireland have Forty Shades of Green?

h1 = document.getElementById("title").getElementsByTagName("h1")[0];h1.innerHTML = widont(h1.innerHTML); By Bernd Biege (http://goireland.about.com/mbiopage.htm), About.com


Filed In:


Preparing Your Trip (http://goireland.about.com/od/preparingyourtrip)
> Ireland's Weather (http://goireland.about.com/od/irelandsweather)

http://z.about.com/d/goireland/1/G/Q/0/-/-/glendalough_s.jpg© 2006 Bernd Biege licensed to About.com, Inc.
When we think of Ireland, we think of the Emerald Isle, the shamrock, the "Wearing of the Green" and the 37 other almost proverbial shades of green. But just why do we talk about "Forty Shades of Green"?

The Song

It is the fault of one man - none other than Johnny Cash. The "Man in Black" was so taken in by the Emerald Isle that he went green and penned a whole album in celebration of Ireland. While Cash seemed to be genuinely in love with Ireland at the time (1961), his songs seem to be seriously sentimental and overwrought today.

The most enduring of Cash's Irish songs is "Forty Shades of Green", including the confession that "most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town, and most of all I miss her lips as soft as eiderdown". Apart from Dingle, Donaghadee, the Shannon, Skibbereen, Shalimar, Cork (http://goireland.about.com/od/corkandmunster/) and Larne, making this a very all-Irish song. And a celebration of the good old times when "the farmers drain the bogs and spade the turf". Never mind that a lot of these farmers might have told Cash to be on his way, preferring some modern comforts themselves.

And so ... Johnny Cash was responsible for creating the idea of Ireland being "forty shades of green". This was added on by Ireland's seminal rock group "Boomtown Rats", with singer Bob Geldof also mentioning "sixty shades of red" in reference to the "Troubles".

The Reality

But does Ireland really have forty shades of green? Though nobody has actually counted them, this would be a good guess - green is the dominant color in Ireland's landscape. The simple reason for this is the Irish weather (http://goireland.about.com/od/preparingyourtrip/qt/weather.htm). While generally described as eternally changing, it is only changing within certain parameters. The influence of the gulf stream and the general climate combine to make Ireland well-balanced.

Seasons are not very pronounced - one usually enjoys "spells of" summer or winter, not the season as such. And even when Jack Frost nips and snow falls it will be on lush green fields. The green may fade a bit, but it never goes away.

And as you will see when visiting Ireland: Johnny Cash was right - Ireland really has forty shades of green.

[Gloryfication]

Ireland recalls pork products amid dioxin scare

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/global/1x1pixel.gif
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/base_skins/baseplate/corner_dg_BL.gif(CNN) -- The Irish government ordered a recall Saturday of all pork products linked to pigs slaughtered in Ireland, after laboratory tests found the presence of dioxins in animal feed and pork fat samples.

Preliminary evidence gathered by Ireland's Food Safety Authority indicated that the contamination likely started in September, the government said in a statement.

The Food Safety Authority advised consumers not to consume Irish pork and bacon products for the time being.

The government is now trying to determine the scope of the contamination.

Dioxins are environmental contaminants, often present in industrial waste. Most dioxin exposure occurs through diet, with more than 95 percent coming from the consumption of animal fats, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Dioxin levels in food are regulated.

Dr Tony Holohan, Ireland (http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Ireland)'s Chief Medical Officer, said that the dioxin usually impacts the nervous system and liver in comments reported by the UK Press Association. Holohan added that the dioxin would only be perilous through prolonged exposure.

The agency reported that an animal feed ingredient supplied by one business to 40-plus farms is regarded as the likely cause of the dioxin by experts, and that tests revealed the dioxin polychlorinated biphenyls to be 80 to 200 times above the acceptable safety level.

[Gloryfication]

08/22/2008

Ireland horse doping scandal draws ire: "If it wasn't cheating, it was incredible stupidity"

The Emerald Island bleeds red these days, about the incredible horse doping scandal of the 2008 Olympics. To the uninitiated, this is less 'scandal', and more 'oops', however there seems to be a history here.

The Independent (http://www.independent.ie/national-news/td-condemns-incredible-stupidity-1461071.html) (a paper worth reading) carries these lines:

http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/images/2008/08/21/340x_2.jpg (http://grg51.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/21/340x_2.jpg) THE political fallout from the Olympic doping scandal began last night as the opposition hit out at the "incredible stupidity" of using banned substances on horses.

Sports Minister Martin Cullen (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Martin+Cullen) was expected to fly from Beijing (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Beijing) to Hong Kong (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Hong+Kong) if rider Denis Lynch (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Denis+Lynch) and his horse Lantinus had won a medal in the final of the Olympic show jumping competition.

But he was staying silent last night as the controversy over the horse's positive test for the banned substance capsaicin continued to grow.

Fine Gael (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Fine+Gael) sports spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Olivia+Mitchell) said it was an understatement to say it was disappointing because "we knew we were going to be in the spotlight".

"If it wasn't cheating, it was incredible stupidity," she said.

Although Ms Mitchell said there was a need to wait for the full details to emerge, she warned that any wrong-doing must be met with "swift condemnation and appropriate sanctions".

We in the United States reacted less vocally to the ill-advised invasion of Iraq than the Irish reacted to capsiacin on a horse. Here is the history:

Back in 2004, there was a broad welcome across the political establishment for the gold medal won by show jumper Cian O'Connor (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Cian+O%27Connor) -- and massive embarrassment when he had to hand it back after his horse Waterford Crystal (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Waterford+Wedgwood+plc) tested positive for banned substances.

Ms Mitchell said the public would be asking how on earth this was allowed to happen again after Ireland (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Ireland)'s experiences at the last Olympics in Athens (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Athens).

Every country, every town, every person needs something positive, some item that causes pride. For the Caribbean nations it is track achievement right now. For Ireland, horse sports reign. And this hurts.

"It is well known that capsaicin is a banned substance. Considering all the expertise available, and Ireland's loss of a medal at the last Olympics due to drug offences, it begs the question: how could this happen again?" she said.

Ms Mitchell said the scandal would cause dismay among the public.

"It dashes high hopes of another medal in the worst possible way," she said.

Last month, the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sports and Tourism (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Oireachtas+Committee+on+Arts%2c+Sports+and+Tourism ) devoted several hours to exploring the issues surrounding Ireland's participation at the Olympic Games.

Several members, including Green Party (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Irish+Green+Party) leader Mary White (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Mary+White), Fine Gael TD Michael Ring (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Michael+Ring) and Fianna Fail (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Fianna+Fail)Michael Kennedy (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Michael+Kennedy), expressed the hope that it would be a "clean games".

But the announcement of the positive drugs test for Lantinus will increase the pressure on the sport's governing body, Horse Sport Ireland (http://www.independent.ie/topics/Equestrian+Federation+of+Ireland), to come up with a response.

The Irish Times report here. (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0822/1219355277360.html) Poor Lantinus. It wasn't his fault. We are getting a little emotional here. Time to shut it down for tonight.





Posted by GRG51 on 08/22/2008 | Permalink (http://grg51.typepad.com/steroid_nation/2008/08/ireland-horse-d.html)

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Comments

It was falsely reported today (8/22) in the NYT by George Vecsey that capsaicin is a "mild stimulant." It's not. It's a straight painkiller (check the neurochemistry) and is available over the counter at local pharmacies in the States. I didn't find it on the 2008 WADA Prohibited Substances list either (I've been using it for years against illiotibial band syndrome). With horses, I read that in addition to the simple painkilling effect, it makes them hypersensitive to possible injury, i.e., more cautious on jumps. That's why it's banned in equestrian events.