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EVERY SATURDAY MORNING we like to take a look at all the best comments left on the site by you lot over the past week.
This week there was a lot of talk about the battle over abortion legislation, the pay of senior Bank of Ireland executives, gun ownership in Ireland, paid parental leave, the possibility of a new Croke Park extension deal and the Electric Picnic line-up,
So here, in no particular order, are the standout comments from the week that was.
The top 5 articles which received the most comments this week
1. Lucinda Creighton tells Olivia O’Leary to ‘get a grip’ over abortion issue (361 comments)
2. Luis Suarez banned for 10 games for Ivanovic bite (290 comments)
3. Reilly: Suicidal pregnant women won’t have to face six-doctor panel (268 comments)
4. Boston bomb suspect blames brother (227 comments)
5. Government won’t use Bank of Ireland stake to oppose Boucher’s €843k salary (215 comments)
Some of the best comments left on the site this week
What’s the best bit of bathroom graffiti you’ve ever seen? Daffy the Bear got a lot of thumbs up for spotting this one:
Graffiti: “I rode your ma”
Underneath (someone wittier): “Go home Da you’re drunk”
Did you spot this person pretending to type on an RTE news report?
Video: PhilOD/YouTube
Padraig Stapleton had been in that situation:
Remember working as a graphic designer in a local newspaper… The editor was being interviewed on telly, I was in the background typing away. Problem was my computer screen wouldn’t switch on, couldn’t get it working so had to type while interview being shot with screen switched off!
Do you have the willpower to take ‘technology breaks‘? (The fact that you’re probably reading this on a sunny Saturday morning suggests possibly not…). Gaius Gracchus had this story about how he tried (and failed) to put down the smartphone:
When we were on holiday in the French countryside last year we drove 40 minutes to a McDonalds we saw on our way from the airport just because they had free wi-fi, only did it once in 2 weeks though! Ok, twice. We didn’t talk to each other for an hour, when we were asked did we want more coffee I scowled at the staff member and said; ‘Excusez-moi! Je lis le Journal.’
A study has found that despite everything, Ireland is one of the most optimistic countries in the world. Murphy11 made this point about optimism and austerity:
There was an article last year in a german paper partially blaming our optimistic nature on all the austerity we are suffering. In a lot of countries people are saying enough is enough. In response to high unemployment , we get increase taxes as well as new taxes coming on stream. The response we give is ‘ ah sure it could be a lot worse’
Get ready to say goodbye to your 1c and 2c coins – it looks like they could gradually be phased out of use over the next few years. The details on how it will work are still unclear – but Marleen Kennedy helpfully explained how the Dutch model works:
I’ve no idea how it would work in Ireland but I do know that in Holland the prices in the shop are not rounded up or down to the nearest five cents. The rounding doesn’t happen until all items are added up on check out and then the total will be to the nearest five cents, which means you win as often as you lose up. I’m all for it.
One third of people with bipolar disorder are unable to work due to the condition – which sparked off a discussion among commenters about attitudes and experiences of mental illness. Liz Carr made this point:
Definitely believe that workplaces need to do a hell of a lot more for people suffering with mental illnesses to feel comfortable at work.
I don’t have a mental illness but I can completely see why people who do could have anxieties about going to work. There is such a click culture in Irish businesses that it would make any “outsider” uncomfortable and I fully believe its down to management to put an end too.
Can you remember any of the most annoying things your teachers used to say? Shadow75 had this story about how he proved one of his teachers wrong in the end:
My teacher said I’d never get a job looking out of a window.I ended up working on a ship as a bridge lookout.True story that folks
The 5 most popular comments on the site this week
1. The most popular comment this week came from GrandDame who got more than 2,060 thumbs up for her suggestion for something that would seem totally reasonable – anywhere except Ireland:
Not thanking the bus driver
2. Next up was RepublicofGoon with 1,277 thumbs up for his thoughts about this year’s Oxegen line-up:
so the survivors of the swedish house Mafia gig test their skills in kildare this year. .its like the irish hunger games!
3. Bacoxy got 993 and the third most popular comment this week on this observation about annoying things about working in an office:
I envy anyone who is lucky enough to do a job they love rather than just pay the bills!
4. Both number 4 and 5 come from the same article this week – the (seemingly controversial) list of the most beautiful women in the world, which saw Gwyneth Paltrow come out on top. Barry got 974 thumbs up for this…:
Some odd choices on that list,
5. … while Paul Bracken was close behind with 939 thumbs up for this succinct comment:
I’ve seen better looking shopping lists.
See any good comments? Tell us about them! Mail christine@thejournal.ie with any suggestions for Comments of the Week.
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Or maybe… more developed countries take less steps because we have better infrastructure and more cars?
@M: Better infra for more cars would equal less steps, and fatter more obese and lazy people, becoming more like the USA all the time…
My smartphone always gives lower step readings than what I actually do as I don’t take my phone with me everywhere e.g. When mowing the lawn.
@M: Why is it that the comments have consistently more logic than the articles?
@M: or the phones are left in the Gym lockers every day ? Not a true picture as even most joggers leave the phone at home.
@M: Well, how does that explain the discrepancy between Spain (more developed with better infrastructure and more cars) and Indonesia (less developed with worse infrastructure and less cars)? In fact, looking at the map above, the evidence seems to point in the completely opposite direction to what you’re saying. Unless you think Libya, Venezuela, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Iraq and Myanmar are all more developed countries than, say, Spain, Japan, Sweden and the UK.
@M: we have a crap public transport system,what are you smoking?
@M: more developed? Hong Kong is number 1 as most people don’t have cars due to having one of the best public transport systems in the world. People clock up a lot of steps changing trains etc. Having more cars does not imply higher development.
The flaw in this study is the asymmetric profile of smartphone ownership especially in poor countries. For instance Indonesians who can afford to own a smartphone are wealthy older people who will be less active. In countries with a more democratic spread of technology such as Japan and Hong Kong you see higher activity levels. Young people own smartphones!
@Clancy: And the other flaw is that many people, especially women, don’t actually carry their phone around in their pocket all day. It’s in their bag, which, unless they are Moominmamma, or the Queen of England, they don’t carry around all day either.
According to my phone, I took 3,726 steps yesterday.
According to my FitBit (which only comes off at shower time), I took 11,587 steps yesterday.
Need I say more about how flawed this study is?
I was going to read it then I thought ” Can’t someone else do it?”
@John Brennan: there’s an app for that….
If they’re using anonymous smartphone pedometers the data is seriously flawed! My phone counts my steps too (happy to say I ‘average’ 8-9k steps on the phone counter). However, like most women, I don’t keep my phone in my pocket so the steps it’s counting are only my commuting steps. The rest of the day the phone sits in my bag, stationary but I’m still moving about for at least some of that time so the true figure is much higher. These averages seem suspiciously low to me.
that”s nuts, who is walking around our cities at the moment constantly even late into the night, refugees with nothing to do. my job does not involve walking, but don’t think it makes me lazy, more likely busy.
They don’t have accurate data, “given the same color as the UK!”.
@Adrian: the whole study is pop sh!te, what about swimmers, field sports, people who don’t take their phone jogging. Senseless drivel.
Dublin marathon just sold out again, must be a few of us doing alright.
Maybe we take less steps because Ireland is small and there is less space to take more steps. Just a thought.
Social Welfare is a plague and should be eradicated apart from old age pensions.
@Owen Martin: so true. Paying people no to work and be part of a community makes them sick.
@Owen Martin: That’s right Owen, those blind and disabled ones are especially lazy and should be left to fend for themselves. Maybe we could get them stuffing envelopes or making number plates, you know, there shouldn’t be any ‘free’ money.
@Jimmy Riddler: couldn’t agree more jimmy. There was an article on here a few weeks back about blind people being able to work.
@RealityHammer: If you have to pay people to be part of a community then its not a community, if you have to bribe someone to be part of a community then it means they hate the community by the amount you have to pay them.
@Jimmy Riddler: wow extraordinary, all those blind and disabled people take welfare of €20 billion per year !!!
To be honest this title “laziest counties” has nothing to do with the content. Very annoying click bait title. I kept reading trying to find more detail on how number of steps relates to laziness and there is nothing.
I couldnt be bothered reading this guff.
They could’ve just counted the number of posts here on a daily basis! My posts don’t count cause half the time they don’t make sense, the other quarter I’m inebriated, and the last eighth I work when I want so post when I want. People will say that’s not a total of 100%, correct, I’ll be damn sure not to make full use of my time, annoy those who say to not enough hours in the day!
@Brown Boots: i think all posters should be breathalysed !
Too lazy to read the article so came straight to the comments to get the gist of it.
Some – not all – might lazy maybe when it comes to doing anything about rotten elected politicians. Walking in protest – stuff that! They would rather stay at home and watch EastEnders or some other equivalent, brain-dead rubbish – while continuing to allow themselves to be further financially screwed, by the usual political Mafia!
@Clear And Graphic: tools to distract the masses from asking questions. The amount of non working time and energy given to watching sports is unbelievable. But if it keeps the masses from initiating a coup when their oil and gas is given away or the bank Ponzi loots their pension reserve fund then keep the distractions going.
Seems we’re too lazy to get to either end of the scale also.
Sure the local post office is never that far away when collecting the “wages” is it. Screw asking why work when the government will pay me….why move when the government will pay me?
Ridiculous study. Were probably tracking something else but passed it off as this BS
I jog 12km every day of the week. Still too much emphasis on cars in Ireland. I think we will get pretty fat in the near future as things stand.
Such a stupid article ! So generalised and using the word ” lazy” takes no account of hard working people without smartphones or the need to be mobile while working. It takes no account of gender. In some countries women work so hard and men do SFA !! In Thailand for example, there is a convenience store every 100 metres because the Thai people do not like to walk in the heat ! However, the women work so hard , long hours, low wages. The men do as little as possible ! The study is a nonsense !
What a stupid way to collect data for a study.
What % of Indonesians go to the gym or pool or take part in sports?
This is more like a study that 2nd class would do.
have your say