{"id":10423,"date":"2021-01-02T09:42:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T09:42:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=10423"},"modified":"2021-01-02T09:42:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T09:42:47","slug":"unforgettable-year-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2021\/01\/02\/unforgettable-year-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Unforgettable Year: September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As summer gave way to a season of mist and mellow fruitfulness in September Covid-19 returned with a vengeance, but by now there was considerable disagreement over elusive facts.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/science-environment\/science\/covid-19-in-ireland-elusive-facts\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Frank Armstrong interrogated unreliable accounts in the Irish media<\/span><\/a>, and the doomsday scenarios of a number of scientists.<\/p>\n<p><em>The main go-to-man among Irish scientists for the Irish media has been Trinity Professor of Immunology Luke O\u2019Neill. On June 22nd he claimed that Ireland would have had 28,000 deaths if there hadn\u2019t been a lockdown.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The piece earned praise on Twitter from <em>Irish Times<\/em> journalist Ronan McGreevy.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is a brilliant blog post which should be ready by every journalist covering Covid-19. It takes aim at several ubiquitous experts who have made wildly inaccurate predictions and who have not been held to account for those predictions. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1QgEahaxfH\">https:\/\/t.co\/1QgEahaxfH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ronan McGreevy (@RMcGreevy1301) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RMcGreevy1301\/status\/1309420392369524742?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Andrea Reynell, meanwhile, looked for new ways of socialising during <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/society-culture\/society\/the-new-abnormal\/\">The New Abnormal<\/a><\/span>; although having to order a meal made the idea of going out for a drink less appealing.<\/p>\n<p><em>It is easy for some premises that already served food. But it is a bit of a pain knowing that you\u2019re spending more than you want, all for the sake of a socially-distanced drink.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10425\" style=\"width: 624px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10425\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/DiversDublinBay-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"416\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Divers on Dublin Bay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That month we receive the first in a series of articles from <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/science-environment\/dublin-bays-unsettled-future\/\">underwater photographer Daniel Mc Auley<\/a><\/span>. The first acquainted us with the hidden world below Dublin Bay.<\/p>\n<p><em>The silt and sandy bottom around Dublin Bay is in a state of constant motion, drawn by the strong tidal flows moving down the east coast of the country. These massive sand banks are also easily disturbed by strong southerly or easterly winds, leading to dramatic drops in visibility when a strong wind blows. Unlike the deep water off the west coast, Dublin Bay is a relatively shallow body of water with a primarily sandy bottom.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10426\" style=\"width: 614px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10426\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/CoralGardenDalkey-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coral Garden Dalkey Island, Dublin Bay. Image (c) Dan Mc Auley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Another new contributor <a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/society-culture\/society\/the-horse-that-kicks\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Neil Burns<\/span><\/a> wrote movingly following his work in addiction services:<\/p>\n<p><em>Heroin addicts tend to mate for life. Like dilapidated swans \u2013 twisted in a deadly alliance they dance and embrace towards a finality of breath. Like a sculpture in a Giorgio de Chirico painting. It is an ersatz marriage of sorts, sharing needles \u2013 inveigling that sharp, finite pain. Into the vein. The arm. The thigh. Leaving rack-marks like horse gallops that tear up the grass on a racecourse. Puckered, indeed, punctured skin. Delving into the life\u2019s blood. The blood\u2019s life which is cherished. Next to Godliness. Spike island. Feel like Jesus\u2019 son was The Velvet Underground\u2019s lyric. Warm blanket to insulate against the world\u2019s harshness. Being judged. Much of it in the head and coveted paranoia.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10428 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/RiseoftheMachines-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"623\" height=\"351\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While Boidurjo Rick Mukhopadhyay was considering <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/society-culture\/society\/the-rise-of-the-machines\/\">The Rise of the Machines<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n<p><em>f you have already worked out that whoever lives inside your phone when you say \u2018Hey Siri\u2019 or \u2018Hey Google\u2019 can read emails out to you, find the nearest movie theatre, or reserve a restaurant table, then Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already in your life.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10429\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10429\" style=\"width: 589px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10429\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/LebanonMyGovernment-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"589\" height=\"332\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10429\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image: Luke Fitzherbert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Next, Luke Fitzherbert despaired at <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/current-affairs\/global\/lebanons-rotten-leadership-seems-irreplaceable\/\">Lebanon\u2019s rotten leadership<\/a><\/span> after a massive explosion that rocked Beirut:<\/p>\n<p><em>The impact of the explosion is hard to understate. Its sound and force stretched for miles, releasing a huge mushroom cloud that killed close to two hundred people, and scarred thousands both physically and mentally; destroyed countless homes, and leaving once vibrant streets desolate. The immediate aftermath was dystopian: \u201cIt was like a movie. People moving slowly, covered in blood, glass shattered everywhere. Leaving a whole city riddled with PTSD,\u201d recalled one witness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And in the wake of Amy Coney Barrett\u2019s appointment to the Supreme Court David Langwallner reckoned it was <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/current-affairs\/comment\/game-over-american-democracy-in-tatters\/\">game over for American democracy<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10430 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/GemmaDunleavy-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"392\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We found a <a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/music\/musician-of-the-month-gemma-dunleavy\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">gem to be September\u2019s Musician of the Month<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><em>My name is Gemma Dunleavy and I\u2019m a yapper. I\u2019d talk the handle off a cup. I also write and play music. I see myself as a storyteller first, then a musician. It\u2019s where I feel my true gift is, my natural comfort is in meandering through my memories, picking out the best details to paint the clearest picture in the heads of those listening.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10431 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/BrianMooney-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"639\" height=\"385\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Also in music coverage <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/music\/and-as-for-loss-the-next-new-low\/\">Brian Mooney<\/a><\/span> was keeping the conversation going after the tragic loss of his wife to cancer:<\/p>\n<p><em>six months now. A year of firsts. A lot of lessons learnt. A new wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>And I feel quite stupid and not quite intelligent enough. Exposed, as my better half who I was always so proud to be beside has gone away.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I have to build now. My friends are close and music has kept the conversation going\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10432 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/colombo-with-a-pink-tie-1-1037x722-1-300x209.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"668\" height=\"465\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We enjoyed futuristic fiction from <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/literature\/fiction\/talking-through-your-chin-box-3-2\/\">Camillus John<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n<p><em>Gasping for a hit, Carl made himself a fresh cup of coffee. But big-nosed and bat-eared, when he tried to slam it, the steaming brown liquid dribbled down his chin to piddle over his pink tie and white shirt. His accountant\u2019s uniform.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also in fiction, <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/literature\/fiction\/tina\/\">Yona Shiryan Caffrey<\/a><\/span> brought a portrayal of cocooning widows in rural Israel in Tina.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-10433 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/MakeofMe-300x144.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"675\" height=\"324\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There were poetry submissions from <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/literature\/poetry\/poetry-haley-hodges\/\">Haley Hodges \u2018Make of Me a Microcosm\u2019<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n<p>\u2026. <em>Myriad music still marks her mind, her memory,<br \/>\nMusic of mending and meaning, naming and being\u2014<br \/>\nMusic of mackerel meandering, matter and mass,<br \/>\nMetaphysical music marching from moment to minute<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As well as a number of works from <a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/literature\/poetry\/poetry-mischa-willet\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Mischa Willett<\/span><\/a>, along with the irrepressible <a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/literature\/poetry\/homage-to-henry-kissinger\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Kevin Higgins<\/span><\/a>, who wondered at the longevity of Henry Kissinger:<\/p>\n<p><em>For its birthday, a baby gets Spina bifida<br \/>\nA Bengali family have all their arms sawn off.<br \/>\nFifty bodies topple into the sea off Indonesia<br \/>\nbut none of them are Henry Kissinger<br \/>\nEach time Henry Kissinger again fails to die<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-january-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: January 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-february-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: February 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-march-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: March 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-april-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: April 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-may-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: May 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-june-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: June 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-july-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: July 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/uncategorized\/unforgettable-year-august-2020\/\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Unforgettable Year: August 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As summer gave way to a season of mist and mellow fruitfulness in September Covid-19 returned with a vengeance, but by now there was considerable disagreement over elusive facts. Frank Armstrong interrogated unreliable accounts in the Irish media, and the doomsday scenarios of a number of scientists. The main go-to-man among Irish scientists for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":9567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[474,515,1073,1144,1242,2158,2159,2160,2245,3456,3457,3636,3637,3938,3950,5187,5201,5706,5709,5789,6209,6210,6478,8276,9259,10265],"class_list":["post-10423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-amy-coney-barrett","tag-andrea-reynell-the-new-abnormal","tag-boidurjo-rick-mukhopadhyay","tag-brian-mooney","tag-camillus-john","tag-dan-mc-auley-dublin-bay","tag-dan-mc-auley-photography","tag-dan-mcauley-underwater-photography","tag-david-langwallner-amy-coney-barrett","tag-frank-armstrong-covid-19-coverqage","tag-frank-armstrong-elusive-facts-covid-19","tag-gemma-dunleavy","tag-gemma-dunleavy-musician-of-the-month","tag-haley-hodges-make-of-me-a-microcosm","tag-haley-hodges-poet","tag-kevin-higgins","tag-kevin-higgins-henry-kissinger","tag-luke-fitzherbert","tag-luke-fitzherbert-lebanon","tag-make-of-me-a-microcosm","tag-mischa-willett","tag-mischa-willett-poetry","tag-neil-burns-writer","tag-september-2020","tag-the-rise-of-the-machines","tag-yona-shiryan-caffrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}