“You shouldn’t be worrying yourself Taoiseach,” is the point where Bertie Aherne pleads ignorance and  effectively washes his hands of responsiblity. The rotting core of the Irish financial industry was truly revealed when Lehman Brothers collapsed but one wonders how long would the Irish finiancial institutions stayed afloat if Lehman Brother had survived.

When new kid on the block Bank of Scotland came to Ireland for business, it gave cut-throat mortgages, under-cutting its Irish competitors. To compete, the Irish banking institutions brought their interest rates down and loaned more capital. This is where 40 year mortgages and dangerous 100% finance and 120% mortgages was offered to furnish  homes along with purchasing the property. People who could who never usually be afford to purchase property became property moguls through pressure and easy money from banks. It seems to be an inherent part of the Irish psyche to purchase property, rather than renting as “it’s money down the drain”; a throwback time to John B. Keane’s The Field.

The banks propagated this notion of property sustaining the Irish economy and through Ireland’s ties to the European Union, easy money was available. The governement allowed themselves to be dictated to by property moguls by assisting in them in developments. The property industry became a crutch to the economy, responsible for it’s boom but also it’s destruction. “I don’t want to see any intereference in the propery markets, I don’t want to hear anything about them,” according to Brian Cowen as Minister for Finance.

As far back as 2003, the impending Irish property bubble was foreseen, flashing alarm bells across the board. 42% of Irish homes were overvalued. There was such a descrepancy between the average salary and house prices which could be almost 11 times more.

Irish money was borrowed and recklessless on the part of the banks and property developers. The government twisted themselves to cultivate the most profitable aspect of the growing economy, instead of trying to spread the wealth to other sectors and industries.

Banks rolled over loans, which became bank losses. The developers avoided paying a great deal of tax buying having their loans rolled over to buy something else. Ballsbridge became the most expensive land in the world with prices increasing over 150% by developers seeking to buy up the area.

The loans now transferred into NAMA are responsible for the loans of 20 developers. Only 20 people. To think that such a small number combined with bad decisions by bankers and an unregulated system led to Ireland’s eventual decline and near-collapse. People who didn’t know their ass from their elbow with the foresight of  basic physics, “What goes up, must come back down.” Whether it’s a gentle decline or jump from the edge, prudence was not exercised.

Excessive greed.

Apple catching up to Nintendo…

Tekken film seems to be a go.

Killer openings.

Vintage ads, with at least one bat winged horse smoking a cigarette.

The elecletic Hoover.

Pac-Man with 111 human pixels.

Resident Evil 4 earns respectable dollars worldwide.

Witty, dry, mature, Juno-like voices in youth books.

Anime shorts of game Dead Rising.

Below is the behind the scenes.

Using a pen name.

3D nail art. Crazy stuff, really.

First TV spot for the new Harry Potter movie.

How to use Shrinky Dinks.

Directed and written: Paul W.S. Anderson.
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller.

How did news of Resident Evil 4: Afterlife pass me by?

The end of Apocalpse was left open-ended but it great to see Alice (Milla Jovovich) and Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) are back. with the addition of Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller). Afterlife is set five years after the first film, including of the usual stumble and groan type, there’s mutated zombies which are a bit cooler.

A bonus is that it seems kinda like Kill Bill, as swords hugely feature in the trailer. This film is also earmarked with the filmed exclusively for 3D tagline, let’s see how that works out for them.

Zombies + Swords = A very good combination.

My question is why keep shooting after you’ve jumped out the window?
Hitting cinemas in tomorrow.

The reason why kitties are the universal dominant species.

Britney Spears sued over sexual harassment.

Silent Hill 8 is annouced.

Snooki slapped with community service.

London’s biggest Japanese festival will hold a cosplay competition.

Did Tony Blair plagiarise his memoir?

Creative textiles wanted for the Pink Auction.

Medical blocks from the 19th Century.

Mafia Wars 2 banned from the United Arab Emirates.

Shrek to get an Xmas special, and here I was hoping the franchise was dead.

Mildly amusing this AM.

Defriending frienemies on Facebook.

Self-publishing success or failure?

Johnny Depp to play lovers with his wife Vanessa Paradis.

Hard core Rock Band fans can transfer tracks for a fee…