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Spanish Civil War (Non-Intervention) Act, 1937

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The pandemic is not the first time Irish government has prevented people from travelling to Spain. All the current talk of special credentials required by Irish people to leave for Spain reminded me of the Spanish Civil War (Non-Intervention) Act, 1937.  This law enacted by the Irish Free State (Ireland was not yet a republic) was intended to stop Irish people from travelling to fight in the Civil War in Spain. Section 5 of the act made it unlawful to join either side ("belligerent") in the war or to "induce or attempt to induce persons" to do so.  Section 6 stated that "It shall not be lawful for any person who is a citizen of Saorstát Eireann to depart or attempt to depart from Saorstát Eireann for the purpose of proceeding to Spain ... unless such person holds a passport ... bearing an endorsement ... declaring such passport to be valid for Spain and Spanish territory." https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1937/act/1/enacted/en/print.html A person who ...
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Googlemobile

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The googlemobile drove past my house today at 1442, so I guess I will be on street view in due course. I was expecting it to look more impressive. I had hoped to stage some frightfully clever piece of performance art in the front garden. Perhaps a commentary on the survielance society, but in the end all I had to show was my empty coffee cup on the window sill. The siñorita will probably give out about about that once a week every week until the googlemobile comes around again. The month in the run up to an election seems like an unfortunate time to build up a street view database. Election posters all over the place will obscure some views, will date the pictures, and will send the face blurring algorithm into overdrive.
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Weeds Season 3

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I like Weeds. The episodes are short and densely packed with plot and wit. It is a dark drama based on a widow who turns to drug dealing to support her suburban lifestyle. There's plenty of interesting commentary and observation of the conformity of suburban life, and the thin veneer that covers the dark goings on behind closed doors. Weeds inhabits the same world as American Beauty. I think though that it misses the mark slightly. The problem with Weeds is that it is not dark enough. The inevitable violence of the drug business has a cartoon quality. So the danger that drives much of the plot and the tension is somewhat unreal. When one character is very seriously injured in a non-drug related incident, his injuries and his pain and suffering are played for laughs. Some interesting characters have become cartoon stereotypes. So when another character is beaten up (off screen) by a drug gang it's hard to take it seriously. Instead of being like the Desperate Housewives meets...
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