The worst-named pub in Dublin is O’Donoghue’s. Since few people will recognise the name, I’ll give another hint: Thing Mote. Ah yes, that place.
I’m not sure when Thing Mote changed hands and was renamed O’Donoghue’s. I can say that in the last 18 months that I’ve been back in Dublin, every conversation that mentioned O’Donoghue’s also included the phrase “the place that used to be Thing Mote”. More frequently, it’s referred to directly as Thing Mote, since many people including myself have trouble remembering its real name.
“Thing Mote” is just odd. It’s slightly jarring, and very distinctive. It’s quirky. The music they played before they changed hands was also quirky and distinctive. In fact the main problem with the place was that it was jam-packed every night of the week.
O’Donoghue’s, on the other hand… For a start, there’s already another Dublin pub called O’Donoghue’s, a few streets away on Merrion Row. It’s well-known for its live trad music, and has apparently been around for over 200 years.
More to the point, O’Donoghue is a bland, unmemorable name. It’s like O’Neill’s (of which there are also two in the south city centre). People have to say “O’Neill’s on Suffolk Street” - not just to distinguish them, but because there are so many Dublin pubs named with generic Irish surnames, that there’s nothing to stimulate your memory. Of course, after 200 years, pubs like O’Neill’s on Suffolk Street and O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row develop enough character and reputation that they stand out in people’s minds. But 200 years is rather a long time to wait to build a reputation.
On the other hand, at least there’s no difficulty getting a seat these days.
Sssh… US exceeds overdraft limit
According to the US Treasury, the statutory limit on their public debt is $8.965 trillion.
According to the same source, as of last Friday, the actual public debt was $8,968,607,956,049.61. Oops.
I’ve searched news sources for an hour, and all I can find is comments that the debt ceiling was expected to be reached in October, and would need sorting out before then. I can only assume that there was a sudden increase due to the Federal Reserve’s actions to the stock market/liquidity crisis in the last few days. Perhaps that explains why their contributions ($2 billion today) were so puny compared to the ECB (€48 billion today).
The Treasury has issued press releases in the past, when previous limits were in danger of being breached, and temporarily stopped selling securities. There’s no such press release at the moment though. So why isn’t this rather dramatic event being reported? Could it be because, with markets already panicking, it might be the straw that breaks the camel’s bank?