The NI Secretary of State should be turned into a proper punishment and require the appointee to live here full time during their tenure
Brendan Halpin
@bthalpin.bsky.social
Refugee from ex-Twitter, mostly at @bthalpin@mastodon.social
Irish politicians can legislate, but they can't govern.
IrishCycle.com@irishcycle.com · 2w agoPlease make it make sense: A 16-year-old will be able to drive a tractor or 90km/h+ light motorcycle, but not a scooter locked to 20km/h -- This is classic performative politics of the likes seen by now former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which just ends up annoying everybody....
Clearly, if GBeebies wasn't allowed to lie, it couldn't function (as the UK's Fox News)
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w agoGB News will not be investigated over ‘no riot in Belfast’ claim
Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out.
If you’re wondering why UK press has suddenly woken up to Farage, please read this. It’s because: Brexit. The r/w press refused to scrutinise the money behind Farage & the lawsuit against me scared off the rest. But this isn’t a new scandal. It’s the same one I’ve been reporting on for a decade
THE NERVE@thenerve.news · 3w agoNEW: Who funds Nigel Farage? And why has it taken till now for any journalistic scrutiny? @carolecadwalla.bsky.social who has tracked him for a decade exposes how the UK press & regulators looked the other way 🧵👇
The third-place playoff, as scripted by Goscinny & Uderzo.
The White House spokesman is relaxed about the banner held by the Argentina team. It's a freedom of speech issue, apparently. Wonder if the US administration would be as relaxed if Lamine Yamal borrowed Janet's on Sunday?
that's what happens when you fire the prompter guy for trading on inside information!!!!
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoTrump, sounding hoarse, is struggling to read the teleprompter
On Reddit earlier: complaints about USanians claiming to have invented the internet; Ox grads complaining re losing their e-mail addresses. So I looked up my old e-mail address & remembered that my online existence predates the internet: from HALPIN@UK.AC.OXFORD.VAX to halpin@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Ireland needs to buy a Canadair or two
The Irish Times@irishtimes.com · 3w agoWildfire flare-ups in Killarney sees part of N71 close again
No science fiction could have prepared us for just how stupid the end of the world can be. "The environment was on the brink of collapse, and so, rather than deal with that, we burned what fuel we had left getting computers to scam each other for money."
@BylineTimes doing incredibly important proper investigative journalism to reveal how Cambridge University is being expolited by the immensely rich, trans-national, far white, racist, Christian-nationalist network. bylinetimes.com/2026/07/09/p...
Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Reform UK's Cambridge University Recruitment Pipeline Project Revealed
The world-renowned academic institution has nothing to say in response to a six-month investigation by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at Cambridge University. Why?
bylinetimes.com
After the near miss in 2017, residents of the apartment block who complained about the bonfire or tried to organise faced intimidation & threats from Loyalist paramilitary groups based on Sandy Row. When the BBC made a documentary about the incident, the staff working on the documentary were warned
I live in a small French town of 9000 people. There are seven different public toilets. None is more than five minutes walk from the other. They are clean, and cleaned daily, and all of them are free. One even has showering facilities. And who pays for them? Local businesses through their taxes.
In a few weeks I’ll be giving one of this year’s Ihaka Lectures. This is a big honor for me, I have to say, as I’ve has benefitted so much from R and learned so much from its community of developers and users over the years. This year’s other lecturers are @nrennie.bsky.social and @robjhyndman.com.
Ihaka Lecture Series 2026
Thinking Critically, Creatively, and Responsibly with Data
eventbrite.co.nz
There it is. Now the story of Farage’s bank account being closed starts to make a lot more sense…. What else was going on with his finances?
Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 4w agoNigel Farage £5 million 'gift' from a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it was money laundering. The whistleblowers alerted the NCA as they were "not satisfied they could trace the ultimate origin of the funds."
Bertillon introduced the first standardized system of causes of death,and made many statistical charts and maps. This lovely one shows movement of travellers through Paris, using flow lines overlaid on the city map, bar charts and a pie chart legend.
Michael Friendly@datavisfriendly.bsky.social · 4w ago#TodayinHistory #dataviz #Onthisday #OTD 📊 💀Jul 07, 1922 Jacques Bertillon died in Valmondois, France 🇫🇷 1896: Use of area rectangles on a map to display two variables and their product (height=population of arrondisements in Paris, width=percent foreigners; area = total number()
I know UK law requires politicians to register gifts, but what does it say about paying tax when somebody gives them £5 Million? #Farage
Il y a trois jours, j’avais publié un message que j’ai finalement supprimé. Je le trouvais trop émotionnel, et pas assez solide face aux incertitudes sur l’intensité de cette troisième canicule. J’ai eu tort. 1/6
From openly corrupt to bragging about your corruption.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.Trump: "Every time I see a crypto guy where they dropped an investigation, I said, 'You're lucky I'm president.'"
and there we go. again, all this could have been avoided by the simple rule of 'don't support a candidate with a Nazi tattoo'. Not a challenge! www.politico.com/news/2026/07...
Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her
The Maine Democrat denied the allegations and said, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”
politico.com
When the establishment stops boosting you, and starts exposing you, it must feel like a hit job. I wonder what changed?
The National@scotnational.bsky.social · last mo.Nigel Farage is facing mounting pressure over the financial support given to him by a convicted criminal – as the Reform UK leader claims he has been the victim of an 'establishment hit job'
Lib Dems have been advising Fox News on their bar charts?
turgut keskintürk@tkeskinturk.bsky.social · last mo.data visualization is my passion.
TIL Bill Watterson looks exactly like Calvin's dad?!
Comics in the Golden Age@comicsinthega.bsky.social · last mo.Happy birthday to Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes! Born on July 5, 1958.
