Sad news everyone. Our beloved friend the computer has now become a hated enemy

I interviewed Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor about their terrifying diagnosis of and surprisingly optimistic prescription for a bad case of End Times Fascism www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

Naomi Klein: The super rich need to be abolished and ‘prescribed a middle-class life’

End Times Fascism by noted author and her collaborator Astra Taylor contains a hopeful prescription for neighbourly resistance

irishtimes.com

‘I have added that to the diary and will definitely have it done next week’

Oisín McGann@oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 3w ago

When I try to mentally file away someone’s name.

Increasing bus fares while passing € 1 billion in fuel subsidies is a conscious decision. Cancelling public transport infrastructure projects while approving new roads is a conscious decision. Underpaying solicitors & public servants while the country has a massive budget surplus is a....

Bus and train fares for adults to increase by average of 15% from January, NTA confirms

The move has been criticised by opposition parties.

thejournal.ie

Darragh O'Brien and the government letting the NTA take the blame while they ignore press requests. I don't remember seeing Revenue staff wheeled out to announce fuel tax cuts while the ministers took a backseat.

Feljin Jose@feljin.ie · last mo.

So the government cut excise on fuel to reduce fuel prices but are increasing public transport fares because of inflation. In a cost of living and climate crisis. Make it make sense.

don’t think anyone understands 95% of the Gorillaz lore but it seems to make Damon Albarn happy so we leave him to it

Today's extension of excite cuts to fuel will help people in the short term. But all they are is a sticking plaster. The government have no plan for what happens at the end of October, and are ignoring the possibility that these price hikes are the new normal. FF and FG are living in a fantasy.

Trying to get my head around AI‘s “circular financing” & it’s so 2008 coded it reminded me of The Big Short line; if you feel bored & stupid, start worrying I’m concerned our Govs aren’t worried enough; in the @irishtimes.com today: www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

I know this isn't terrorism. You know this isn't terrorism. The authorities know this isn't terrorism. But, once again, they have labelled protesters "terrorists", as part of the long-running programme to ensure that no one dares protest about anything any more. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Seven charged with damaging Trump’s Scottish golf course accused of ‘terrorist connection’

Course at Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort was painted with words ‘Gaza is not 4 sale’ and clubhouse was sprayed with graffiti

theguardian.com

The fallout from the collapse of this glacier - a torrent of mud surging down the valley - killed hundreds of people. Gone, in a flash. Those people were wiped out by anthropogenic climate change. Our governments are simply not responding quickly enough to this disaster which is already upon us.

Nahel Belgherze@wxnb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

An incredibly well-timed Landsat 9 pass captured the effects of yesterday’s catastrophic glacier collapse near the Nepal–Tibet border. The event was so massive that it was detected by seismometers around the world.

Couple of things: - This isn't actually a lot of water in context of broader consumption - It is still a prioritisation problem when you are restricting domestic use - The fact that the Taoiseach threw a strop when asked if it was possible to provide these figures remains the most troubling part

Conor O'Carroll@conorocarroll.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Tonight, we reveal how water use from data centres almost doubled during the summer, peaking in July when the hosepipe ban was introduced for households. The figures show data centres used over 514 million litres of water between May and July this year. Read on thejournal.ie just after midnight 🔜

yeah idk I’m a bit skeptical of a technology that’s mostly being marketed as a way to write way longer emails and at the receiving end summarize them again

The urge to keep all the tabs open is not a recent thing. Pictured: a 300-year-old library tool that enabled a researcher to have seven books open at once, yet conveniently nearby (Palafoxiana Library, Puebla) @unmlawlibrary #globalmuseum #library #libraries #reading #history

Every day I have to hear about some asshole

Government have spent over a billion euro on fuel subsidies this year… yet have no room in the budget for new BusConnects phases, Luas expansions or Dart+ projects Opposition parties need to get their priorities straight

RTÉ News@news.rte.ie · 2mo ago

Opposition parties have urged the Government to postpone plans to return fuel excise duty costs to their full price due to ongoing concerns over the cost-of living crisis

The word escalate did not exist before escalators. Its first recorded usage was in 1922. I learned this this morning and I still can't stop thinking about it.

starting a collection of quotes like this

Tell me more about e scooters.

Simon McGarr@tupped.bsky.social · 3mo ago

You sometimes see Government TDs pointing out that Ireland isn’t unique in the world in having a housing crisis. But this graph in today’s Financial Times shows just how extreme ours is compared to the places elsewhere, which also describe themselves as a in a housing crisis.

Saladin in 1189:

Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · 3mo ago

The English crosses are weak

New Gist: The End of the 100 Year Government Protecting the property-owning class has been the water that Irish politics swims in, invisible to its participants. It is why our housing crisis exists. Solving it needs a political evolution on the scale of growing legs. www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...

The Gist: The End of the 100 Year Government

Ireland's 100 year government can't change itself, but the country must find a way to change. This is the Gist.

thegist.ie

Draconian tech bans are a sham designed to punish kids for the sins of the adults who've ruined our world, whether online or off. It's high time we began policing them, not our children. www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

Séamas O’Reilly: Social media bans for children ignore the scorpions in the room

We already have ways of mitigating online harms – they are enshrined in laws we refuse to enact

irishtimes.com

Banger Dáil exchange where Paul Murphy is told not to call Elon Musk a "psychopath" in line with Dáil standing orders

if, out of carelessness in the pursuit of profit, food companies poisoned and killed 5000+ people in multiple countries over the course of a few days, there would be international tribunals oil and gas companies are responsible for the heatwave that killed these people, but face no accountability

I think we just passed oops.

ANOTHER RECORD! Lowest number of bills passed since the Republic was declared! SENIOR HURLING! #SpéirGhorm

Wesley@wesgo.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"Only 21 bills completed their passage through the Dáil and Seanad last year – the joint-lowest total in the history of the State. The only year with fewer bills passed was 1922, ... State only existed for three weeks ... still managed to get five Acts passed." www.thejournal.ie/readme/gavan...

SoftBank’s investor presentation is one of the greatest things ever made. I’ve been thinking about it all day. These are the real slides shown in a speech where Masayoshi Son said he wouldn’t retire for at least another decade. The goose stuff is truly demented. Bravo group.softbank/media/Projec...

A few seconds after I took this photo my 7yo had the worst bike crash they’ve had to date, including falling off their bike so hard they actually bounced off the street a bit. They’re scraped up & have a sore wrist, but are ok. I’m so glad to have space for kids to fall w/o worrying about drivers.

I don't know if there's ever been a culture more in love with charlatans than ours. "Success" defined entirely by how good you are at tricking people into giving you money. An entire country of aspiring slop merchants