Karl McDonald
@karlusss.bsky.social
Report to him, then, that we must have a battle first; for we have had no breakfast. Irish Times assistant news editor and person with too many arcane interests to be worth following.
An Italian guy in Dublin once went minorly viral for claiming in a podcast that there's better coffee in Dublin than Italy because all Italian coffee is the same and hasn't developed with new techniques and origins etc. However, the best coffee in Dublin is burnt espresso from the Italian place so.
Would ceding Ceuta and Melilla be of any interest I wonder? Withdrawing the borders of Fortress Europe to Europe rather than anomalous outposts on the edge of Africa?
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 3d agoEU'S VON DER LEYEN SAYS TO SANCHEZ IN LETTER: CLEAR WE MUST DO MORE TO STRENGTHEN BORDERS AT CRITICAL POINTS
Xenophon continues to be rollicking. The Greeks to the Persian emperor at one point: "Report to him, then, that we must have a battle first; for we have had no breakfast, and there is no man alive who will dare to talk to Greeks about a truce unless he provides them with a breakfast."
Median UK voter in 2026, as predicted by Hugh Laurie some decades ago:
The fella from Sherry FitzGerald sells his house for under asking! Elena Kagan reads Land! The Irish international Rocket League team! Some jobs! It's: my column this week. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
Overheard: Sherry FitzGerald chief’s own €3.75m Victorian house goes for 10% under asking
Plus: Maggie O’Farrell fan Justice Kagan, Micheál Martin’s gamer protegés and two jobs putting out fires
irishtimes.com
Hate to admit this person from Non-Dublin has some points here. Nowhere is the Dead Dublin Theory better illustrated than the proliferation of new pubs done up to look like old pubs imo. Toxic to native fauna but serving the customer base it seeks. www.westernpeople.ie/opinion/dubl...
Dublin is now a shell of its once former self - opinion - Western People
Dublin is now a shell of its once former self - opinion - Western People
westernpeople.ie
Reading Xenophon because it was mentioned in a novel and can I just say one thing we're missing in modern writing is an aside where the author is like "We were almost outsmarted by donkeys but finally got them. They were like venison. Ostriches we could not catch, unfortunately."
Sure sign I am getting too old is that I am chortling away at some of the actions of Count Binface. Chuckling to myself that a man in a bin-and-cape costume is pretending to be a politician. Purge me now.
imo the best book about Irish placenames is not an actual book but the thematic mini-essays Logainm publishes monthly, mostly by Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich & Aindí Mac Giolla Chomhghaill of the Placenames Branch. www.logainm.ie/en/themes?pa...
Featured themes
A selection of common themes in Irish placenames. These short, informative pieces are published on an ongoing basis.
logainm.ie
This carved stone plaque was found in St Francis' Row in Cashel, and it is believed to be the sign for a tavern that was known as The Cat & Bagpipes, that once stood on the main street. It may date to as early as the 16-17th century, and offers a glimpse of Cashel's social life from centuries ago
we gotta take the 90s playlists away from the 25 year old baristas. it’s like rolling into a café in 2011 and hearing Led Zeppelin roll right on into Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now”
Though little remains of their culture now, the concerns and fears of these people can be surmised from the artwork they left.
Little better than when you didn't pay attention to something and then it reaches its zany natural conclusion and the FT has a 7.5-byline read ready for you. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
How Leopold Aschenbrenner, the ‘golden child’ of the AI trade, was laid low
The $20bn hedge fund manager’s wild ride ended with a call to Ken Griffin
giftarticle.ft.com
Maria Guyomar de Pinha, a half Japanese, half Portuguese woman in 17th century Siam, introduced Portuguese convent desserts to the Thai royal court, preparing intricate egg yolk and sugar desserts learned from her aunt in a nunnery in India. open.spotify.com/episode/07cW... #podcast #history
Acquired Tastes: An Interview With James Chatto Part Two
The Delicious Legacy · Episode
open.spotify.com
There is tonnes of this in even organic farming/homegrown veg circles. In Ireland it's often a frustration that there's a new competitor for scarce land in addition to cattle, which famously run the country, and housing.
David Roberts@volts.wtf · 6d agoI genuinely don't know what to do about this. In our diseased information environment, one MAGA-adjacent "influencer" can do more to shape public opinion than mountains of studies or facts. Where are the pro-clean-energy influencers to counter this shit?
Was kind of curious about what a football version of the Fide-Kasparov split would look like. Furious spluttering as Brazil add another star to their crest without playing a European team, Europe-Concacaf-AFC announcing the Pepsi International Friendship Tournament, things of this nature.
✅ Touring Clacton ✅ Visiting local businesses ✅ Listening to constituents’ concerns ✅ Hi-vis vest Make your Vote Count! #VoteBinface #Clacton
I believe in the Sea Peoples. Think of barbarians or hordes or whatever and then put them at sea. Sea Peoples.
as a society we are well past due in establishing No Content Zones where making shit for tiktok is explicitly forbidden
Hemant Mehta@friendlyatheist.com · last wk.Evangelist Whitney Lynn says she preaches on planes because she loves “a captive audience.” She's not alone. It's becoming a trend. If spreading your message requires listeners who can't escape, maybe it's not as compelling as you think. www.friendlyatheist.com/p/christian-...
There are a lot of Greek plays set in the same universe as Homer they could just have a Nolan understudy do. Just keep going. Do stories directly adjacent to the Odyssey: Agamemnon's sacrificial family drama, e.g., or one of the blind seer Tiresias's many adventures with Oedipus and so on
Jesse Hawken@jessehawken.bsky.social · last wk.Studio execs are going to want to adapt more poems for the big screen now
Touching words from Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid on his longtime friend and coworker's wife being shot multiple times in the chest by their son.
People levelling trenchant criticisms at the LRB's editorial decisionmaking in defence of a movie. Will it work? No it will not work.
Having unexpectedly seen the world's greatest Gorgon in Corfu I decided to check if there is a decent Gorgon in Palermo. Of course there is
Learned, as sometimes happens, of Pat Donlon through the news of her death - an interesting life and an admirable combination of civic patriotism with deep pro-library sentiment. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
Pat Donlon, first female director of a national institution in Ireland, dies aged 83
Former National Library of Ireland chief ‘spearheaded’ a number of projects during her time in post, daughter says
irishtimes.com
Have I ever read an actual NYRB edition? Don't think so. Did I nonetheless check the catalogue and pick what I would bang on about? :
Ned Resnikoff@resnikoff.bsky.social · 2w agoNYRB should do their own version of the Criterion Closet for their book publishing arm imo
To any Americans wondering "Kobe McDonald? What's that all about?" - yes, he's named after Kobe Bryant
Defector@defector.com · 2w agoThis year’s All-Ireland Senior Football final mismatches Kerry and Mayo, Gaelic football’s biggest winners against the most notorious losers in the ancient sport’s history. defector.com/from-cursed-...