Rob

The story here isn't the mess made while scavenging for cans. It's that our government have so thoroughly failed people, they've turned to scavenging bins in desperation. The "solutions" offered here are to the problem of *visible* deprivation, not the problem of the deprivation itself. #Spéirgorm

A Taoiseach has to make hard decisions but they should have empathy and compassion. #spéirgorm

-- Some people saying grandparents would never force a hug, alongside comments (from a minority of commenters) saying they'll give a hug even if it's not wanted. -- As well as a low negative laughing faces, etc, there also seems to be a low level of negative replies to supporting comments...

I've looked at a lot of Facebook comments about the consent advert. A few observations: -- Far more people support the advert than I'd expect. -- Far less negative engagement (laughing faces, etc) than is usual with a backlash. -- A lot of people not liking the advert but then agreeing with it...

I was so preoccupied with whether a friend was developing AI psychosis, I missed the whole fucking government developing it #spéirgorm

Trying to get records through the Freedom of Information (FOI) process can be a pain. In this week's FOI Files, @investigates.thejournal.ie examines when public bodies try to delay access to records with no valid reason. www.thejournal.ie/investigates...

Sinn Féin: We should totally base all our policies on this.

You’re gonna want to see what the BlueSky guys have decided is too intolerant for you to read.

Views from Brazil:

Artist Hozier calls on the Irish government to swiftly approve the visa applications for 55 students in Gaza during Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” tour in Dublin, Ireland.

"It's so much easier to steal this than to rob a bank."

"Men are an embarrassing cringe gender" is objectively correct.

This is becoming a common pattern worldwide and if you're wondering it's because facism and patriarchy are twins.

Hi, my name is Alex Goldman -- you may know me as the host of Reply All. These days I am making a longform narrative podcast called @hyperfixedpod.bsky.social . I am making a small thread to ask to consider becoming a premium member of our completely independent show. hyperfixepod.com/join

"children in households that rely solely on state support are close to living in extreme poverty." www.thejournal.ie/ireland-soci...

If you get a new dangerous dog and you tell everyone it's dangerous and you let the dog off leash in a kid's playground and it bites a kid, the dog will be put down and you will be held responsible. Unless you're an AI company in which case you say "it could have killed us all!" and everyone claps

Heads need to roll for this. Cabinet ministers can't just lie to the public like this. #Spéirgorm

Hahahahahaha gas. I want them to keep going with this. how much water does Sally Rooney drink? How much electricity does her fridge use? How much disinformation does she spread and how many data privacy laws does she breach?

No. That's not what happened. Claude didn't do that, the company Anthropic did that and they should be held accountable - but it's been apparent for a while now that these companies can do whatever they like and they will never be held accountable www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Ireland has some responsibility on this. One of the greatest contributions we could be making to collective EU & global democracy & security (far more useful then disastrous attempts to remove the triple lock) would be having the courage to step up to our role as digital regulator in a serious way.

I am so tired of this Jack Chambers vs Jim O'Callaghan tough guy posturing impacting all our lives. #spéirghorm

So very this. The absolute state of the "everything" at the moment. DO something about it. Join a party, get voting rights within that party, create change. It really is that simple. It's a start. #SpéirGhorm #SpéirGorm #SpeirGorm

it's literally this simple - I mean, have you SEEN the fucking idiots progressive parties keep getting beaten by? Stop engaging with them in good faith (they don't), and just start incessantly repeating what you will deliver - homes, healthcare, childcare and dignity for all.

I said this to @tonygroves.bsky.social on the Tortoise Shack last week - forget winning debates, stop playing on your opponent's home turf, and start presenting a viable, inclusive, sustainable alternative to warmed-over fascism.

'75% of the far-right narrative volume mentioning Ireland comes from outside the state.'

I assume everyone who wrote about the hospital bike shed in their columns and talked about the hospital bike shed on their radio shows and tweeted about the hospital bike shed on their Nazi owned micro blogging app are very excited to discuss this

Lula: "We had to overcome foreign interference through digital platforms, which we will have to regulate. A crime in the digital world must be treated the same as a crime in the real world. We cannot have monstrous companies earning millions... not paying taxes... wanting to steer elections."

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

We have never seen anything like it before. Proven Meta and U.S. interference in the first round; now this criminal voter suppression in the second round. The far-right loves calling corruption when they themselves are against democracy when it benefits their side. This is torturous to watch.

The cops thinking that their job is to enforce the whims of random racist snowflakes is unacceptable. They should be confronting whoever called them with a frivolous complaint.

While Ireland is at risk from the impending bursting of the AI bubble, it has not benefitted much from AI's growth. The investment happening here is producing little that can be taxed, and few jobs. It's virtually all cost and no benefit to us as a country. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

It took just 8 people to send us further down this path tonight. A path closer to war than to peace. Please. If this shit matters to you, make sure there's a progressive voice running in your constituency and support them. If there isn't, be that voice yourself. #spéirgorm

Irish troops to be deployed to participate in an Israeli instigated Lebanese civil war. We’ll have officially gone from peacekeepers to peace enforcers. But people worried about the removal of the triple lock are overreacting…

My piece in @thejournal.ie today about the incredibly frustrating experience of trying to combat invasive plant species in Ireland. In particular, the lack of urgency or even halfhearted support from the state or councils when communities are willing to do most of the hard work locally.

Send up the CMAT signal