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Declan Gaffney

@greyskiesthinking.bsky.social

7.5K followers 530 following 5.5K posts

Research, analysis & grey-skies thinking on labour markets, social security, public finance & equality. Usual disclaimer. Cheap foreign labour 🇮🇪. Profile pic is Takashi Shimura with Toshiro Mifune in Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949).

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · Aug 22

If all young people deferred having children until they could meet the entire cost of raising them, there'd be no workers to pay for pensions in thirty years time.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · Aug 22

Dickensian vibes. Letter in today's @financialtimes.com

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 4h

Alors, te revoilà toi.
Tu crois?
Je suis content de vous revoir. Je te croyais parti pour toujours.
Moi aussi.

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 4h

The difference between the second Lecornu ministry and the first is that there are a few leaves on the tree, not many.

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 4h

And here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice

(Stuck Inside of Matignon with the Memphis Blues Again)

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 4h

I think there might be at least one other David.

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 4h

Guess he made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Libération @liberation.fr · 4h

Nouveau Premier ministre : finalement renommé à Matignon, Lecornu «accepte par devoir la mission» confiée par Macron ➡️ bit.ly/3Wt7Pkq

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 5h

Ain't it always the way?

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 5h

Watched the Arena documentary on Louise Brooks on iPlayer. There's an American life with three acts.

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 5h

Roadrunner (Bo Diddley) 10/10
Roadrunner (Jr Walker) 10/10
Roadrunner (Modern Lovers) 10/10

Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 8h

Fun music game.

Take two songs with the same name and post your combined score out of 10. How high can you get?

No covers/no triples (e.g. Power of Love)

My first effort, which i think is hard to beat...

Zombie (Fela Kuti) 10/10
Zombie (The Cranberries) 7/10

Total score: 17

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 6h

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Arena - The Orson Welles Story: Episode 1

Profile of Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film. This part deals with his work up to Touch of Evil.

www.bbc.co.uk

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 7h

See if part 1 is displayed underneath?

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 7h

PSA The two-part Arena interview with Orson Welles is on iPlayer. So good it deserves to be given a place in the Wellesian oeuvre.

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Reposted by Declan Gaffney

Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 8h

If we can’t even talk in general terms about MPs’ workload- which MPs of all parties agree is v casework- heavy and getting heavier- without a lot of responses being to assume that MPs are not telling the truth/just whinging/ working on the wrong things etc- then I think we’re in a bad place

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Reposted by Declan Gaffney

Moose Allain @mooseallain.bsky.social · 8h

"Neutral" is the ne plus ultra of anagrams.

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 8h

Also: an axolotl. Splendid work.

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 8h

So glad the right side of history has reclaimed frogs as a symbol.

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 21h

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 8h

You couldn't disagree more than me!

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 9h

This is hilarious. Like the idiot free-associating student who had to be constantly told to rein it in at seminars, but now he's mega-rich and people pay to listen to his stream of consciousness. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Declan Gaffney

AlexTaylorNews @alextaylornews.bsky.social · 15h

De simples phrases peuvent changer le cours d'une vie. La mienne par exemple. En 1981 Badinter a prononcé celle-ci 👇inouïe à l'époque. Tout le contraire de Thatcher et sa Clause 28 "interdisant toute promotion de l'homosexualité"
Je venais d'arriver en France. Je suis resté ❤️🇫🇷
Merci Monsieur

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 10h

🇺🇦

Wake in Progress @wake-in-progress.bsky.social · 10h

We're having a bad day over here, in Kyiv. Thousands of people have been left without electricity and water after the night attack. We've been having bad days like this for years now. Russian messages to us are literally missiles. But we're still here. Still reading. We won't forget these messages.

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Reposted by Declan Gaffney

Andy Cowper @hpiandycowper.bsky.social · 14h

Stunning irresponsibility from leaders in the BMA.

Somebody needs to go after them for this, very publicly and very, very hard: www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

BMA leaders suggest GPs ‘overwhelm A&Es’ in revolt against NHS reforms

A letter sent by senior members of the union has been condemned for advising doctors to sabotage the Pharmacy First scheme, which they claim undermines them

www.thetimes.com

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 1d

Was on the list along with Winetavern St, Aungier St, the Forty Foot etc

Reposted by Declan Gaffney

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 1d

Invading Norway because he didn't get the peace prize would be so on brand.

Kevin Rothrock @kevinrothrock.me · 1d

another day in very normal times

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Reposted by Declan Gaffney

Libération @liberation.fr · 1d

«C’est un endroit sacré, intouchable, où il a toute sa place»

Robert Badinter au Panthéon : dans la foule parisienne, des larmes et de la reconnaissance

Robert Badinter au Panthéon : dans la foule parisienne, des larmes et de la reconnaissance

www.liberation.fr

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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 1d

Read L Ron Hubbard's Wiki last night (well, some of it, there's only so much I could take) and that confluence between crank medicine, fraud, anti-democratic conspiracy and crazed inhumanity was awfully resonant with what's going on now.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

RFK JR: There are many other confirmations -- there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol

Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 1d

It's the hairdressers, mere underlings of the republic. In fairness, he's trying to rationalise the exclusion of most of the population from the franchise that most republicans favoured at the time.