Derek Brauders
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derekbrauders.bsky.social
Derek Brauders
@derekbrauders.bsky.social
600 followers 1.4K following 1.3K posts
Explorer of new horizons. Irish, EU, Retd Irish Military. Interests in politics, wine, photography, and really anything else of interest. On Mastodon, Threads, IG. Same name.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Derek Brauders
conorgallagher.bsky.social
As Ireland strengthens its military, one country and company gain the most

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
January 24, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
conorgallagher.bsky.social
Defence Forces retires ‘disastrous’ armoured fleet as it looks to French replacements

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
Defence Forces retires ‘disastrous’ armoured fleet as it looks to French replacements
South African-made Light Armoured Tactical Vehicles saw minimal operational use since they were acquired in 2010
www.irishtimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
ellenmcoyne.bsky.social
Inside the Arts Council: A ‘blind’ board, ‘divided’ management and ignored staff concerns

www.irishtimes.com/culture/2026...
Inside the Arts Council: A ‘blind’ board, ‘divided’ management and ignored staff concerns
An expert report into the council’s botched €6.7m IT project found ‘no one shouted stop’ in its boardroom
www.irishtimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
fergalbowers.bsky.social
Danone Recall
January 23, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
fergalbowers.bsky.social
Update Danone
January 23, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
virginmedianews.bsky.social
A 46-year-old man will be sentenced next week after being convicted of fraud over a false personal injuries claim.

Constantine Iosca dropped the claim after he was filmed walking unaided, despite alleging serious injury.

#VMNews
January 23, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social
We are no longer posting on X. You can still keep in touch with us on many other social media platforms. Thank you for being part of our community here on Bluesky! 💙
Sign up to our newsletter & be the first to know about our campaigns and news: mailchi.mp/iwt/newslett...
January 23, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
bentonra.bsky.social
Has Rutte overstepped? His sycophancy may yet be his downfall.
January 23, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
samtranum.bsky.social
Dublin City Council CEO Richard Shakespeare says "I have now taken the decision to suspend all posting by the City Council on the X.com platform. This applies to all City Council X accounts and will be actioned with immediate effect."
January 23, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
bridgebooksdromore.bsky.social
It's the 95th of January.

It's grey and miserable.

We're being bombarded with bad news from every angle.

We need something pretty to look at.

These stunning new additions to the Vibtage Collector’s from @vintagebooks outta do the trick 😍

You're welcome.
#BookSky
January 23, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
esri.ie
We are currently recruiting for the following position:

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Economics (Taxation, Welfare & Pensions)

The successful candidate will be involved as a key team member in several stages of this research, including working on the maintenance and development of the ESRI’s
Careers
esri.ie
January 23, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
kimzetter.bsky.social
Exclusive: A cyberattack targeting Poland's energy infrastructure in December used wiper malware that would have erased grid computers and rendered them inoperable had it not been thwarted, a researcher at @ESET told me. The researcher calls the attack "unprecedented" for Poland and "substantial"
Cyberattack Targeting Poland’s Energy Grid Used a Wiper
A cyberattack that targeted power plants and other energy producers in Poland at the end of December used malware known as a “wiper” that was intended to erase computers and cause a power outage and o...
www.zetter-zeroday.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
arstechnica.com
For Musk and xAI, there have been no meaningful consequences for Grok’s controversial outputs yet.
Asking Grok to delete fake nudes may force victims to sue in Musk's chosen court
Millions likely harmed by Grok-edited sex images as X advertisers shrugged.
arstechnica.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
rcsi.bsky.social
A new study shows young people in Ireland are increasingly being diagnosed with spinal cord damage from recreational use of nitrous oxide.

Led by Prof Seamus Looby of RCSI and Beaumont Hospital, the findings show cases have spiked since the pandemic.

🔗 www.rcsi.com/dublin/news-...

#RCSIdiscover
Discarded nitrous oxide canisters on a roadside
January 23, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
andraswf.bsky.social
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
sturdyalex.bsky.social Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 1d
From NYT interview with FBI official on Patel. Utterly terrifying.

"His staff only cared about three things: what his meals were, when his workouts would be and what his entertainment would be. The biggest plan is how he's going to get his girlfriend to Windsor Castle."

(Source: archive.is/ZT5qx)
Senior executive 2: Every May, there's a Five Eyes conference with the head of every intelligence agency. This year it was in the U.K. Kash Patel is going. In the lead-up to that, his detail starts making crazy requests. He's got special requirements on everything. And the Brits are getting pissed. Before the conference, his staff says he's unhappy because he doesn't like meetings in office settings. What he wants is social events. He wants Premier soccer games. He wants to go jet skiing. He'd like a helicopter tour. Everyone who heard about this was like: Hold on. Is he really going to ask the MI5 director to go jet skiing instead of meeting? The schedule is set, and every Five Eyes partner is doing this. They can't just say that he's not participating and instead he wants to go to a Premier soccer game. This is a job, guys. His staff only cared about three things: what his meals were, when his workouts would be and what his entertainment would be. The biggest plan is how he's going to get his girlfriend in there so she can go to Windsor Castle. He's got Nicole Rucker as his assistant, like a true executive concierge. And when she's not getting the food or the workout she wants, she'll just start screaming at people, Make it happen! His staff was briefed multiple times that the Brits were going to want to talk about an F.B.I. position in London that has been pulled. The F.B.I. is arguably their most important partner. MI5 is 5,000 people. The F.B.I. is 38,000. If MI5 ceased to exist, it would be very bad for us. If we cease to exist, it would be an existential threat for them. That person was working on a ton of sensitive stuff, including embassy penetrations and technology, and they want this position back. So Ken McCallum, the MI5 director, goes to Kash Patel at the conference and says: Hey, we really need this position. It's so important for our mutual benefit. And Kash says: Yep, that person's going nowhere. She's absolutely staying. And the Brits rejoice. Two weeks later, he reverses himself and removes her. The Brits are outraged. Kash will make promises and he will break them, and he doesn't worry about that. On that trip, the heads of intelligence for the Five Eyes went to Windsor Castle and met with the king. There was a photo taken of all the Five Eyes people, some of whom are nondisclosed, meaning their affiliation with the British intelligence service isn't public. The Brits forwarded that picture as a keepsake for the individuals. They prefaced it with, This isn't to be shared. But Kash has decided he wants to post it on social media. They have people trying to negotiate with the Brits about whether that's possible. They're fighting with the director's office, like: You cannot post this. Do not do that. And they're arguing, He wants a picture out. (The F.B.I. did not respond to questions about this trip.)
January 23, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
mijrahman.bsky.social
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen: “We have learnt something in the past days and weeks. When Europe is not divided, when we stand together, and when we are clear and strong also in our willingness to stand for ourselves, the results will show.”
January 22, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social
‘As for free speech (Senator) Keogan told the gathering she didn’t know where they would be without X [which is] currently fighting for world freedom to undress a child or to show the bullet-ridden corpse of a woman & mother of a 6-year-old in a bikini’ #spéirghorm www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
Kathy Sheridan: Irish people are wrong about immigration - but does that mean we’re ripe for our own Trump?
Real question why Irish and Irish-American Trump supporters haven’t already died of embarrassment
www.irishtimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
adrianweckler.bsky.social
So we have figures now.

Grok created and shared 1.8m sexualised images of women between December 31 and January 8, after Elon Musk promoted the feature on X.

Overall, the Grok chatbot generated and posted 4.4m images — 41% were sexualised images of women

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...
Musk’s Chatbot Flooded X With Millions of Sexualized Images in Days, New Estimates Show
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
It's the year the flu virus has 'run riot' in Ireland, but it isn't the only respiratory virus on the scene. By Aoife Ryan-Christensen with insights from Christine Loscher @dublincityuni.bsky.social @researchireland.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
Do you have a bug, cold or flu? You're not alone this season
It's the year the flu virus has 'run riot' in Ireland, but it isn't the only respiratory virus on the scene
www.rte.ie
January 22, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
bentonra.bsky.social
What Trump will ‘remember’ from this episode is that the EU, European NATO allies + Canada - in concert with markets - thwarted his desires. The Union had better prepare itself for much more from Washington and must collaborate ever more closely with 🇳🇴 🇬🇧 🇨🇦
January 22, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
mrjamesob.bsky.social
‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials
Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas
www.theguardian.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
ec.europa.eu
As other donors retreat and humanitarian law faces unprecedented strain, the EU maintains its commitment: principled aid that reaches people in need, wherever they are.

More info: link.europa.eu/YBDJKp
January 22, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
ec.europa.eu
The EU stands firm as the leading global donor.

As global crises leave 239 million people in crisis, we are providing €1.9 billion in humanitarian aid in 2026, including €557 million for Africa, €448 million for Gaza and the Middle East, and €145 million for Ukraine.

↓
An infographic showing the European Union's initial humanitarian aid budget for 2026, totaling €1.9 billion. A world map features five color-coded circles of varying sizes representing funding for different regions. Regional Funding Breakdown: Sub-Saharan Africa (Green): €557 million (the largest allocation). Middle East and Northern Africa (Orange): €463 million. Non-geographical allocations (Blue): €415 million. Asia, Latin America, Pacific, and the Caribbean (Red): €294 million. Ukraine, Western Balkans, and the Caucasus (Purple): €153 million. The European Union logo is in the bottom right corner.
January 22, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
newschambers.bsky.social
"I don't do computers", says leader of party whose prominent members and former members personally earn thousands of pounds for posting on X - some of which is part of the £380,000 in question.
hleehurley.com Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 2d
"Nigel Farage has blamed his failure to declare £380,000 of income from TV and speeches on “severe growing pains” since becoming an MP and the fact that “I don’t do computers”." [Times]
January 22, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Derek Brauders
adrianweckler.bsky.social
Truthiness
January 21, 2026 at 9:29 AM