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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 11d

‘We offer our soldiers socialism to go abroad and defend capitalism, and I was too poor to say no.’

Great points, delivered in a blunt, articulate way.

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 12d

jolly_good_ginger Retired Army Vet Dropping Facts

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 13d

I honestly don't think everyone talks enough about how amazing it was when the world came together to fix the hole in the ozone layer, so I wrote this:

everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/lets-all-r...

It's a good reminder of what we're capable of.

Let's All Remember When We Saved The World

To remind ourselves we can do it again.

everythingisamazing.substack.com

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 14d

These very true words from Steve Hely have given me tremendous comfort over the years.

Writing a novel— actually picking the words and filling in paragraphs— is a tremendous pain in the ass. Now that TV’s so good and the Internet is an endless forest of distraction, it’s damn near impossible. That should be taken into account when ranking the all-time greats. Somebody like Charles Dickens, for example, who had nothing better to do except eat mutton and attend public hangings, should get very little credit.

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John Kenny @johnkenny13.bsky.social · 16d

Can I ask my writer/poet/artist friends here to consider signing this statement in support of Sally Rooney and the right to peaceful protest in democratic society? chng.it/DP4sSJ9N4d #sallyrooney #palestineaction #peacefulprotest #democraticsociety

This campaign needs you now

Support Sally Rooney & the Right to Peaceful Protest in Democratic Society

chng.it

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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 16d

I wish Bluesky critics would acknowledge this simple, somewhat horrifying fact

ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 16d

we are the only usable social media platform — no, mastodon does not count — that is not controlled by a passive or active ally of the government

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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 25d

I wrote this in January, about the issues we face when responsibility for covering the irony-poisoned and extremely-online trolls of the far right, falls to journalists who can't rotate a PDF.

www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...

The same sturdy media apparatus that so assiduously pores through court documents — or uncovers spending gaps or analyses executive orders — is not well positioned to tackle a movement entirely predicated on bad faith gestures designed to shock and confuse — not least one whose roots are in labyrinthine internet subcultures that modern, professional journalists will have avoided their entire lives. And so, buffering at the sight of the world’s richest man delivering a fascist salute to the cameras of the world, they froze on the spot. Within hours, the sensible and serious moderates everywhere from the BBC to the New York Times caveated their coverage with quote marks or qualifiers; “what looked like”, “what some are calling”, “what many interpreted as”.

It is a deliberate nudge and wink to the far-right ideas you actively hold, bathed in a self-defensive layer of irony from which you can always wriggle, on the grounds that it was just a hilarious joke. “I’m an edgelord, not a Nazi,” you continue to tell yourself even as your every viewpoint calcifies toward the politics of Genghis Khan.

This kidding/not kidding tactic forms the entire story of the last two decades of angry nerds on the internet. We have seen it play out everywhere sad men congregate to complain about their unhappy lives and get told that someone else — someone foreign, different, or weird — is to blame. None of it is mysterious. None of it is innocent. None of it is new.

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Philip O'Connor @philipoconnor.bsky.social · 23d

It really, really isn't. Finland solved the problem almost entirely through Housing First years ago, and they told the Irish government how to do it - the Irish govt just ... didn't bother.
This is from 2019:
www.broadsheet.ie/2019/05/01/a...

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Patrick Freyne @patrickfreyne.bsky.social · 26d

We need to treat social media as humanity's demented id - which is pretty much what it is - and stop feeling like everything on here is a thought out policy position that requires a response. Everyone on the internet is basically mad & drunk & has a real job/family somewhere they're neglecting.

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Sep 2

Wooo they've gotten quite annoyed with me for not responding fast enough - happy I cancelled.

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Detritus Books @detritusbooks.bsky.social · Sep 2

Rookie numbers y’all.

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Jason Arthur @jasonarthur.bsky.social · Aug 28

‘Sharp, funny & vivid, these stories are brilliantly attuned to the messiness of life.’ @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social

‘Gritty & soulful, spiky & incisive...A memorable debut collection.’ @colinbarrett.bsky.social

@davetynan.bsky.social's We Used to Dance Here published today.

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Jason Arthur @jasonarthur.bsky.social · Aug 25

'You’re always trying to write what you don’t feel is out in the world already.

Dave Tynan's We Used to Dance Here will be out in the world this Thursday!

Dave Tynan @davetynan.bsky.social · Aug 25

I got into the paper, the book out this week with @grantabooks.bsky.social

www.irishtimes.com/life-style/2...

Dave Tynan: ‘I was approaching it like it might be the only book I ever write’

Writer-director Dave Tynan on failure, film and his new work We Used to Dance Here

www.irishtimes.com

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Aug 14

Verification means we can establish what is true in ways we can trust, through journalism, science, courts, audits, transparency. Deliberation means we can reason together across differences, in parliaments, the press, social movements.
Accountability means power can be held to account.

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Aug 14

To expand on some of the points I make in this, we often talk about democracy as if it lives or dies on elections. But elections are just one part of the picture. At its core, a healthy democracy depends on three functions working together: Verification, Deliberation, and Accountability, aka VDA.

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Aug 14

Here's my interview with Amol Rajan on BBC Radio 4's Radical about what's going wrong with democracy and how we can fix it

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Radical with Amol Rajan - Fake News: How We Can Save Ourselves From Disinformation (Eliot Higgins) - BBC Sounds

Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins on the crisis of democracy.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Aug 11

Amazing insight in this

Sarah Lamdan @sarahlamdan.bsky.social · Aug 11

Fantastic read by Trevor Quirk on the most fascinating topic: data flows.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/11/m...

I Never Understood Our Data-Saturated Life Until a Hurricane Shut It Down

www.nytimes.com

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · Jul 29

Again, why critical thinking skills are crucial in education. If people are bombarded with a constant stream of algorithmically selected content that engages them emotionally and we aren't equipping them with critical thinking skills from an early age then things like this are the inevitable outcome

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · Jul 28

think this is sort of interesting as actually.....no you probably didn't need to do "more research" into it? you just had to trust the state and local authorities to know better than you when it came to vaccinating your child? not good that the internet has killed faith in institutions!

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the karyn in the woods @karynmoy.bsky.social · Jun 23

the turtle in particular keeps cracking me up he’s so ready for a scrap

Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · Jun 21

When the auld lads get to the pub and all their seats are taken.

A pile of grumpy plush frogs and an actively angry plush turtle

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Jun 20

I’d say it’s @pantibliss.bsky.social and Michael D at a window table and the rest of the cafe is empty-ish

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Jun 18

I was Obama staff in 08 and I am begging you @barackobama.bsky.social please dispense with the causation and this what it is: open fascism. You should be losing your g-d mind, they should have to cut your mic….

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jun 18

Barack Obama warned on Tuesday night that the U.S. was “dangerously close” to allowing its government officials to act in a way “consistent with autocracies,” offering a veiled rebuke of the Trump administration that was delivered with trademark caution.

Obama Steps Back Into the Public Eye Amid Political and Global Unrest

He spoke about the risks of autocracy during an appearance on Tuesday night with the writer Heather Cox Richardson at a time of deep volatility for his party, the country and the world.

trib.al

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Jun 16

Equivalent to the entire population of Ireland turned out to protest Trump and fascism this weekend

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · Jun 15

I love seeing the massive #NoKings turnouts in major cities, but what I love even more are the hundreds and hundreds of small, rural towns that had relatively bigger turnouts compared to their populations 💙🙏

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Erin Fornoff @erinfornoff.bsky.social · Jun 16

I got given one and was all ‘hell no’ but I find myself using it for other stuff loads - getting coffee grounds out of a French press, mashing potatoes etc

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