Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lee Dillon

Tom Hayes @tomhayes.bsky.social · 9h

I read this with interest, as an Irish person who lives in France and has no vote in the presidential election. The question occurred to me. Why does Ireland actually need a president? Would the political system be any worse if the office did not exist?

www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Maria Steen calls for presidential election to be cancelled over Jim Gavin’s departure

Conservative campaigner missed out on required signatures to make the ballot

www.irishtimes.com

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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 13h

Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.

Kurt @flglchicago.bsky.social · 15h

Here’s video of the incident

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Lee Dillon @leeirenedillon.bsky.social · 17h

on.ft.com/4nyG6L4

How politicians and passengers gave up on greener air travel

A renewed push for economic growth has added to technological challenges and problems with carbon offset schemes

on.ft.com

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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 21h

Amid the constant anti-renewables sentiment so common across our media, this letter today is a blessed relief.

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Clare Fieseler, PhD @fieseler.bsky.social · 22h

Not sure people realize how INSANELY DRAINING data centers will be on our planet.

If you imagine data centers as their own country, they'll rank fourth in global electricity use by 2035 — outranked only by China, India, and the U.S.

Read this in @bloomberg.com👇

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring

Wholesale electricity costs as much as 267% more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. That’s being passed on to customers.

www.bloomberg.com

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Irish Legal News @irishlegal.com · 1d

The Law Society of Ireland is inviting applications for its Access programme, which provides financial and practical supports to help people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a career as a solicitor.

Law Society of Ireland invites applications to Access programme

The Law Society of Ireland is inviting applications for its Access programme, which provides financial and practical supports to help people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a career as a solicitor.

www.irishlegal.com

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Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d

Some folk: "THERE ARE ONLY EVER TWO SEXES OR GENDERS OR PRONOUNS OR WHATEVER I'M UNCLEAR ON ALL THESE TERMS BUT MY POINT IS THERE ARE *TWO* AND YOU CAN ONLY BE ONE OR THE OTHER".

The natural world: "LOL cute, hey new spider, catch".

Feena van @feenavan2099.bsky.social · 2d

"The species is named after Inazuma, a character from the Japanese manga ‘One Piece,’ known for the ability to change sex between male and female"

Half Male-Half Female Spider Discovered In Thailand Is New To Science

Not only is this species new to science, but this remarkable individual is the first record of a rare biological phenomenon in this previously unknown species.

www.forbes.com

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Aunty Em @everycourthouse.bsky.social · 1d

“We are home now. We marched from the park to ICE, very peaceful crowd. We were standing around ICE pushed us down, sprayed us with chemical and I was hit in the head with a projectile. This was so unprovoked. People have to know that the Feds are attacking people with NO provocation whatsoever.”

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Amy K @amyklassen.bsky.social · 1d

It's true! When I studied economics, I was stunned by the ROI of social programs. Every dollar spent on childcare returns about $2.80 to the economy, and healthcare delivers even greater returns with broader social impact.

A universal basic income is simply smart fiscal policy. Why the reluctance?

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 1d

For every €1 provided through a Basic Income For Artists pilot program in Ireland, the government got €1.46 back. So it’s being made permanent.

Over and over we see it. It saves public money to provide public housing. And it makes public money to provide basic income.

We can’t afford to NOT do it.

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 1d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

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Fair Seas @fairseas.ie · 1d

Bígí linn sa Bhruiséil le Conradh na Gaeilge An Bhruiseil 🎉

👉 Teach Tábhairne Kitty O'Seas ar Bd Charlemagne 42, An Bhruiséil. 👈 20:30 - 15 Deireadh Fomhair

- - -

Join us for a special EU #OceanWeek event!

Kitty O'Sheas Pub on Bd Charlemagne 42, Brussels. 8:30pm - 15 October 2025.

#FairSeas

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Streetfilms/Clarence Eckerson Jr. @streetfilms.bsky.social · 2d

Look how wonderful Low Traffic Neighborhoods can be!

This is the Van Gogh Walk in Lambeth, London. This street is decades old but built for people first yet still has access for last block travel & emergency vehicles! @openplans.org @nyc.streetsblog.org @thewaroncars.bsky.social @nycdot.bsky.social

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The Tonight Show @tonightvmtv.bsky.social · 8d

🗣️ "We utterly failed to build public housing on public land." – Catherine Connolly
#TonightVMTV

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 2d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Tom Coates @tomcoates.bsky.social · 2d

This, by the way, is as true of American democracy as it is for the rest of the world.

Alice Stollmeyer @stollmeyer.bsky.social · 4d

🔥 Finally an EU leader says it out loud:

“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks that are controlled either by large American entrepreneurs or large Chinese companies, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies.”

Defend Democracy @defenddemocracy.bsky.social · 4d

President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!

We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

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KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 3d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Connolly for President @catherinegalway.bsky.social · 3d

“We are at a really crucial juncture in our history where we need a voice that has courage, a voice that will not be afraid to speak out, voice for peace.”

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Sue Campbell @radiobeast.bsky.social · 3d

Yup. 20 years of bloat. Ford Explorer SUV (1998) used to be considered big.

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Lee Dillon @leeirenedillon.bsky.social · 3d

Go small, or go home.

Index motor tax to vehicle size & weight please @darraghobrientd.bsky.social. If people want to drive big, they should pay big. And any EV subsidies should favour small vehicles.

#RoadBloat

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3d

This is good —the Mayor of Yellowknife NWT in Canada’s far north weighs in on “Car Bloat” (truck bloat actually) and its many big costs & consequences (thanks @davidzipper.bsky.social for heads-up). And like most who dare tell the truth about that, he’s taking flack.
www.linkedin.com/mwlite/feed/...

Screenshot of LinkedIn post from Yellowknife Mayor describing the costs and consequences of trucks having gotten so much bigger. In the link, he explains the backlash he received for his post.

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Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 3d

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

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sianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 3d

I don't know where this revisionism has come from about the suffragettes - people saying "if the suffragettes were around today, they'd be considered terrorists."

The suffragettes were arrested and tortured, sexually assaulted and beaten by the state. They *were* considered terrorists!

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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3d

According to the City of Paris, in the last 10 years 150K trees have been planted & 45ha of parks created in the already hot city, all intended to not only improve quality-of-life today, but also help the city adapt to & manage summer heatwaves of 50℃ (122F) by 2050.

Just the start.

Common sense.

Paris before and after street transformation

New urban forest planted in front of Paris City Hall

A Paris “School Street” where cars are removed and people space/tree planting are added

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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 4d

🔥 Britain is about to launch a new GCSE in natural history – a vital step toward restoring our knowledge of and respect for the natural world.

Fellow creatures: the new GCSE in natural history

The new GCSE in natural history is a vital step toward restoring our knowledge of and respect for the natural world

westenglandbylines.co.uk

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Reposted by Lee Dillon

Gavan Reilly @gavreilly.com · 3d

#aras25 poll: Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks
(Oct 2-3, MoE 2.6%)

Catherine Connolly 32 (+12 in four weeks)
Heather Humphreys 23 (+3)
Jim Gavin 15 (-5)
Undecided 31 (-8)

After Gavin’s elimination and transfers, Connolly would win 53-47

www.independent.ie/irish-news/p...

Poll: Catherine Connolly leads in race for presidency as support for Jim Gavin drops

Catherine Connolly is now leading the race for the Áras and is ahead of Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys by nine points, a new poll for the Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks today shows.

www.independent.ie

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Reposted by Lee Dillon

Brian Gormley D7 @bgormley.bsky.social · 3d

After a year of the new government there’s a huge trend for delay, commission new reports, kick the can down the road. It’s hard to see any new environmental protections being introduced

Mike Spillane @spillanemike.com · 4d

This is a real pity to read

"The Killarney Coffee Cup Project has lost all of its participating cafes, with just a few hotels and clubs carrying on"

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

Kerry town that banned disposable coffee cups sees project falter amid Government U-turn

Two projects in Dublin, inspired by Killarney Coffee Cup Project, now in doubt

www.irishtimes.com

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Lee Dillon @leeirenedillon.bsky.social · 3d

'If the mainstream political system.. [is] out of step w/ the mainstream voter on big cultural issues like immigration, law & order.. those voters will find a new home. Up to now, they’ve had no home to go to. That will not always be the case.'
#Populism
www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

David McWilliams: A gap has emerged between the Irish establishment and the Irish street

This sort of gap is being filled by populists across the Continent

www.irishtimes.com