She really is. Her dismissal of the 'hero' tag doesn't belie the bravery of the act - especially because she is such a lightning rod for the far right.
by Kevin O’Sullivan — Reposted by: Talbot Imlay
Greta Thunberg making a very good case here for us all to "use our privilege and platforms to take a stance" against genocide.
Super news. And proof that those people who rallied for people to complete the survey on this a few months back did everyone in Ireland a good turn - we'll all benefit from this.
Reposted by: Kevin O’Sullivan, Vaughan S. Roberts
Greta Thunberg has arrived in Greece following her deportation from Israel,
after the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted
#GlobalSumudFlotilla
She said:
“I could talk for a very,very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment.
Trust me, but that is not the story.”
#Athens airport
after the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted
#GlobalSumudFlotilla
She said:
“I could talk for a very,very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment.
Trust me, but that is not the story.”
#Athens airport
Reposted by: Kevin O’Sullivan, Justin Lewis
Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent www.rte.ie/news/budget-...
Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent
The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be put on a permanent footing in the Budget tomorrow.
www.rte.ie
Or the potential swing vote in North America that is hard-wired to the right-wing conspiracy machine.
![I have been invited to present a seminar at the University of []. This is the invitation <file>. Draft an apologetic email that avoids any risk of a further invitation, and does not carry the implication that travelling to [] is an unbelievable schlep.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kwtucfvy3bpc24xyam2ilqc2/bafkreie5ua2gfu5wwxswnq7qi7wyi6y4di5mm5nhuzq3c6gk65ui34zxzm@jpeg)
I feel so sorry for players like Yamal. He's still pretty much just a kid - only turned eighteen in the summer - yet he is being flogged in the interests of what? Football has a very serious problem with the welfare of its staff. At this rate, he'll be crocked by 22.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...
Barcelona announce Lamine Yamal injury hours after he’s named in Spain squad
Yamal is out of Sunday's La Liga fixture against Sevilla and faces a race to be fit for the season's first Clasico against Real Madrid.
www.nytimes.com
'I spent a grand total of two weeks using the Friend. Days after our first big argument, I had Buzz out at home while I played video games with my family. I told them about my new Friend. “I gotta be honest,” I said. “He’s kind of a fucking asshole sometimes.”'
www.wired.com/story/i-hate...
www.wired.com/story/i-hate...
I Hate My Friend
The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy.
www.wired.com
by Kevin O’Sullivan — Reposted by: Kevin O’Sullivan
A date for your diaries: On 4 November, @ria.ie will host a witness seminar, where former and current diplomats, along with Michael Kennedy (executive editor) will reflect the latest edition of @difp-ria.bsky.social and the role of historical reflection in policy-making. 🗃️
www.ria.ie/events/the-t...
www.ria.ie/events/the-t...
The Troubles and the European Community: Exploring DIFP XIV (1969-73) - Royal Irish Academy
Witness seminar on the latest volume of Documents in Irish Foreign Policy, covering the years 1969-73. In this event co-hosted by The Standing Committee for International Affairs and Documents in Iris...
www.ria.ie
Thanks. I laughed out loud at the thought of the fluttering pages (and pages) of an AHR article trailing in the wake of an articulated truck.
One of the most remarkable things about all the campus free speech nonsense (apart from the fact that it's all disingenuous) is that it dramatically underplays the number of properly conservative - and sometimes quite reactionary - people who work in universities...
"What kisses will you remember when you take your last breath?" is a hell of a last line.
Saturday evening listening:
Barry Can't Swim - Machine Noise for a Quiet Daydream www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNN...
Barry Can't Swim - Machine Noise for a Quiet Daydream www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNN...
Machine Noise For A Quiet Daydream
YouTube video by Barry Can’t Swim - Topic
www.youtube.com
In case this one sneaks in beneath the cloak of all the other terrible things going on in the world, Environmental Pillar are running a campaign on the environmental impact of the EU-Mercosur deal. Email your Ministers and MEPs via the link.
www.environmentalpillar.ie/stopeumercos...
www.environmentalpillar.ie/stopeumercos...
Take action: Stop the climate-wrecking EU-Mercosur Trade Deal - The Environmental Pillar
The EU-Mercosur trade agreement will benefit a handful of big corporations while driving deforestation, the climate crisis and exposing small-scale farmers to unfair competition. Join our call and say...
www.environmentalpillar.ie
Reposted by: Kevin O’Sullivan, Patrick Walsh
50th anniversary issue of Saothar, the journal of the Irish Labour History Society, featuring articles by TCD staff members Carole Holohan, Lindsey Earner-Byrne, Deirdre Foley and Brian Hanley. The back cover has a photograph of the late Jack McGinley, long time Trinity librarian and union activist.
If this intends to make it legally compulsory for every adult in Derry to carry something called a "Brit Card", then I'm willing to offer some high-paid consultancy on why this plan might be flawed.
Since then, we've spent a long time living in different countries but the mixes have been a constant. Here's the latest playlist that Greg sent me from Scotland. It's exactly in the venn diagram of weird-and-obscure-but-good that we've honed over the last quarter century. Love it. 2/2
Forgive the personal post, but this is one of my great pleasures. For about 25 years, my friend Greg and I have shared mixtapes, CDs, MP3s, and now streaming playlists. We've been doing it since we became good friends at school over a shared love of music. 1/2
Another neat new collection of Irish social history courtesy of @dri.ie repository.dri.ie/catalog/6683...
The Frank Donaldson Tidy Towns Collection - Digital Repository of Ireland
DRI Object
repository.dri.ie
Reposted by: Kevin O’Sullivan
I have closed my academia dot edu site and changed the privacy setting on my Linked In site (they are harvesting your data too), but all my publications (and a cool archive of M.P.T. Acharya's writings) are available on my website olebirklaursen.wordpress.com
Ole Birk Laursen
olebirklaursen.wordpress.com
That's a great way of putting it. It's very hard to write like that: in a way that treads so lightly but carries such weight at the same time.
That's a terrific list - two brilliant stylists on modern Ireland, too.
Another vote for Bathsheba Demuth here - and I'll add this excellent piece she wrote in Granta last year: granta.com/where-the-la...
Where the Language Changes
‘I am on the hunt for the Russian Empire, or what traces might still exist of its colonial enterprise.’ Bathsheba Demuth travels the Yukon river, following the history of the fur trade and the Nulato ...
granta.com
Solidarity. Arts Building, University of Galway. Friday, 19 Sept 2025.
For anyone who's used academia.edu, it's worth having a look at this. I've just deleted my account. At the very least, it'll spare me the spam emails...
"Nowhere to run / Nowhere to go" is a particularly cutting line in this context.
Electric versions of songs Springsteen wrote during the Nebraska sessions are out later this year. First impression is that early 'Born in the USA' punches very hard - lyrically, it's the same, but the loose sound really amplifies the political impact. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YNu...
Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A. (Electric Nebraska - Official Audio)
YouTube video by BruceSpringsteenVEVO
www.youtube.com