"the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women"--Noam Chomsky

My research on Christian Zionism and unionist identity in Northern Ireland in today's The Irish News... why Northern Irish unionism maintains strong support for Israel— far deeper than simple political alignment or "tit-for-tat" positioning against nationalism. www.irishnews.com/news/politic...

In Dublin, on Fenian Street, there's a factory that makes child sex abuse material. You can pay it money, as a subscription, and that's one of the services it offers. This doesn't happen by mistake or because you've tricked or hacked the system. It’s a feature. www.thegist.ie/the-gist-the...

Some Grok users, mostly men, began to demand to see bruising on the bodies of the women, and for blood to be added to the images. Requests to show women tied up and gagged were instantly granted. ‘Add blood, forced smile’: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Saipan's premiere in Belfast, produced by ine of my closest friends, Trevor Birney. Never thought I'd be so interested in football and there was still about Irish culture i had no idea about...

I had the pleasure of joining @williamcrawley.bsky.social on BBC TalkBack to discuss Christian Judaism. It was a fascinating conversation about how theology, politics, and identity intersect in Northern Ireland and beyond. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Today - along with colleagues from Ulster University UCU and regional @ucu.org.uk representatives - we had a productive meeting with @caoimhearchibald.bsky.social, the Minister for the Economy in the Executive, about a sustainable and accountable Higher Education sector for Northern Ireland.

Great debate on Christian Zionism in Northern Ireland at the Feile an Phobail, in Belfast. Full room!

Thanks to The Irish News and best PR @scoutfinchreads.bsky.social for this! Talk at St Mary’s University College at 3pm on Friday, come along! @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social www.irishnews.com/news/norther...

Had my paper on critical sociologies of religion after an impressive kick off of the ISA forum in Rabat. Done for the summer!

Delighted to give the first keynote of the 38th ISSR conference in Kaunas, on “Sociology of Religion and Conflict: A Roadmap for Times of Crisis”. @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social

www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-des... an interesting interview with @frank fregosi

Media figures rushed to assume Trump's warmaking would automatically be popular. But new polls show majorities disapprove, and new reports reveal the mission might have failed at its objective! New piece from me on the absurdity of "war is always popular" punditry: newrepublic.com/article/1971...

Chin Hair, Laundry, Your Opinion: Women in Menopause Don’t Care www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/w...

Houston police called ICE on a woman who called 911 to report domestic abuse by her ex-husband. The only reason she didn't get deported is because ICE said there was no one to take custody of her kids, according to the police report. www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

I enjoyed that, hope you will too!

New data show that ICE is pulling record numbers of people off the streets who have no criminal convictions of any kind. This is not just a change from the Biden admin. This is a radical tactical shift compared to Trump 1.0. These arrests are up over 1,000% from 2017. www.cato.org/blog/ice-arr...

Is it too late to give Sacha Baron Cohen an Oscar for this? Not a damn lie told. 🇺🇸

Federal judge rules against NSF rate cap, a victory for research universities. #AcademicSky #HigherEd www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

This morning: Hegseth told reporters the war against Iran is "not about regime change.” This afternoon: ⤵️

Adriana Smith was brushed off when she went to the hospital in pain She was braindead within hours That was in February. Doctors performed a c-section on her on Friday. They kept her on life support for months in order to avoid violating Georgia's abortion ban ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

BREAKING: A judge ordered pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil to be immediately released from jail.

My Canadian university, Queen's, is offering TWENTY 4-year funded PhDs (40k CAD/yr) for a student of ANY citizenship who has been accepted at a top 100 US university but have had offer rescinded OR are reconsidering offer due to US policy. Details found here👇 www.queensu.ca/grad-postdoc...

The UCU Northern Ireland Regional AGM/Conference took place today. We were pleased to welcome the Gen Sec Jo Grady to @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social campus. Not surprisingly, the voluntary severance scheme and ongoing related issues were a key topic for discussion.

"The Only Democracy in the Middle East" is arresting protesters for wearing "Stop The War" t-shirts. One officer said the slogan "is something that's illegal to have on a shirt." Gift link www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

A federal judge on Monday declared the Trump administration’s move to cut hundreds of grants issued by the National Institutes of Health illegal, accusing the government of discrimination against minorities and L.G.B.T.Q. individuals. nyti.ms/4jSIjOG

How is life in Los Angeles after ICE started to target undocumented immigrants with no criminal record? Our LA bureau chief writes about his empty neighborhood and schools trying to stop agents from reaching students on graduation day https://on.ft.com/4ebHAas

No-bid contracts with politically connected companies have become crucial to the Trump administration's push for more space to hold immigrants for deportation.

ICE could ‘run out of money next month’ and is already $1bn over budget to carry out Trump’s deportation plans

⚫ Mort de la galeriste Agathe Gaillard : proche de Cartier-Bresson, Gibson et Doisneau, celle qui a fondé la première galerie dédiée à la photographie en France, il y a 50 ans, a toujours défendu cet art longtemps méprisé par les institutions

Trump raked in $57M from his family's crypto company in 2024. And this doesn't even account for his memecoin, which launched this year. Now he's lending his name to "Trump Mobile," a new wireless phone service launched by the Trump Organization. The grift never ends.

Trump has removed civil rights leader MLK Jr’s bust from the Oval Office. meidasnews.com/news/trump-r...

Sous la plume de l’actuelle députée RN, les supporters dans les stades de foot sont ainsi comparés à des « babouins ». Elle évoque aussi l’existence d’un « lobby juif ». Racisme, antisémitisme et homophobie : les écrits de la députée censée dédiaboliser le RN www.mediapart.fr/journal/fran...

#DemVoice1 #ProudBlue 🧵It official America - a data analyst said the No Kings protest was the biggest protest in American history! Millions across the country stood up against Trumps 1/2 www.thedailybeast.com/data-guru-g-...

> @rollingstone.com going with the #DearLeader subhed: @rollingstone.com www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

A leader of the MN House Democrats is murdered by a Republican pro-life activist. Rather than condemning political murder of his opponents, Elon Musk spreads the conspiracy theory that it was done by Democrats. Journalists don’t need to use any social media site. But they really shouldn’t use X.

“When they finally found his ID confirming his citizenship, the agents let him go — without offering any explanation or apology. Lemus also asked them for their names and badge numbers and they refused.”

This is an incredible read of what happens when fantasy and lies meet reality: republicans begging Trump to "just go after criminals" and "spare the agri, hotel, and restaurant" sectors from ICE raids. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/u...

here’s the moment LASD advanced on protestors with horses and used flash-bangs as we reported live yesterday. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp-vi...

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apparently embraces the outdated "miasma theory" of disease instead of the widely accept "germ theory" of disease, which may help explain some of the actions he's been taking.

Donald Trump's Saturday parade honoring the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Army, which coincidentally fell on his 79th birthday, fell flat with one former Army general who expressed his disgust on MSNBC on Sunday morning.

I am wondering why Lisa Leher from the @nytimes.com did not discuss the data that suggests political violence in the US in the current era mostly comes from the right. Seems like a strange fact to ignore. 1/ www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/u...

Based on crowd-sourced records of No Kings Day event turnout, and extrapolating for the cities where we don't have data yet, it looks like roughly 4-6 million people protested Trump across the U.S. yesterday. That's nearly 2% of the U.S. pop! Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels

Liberal stronghold, Waco, TX

Trump parade vs No Kings march, San Diego

Donald Trump does NOT want you to share this footage of his pathetically tiny birthday parade crowd.