This is an excellent overview of some of what was in the latest Epstein files. I’ve been thinking all week of a historical comparison to these files - maybe the pentagon papers - but these files are so much more banality of evil, conversations move from finance to children to lols

Some thoughts from trawling the Epstein files. Epstein was a nobody. It’s mysterious where he got his money and billionaire lifestyle. It’s possible he collected compromising material for extortion. A major question is whether he worked with intelligence agencies www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

I worked alongside Steve in the Reuters Rome bureau. This is his story of hard work doesn’t protect you from hard times. stevescherer.substack.com/p/my-journey...

Didn’t believe this was true but have checked and am told it was sent to the Norwegian government yesterday.

It’s from a couple of weeks ago but this is a remarkable story by @naomiohreally.bsky.social on sanctions against the ICC Trump-imposed sanctions are so harsh that ICC judges are being blocked from using Amazon products at home! go.bsky.app/redirect?u=h...

“Prost [an ICC judge] had been added to the United States’ sanctions list, because in 2020 she ruled to authorise an investigation into possible atrocities in Afghanistan, including by US troops.” from @naomiohreally.bsky.social @irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

Incredible story by @naomiohreally.bsky.social on US sanctions and an ICC judge

This statement from Spain (with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay) points out the kind of statement the EU -could- have made…

uh holy SHIT?

an extraordinary article about extraordinary times

The Irish Times is $5/mo, and I subscribe to it b/c it’s increasingly difficult to get decent news coverage from U.S. sources. Ironically, WSJ News coverage is above average—you just have to scroll past their editorial section.

I feel like this should be a bigger story, given that more than one ICC judge has been subjected to this shadow existence

Why do I have to read an Irish paper for a feature about this?

Incredible story by @naomiohreally.bsky.social on US sanctions and an ICC judge www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

Iconic mural if I’m honest

This will kill innocent children.

A brave survivor speaks on the record. Sami al-Saei, 46, used to be a freelance journalist in the occupied West Bank. He was arrested after working with reporters to arrange interviews with armed groups and was detained without being charged for 16 months. bbc.com/news/article...

In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites. He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him. www.wsj.com/world/china/...

“This is about a basic need, the imperative of justice for all of us”

“I can’t think of any other way to describe it but an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the ICC's independence as an institution, which is why I’m so interested in the public hearing this.” @naomiohreally.bsky.social interviews ICC Judge Kim Prost. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

And let’s not forget its root intent is to prevent this:

‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life. My interview with Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who was sanctioned by the US for ruling to authorise an investigation into war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

“I can’t think of any other way to describe it but an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the International Criminal Court’s independence as an institution, which is why I’m so interested in the public hearing this.” by @naomiohreally.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

René Girard theory of mimetic desire klaxon

In the European Parliament, the interpreter and some of the audience could not hold back tears during the speech of 11-year-old Roman Oleksiv from Lviv. On December 10, Roman came to Brussels for a presentation of documentaries about Ukrainian children to tell his story to MEPs

Coalition of the willing is unfortunately such a cursed term

The government presents its demand for a new nitrates derogation (pollution permit) in Brussels as a demand of the Irish public. This counterpoint argues that it is actually being demanded by a subsection of the agriculture industry, and is in conflict with a genuine public interest: clean water

"Ireland’s neutrality does not make it immune to hostile actions" 👀 From the website of the European Commission's representation in Ireland - a page explaining Ireland's participation in EU defence projects, added to the site December 4. The office told me they began writing the page in September.

"The character" of Ireland is apparently "strategically important" to the Trump administration, according to its new national security strategy. The sentence comes after a section about what it wants in Europe: "patriotic" parties in power

Finally an EU leader hits back vs US NSS - Costa: "US no longer believes in multilateralism, rules-based order, climate change. We have differences in our worldviews. The strategy continues to speak of Europe as an ally. That’s good. But if we are allies, we must act as allies..

“Over the last 15 years or so we have been watching places like this disappear one by one to be replaced by nothing," said artist George Hooker. “There’s a feeling of frustration and really strong sense that we can’t let this happen." www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

Five sophisticated drones flew in the route of Ukrainian President Zelenskiy’s flight path as he arrived in Ireland; had he not arrived slightly early, they would have passed close. EU and Irish officials are treating it as a Russian hybrid attack www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

Soldiers from the army of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar who were initially trained by former Irish Defence Forces personnel have appeared in Russia and have expressed fears they will be deployed to the frontline in Ukraine. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

I've said before that Ireland is simply catching up with the rest of the Europe when it comes to the far right, and this "they're all adults, actually" is one of their talking-points from 10-15 years ago. In Sweden they were called "skäggbarn" (beard-children). None of this is in good faith.

More than 33,000 new images of detainees in Assad’s Syria provide further evidence of the regime’s ‘machinery of death’ www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

“For the Kremlin, the Miami talks were the culmination of a strategy, hatched before Trump’s inauguration, to bypass the traditional U.S. national security apparatus and convince the administration to view Russia not as a military threat but as a land of… opportunity” www.wsj.com/world/russia...

A 2500 year old letter from a soldier named Hananyahu, deciphered through super-modern multispectral imaging, begins with “If there is any wine, send” journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... #grunts #invinoveritas #dogsofwar #pluscachange

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You can hear from a person who lived through the Economic War in the 1930s in our new episode, now available over on Patreon www.patreon.com/posts/early-...

Digging into the archives, I discovered my grandfather was the first generation not to speak Irish as his mother tongue, and that he grew up with a famine survivor - his grandmother. History was so much closer than I thought. My essay this weekend: www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

How Britain's migration plans may affect Ireland. Something London doesn't seem to have considered (shocker): anything they seek to implement in N.Ireland that reduces rights (including of asylum seekers) will face legal challenges under the Windsor Framework www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Behind architecture and ancient treasures lies a state strategy built on mega-projects and foreign capital to shore up Egypt’s strained economy www.irishtimes.com/world/africa...

For and Against a United Ireland reviewed by Andy Pollak: "I would make this balanced and scrupulous treatment of the great existential issue of this island required reading for every Irish & Northern Irish sixth year school student and first year undergraduate."

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

I wrote about how exceptional police powers to place people under house arrest without trial along other things were introduced in the state of emergency in the hours after the Paris Bataclan attacks, were extended six times, before ultimately being made permanent French law.

I said “combatative” on the TV last might and the correct word seems to be “combative”. I swear this is a glitch in the Matrix and was only changed just now

As the US skips the UN climate conference, slashes science, and steers into pollution, China is going hard with solar, and selling tons to the many countries that prefer to live in reality rather than deny it. Yet more indication America threw away global leadership and facilitated China’s rise.

The kind of journalism that needs to be invested in.. and paid for.