#New Minister Niamh Smyth says X is 'absolutely not' off the hook and she'll be telling company as much in a meeting tomorrow. She tells me, after meeting the Attorney General this evening, she's confident Ireland has 'robust' laws in place to be enforced here. @virginmedianews.bsky.social

In this context it is also worth noting that the quorum for both houses is 50%+1, wherever they may meet. If the Republicans and Trump's goons occupy the Capitol and refuse to seat a newly elected Democratic congress, they can just meet *literally anywhere,* meete quorum and be Congress.

St Brendan the Navigator Enters the chat

Niall Stanage doing Irish journalism proud here, and the fact that such an exchange is a relative rarity in that room tells its own story.

Thread

Gift link - we all need to read this. Shoot this Resistance into my veins! After 48 hours of torture, Dr. Christie wrote a forced confession — “the best thing I ever wrote,” he later told the BBC www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/w...

Holy shit

Holy hell, what an obituary

This is why there is no free speech without anonymous speech. This is why online ID checks / age verification is incompatible with the 1st amendment and human rights. This is why "make everyone use their real names" is not a real solution to online hate & harm www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

By standing up to President Trump, the 72-year-old Fed chair, Jay Powell, has “put to shame the heads of law firms, universities, and public companies who have caved to the White House,” @johncassidysays.bsky.social writes. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/VgYCpA

Banning X would not 'betray free speech', just as breaking up or closing down corporate giants that seriously violate competition or criminal law would not 'betray commerce' (for anyone reading an Irish Times opinion piece today who might be unsure)

1/3 Jellyfish and anemones also sleep, despite not having a brain Not only do they sleep, but their behavior is affected if they lack sleep; they become clumsier and need to catch up on lost sleep. Interestingly, they sleep 8 hours a day, just like us. (paper) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Time to check in on the free speech absolutist.

Flashbangs burn hotter then lava. They've caused serious burns, severed hands, and even killed. *That's* what ICE just tossed into a car full of kids. Here's our investigation from 2015, by @juliaangwin.com: www.propublica.org/article/flas...

ProPublica reporters have gone deep on the implements that ICE and other federal agents are using on the streets of Minneapolis. From 2020, on tear gas: "It has been found to cause long-term health consequences and can hurt those who aren’t the intended targets" www.propublica.org/article/tear...

So, sure, it's all about defence, right? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

My SuperDraft US pro league soccer nephew on the left!

If you want comfortable winter footwear, highly recommend the various boots Birkenstock make. Total game changer and look great.

The slow movement of Chopin's 1st piano concerto is one of the most exquisite musical things ever created

The FIFA Peace Prize. 🙃

It has taken me hours to finally wrestle the new heating system, which has to be controlled across two apps 🤬, into submission. I think. If I wake up tomorrow and they've both reverted to previous settings I will ago very analogue and hit them with a crowbar

In hindsight, it's only logical that their whole foreign policy would be couched in sex offender terms as well.

This reminds about the time that this very important service almost ceased to exist because the responsible petson in the Dept of Justice forgot - literally just forgot - to make the funding application to the EU one year

The Brits are watching their TV show again. Quick, seize the North

This might be my favourite headline ever. But if it's not my favourite, it's definitely above average.

GOOD afternoon to the airport counter attendant in Bogotá with an enamel pin that looks like exactly the FOX news logo but reads “FUCKS NEWS CHANNEL” on their lanyard

A barely altered play on "Which Way Western Man?" a foundational white nationalist text arguing Jews, racial mixing & equality are destroying society. DHS prev tweeted in August. It required no interpretation, but the media's role was to pretend it was a Rorschach test and help surface WH denials.

“So now you have the Gardaí, the AI Minister and multiple legal experts including @iccl.bsky.social saying the legislation is all there already - it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the Government not to take a position on this”.

1/ A new report by Corporate Europe Observatory & LobbyControl, on how Big Tech are helped by the Trump admin & the European far right to weaken the EU Digital Omnibus proposals idesigned to protect citizens from Big Tech’s abuses of power corporateeurope.org/en/2026/01/a...

Mike Johnson compellingly making the case for abolishing ICE ...

BREAKING: Senate Republicans just blocked the clean ACA tax credit extension that the House passed to save millions of people thousands of dollars each. If you’re paying double or even triple for health insurance, blame Trump and the Senate GOP.

Just a reminder that NOAA releases monthly desktop screens with calendars featuring deep-sea animals and its reminder right now that at least some in government are still wholesome oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/multimedia/c...

Someone gets it.

I am once again reminding you all that the UK government introduced an Online Safety Act that is effectively a porn ban on most adult porn websites, but is dithering over banning a website that is actually creating child porn.

Please do this today. It doesn't take long but it's important #spéirgorm

Tomorrow is the deadline for submissions against what @antaisce.bsky.social is describing as one of the greatest threats to our environment ever. Please don't wait til it's too late, get it in today.

Welcome to Bluesky, RIA Library! 📚 📖

"The idea for this cover was an ode to the post workers, couriers and delivery drivers who just (literally) carried the Christmas season on their backs," writes @selkies.bsky.social, about the image she made for the cover of our most recent print edition. www.dublininquirer.com/cover-image-...

Hm I wonder if any Brazilians were planning on a trip up here for the World Cup. Anyhow.

This is really ghastly—the FBI searches the home of the conscientious reporter Hannah Natanson, who has been in the trenches reporting on the dismantling of the federal government (not tagging her here as I’m sure she is WELL aware)

👇

🚨 Breaking Gardaí say investigations are underway following Grok scandal. "We have received reports and referrals of content on that platform that is under investigation... the process takes some time... it has to be assessed to make sure it's criminal... the people responsible have to be ID'd"

Glad to see the Ombudsman for Children leaving X. The office is on Bluesky - @ocoireland.bsky.social

It's not good enough to blame users for the horrifying images being produced by Grok AI. This tool is doing exactly what it is designed to do. We need a criminal investigation into X and Grok - because there have been clear breaches of the law. The laws are in place – the govt must enforce them.

Go to settings: wallpaper and « customize current wallpaper. » Deselect « clear » as the font option. You can also chose more easily visible fonts and font colors there

Oh good, the police in the UK are using genAI as a source of information. There's no way THAT could go wrong.

This is fine. In any other timeline, we'd have seen impeachment and removal, and/or Congress would have acted to prevent a possible armed conflict. With the EU. By the US. How is this even happening. The kompromat must be pretty significant

Have been contacted by some victims of deepfaking / non-consensual manipulation of their images by AI - about their experiences. If anyone else in Ireland has a story they'd like to share on the issue, please feel free to contact me.