I once did a whole radio interview in the dark patting a (reasonably so) restless baby on the back while talking in a weird whispery voice, answering questions about trans-Atlantic data transfers.

On September 5, the General Court announced that joined cases T-262/24 and T-265/24 concerning EDPS' decisions on the use of Microsoft 365 by the European Commission were removed from its register.

Ooh-wee-ooh I look just like Buddy Holly, oh oh and I'm smashing down your door. I don't care bout the constitution anyway. I don't care bout that.

For the record

It is still trash, but you should know the earlier trash blithely referred to “the autism problem” as if that was a thing.

Love to reminded of these losers.

The Irish government has released a report on the benefits of the pilot for a Basic Income for the Arts, and in a total shocker, it seems like it was good for the country as well as the artists. Nobody could have seen this coming. #SpeirGorm #UBI www.gov.ie/en/departmen...

Iona Institute leaflet

The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s. Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!

oh boy this is gonna get a lot of use in the group chats

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

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The AI investment market.

Please note, these are worms.

Without an independent FTC, will it be credible enough to enforce the EU-US Data Privacy Framework? The US will lose its most effective federal regulator of privacy. My article about FTC privacy reg with @hartzog.bsky.social is here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Proposal 1 is to not nominate a candidate. This is going to confuse councillors, as no will mean yes and yes will mean no. They are simple folk.

I wish it was more complicated but: Elon won. Pundits, journalists and political elites uses Twitter to gauge popular discourse and identify stories, which was workable so long as it was moderated. He seized control, completely altered its normal mode, but none of them adapted.

All 'rights' for 'citizens'(Subjects?), in the UK can be removed by one Act of Parliament, as can all restrictions on the use of these ID's, as for trusting State, let's see Debate on Hillsborough law (especially in Lords), current lead time for State to admit fault 30yrs+ (Post Office/Orgreave etc)

There *are* good things about digital ID, but as an enforcement mechanism for immigration, as something that can be *demanded* rather than something you can use to enforce your rights, it’s a recipe for a whole range of disasters. 10/10

Then, I’ve heard it said ‘but they have all this information anyway, why not put it in one place’? Why not? Because you don’t want to make it easier to oppress and control than you should. Grit in the wheels is a protection. 9/10

Next, I’ve heard people say ‘don’t put X data on the card’. Sorry, that’s not how it works. The card is a link to data, so it can be used to link to *any* data. Things can be added at any time. It’s not about what’s on the card. That means religion, sexuality, biological sex, parentage etc 7/10

Further, do not assume that digital ID, particularly with biometrics, is impossible to fake. It isn’t. And, as for the previous point, it will be trusted and relied upon more than other forms of ID, meaning that fakes become much more valuable. Bigger markets in fake IDs. 6/10

Next, do not assume ‘digital’ means error-free - rather, it means that people in enforcement will assume there are no errors. ‘Computer says no’. This is a patten repeated again and again. 5/10

That in itself is a recipe for discrimination, intimidation and worse. Remember who will be enforcing this, and their record on racism, bias, unfairness and incompetence. This last part matters, because if enforcement is biased, then errors will also be biased. 4/10

Having said that, who will *in practice* be asked for them, if ‘immigration enforcement’ is the purpose for which they will be used? People who ‘look like’ or ‘sound like’ they might be here illegally. That is, black or brown people, people with ‘foreign accents’ or foreign names. 3/10

They can’t be just for ‘immigrants/asylum seekers/refugees’. They have to be for everyone, or else anyone asked for one can just say ‘I’m a Brit, I don’t have one. This is a scheme which means we *all* have to have ID cards, and carry them in case we’re asked for them. 2/10

A short thread on digital ID (cards) just to bear in mind. There are a few myths that I keep hearing about this idea that need clarifying/debunking. 1/10

Please, No Second Troy.

I never claimed this, just for the record

The key to keeping public discourse at a high level is to take a leaf from the Edwardians, with their love of decorum.

I beg of you, please, do not make me have to defend Bill Maher from government censorship

Dua Lipa fires manager after his attempt to stop pro-Palestinian rappers Kneecap from Glastonbury. telegrafi.com/en/Dua-Lipa-...

… Wut?

I swear, every time I wear this pullover, I end up looking like I’m starring in a Hallmark movie.

I'll note lots of people said having Gardai escort drivelling lunatics into libraries in order to perform book inspections to make sure they weren't too gay would not placate them but radicalize them even more. And here we are.

Ireland 2018, repealers reg called out the fash - y'know, the lads who attacked us on street stalls, threatened us with knives, attempted to smash our property - to be told we were 'overdramatic', 'hysterical' and 'extreme'. Same lads now inciting violence against LGBT+ folk & visible minorities.

This defence policy push has been a long time coming from Micheál Martin. This is from a few years ago:

Bread and circuses, but older.

It is 1986 and I have just completed my primary school’s introduction to metaphysics.

Notes from my diary from 1998 when I briefly was a programmer for a cinema, using the power of fax.

On the Edge.

Maybe I’ll just walk.

The key to keeping public discourse at a high level is to take a leaf from the Edwardians, with their love of decorum.

I can never get enough of a European-style Arcade.

If you're not totally aware of how bots try to sway minds, here's a good example.

Media execs have fallen prey to a propaganda and harassment campaign that has completely divorced them from what people actually want right now. Both their insular information environments (group chats, podcasts) and ambient noise (Twitter reactionaries) have put them in a very stupid bubble.

This does not look like “impartiality”. It looks like propaganda. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

“Israel has arrested Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov after condemning his country's actions in Gaza during a concert in London. "Stop the genocide. It's destroying everything. Stop it now."” (The BBC had cut his #Proms plea from the live broadcast.)

The "perfect, universal enforcement of rules to govern our public speech and our private communications" was a "terrifying concept" in 2017 and is utterly chilling in 2025. Look around you and think about who will set those rules, and who will enforce them. 10/

Dentists HATE him! Local man is a stupid annoying shithead. Everyone hates him