"The publication.. was not obliged to accept the complainant’s view that articles it cited had been debunked."

The internet has rotted so many brains

Stage 1: make a fake claim on X/Twitter. Let it circulate

Stage 2: post someone else’s AI generated image that “proves” your claim.

Stage 3: Get Grok to “confirm” this bullshit is true.

Why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive mass extinction Scientists finally understand why birds were the only dinosaurs to pull through the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

When the asteroid hit, why did birds survive when all other dinosaurs died?

It's a question I ponder in my upcoming book The Story of Birds. But first, I explore it here for @sciam.bsky.social !

www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-a...

These guys are insane - they live for HUNDREDS of year, and live in slow motion. We think gestation of babies takes 10 years or more. They can’t reproduce til they’re 150 yrs old. We rarely get to see them even though they are massive. Wild.

www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

The Sea Troll: An Everlasting Shark? How to survive for centuries.

The Greenland shark - one of which just washed up on an Irish beach - is a bit on an obsession in our house thanks to this piece of radio gold by the @radiolab.bsky.social kids podcast - this shows gets us through many a long drive - superb stuff radiolab.org/podcast/terr...

Missed appointments missed the point; how Gov lost the narrative war in the Fuel Protest Sharing some incomplete thoughts on the narrative battle around the fuel protests, which feel like they are realigning Irish politics as we speak.

The minute the debate became whether the livelihoods of one group of people were worth causing inconveniences for another, the protestors won

New newsletter in inboxes

www.thebriefing.ie/missed-appoi...

What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses? Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right

As Hungary votes, would recommend this piece about how Viktor Orban has used public money to bankroll an international ultraconservative network - including Roger Scruton cafes and €10k a month for failed Reform candidate Matt Goodwin

democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits

Even if Magyar is no liberal, this is why it is still a huge defeat for illiberalism.

For it shows that a powerful illiberal political machine and methodology can be defeated.

Congratulations to our many pro-democracy friends in Hungary tonight. Your hard work, bravery and persistence over the last years has been incredible and is an example to us all.

Orban is not conceding because he's honourable. He's conceding because his defeat is so comprehensive even he can't pretend he won.

New from me for @techpolicypress.bsky.social

The Gist: A Denial Of Service Attack The fuel blockade demonstrated state fragility and inability. This is the Gist.

New Gist: A Denial Of Service Attack

"The state is happy to assert it can achieve incredible and unprecedented feats of change, later, while always arguing that it can't so much as buy a new pair of shoes right now."

www.thegist.ie/the-gist-a-d...

Queues of people at the elections in #Hungary. Hungarians, don't let us down!

1/
Many were wondering whether Fidesz would actually concede if it lost.
High turnout today is encouraging — but there are now clear signals the government is preparing the ground to contest the legitimacy of the result, at least if it’s close.

Orban was the first in the modern populist wave, the prototype, and he operates now as a crucial international lynchpin. There's a reason the White House and the Kremlin are so desperate for him to win.

That's an angry and motivated electorate.

I feel like MM & others tried to talk about this early on, but switched to the hospital appts line - possibly because it resonated better.

But I think they did the public a massive disservice by thinking that only these types of stories would win the narrative war & not a policy debate

41% of the public support a price cap on fuel - an unquantifiable and uncontrollable subsidy probably in the billions of euro per year that mostly goes to hauliers - is the best course of action

Because this was made about middle class / minor inconveniences for a week and not about finances

The blockade is clearing, but the haulage industry will get its subsidy

The Gov lost the narrative when this because about missed hospital appts - pitted systemic grievances against (urban) inconveniences

This was about the viability of the whole health service if one industry gets blank cheque

Clare Moriarty: ‘Working’ or ‘stay-at-home’ parent is a false choice. Most of us want something in between The words of Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy are in stark contrast to the vogue for pernicious tradwife influencing

Clare Moriarty: ‘Working’ or ‘stay-at-home’ parent is a false choice. Most of us want something in between

“There’s not one f**king oil truck moving in this country until we get what we want,” he said. “We have the country by the balls. You know who’s in control’ - How the fuel protests brought Ireland to a standstill

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

Ireland's New Surveillance Bill Opens Door to Spyware Abuse Ireland is considering a new bill that would legalize the use of spyware by the police, reports Vas Panagiotopoulos.

Ireland is moving to legalize police use of spyware, including tools linked to NSO Group and Intellexa, reports Tech Policy Press fellow Vas Panagiotopoulos. The bill expands access to encrypted communications but lacks clear oversight, raising concerns about unchecked surveillance powers.

I'm so tired

Can someone please ask Gov if a tax clearance cert will be needed to collect on these?

But we also replaced one Khamenei with another; empowered the IRGC; did nothing for the protesters, killed over a thousand civilians, including hundreds of children and lost at least 13 US service members, alongside over 500 wounded); left Iran with enough highly enriched uranium to make 10-12 nuclear weapons; gave it greater incentive to try to build them; irreparably tarnished America's reputation; did lasting damage to the US and world economies; depleted our arsenal of scarce missile-defence interceptors; diverted valuable military assets from other regions; empowered Russia with an oil price windfall; triggered further conflict in Lebanon; further eroded domestic and international law; and may have left Iran in control of the most valuable waterway in the world, in a position to earn tens of billions of dollars in revenue per year through tolls, while holding the world economy hostage.

So @jderbyshire.ft.com asked @philgordondc.bsky.social if the Iran war is the US’s Suez moment. He said no, but then pithily and pitilessly sums up how it has been a comprehensive strategic failure. Oof!
www.ft.com/content/0cbc...

Kind of wish reporters would stop letting the protest leaders get away with saying shit like "it's not us blocking the roads, it's the government blocking the roads"

We're not idiots

Google's Gemini decides that Dublin Live and Gript are the most reliable sources - despite facing multiple regulatory complaints about how it literally steals the world's journalism

Chat GPT basically summarises the Wikipedia page, and sources a lot from Sky News for some reasons, but it is pretty clear on what is / isn't happening with the military

I asked 3 of the big AI chatbots:

"What is happening in the Irish fuel protests? Why are they sending in the army?"

Claude jumps right it with its first two references being... Russia Today