How Big Tech wrote secrecy into EU law to hide data centres’ environmental toll Environmental footprint of Europe's data centres kept secret after industry lobbying in a move legal experts warn could violate transparency rules.

"Microsoft and DigitalEurope, a lobby group whose members include Amazon, Google and Meta, secured a secrecy provision in EU law to block public access to critical information on data centres’ environmental impact."

Wrote about how and why everything is so 90s.

Great reporting here and several wild details:

“A request for “breaching equipment”—normally used by SWAT and hostage-rescue teams to quickly gain entry into buildings—was made last year because Patel had been unreachable behind locked doors.”

Melissa Auf der Maur, a ’90s Rock Linchpin, Is Spilling Her Stories

I'm listening to the audiobook of Melissa Auf der Maur's memoir, Even the Good Girls Will Cry, at the moment, and it's so good.

An early highlight for 2026 music books.

Wow.

Woman (91) walks 220km to protest US military use of Shannon Airport Organiser says requests to meet Taoiseach and Tánaiste following two-week trek have gone unanswered

Lelia Doolan (91) has walked 220km across Ireland to protest the US military's use of Shannon.

Conor McCabe: Protesters' grievances are real — they're bearing a heavy load Responsibility for the time-sensitive targets at the heart of national policy is carried by agricultural contractors who are struggling to make repayments on loans for the necessary heavy machinery, a...

(2/2)

- Conor McCabe: (link below)

- Caelainn Hogan in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... 



- This on the influence of Instagram: goosed.ie/news/tech-ne... 



- And this (again, I don't necessarily agree with it all, but interesting writing): forlouth.medium.com/the-blockade...

Fintan O'Toole: Ireland’s far-right movement will emerge from the ‘breakfast roll-atariat’ Fuel protests have seen big wheels driven over democratic norms

Some interesting pieces on the “fuel protests” in Ireland.
You don’t have to agree with everything, it’s just good to think. (1/2)


- Fintan O'Toole: (link below)

- Sinead O'Sullivan: www.butthistime.com/p/mind-the-gap 


- Liz Carolan on the narrative battle: www.thebriefing.ie/missed-appoi...

"The paid Facebook ad, the trucker-convoy framing, the infrastructure-obstruction model, the international amplifier pipeline. These are not neutral tools the left can pick up and use better. They are a specific political technology developed over the last 2 years by a specific organising tendency."

$30m an hour: big oil reaping huge war windfall from consumers, analysis finds Exclusive: Climate action blockers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and major fossil fuel firms set to make extra $234bn by end of 2026

"The world’s top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran."

We talk a lot about brain rot, less so about soul rot.

Wrote about that, and the poetry of the great Gabriel Rosenstock.

Una Mullally: Maverick poet Gabriel Rosenstock offered a much-needed antidote to soul rot A friend reminded me of a four-word letter to The Irish Times Rosenstock wrote in 2007, when US troops were pouring into Iraq: ‘Cúrsaí ola, cúrsaí fola’

Una Mullally: Maverick poet Gabriel Rosenstock offered a much-needed antidote to soul rot

Essential article on the fuel protests in Ireland.

Analysis: Court reports can be distressing reading. There’s a good reason for that Press Ombudsman’s recent comments on graphic language in court reports highlight an issue court reporters have been attuned to for years

Clear and informative piece by Isabel Hayes about the wording of court reports in Ireland, and what’s involved in distilling often distressing evidence for the public.

President leads tributes to writer Gabriel Rosenstock President Catherine Connolly has led tributes to poet and writer Gabriel Rosenstock.

Fíor bhrónach faoi bás Gabriel Rosenstock.

Fear uasal agus file agus scriobhnoir ceannródaíoch le hintinn draíochtúil.

Bhrúigh a chuid filíocht na teoireanta. D’oscail sé doirse cruthaitheachta ná raibh fhios ag daoine fiú a bhí dúnta.

Una Mullally: ‘Why can’t my flat white fly?’ is a question no-one asked, ever We’re evolutionarily wired to pay attention to the buzzing of drones – which may be one of the reasons they’re so annoying

Wrote about whether anyone actually really needs coffee delivery by drone, and tried to figure out why I find the noise of drones so intrusive.

Sinéad O'Sullivan: We need a national strategy for the fuel crisis. Here are four things we can do now And when we’ve done them, we need to build a long-term energy security strategy

Sinéad O’Sullivan on Ireland’s missing strategy for navigating the current fuel and energy crisis.

On data centres: “they run on energy that Ireland does not produce and cannot guarantee. We negotiated the tax arrangements without ever negotiating the energy security that hosting them requires.”

“My Undesirable Friends: Part I” Is a Staggering Portrait of Russian Journalists in Dissent In Julia Loktev’s epic documentary, filmed before, during, and after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, several courageous Moscow reporters see their worst fears realized.

Reminder for those who love great docs that My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air In Moscow lands on MUBI this weekend.

“The central issue is straightforward. Data centre demand is so large, spatially concentrated, inflexible and growing so quickly, that neither the electricity grid nor renewable generation can keep pace. Fossil gas is filling that gap.”

Fear of electricity blackouts in Ireland prompts new protocols for data centres Mass disconnection by sector during brief faults risks system instability, says EirGrid

The highly predictable issues with an over-concentration of data centres in Ireland, their colossal electricity use, and all that means for grid stability, will continue.

100%

‘Changing a city is complicated’: Anne Hidalgo looks back on 12 years as Paris mayor Political veteran says she faced ‘French misogyny and machismo’ while making Paris greener and more peaceful

Interesting interview with Anne Hidalgo. Hard to think of a more influential European city mayor over the past decade.

There was a good piece on all these various versions by @frankmcdonald60.bsky.social recently.

Una Mullally: How the American chicken wing franchise took Ireland by storm Ireland is comfort eating its way through a cost of living crisis

Wrote about the new influx of American fast-food outlets to Ireland, the chicken boom, and collective comfort eating.

A Phone-Free Childhood? One Irish Village Is Making It Happen.

Good report on Greystones’ phone-free childhood initiative.

Una Mullally: Betting on elections and matches is one thing. Gambling on war is something else entirely If you’re feeling cheery, there are online platforms where you can bet on the prospect of a looming nuclear test by Russia

Una Mullally: Betting on elections and matches is one thing. Gambling on war is something else entirely

Investigation: How raw materials from Aughinish Alumina in Limerick enter Russia’s weapons supply chain Alumina made in Aughinish, Co Limerick is exported to smelters that sell aluminium to a trader supplying Russian arms manufacturers, an investigation has found. The project analysed confidential documents, customs data and transport records along with satellite imagery and financial records, to trace the passage of materials from Guinea and Brazil, through Ireland, and on to Russian smelters.

Investigation: How raw materials from Aughinish Alumina in Limerick enter Russia’s weapons supply chain

No way! Great to know. 🙌🏼

I’m jealous of anyone who has never played it. It’s the best! Works better on a large screen over handheld though.

Breath of the Wild is all you need. See you in six months 😘