The whole world is warming faster than the rest of the world, a brief thread of media headlines:
Ireland:
China:
Jul 28, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
I mean, you're either the kind of very serious person who thinks warmer temperatures can be avoided in 2060 by eliminating cattle in Ireland or you're not.
But sometimes it's worth stepping back from it all and repeating very slowly, out loud, what you're being asked to believe.
In Ireland, we're being asked to believe that if Eamon Ryan's policy is not followed, the entire world will become virtually uninhabitable in most of our lifetimes. The evidence most often cited for this is that there was a hot day last week.
Jul 27, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Where is the American Climate Bill? Where are the American Agri Emissions reductions? Their CO2 emissions per capita are more than twice that of Ireland. Their national herd has increased by 5m cattle since 2015. Who will we do next, Russia, or China?
Neither. Let's do Japan: Japan's CO2 emissions per capita are about 130% of Ireland's. It's a much bigger polluter both in total, and per head. It, too, has increased its national herd since 2015, and intends to continue doing so.
Jan 15, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I can only imagine the scale of the reaction if somebody went on RTE and said that it was incumbent upon members of a minority group - say travellers - to talk to other members of that group about the little things they sometimes unconsciously do to make other people feel unsafe.
In that instance people would say that those who feel unsafe when visited, at home, alone, by members of that group are expressing their own bigotry. They would say that there is nothing to be gained by such a conversation.
Oct 5, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The media never actually explains what Paul Murphy's policies are. He's never off the airwaves. And yet, I bet hardly anybody knows his party's policies. So here is a brief thread:
- He would "repudiate the bankers debt". Since that debt is now the national debt, his policy is a deliberate debt default. A policy every economic expert says would cause a historic crisis.
Oct 5, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
By me: There's a reason powerful people love talking about the dangers of misinformation. It's because the panic can be used to tell people not to trust anything that doesn't come from established, entrenched, powerful interests.
"Misinformation" is how media outlets are justifying demands for more taxpayer cash. It's how Governments dismiss agitation against their covid policies. It's how criticisms of Ireland's energy strategy get dismissed.
Sep 30, 2021 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
I do not generally do long threads, but I want to make an exception here to talk about how the HSE is censoring information from the public in a manner that should worry all journalists, but, of course, will not. 1/?
On Thursday April 15th this year, Dr. Darina Flanagan of NPHET gave evidence to the High Court in a case which challenged the legitimacy of Mandatory Hotel Quarantine. Her evidence was reported by the Irish Times, here:
I don't know why the Trump fans in my timeline are so glum. There are lots of reasons to be cheerful, even in (likely) narrow defeat. Here are a few of them (thread):
1) Second terms are historically bad for Presidents. They don't get anything done, and the term is basically only two years long before everyone starts choosing your successor.
Jun 7, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
You can believe two things at once. You can acknowledge that the attack in Cork was not "black on white" racism. And you can also admit that if it had been the other way around, it would have played out like follows:
- Placards at Irish BLM protests with "justice for name of victim"
- Feature in a Paper next weekend about "a community living in fear" after a racist attack
- Panel discussion on Prime Time, featuring Dr. Ebun Joseph
- Press Releases from ICCL, Amnesty, etc on hate crime laws.
Feb 19, 2019 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
A question about abortion exclusion zones: How can they be enforced without the Government also providing a public list of abortion providers? "You can't stand in these places, but we won't tell you where they are" is somewhat unenforceable, I would have thought.
Are protest exclusion zones going to be limited to protests on one subject, or will it be a blanket ban on all protests? Because no court would uphold a ban that targeted the expression of just one opinion while allowing others to protest at will.
Jan 13, 2019 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Quick reminder: 5 billion of your taxes go to NGO groups who lobby the government. This money is effectively the common agricultural policy for Dublin 4. It keeps a whole class of people in jobs. Here's how it works:
1) You fund the HSE. The HSE gives a grant to alcohol action ireland, which is set up to lobby the HSE for healthier drinking laws. This is excellent for many reasons, not least because it means the drinks industry needs representation of its own.
