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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 6h

The old Saudi brand was “austere theocracy,” but the new one is “fun, fun, fun, but still with beheading.” - brilliant piece with so many laugh out loud moments:

Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 8h

"Sometimes you have to ask yourself: How did I get here—sitting in Saudi Arabia, listening to Louis C.K. do jokes about Barely Legal magazine?"

I went to Riyadh to see the transformation of a country with the world's biggest cultural chequebook. Gift link:

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

How Many Comedians Does It Take to Change a Country?

What it’s like to watch Louis C.K. do stand-up in Saudi Arabia

www.theatlantic.com

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 6h

Me when I see Manx orthography.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 8h

If Catherine Connolly gets elected President of Ireland I am claiming first dibs on the headline: IRELAND DECLARES DRONE (ON AND ON) WAR ON NATO

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 9h

ChatGPT Pro:
A) Deleted projects from my account containing literally weeks’ worth of work;
B) Its AI-powered (obvs) “support” basically went “oops sorry nothing we can do about about that”;
C) When I complained that that wasn’t an acceptable response, it cancelled my account.

#AI #ChatGPT #OpenAI

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 10h

Catherine Connolly is just Mick Wallace without the charisma or the hair.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 12h

Could one journalist please do their job and ask Catherine Connolly why she believes it is “despicable” that Poland and the Baltic states were able to join alliances to defend themselves against Russian aggression.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 2d

Jim Alister and Nigel Farage will be raging.

www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...

First Asian hornet found in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has confirmed its first sighting and capture of an Asian hornet.

www.rte.ie

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 3d

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 4d

In short, this poll is useless if you want to know who may win the election, but it is very useful to tee up an “exciting” story next week of Connolly’s “lead consolidating” or Humphreys’ “vote surging”, depending on what a full sample shows.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 4d

Either you have included a big typo re. the dates, which is weird, or the sampling for this poll began before the sampling for last week’s published poll, which would be very weird.

Also, the “post-Gavin” numbers are a subsample, of small, unknown and unweighted numbers, so essentially useless.

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 5d

ICE GOONS crash into car and then point weapons to kidnap man.

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 6d

Wen should direct more attention to incidents like these because Americans are more likely to respond to brutality to pets than to brutality to human beings.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6d

EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...

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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 10d

I think this is right:
"We've slid into some form of authoritarianism," says Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard. "It is relatively mild compared to some others. It is certainly reversible, but we are no longer living in a liberal democracy."
www.npr.org/2025/04/22/n...

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 10d

It doesn’t say much about political journalism in Ireland that no-one in the MSM appeared to appreciate the seriousness of what happened. He admitted on air to a criminal offence and likely underpaid taxes, and none of them picked up on it.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 11d

I think it is safe to say that Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate Jim Gavin saw his campaign go up in flames this afternoon. #Áras25

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 10d

More accurate to say that since Fianna Fáil won in 1973 FG didn’t want to contest an election they would certainly lose in 1974 due to sympathy for Childers or in 1976 due to the FG-led government’s role in Ó Dálaigh’s resignation, and Paddy Hillary was unopposed in 83 because the country was broke.

Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 10d

And he’s gone.

There hasn’t been a presidential election with only two candidates since 1973. #Áras25

Screenshot announcing Jim Gavin’s withdrawal from the presidential race

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 10d

I just learned that it’s possible to be racist against AI and I have not been this excited since I learned it was expected in the Ivy League to be bigoted against the Irish

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 10d

An astronaut, looking at the Earth: “Wait, it’s all social care obligations?”
Behind them, another astronaut, drawing a gun to shoot them in the back: “Always has been.”

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 11d

Jim Gavin on live television:
A) Admitted he’d been a rogue landlord & committed a criminal offence by not registering his property as required;
B) Implied a high likelihood that he claimed tax reliefs to which he was not entitled;
C) Suggested he had made off with €3k of his tenants’ money. #Áras25

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 11d

I think it is safe to say that Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate Jim Gavin saw his campaign go up in flames this afternoon. #Áras25

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 11d

What an admirably clear statement from the Jewish Leadership Council, especially when all of those involved must surely have been dealing with so many other urgent challenges in safety, security and grief + shock today before having this further divisive and distracting intervention to address too.

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 12d

I’m old enough to remember when it was allegedly antisemitic to call the Government of Israel “fascist”.

Meanwhile, the Government of Israel is proudly hosting British neo-fascist agitators.

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Chris Connolly @edtechris.bsky.social · 12d

A sentence for the ages from @daisychristo.bsky.social

“If online content is so addictive that it can lead to adults having less sex, it’s probably fair to speculate that it will lead to kids studying less algebra.”

open.substack.com/pub/daisychr...

Why education can never be fun

Proven with maths

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Chris Connolly

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 13d

Julius Caesar was the first Roman to put his own living face on coins, weeks before his death. It is one of the deepest cultural signifiers of something autocracies do and republics do not.

“Render unto Caesar.” A practice so notoriously arrogant Jesus himself dunked on it with snarky wordplay.

Treasury Department Has Plans To Mint Dollar Coin Featuring Donald Trump's Likeness | Defector

The United States Department of the Treasury has developed, to the brink of production, a dollar coin that features the face and likeness of President Donald Trump, according to a source within the Tr...

defector.com

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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 13d

They took these US citizens naked and put them in zip ties and threw them in a van.

KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 13d

“Four children who are U.S. citizens were taken into custody amid the operation at the apartment complex on Tuesday until they could be placed in the care of guardians or the state, the DHS spokesperson said.”
people.com/ice-agents-o...

ICE Agents Rappel from Helicopter in Overnight Chicago Raid, Dragging Kids from Beds to U-Hauls

Overnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30, federal agents from different agencies raided an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, pulling men, women and children — some of them allegedly naked — from ...

people.com

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