Philip O'Connor
@philipoconnor.bsky.social
"Love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night."
Irish journalist based in Stockholm, covering the world.
Irish journalist based in Stockholm, covering the world.
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable in which Rubio orders diplomats in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to press for immigration limits and cite crime. They’re also told to report on governments that are pro-immigration. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
U.S. to Press Europe and Other Allies on ‘Mass Migration,’ Document Says
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:28 PM
NEW: The New York Times got a State Dept. cable in which Rubio orders diplomats in Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to press for immigration limits and cite crime. They’re also told to report on governments that are pro-immigration. Our story: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
If you're a writer of any kind and you've been under a rock and somehow haven't read this book, then you need to change that RIGHT NOW.
And what better way than ordering a signed copy?
And what better way than ordering a signed copy?
I'm extremely proud of the fact that the hardcover of Dreyer's English remains in print nearly seven years after it went on sale, and if you'd like signed copies (they make great holiday gifts!) and to support a local bookstore, head to the Signed Copies tab here:
Benjamin Dreyer
Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer’s English, is the retired copy chief and managing editor of Random House.
www.benjamindreyer.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:43 PM
If you're a writer of any kind and you've been under a rock and somehow haven't read this book, then you need to change that RIGHT NOW.
And what better way than ordering a signed copy?
And what better way than ordering a signed copy?
Wait a second - these "freeze peach" Gr*pt wankers got all pissy because someone called them "far-right" and SUED?!?! 😂😂😂
That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.
What a crowd of fucking clowns.
That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.
What a crowd of fucking clowns.
Irish Central bottles out over claim that John McJerk is far right. 🤫
www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...
www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...
Gript editor John McGuirk gets five-figure settlement over claim he was ‘far right’
A US-based Irish-American online news outlet has agreed to pay €20,000 to conservative website Gript and its editor John McGuirk to settle defamation proceedings.
www.independent.ie
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Wait a second - these "freeze peach" Gr*pt wankers got all pissy because someone called them "far-right" and SUED?!?! 😂😂😂
That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.
What a crowd of fucking clowns.
That's the most pathetic thing I've ever heard.
What a crowd of fucking clowns.
An interesting precedent - does this mean @paulmurphy.pbp.ie can sue every single media outlet in Ireland for calling him "far left"?
Handy little earner there ...
Handy little earner there ...
Irish Central bottles out over claim that John McJerk is far right. 🤫
www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...
www.independent.ie/irish-news/c...
Gript editor John McGuirk gets five-figure settlement over claim he was ‘far right’
A US-based Irish-American online news outlet has agreed to pay €20,000 to conservative website Gript and its editor John McGuirk to settle defamation proceedings.
www.independent.ie
November 26, 2025 at 7:20 PM
An interesting precedent - does this mean @paulmurphy.pbp.ie can sue every single media outlet in Ireland for calling him "far left"?
Handy little earner there ...
Handy little earner there ...
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
I forgot to send Tony the link to add to the show notes but here's the piece I wrote for the Examiner 10 years ago on "fixing rooms" in Denmark:
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
November 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
I forgot to send Tony the link to add to the show notes but here's the piece I wrote for the Examiner 10 years ago on "fixing rooms" in Denmark:
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...
Incredible photo.
Four dead after fire engulfs residential high-rise buildings in Hong Kong reut.rs/4pBu4Bp
Four dead after fire engulfs residential high-rise buildings in Hong Kong
At least four people have died and others remain trapped after a massive fire engulfed multiple high-rise towers of a residential complex in Hong Kong's northern Tai Po district on Wednesday, the government and Fire Services Department said.
reut.rs
November 26, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Incredible photo.
A major part of journalism is verifying things (even stuff we think we know), so I did a little experiment last night and asked ChatGPT a question about the last time an event happened - it answered quickly, and was wrong by about eight years ...
November 26, 2025 at 11:06 AM
A major part of journalism is verifying things (even stuff we think we know), so I did a little experiment last night and asked ChatGPT a question about the last time an event happened - it answered quickly, and was wrong by about eight years ...
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
Legitimate change to consumer law: reintroduce the clause where a ‘discounted’ price can only be advertised if the previous ‘higher’ price was charged for a minimum period of time, e.g. 30 days of previous 90
While they’re at it:
Ban ‘Black Friday’ promotions ending before Black Friday occurs
While they’re at it:
Ban ‘Black Friday’ promotions ending before Black Friday occurs
November 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Legitimate change to consumer law: reintroduce the clause where a ‘discounted’ price can only be advertised if the previous ‘higher’ price was charged for a minimum period of time, e.g. 30 days of previous 90
While they’re at it:
Ban ‘Black Friday’ promotions ending before Black Friday occurs
While they’re at it:
Ban ‘Black Friday’ promotions ending before Black Friday occurs
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
The post office trick;
Make it unviable then privatise it
Make it unviable then privatise it
National parks have SO MANY people from other countries (since they get real vacations!)
And they spend a lot of money on hotels, food, souvenirs, etc.
This is unbelievably dumb, it will destroy entire tourist towns
And they spend a lot of money on hotels, food, souvenirs, etc.
This is unbelievably dumb, it will destroy entire tourist towns
November 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM
The post office trick;
Make it unviable then privatise it
Make it unviable then privatise it
Not one bit surprised.
Since the start of September, Rogan has had 45 podcasts and 3 of them have had female guests.
November 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Not one bit surprised.
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
Counterpoint; Russia knocking out the internet globally for a couple months would be an absolute win for humanity…
Ireland’s pivotal location on the edge of Europe means that an attack on its undersea cables could disrupt financial markets across continents, spark devastating internet outages and profoundly damage the Big Tech infrastructure upon which the island has grown rich.
November 25, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Counterpoint; Russia knocking out the internet globally for a couple months would be an absolute win for humanity…
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
I took all of your advice.
The new boards are now live in the SLATED Landmark Collection.
Feel free to point out any errors. It was a bit of a rush job.
Reposts would be amazing.
Slated.ie
#SLATED #speirgorm
The new boards are now live in the SLATED Landmark Collection.
Feel free to point out any errors. It was a bit of a rush job.
Reposts would be amazing.
Slated.ie
#SLATED #speirgorm
November 25, 2025 at 12:25 PM
I took all of your advice.
The new boards are now live in the SLATED Landmark Collection.
Feel free to point out any errors. It was a bit of a rush job.
Reposts would be amazing.
Slated.ie
#SLATED #speirgorm
The new boards are now live in the SLATED Landmark Collection.
Feel free to point out any errors. It was a bit of a rush job.
Reposts would be amazing.
Slated.ie
#SLATED #speirgorm
Markwayne Mullen had /IIRC) three pro MMA fights - would that have excluded him from medical insurance, in his own opinion?
Markwayne Mullin on healthcare: "What the president would like to do is say, hey, if you take care of yourself -- you don't smoke, you don't dip, you're not drinking, you're not overweight, you're working out -- then you should pay less than the guy that obviously is not taking care of himself."
November 25, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Markwayne Mullen had /IIRC) three pro MMA fights - would that have excluded him from medical insurance, in his own opinion?
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
It's already named Troy Parrott International. 👍
The Dáil has heard a suggestion that Dublin Airport be named after the former Taoiseach Sean Lemass.
Any counteroffers?
Any counteroffers?
November 25, 2025 at 5:44 PM
It's already named Troy Parrott International. 👍
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
November 25, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.
I said what I said.
Had a BIG chat with @philipoconnor.bsky.social on the #TortoiseShack recently and because I’m very generous* I’ve lifted the paywall.
*wracked with anxiety and existential dread
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/t...
*wracked with anxiety and existential dread
podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/t...
I Hate To Say I Told You So!
Podcast Episode · The Echo Chamber from Tortoise Shack · 25/11/2025 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:33 PM
I said what I said.
I'm not even sure how this fight could be sanctioned by an athletic commission. All things being equal, it should effectively amount to euthanasia.
Matt Brown argues ‘Anthony Joshua murders Jake Paul … You don’t even give him a Hail Mary chance’ https://www.mmafighting.com/boxing/458394/matt-brown-argues-anthony-joshua-murders-jake-paul-you-dont-even-give-him-a-hail-mary-chance
Matt Brown argues ‘Anthony Joshua murders Jake Paul … You don’t even give him a Hail Mary chance’
Jake Paul will square off against Jake Paul next month
www.mmafighting.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I'm not even sure how this fight could be sanctioned by an athletic commission. All things being equal, it should effectively amount to euthanasia.
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
It's called "socialism". 👍
The Trump administration is trading billions of dollars of taxpayer money for ownership stakes in private companies it deems essential to national security. The unusual practice shows no sign of slowing.
Trump Administration Is Taking Billions in Stakes in Firms Like Intel
The Trump administration is trading billions of dollars of taxpayer money for ownership stakes in companies. The unusual practice shows no sign of slowing.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 1:55 PM
It's called "socialism". 👍
Reposted by Philip O'Connor
This is the damage that legitimising transphobic groups does.
If this was a story about a man harassing a gay person for their identity, it would be framed as a homophobic attack.
Transphobes have been allowed frame trans rights as open for debate, and the media frames it as activist vs activist.
If this was a story about a man harassing a gay person for their identity, it would be framed as a homophobic attack.
Transphobes have been allowed frame trans rights as open for debate, and the media frames it as activist vs activist.
November 25, 2025 at 12:14 PM
This is the damage that legitimising transphobic groups does.
If this was a story about a man harassing a gay person for their identity, it would be framed as a homophobic attack.
Transphobes have been allowed frame trans rights as open for debate, and the media frames it as activist vs activist.
If this was a story about a man harassing a gay person for their identity, it would be framed as a homophobic attack.
Transphobes have been allowed frame trans rights as open for debate, and the media frames it as activist vs activist.
Doireann's "A Ghost in the Throat" is one of the most stunning Irish books in recent years - I'll be in the queue for one of these editions when it comes out!
We are delighted to announce our Exclusive Signed Limited Edition of Doireann ní Ghríofa's new novel, Said the Dead. Our Edition will be signed by the author, have an exclusive design and feature an exclusive poem by Doireann, not in any other edition. Out May 2026. www.kennys.ie/shop/said-th...
November 25, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Doireann's "A Ghost in the Throat" is one of the most stunning Irish books in recent years - I'll be in the queue for one of these editions when it comes out!