Ellen Reynor

The above is posted because this morning’s feed was dominated by media-types’ navel-gazing about the merits of this site.

None of that navel-gazing mentioned, eg, how many stories on Mandelson etc are broken on here, not X.

And how informative many commenters here can be.

The political effects of X’s feed algorithm - Nature Among users initially on a chronological feed, 7 weeks of exposure to X’s algorithmic feed in 2023 shifted political attitudes and account-following behaviour in a more conservative direction compared...

Brainwashing, 2026 edition. This paper shows how X's algorithmic feed shifts people's views rightwards. It's a sophisticated, highly effective form of reorientation. And it is utterly chilling.
If you're still on that platform, unhook yourself now.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#spéirgorm ⚠️

Israel has already been accused of stealing Palestinian organs. They also happen to have the largest skin bank in the world. So are they also stealing people's skin?

Defence spending: Push to increase spending aimed at FDI interests International pressure is being applied on Ireland to arm up — and our heavily dependent economy means gunboat diplomacy isn't even required

Pat Brodie, Rory Rowan and myself make the argument here (and in a longer research paper if anyone is interested).

www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

Forget Maga. Welcome to Mega: Make Empire Great Again | Mehdi Hasan Marco Rubio arrived at the Munich security conference with a disturbing message for European governments: empire is great

“The gaslighting from Rubio was a sight to behold: the son of Cuban immigrants, whose grandfather was once deported from the United States, pushing far-right, white-nationalist talking points about “civilizational erasure”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ireland No. 1 in Europe - yet again. GHGs rose faster (+3.2%) in Ireland in Q3 2025 than ANYWHERE else in Europe.

#Climate action, my eye.

#Spéirgorm

What are the flood relief schemes in my area? Here’s how to check Fewer than one fifth of schemes given priority in 2016 have reached the construction stage

What stage the priority schemes are at and the (tentative) target completion dates
www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Prosecutors prepared Epstein 'death' announcement — a day before it happened US Justice Department files show prosecutors prepared Jeffrey Epstein’s death announcement before he was found dead. Suspicious much?

Prosecutors prepared Epstein ‘death’ announcement — a day before it happened...

Great expression! (A brain can also be pickled by money itself I think e.g., Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos)

Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit

Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’
1/

Immigration ‘vital’ for future of Irish society, economy and HSE Report outlines necessity of overseas workers to offset population decline in a country where healthcare is already reliant on recruits from outside the EU

The government’s own economic advisers are giving it perfect political cover to reject Jim O’Callaghan’s increasingly brutal immigration policies but it won’t because our government ministers are amoral spoofers who don’t care about anything beyond the next poll

www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...

President Connolly with Greta Thunberg

Ireland: A stunning 71 per cent of respondents favour putting a guarantee about neutrality in the Constitution.

Latest Irish Times poll.

A scary read!

How green is The Irish Times? Why does it side with nimbys so much? Can I put any question in a headline and not bother answering it? Comment & Analysis: Ok, so that headline is clearly being provocative. I should clarify it’s not for clicks, but to make a point. For the avoidance of doubt, this is an article about the …

irishcycle.com/2026/02/04/h...
How Green is the Irish Times??

Stop them!

Infuriating! Make cycling safer by preventing vehicles from crashing into them, not by policing what they wear.

Why is this useless FF/FG government so determined to do the wrong thing when it comes to anything to do with the simplest action for the environment?

The Murder of The Washington Post Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.

I do not have an official count, but it seems almost all of my colleagues from my time at the Post were fired. Some while they are on assignments in hostile countries or on the frontline.

And the financial reasoning behind this makes no sense.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

🚨Powerful polluting industries and reckless lawmakers are tearing down our main EU water law. ☠️

For the past 25 years, the law has driven the cleanup of our rivers and lakes. 💙💧

We need to stop them. 🛑

Sign our petition to say #HandsOffNature ✋👇
https://f.mtr.cool/idwqdgltoj

Ireland’s questionable relationship with social media giants and scam ads A recent report showed that Facebook parent company Meta estimated it would make 10% of its revenue from scam ads and banned goods.

Ireland’s questionable relationship with social media giants and scam ads jrnl.ie/6941938

BEFF - Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival

I'll be on a panel following a screening of Koyaanisqatsi at the Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival on Friday next in Phibsboro, tickets €10

beff.ie

What gives you hope in these awful times?

I’ll tell you my answer: the people of Minneapolis.

What an ideal for both of them!

Ugh!

Oh, thanks so much!