Clare O'Brien

Do poetry submissions have to be previously unpublished or are reprints acceptable?

‘A very dangerous person’: alarm as Pete Hegseth revels in carnage of Iran war Critics say brash, bombastic Fox News host out of his depth to guide US military through murky new Middle East conflict

So, to summarise, this fucking psychopath believes in killing all Muslims and gay people, attacking the defenceless, disenfranchising women and dismantling democracy. All in the name of gentle Jesus, meek and mild.

Art may not save the world, but it does save people.

The King is supposed to be visiting the USA *next month*. This is the definition of a diplomatic nightmare. In all seriousness, I would urge him to pull a sickie.

🍺

I welcome being an irrelevance to everything the USA and Israel are doing right now.

White House releases video promoting ‘justice the American way’ featuring Hollywood characters Critics have called Trump administration’s provocative video ‘slopaganda’, used to promote president’s agenda

Sick, twisted, ugly, illegal. These people (and no doubt this is Hegseth's doing) are like the evil kid Sid from Toy Story, who tortured and manipulated his toys to reflect his own vicious mindset.

Pretty difficult to refute a single thing in this perfect assessment of where the f**k we are, from @iandunt.bsky.social:

I am certainly beginning to hate it.
And I used to work for a lovely American: the only thing I take from his tragic early death is that he's not here to see the obscene nightmare his country has become.

Well done Paul!!! So well deserved.

ICO writes to Meta over 'concerning' AI smart glasses report Videos, including of glasses-wearers using the toilet or having sex, are sometimes reviewed by a Kenya-based subcontractor.

Last year when I was checking into a hotel, the desk person was wearing Meta glasses. I kindly asked them to take them off. They were annoyed. I said, “I do not consent to you looking at my credit card and ID with Meta glasses on.” My instincts were correct: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Quietly, calmly and forensically, BBC just dismantled the Trump communications shitshow on Iran.

No hyperbole, just laying out an unprecedented military, diplomatic and reputational shambles.

Worth a watch.

(🎥 BBC News/BBC Verify)

'Breathing Out Becomes White And Snowfall' by Clare O'Brien (Intergraphia Books) https://intergraphia.cargo.site/Clare-O-Brien

'Airloc' by Clare O'Brien (ELJ Editions) https://www.amazon.co.uk/AIRLOC-Clare-OBrien/dp/1941617670/

'Who Am I Supposed To Be Driving?' by Clare O'Brien (Hedgehog Poetry Press) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-supposed-driving-Clare-OBrien/dp/191349912X/

On #WorldBookDay, I'm shamelessly self-publicising my own wee chapbooks! Might sell one or two more, who knows.!
Breathing Out Becomes White And Snowfall
intergraphia.cargo.site/Clare-O-Brien
Airloc
www.amazon.co.uk/AIRLOC-Clare...
Who Am I Supposed To Be Driving? www.amazon.co.uk/Who-supposed...

Is there any difference between Hitler and Hegseth in terms of content? The only difference I see is stylistic, in that Hitler sounds like a gothic villain and Hegseth sounds like a 12 year old gamer blitzed on energy drinks.

Call me a luddite but I kind of prefer the old version of the Devil who used to put a murrain on crops and command his demon dogs to terrorise church congregations to the new one who insists on having an app for everything and gets rich by designing clever ways of capitalising on people's fatigue.

Iranian warship sank by US sub in Indian Ocean, Hegseth says Sri Lanka's navy says around 140 people are feared missing after a military vessel went down off its southern coast.

Um, the Americans didn't like it much when Japan sank their ships without actually declaring war, did they?

Everyone in my house said the same thing.

How stupid are these people? Mythology is wonderful, but it is composed of metaphors, not literal truth.

Good, get these racist fascists out of Scotland.

US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges Religious freedom group says 200 troops sent complaints of superiors using extremist Christian rhetoric to justify war

I'm not in the habit of rubbishing people's religious beliefs, but telling troops that Trump is anointed by God to launch Armageddon is either cynical exploitation of the credulous or plain old barking batshit. Either way the military commanders responsible should be removed forthwith.

Also can one perhaps mention how long it took the almighty US of A to notice that WW2 was happening and give Churchill a hand?

Trump slams Starmer - 'this is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with' After singling out Spain, he turned his attention to the UK, telling the media he is "not happy" with the country.

Nope, and we're not dealing with Roosevelt, you brainless orange shit balloon.

Froggy went a courtin' ... 😊

It's actually romantic, to steal a line from Taylor Swift.

Hmm, I think it's the USA that's become unrecognisable of late, thanks to Trump & co.

At least we now know the one issue on which Keir Starmer will never u-turn: Scottish independence. He’ll twist and turn on any other matter - even war - but he’s an implacable mountain of certainty when it comes to democracy, or the denial of it, in Scotland
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...

UK ‘took far too long’ to let US use its airbases to attack Iran, Trump says US president also ‘very disappointed’ in Keir Starmer over UK government’s deal to hand Chagos Islands to Mauritius

I'd stay the fuck out of it. Joining in with American aggression only puts UK citizens in more danger. Also, if the move was intended to curry favour with arch-bully Trump, it didn't work, because apparently Starmer didn't join in fast enough.

If he's allowing US planes to use our bases, I doubt he can control what they do after they take off.

UK will allow US to use bases to strike Iranian missile sites, says Starmer The prime minister says it remains the case that the UK will

Keir Starmer is an unprincipled coward who changes his mind more often than most people change their socks. I assume he's once again caved in to pressure from the orange twat in the hat. About time he realised that the US of A is no longer our ally. Let it stew in the juice it's squeezed.

Anyone else on #booksky have trouble reading ebooks? I find it uncomfortable - my eye skips down the screen & I lose mental focus in a way I don't with print. Even the benefits of backlighting don't help. Maybe it's one of the ill-effects of digesting tiny snippets of info on news and social sites.