Cathy

@cathyby

"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin Header description with alt-text: #SpéirGorm 🇮🇪 🇪🇺

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Cathy@cathyby· 21d

You've been murdered. Who do you want on the case?

Cathy@cathyby· 22d

Summer nectar. #profile #bees #July

On the right, a honeybee explores a cluster of small white oregano flowers. The background is blurred but oregano leaves, other oregano flowers and another honey bee can be made out.

Cathy@cathyby· 22d

Boy in nightclub shouts:"SUICIDAL EMPATHY IS, LIKE, DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY IN THE NAME OF SHOWING EMPATHY TO OTHERS."

Girl in nightclub thinks, "EMPATHY IS THE ONLY REASON I'M STILL STOOD HERE, MATE."

Cathy@cathyby· 23d

With ALT. Ireland going the same way? Irish government need to explain their reasoning re data centres.

Data centers unite U.S. in shared anger

People of both parties lock arms in opposition to the computer hubs

BY SHIRA OVIDE

Kyle Schmidt ticked through what makes him irate about the massive Google data center slat-ed for construction about a mile away from his home near Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

He didn't like that residents were kept in the dark about what would be built on a pristine tract of mostly forested land. He's worried about the data center's potential impact on the com-munity's water supply and on the dream home that his family moved into last year.

But Schmidt said what really bothers him is the powerlessness he felt as the project advanced and elected officials, Google representatives and bigwig data center backers belittled or misled people who raised concerns.

"I hate bullies," said Schmidt, a 43-year-old flooring salesman and project manager who leads a community group opposing the project. "Data center developers discovered if we can sneak in here without anyone noticing, we can pretty much take what we want."

A rare issue uniting Americans is opposition to data centers, the sprawling computer complexes that are the most visible mani-festation of the artificial intelli-gence boom. In a recent Gallup poll, about 7 of 10 Americans said they would oppose a data center being built near them, and many express concerns about the projects operating in secret and gobbling scarce land, water and electricity.

But experts and activists say that the intensity and breadth of the data center backlash reveals... (continued on another page)

Cathy@cathyby· 25d

A short holiday in Belgium.

Describe your favourite movie as boring as possible

Cathy@cathyby· Jul 12

New perspective on the Trump slurry dump plane.

Shot from Trump AI video featuring him, wearing a crown, dumping crap on the American people.

Cathy@cathyby· Jul 9

No, that wasn't what you said. You said "covered by renewables". A datacentre uses ten times as much power as one pharma plant (an actual major industry) or 200,000 homes. www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Thu Jan 15 2026-06:00

A single data centre in west Dublin consumes 10 times the electricity of a nearby pharmaceutical plant employing 2,000 people, equivalent to enough power for 200,000 homes, according to an internal Government document.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 26

Re this ⚪️ (from Politico article), in "Brexit and Ireland" ⚫️ Tony Connolly writes of British officials contacting Irish officials to ask what might be possible re the NI border. May literally had two white papers on the issue that were handed to Barnier in the summer of 2017.

The sequence came because the EU wouldn't get into negotiations until Article 50 was triggered, argued Raoul Ruparel, a former special adviser to May. And only then did the U.K. see the problem this created.

Another Irish official was contacted by her British counterpart, who asked her what she had been 'hearing back' from the EU about the idea of an 'associated membership'. (This was still before Article 50 was triggered, so Britain could not en-gage directly with the EU.) She replied with some incredulity: 'What am I going to hear? What does associated membership even mean? Like, what is it?' Her counterpart replied: 'Oh, right. Okay.'

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 25

#SpéirGorm very Irish problems

Child of Prague statue, with base aflame, beside a smiling sun.

Caption: For the love of God take him in before the country goes up in flames!!

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 25

Unfortunately, global warming doesn't create nice even predictable weather. Doesn't even guarantee each summer will be warmer than the one before. There have been too many deaths from heat, as pointed out by WTO. But the things they recommend doing are being done. www.who.int/europe/news/...

From greening our cities for more shade to creating networks of cooling centres. From social services
checking that older people stay hydrated to training teachers and child carers to recognize the signs
of heat-related illness. From introducing breaks or flexible shifts, so workers avoid the midday sun, to
ensuring we have enough staff on shift in health facilities during heatwaves. The solutions are
practical, within reach and scalable.

I sincerely thank Federal Minister Schneider and his Ministry for their continued support to the WHO
European Centre for Environment, Climate Change and Health in Bonn, which led the development of
this new Guidance. And let me recognize the contribution of European Commissioner Hoekstra and
his Directorate-General for Climate Action, which provided the specific funding for this vital work.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 25

Absolutely no cooling centres in Europe? Are you sure about that? en.hespress.com/140594-how-e... I could suggest people dying because of high US healthcare costs is a choice, and unlike recordbreaking temperatures, that's a constant.

According to Reuters, cooling centers are becoming one of the first emergency measures deployed in Europe's hardest-hit urban areas.

The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool visitors. In Rome, tourists sought relief in public fountains. Local governments opened public cooling centers in libraries, community halls, and shopping centers. Germany activated public cooling stations, fountains, and shaded urban zones, with the national weather service Deutscher Wetterdienst issuing alerts that triggered localized responses in cities. Italy's major cities, including Rome, Florence, and Milan, also established emergency cooling shelters after intermittent blackouts caused by surging air-conditioning demand.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 24

May I recommend... Really not terrible.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 24

Happy Hannan Day to all who celebrate. www.reaction.life/p/britain-lo...

It's 24 June, 2025, and Britain is marking its annual Independence Day celebration. As the fireworks stream through the summer sky, still not quite dark, we wonder why it took us so long to leave. The years that followed the 2016 referendum didn't just reinvigorate our economy, our democracy and our liberty. They improved relations with our neighbours.

The United Kingdom is now the region's foremost knowledge-based economy. We lead the world in biotech, law, education, the audio-visual sector, financial services and software. New industries, from 3D printing to driverless cars, have sprung up around the country. Older industries, too, have revived as energy prices have fallen back to global levels: steel, cement, paper, plastics and ceramics producers have become competitive again.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 23

After years watching Doctor Who, this sounds EXACTLY what a secret cabal would say when trying to re-engineer an alien planet to replace their destroyed home planet, despite the side effect being mass deaths. Unfortunately in real life, reversing the gas turbines won't undo the damage (RTD, FYKYK).

POLITICO

Europe must choose between Al and climate goals, data center lobby says

Tech sector says only carbon-emitting gas plants are reliable enough today to power the EU's AI goals.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 22

3/ Odd to call the Greenland account a "backstabbing myth" when the saga started with Trump in late 2018. Greenland is the issue that links Trump 1 and Trump 2.

FINANCIAL TIMES

From the perspective of the Trump administration, Europe's original sin was to abandon the US in a moment of consequence and expose the alliance as hollow.

But for Europeans, the critical betrayal was Greenland. The fact that the US threatened to annex Greenland and considered the territory of a sovereign ally negotiable is the key inflection point.

What followed “was all done in a slightly clandestine, cloak-and-dagger way," Fiona Hill, who was serving as the senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council, told me. Bolton summoned her to his office, but he wouldn't say why. When she arrived, she found him ashen-faced, sitting next to a Coast Guard admiral who was serving as the White House's homeland-security adviser. "Bolton said to us, 'Look, Ron Lauder has told Trump he needs to buy Greenland, and we've got to head this off before he announces he's buying Greenland to everybody,' " Hill said. "He didn't want us to let anybody else know, not even within our directorates." Bolton asked her to discreetly prepare a memo that presented more reasonable alternatives.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 17

Moody morning.

Yellow light along the horizon under gathering clouds of deep blue, dimmed by rain on the left. The sea is also deep blue, with some reflections of the muted dawn light, until it crashes on a pebbly shore. A muted beauty.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 16

The exclusion zone in Years includes Ireland. Image shown briefly at the start 👇

Image from "28 Years Later" showing the virus exclusion zone. The "Unconditional exclusion zone" includes the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and Man, plus coastal islands. The wider patrolled zone extends in a circle, touching the French coast (protected by the Atlantic Wall defences) and stretching almost up to the Shetland Islands. NATO security bases are located in Calais, Stavanger and Shetlands.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 11

#CTA Irish government says enhancing cooperation with UK is the best way to improve how CTA works. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has other ideas which unionists would not like. (Unclear how to make applying for asylum in UK illegal in NI though.) www.rte.ie/news/politic...

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín called for an Irish sea border.

He said: "We have a swinging backdoor open between the two countries, which means we can't manage migration.

"Events this week highlight how checks are needed to end the confusion and chaos.

"The proposed process will not affect the Common Travel Area as Irish and British citizens will still be able to move with passports and drivers' licences.

"People with the required visas will also be able to move.

"But those applying for asylum on either island will have to do so when they land on each island."

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 11

Wrong about ECHR, right (gasp) about CTA - Badenoch's comments with ALT TEXT. There is no way to remove CTA which doesn't negatively affect people in NI.

KB: No, I don't think that The Common Travel Area is the problem. This is one man...

NF: Isn't that where the suspect got through though?

KB: Yes but we are seeing 1000s of people get through, you know, the southern borders. I don't think we should get distracted and look at The Common Travel Area. Every day people cross from Ireland to Northern Ireland, you know, to work, to live. The Common Travel Area has been working fine for 100 years. Something else is going wrong, and that is that Western Europe, not just the United Kingdom is struggling to control its borders. We're not the only ones who have this problem. Ireland has it too. That's why it's spilled over. France has it too. We do need to work with these other countries, but the best way we can do that is by leading the way. Let us leave the ECHR. Once we're able to start deporting people, I think that it'll actually be easier for us to work with other European countries facing this problem.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 10

(Image from quoted post) Here is Lord Frost, who still hasn't learned the border is not a wall, but a notional line through streams, houses, fields etc. Irish check, away from the border, that CTA rules are being followed. UK chose to do the same on ferries from NI. Operation Gull, your lordship.

David Frost

@DavidGHFrost on X

The Irish happily check vehicles and people going south when they want to.

Yet apparently we can't police our border with Ireland. Instead we let people wander across it & give them asylum.

We must be out of our minds.

The back door into the UK via Ireland needs closing.

17:00 09 Jun 26

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 9

Okay Columba, you have terrible weather too. PLEASE stop the floods of rain, and thunder and lightning, and the biggest lumps of hail I've seen in Ireland.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 8

In real world news 👇 (Rolling updates: www.rte.ie/news/2026/06... )

RTÉ 100

12:48

Iran says it delivered 'painful response' to Israel

Iran said it had delivered a "painful response" to Israel and "accordingly, the cessation of armed forces operations is hereby announced", the Khatam al-Anbiya command said in a statement carried by state television.

"However, it is emphasised that should acts of aggression and hostility continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow," it added.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 8

Interesting. Here is what the promotional site says re social media - right now, its voluntary. www.visittheusa.com/get-facts-ge... The ESTA help says, "if you choose to answer these questions" - esta.cbp.dhs.gov/faq?lang=en

VISIT THE USA

Do ESTA applications require me to disclose all of my social media activity?

The ESTA application does not require access to your social media activity. Applicants may voluntarily provide social media identifiers or handles, but passwords, private messages, and full account access are not required. Apply only through the official ESTA website and review all application questions carefully.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 7

Sent? He visited Hempel, the German rep, in his home, and gave him condolences. Are you saying that makes Dev a Nazi sympathiser, despite all the assistance given by Ireland to the Allies?

John P. Duggan's account of the visit appears to be the only historical (and more importantly, referenced) account that is based on independent, primary evidence. According to Duggan, who personally interviewed Hempel's wife in Ireland. 'it took Frau Hempel to put the record straight as to the location of the visit. The Taoiseach had visited Hempel's home rather than the legation'. 139 Was the purpose of de Valera's visit to sign a book of condolences? According to Duggan's account, de Valera paid a visit out of consideration for Hempel 140 the German minister, who deduced his mission as being the preservation of Irish neutrality, who was a great favourite of Dev's because he had fought against any German infringement of Irish neutrality-and because it was the right thing to do. 142 His attitude to 'the displaced German diplomat was 'charitable and understanding. He granted asylum to him

For example. Alan Shatter. "State must apologise for de Valera's morally repugnant error of judgment over Hitler'. Irish Independent. 28 January 2005; Dick Walsh, 'When history repeats itself and no lessons are leamed Irish Times, 27 December 1997.

107 For examples in the USA, see Clarity. 'Ireland weighs trading neutrality': James F Clarity. Tie to NATO forces Ireland to reconsider neutral role New York Times. 16 December 1998: and James F Clarity. "Call to modify Irish neutrality ignites debate'. New York Times. 1 April 1996.

Nolan, Joseph Walshe. 296-9.

Duggan, Neutral Ireland. 243.

Duggan, Neutral Ireland. 241.

Duggan, Neutral Ireland. 202.

142Duggan, Neutral Ireland. 241.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 7

If that M1 podcast is evidence of Irish support of Nazism, then it also implicates the UK. Which of course, would be ridiculous. www.irishtimes.com/news/a-nazi-...

Easter of 1936 was a memorable one for the Mahr children of Waterloo Place, Dublin. The Hitler Youth group to which they belonged held its annual get-together at Hampton Hall, Balbriggan, but this year, they were joined by a group of Hitler Youth from Britain. On the large estate in the north Dublin countryside, the two groups marched, saluted the Swastika, watched Nazi films and sang songs around a campfire.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 5

The tweet, from the Dept of State of a country arresting and detaining people based on their appearance and rejecting research funding to which they have ideological objections.

Department of State
@StateDept on X.com

Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West.

The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 4

Old and new: the moored Jeanie Johnston tall ship (a three-masted replica of a 19th-century famine ship, with its hull painted black with a broad white stripe) contrasts with the modern buildings along Custom House Quay. In the distance, the modern, harp-shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge spans the dappled waters of the Liffey. Through it are visible the iconic chimneys at Poolbeg and a distant white cruise ship. In the foreground, on the metal beams of Sean O'Casey Bridge, a young seagull says "Howaya?" Above, dramatic clouds billow, encroaching on the blue sky now only visible to the left.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 4

Ms Rice's take. Oddly omits that Trump created this problem by first cancelling the Obama deal, and second by, with Israel, starting a war with Iran without consulting NATO or European countries (= "not our war")

Our European allies have behaved shamefully, standing by as the U.S. dealt with growing Iranian capabilities and Iran attacked re-gional powers. Our allies need to re-engage with us, and we with them. Iran isn't only our problem. It isn't only an Israeli problem. The United Nations Security Council between 2006 and 2010 passed five resolu-tions declaring Iran's nuclear ambi-tions under Chapter VII an "action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of ag-gression." The next time our Euro-pean friends are inclined to say that conflict with Iran is "not our war," they should reread those resolutions.

Cathy@cathyby· Jun 3

#SpéirGorm