Aidan O’Brien
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aidanobrien.bsky.social
Aidan O’Brien
@aidanobrien.bsky.social
3.9K followers 1.2K following 79 posts
Talks about: internet governance, counter-violent extremism, and counter-disinformation but (mostly) movies

(He/Him)
Posts Replies Media Videos
aidanobrien.bsky.social
OMG who cares…
Lucy Lawless in the Simpsons explaining every plot hole in Xena Warrior Princess with “a wizard did it”
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
The infamous liberal General Mattis said about Trump's cuts to US Aid, outreach and cuts to the state department;

"If you cut our foreign aid, we'll need to spend more on ammo"
November 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
But Annie, it would be impossible to find the medical supplies to fake this convincingly
November 7, 2025 at 1:15 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
"It's not like he could have thrown together a more convincing fake by spending under 3 euros?"

"Oh"
Actual Nasal Cannula, price 2 euro A different nasal cannula, also for sale online It costs 70c
November 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Everyone is mocking DJ Carey, but no one is blaming the mastermind of his cunning plan.
Blackadder and Balderic in BlackAddder goes forth. Blackadder has a pair of underpants on his head and two pencils up his nose in a bid to appear insane Blackadder and Balderic in Blackadder goes forth. Balderic has a cunning plan
November 7, 2025 at 1:02 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Just to be clear. Alison O’Connor is Irish and it is set out in article 8 of our constitution that Irish is the national first language
November 4, 2025 at 3:51 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Context: Someone sat down and, honest to god, wrote a column about the fact that last weekend the newly elected Uachtarán na hÉireann (President of Ireland), Catherine Connolly, spoke *too much* Irish during her acceptance speech, and this made the columnist uncomfortable.
https://archive.ph/flRku It’s impossible not to look at this in the context of how nationalism in various forms seems to be sweeping the globe. It is expressed varyingly. We see it with the weaponising of the tricolour in neighbourhoods as an anti-immigrant symbol. Clearly wanting to see more Irish spoken is of an entirely different order. Yet, given the times we live in, there were high levels of zealotry in the recent campaign. Whether people like to admit it or not, the shaming of Humphreys on the language front fed the sectarian abuse that was fomented by some during the campaign. Those who wish to speak or relearn Irish should feel entirely free to do so. Some are doing it in ways that attempt to be inclusive. It would, I think, be a matter of regret to almost every Irish person if the language disappeared. But there is a danger of it being talibanised. There are so many of us out there who simply don’t understand it, no matter how beautiful the Irish being spoken. Some might even consider it rude to continue at length in a language in which statistically over half of those present in the room will not understand what is being said. In fact, if I think about the learning of Irish at all, there is usually an accompanying shudder in memory of feeling totally at sea during Irish lessons at school. If one of my children had asked in secondary school to give up Irish in favour of another more useful subject, I wouldn’t have objected. But, as we all know, that is not an option because the subject is compulsory. What a recipe for success — force-feeding it to students. Last Saturday evening, once all the votes had been counted, Catherine Connolly stood at the podium in Dublin Castle and gave a speech. Alongside her were her family, as well as Micheál Martin, the taoiseach, and Simon Harris, the tanaiste. Our new president began her speech in Irish, which is what often happens on such occasions in Irish public life. Usually the speaker then reverts to English, making a broad translation of what was just said. However, unlike on most other occasions, the Irish here really did continue for quite some time before she spoke in English.
November 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Being a professional full-time "opinion columnist" is akin to a career as a Victorian hat maker.

It doesn't matter how stable, thoughtful, and intelligent you are at the outset; the working conditions will inevitably turn you into a dribbling, incoherent lunatic.
Spare a thought for those who don’t talk the (Irish) talk new The Kneecap factor is making Irish trendy but there is a danger of creating a ‘them and us’ situation between those who understand it and those who do not It’s impossible not to look at this in the context of how nationalism in various forms seems to be sweeping the globe. It is expressed varyingly. We see it with the weaponising of the tricolour in neighbourhoods as an anti-immigrant symbol. Clearly wanting to see more Irish spoken is of an entirely different order. Yet, given the times we live in, there were high levels of zealotry in the recent campaign. Whether people like to admit it or not, the shaming of Humphreys on the language front fed the sectarian abuse that was fomented by some during the campaign. Those who wish to speak or relearn Irish should feel entirely free to do so. Some are doing it in ways that attempt to be inclusive. It would, I think, be a matter of regret to almost every Irish person if the language disappeared. But there is a danger of it being talibanised. There are so many of us out there who simply don’t understand it, no matter how beautiful the Irish being spoken. Some might even consider it rude to continue at length in a language in which statistically over half of those present in the room will not understand what is being said.
November 4, 2025 at 1:52 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
"Lovely small towns in England, Scotland and Ireland, they were living their lives quietly before migrants arrived"
Striking miners run from what looks like an army of police at a picket line in Wales in the early 1980s Police drag an anti-nuclear war protester from Greenham common early 1980s A British army soldier points his rifle at Northern Irish women 1985 The infamous The Kenilworth Road riot in 1985 between Milwall and Luton fans
November 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
"I heard there was a knifing recently". Yes, 11 people were injured in a mass stabbing incident in the UK on Saturday, November 1st.

Meanwhile, in America on the same day...
Gun violence archive. A chart of all the shootings and acts of gun violence that occurred in the US on November 1st 2025. Page 1 Source: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/last-72-hours?page=7 page 2 https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/last-72-hours?page=7 page 3 https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/last-72-hours?page=7 page 4 https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/last-72-hours?page=7
November 3, 2025 at 11:30 AM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
I’ve lost count of the number arson attacks on IPAS centres or even buildings *suspected* of being IPAS. Between 2018-2023 there were at least 25. I suspect the number in the last 2 years may be close to that.

We’re not lucky it’s a minor miracle that no one has killed yet
Litany of arson attacks linked to asylum stretches back to 2018 Mayo building left in flames after false 'asylum' housing claims = SUNDAY WORLD Subscribe TRISH CRIME ARSON PROBE I Video shows masked gang setting fire outside IPAS centre in Dublin city It's understood gardai and a unit from Dublin Fire Brigade arrived to the scene just after 7 pm and dispersed those gathered there. COP ON Lucky nobody killed 'so far' in refugee centre arson attacks, says senior garda The senior officer also provided an update into arrests made after serious public disorder in Dublin last November Jonathan McCambridge Published: 09:36, 6 Mar 2024
November 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
October 31st/November 1st
Billy Bob Thornton as Lorne Malvo in Fargo, contemplating a huge bloodt steak Billy Bob Thornton as Bad Santa. He looks miserable
November 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
Oh, they're bound too, matching set and all.
Some weird NYPD tank thing this is an NYPD tank that looks like a 40K troop carrier Big tank yoke, tiny cop
October 30, 2025 at 3:47 PM
aidanobrien.bsky.social
"Let's look at what (he) Hitler did. Some things are bad some things are not so bad. He built the autobahn, didn't he?"

It's the historical illiteracy that bugs me the most.
Article The Experience of Eastern European Forced Laborers in Germany During World War II, Nazi authorities condemned millions of Eastern Europeans to forced labor as part of an aggressive campaign to conquer and establish a colony in Eastern Europe. The use of slave and forced labour in Nazi Germany (German: Zwangsarbeit) and throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II took place on an unprecedented scale.[2] It was a vital part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories. It also contributed to the mass extermination of populations in occupied Europe. The Germans abducted approximately 12 million people from almost twenty European countries; about two thirds came from Central Europe and Eastern Europe.[1] Many workers died as a result of their living conditions – extreme mistreatment, severe malnutrition and abuse were the main causes of death. Many more became civilian casualties from enemy (Allied) bombing and shelling of their workplaces throughout the war.[3] At the peak of the program, the forced labourers constituted 20% of the German work force. Counting deaths and turnover, about 15 million men and women were forced labourers at one point during the war.[4] Besides Jews, the harshest deportation and forced labor policies were applied to the populations of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. By the end of the war, half of Belarus's population had been either killed or deported.[5][6] The defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 freed approximately 11 million foreigners (categorized as "displaced persons"), most of whom were forced labourers and POWs. During the war, German forces brought into the Reich 6.5 million civilians, in addition to Soviet POWs, for unfree labour in factories.[1] Returning them home was a high priority for the Allies. However returning citizens of the USSR were often meant suspicion of collaboration or reincarceration in a Gulag prison camp. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), Red Cross, and military operations provided food, clothing, shelter, and
October 30, 2025 at 2:48 PM