Rothaí
@rothaiocht.bsky.social
I am an emigrant who writes love letters. Ireland :: California
Pinned
I left Ireland and moved to New York in 1997. Decades on, what the US has become has broken my immigrant heart.
It also baffled me, until I began to piece together Gen X memories of apartheid South Africa.
It also baffled me, until I began to piece together Gen X memories of apartheid South Africa.
Pinning this thread about the Gen X billionaires destroying the world with their apartheid nostalgia—
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm
Yay for KQED out here trying to teach San Francisco tech workers how live in the city outside their Waymo window.
reminder for tech company holiday party season: if you enjoy the band that plays your company's party, they're probably a band in real life too! follow 'em on IG, pay $15 to see them at a club, ask where you can buy their music & merch
December 9, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Yay for KQED out here trying to teach San Francisco tech workers how live in the city outside their Waymo window.
Reposted by Rothaí
There’s this idea that I’ve been pondering for a bit that’s probably yet another Everyone Will Yell At Me thing, but… I don’t think that pointing out that AI is full of inaccuracies is an effective tactic at getting people not to use it. It’s based on cultural context that not everyone shares…
December 9, 2025 at 5:48 AM
There’s this idea that I’ve been pondering for a bit that’s probably yet another Everyone Will Yell At Me thing, but… I don’t think that pointing out that AI is full of inaccuracies is an effective tactic at getting people not to use it. It’s based on cultural context that not everyone shares…
Reposted by Rothaí
Look, the fact is Kielty is a vastly superior Late Late Show Guy in every aspect to Tubs, and the best since Gaybo, in fact.
He was dealt a bad hand going in, but is an actual human being, capable of emotion, conversation and multiple facial expressions.
#spéirghorm #ireland
He was dealt a bad hand going in, but is an actual human being, capable of emotion, conversation and multiple facial expressions.
#spéirghorm #ireland
Getting married on Toy Show weekend has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my getting married on Toy Show weekend
#spéirgorm
#spéirgorm
Ryan Tubridy marries Clare Kambamettu in west of Ireland ceremony
Couple wed surrounded by ‘close friends and family’
www.irishtimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Look, the fact is Kielty is a vastly superior Late Late Show Guy in every aspect to Tubs, and the best since Gaybo, in fact.
He was dealt a bad hand going in, but is an actual human being, capable of emotion, conversation and multiple facial expressions.
#spéirghorm #ireland
He was dealt a bad hand going in, but is an actual human being, capable of emotion, conversation and multiple facial expressions.
#spéirghorm #ireland
#CelebrityTraitors UK episode 6.
This show shows how this entire British class could talk themselves into any theory as ruinous as TERFdom, given enough chummy croissants.
This show shows how this entire British class could talk themselves into any theory as ruinous as TERFdom, given enough chummy croissants.
December 9, 2025 at 5:55 AM
#CelebrityTraitors UK episode 6.
This show shows how this entire British class could talk themselves into any theory as ruinous as TERFdom, given enough chummy croissants.
This show shows how this entire British class could talk themselves into any theory as ruinous as TERFdom, given enough chummy croissants.
The last thing technofascism is short of is neurodivergent dudes.
Palantir's new neurodivergent fellowship is in fact bad because neurodivergent people participating in technofascism will not save us. Latest for @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The problem with Palantir's new neurodivergent fellowship
Critics have accused the company of being technofascist.
www.motherjones.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The last thing technofascism is short of is neurodivergent dudes.
Reposted by Rothaí
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Redirecting
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
A study on 1.7 million people in Hong Kong shows superior hybrid immunity to Covid in people who got vaccinated before infection vs. people who got infected first. "Our findings are a direct rebuttal to arguments for natural immunity," the authors write. doi.org/10.1016/j.va...
Reposted by Rothaí
It's time once again for my annual #treebybike post. This is the 12/19/42 cover of @newyorker.com, so one full year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This would be the first real Christmas alone, or without a family member, for millions in the US. Gas and tire rationing had begun earlier that year.🗃️
December 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
It's time once again for my annual #treebybike post. This is the 12/19/42 cover of @newyorker.com, so one full year after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This would be the first real Christmas alone, or without a family member, for millions in the US. Gas and tire rationing had begun earlier that year.🗃️
Reposted by Rothaí
mom can you pick me up the economists are "i am spartacus"ing longtime personal entanglements with notorious child sex predators again
December 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
mom can you pick me up the economists are "i am spartacus"ing longtime personal entanglements with notorious child sex predators again
Disappointed to learn this eejit lives in Ireland. What a mess corporate Bluesky is.
December 8, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Disappointed to learn this eejit lives in Ireland. What a mess corporate Bluesky is.
Now that I’ve seen ChatGPT more or less coach me to push doctors toward euthanasia for a loved one, I’m wondering how we all need to update our living wills for this age of disembodied horrors.
“Do not consult LLMs about my health records, care decisions, or end of life choices.”
“Do not consult LLMs about my health records, care decisions, or end of life choices.”
December 8, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Now that I’ve seen ChatGPT more or less coach me to push doctors toward euthanasia for a loved one, I’m wondering how we all need to update our living wills for this age of disembodied horrors.
“Do not consult LLMs about my health records, care decisions, or end of life choices.”
“Do not consult LLMs about my health records, care decisions, or end of life choices.”
The 4-year-old neighbor who bursts into my house shouting “I am your darling, and you are MY darling!” has the greatest Put Me In the Will energy I’ve ever seen.
I need to convince some rich old lady he’s a lost great-nephew. At least until he’s old enough for Hallmark movie stardom.
I need to convince some rich old lady he’s a lost great-nephew. At least until he’s old enough for Hallmark movie stardom.
December 8, 2025 at 6:24 AM
The 4-year-old neighbor who bursts into my house shouting “I am your darling, and you are MY darling!” has the greatest Put Me In the Will energy I’ve ever seen.
I need to convince some rich old lady he’s a lost great-nephew. At least until he’s old enough for Hallmark movie stardom.
I need to convince some rich old lady he’s a lost great-nephew. At least until he’s old enough for Hallmark movie stardom.
When a bunch of parents drop their kids to watch #LateLate #ToyShow & find themselves get sucked in to a show with a very different English-speaking culture modeling a kid-centric, beautifully positive masculinity, inclusivity, generosity, and FUN…I feel proud of Ireland.
#spéirghorm
#spéirghorm
December 8, 2025 at 5:54 AM
When a bunch of parents drop their kids to watch #LateLate #ToyShow & find themselves get sucked in to a show with a very different English-speaking culture modeling a kid-centric, beautifully positive masculinity, inclusivity, generosity, and FUN…I feel proud of Ireland.
#spéirghorm
#spéirghorm
Sometimes Apple Mail knows when Airmail is done.
December 7, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Sometimes Apple Mail knows when Airmail is done.
Reposted by Rothaí
The thing to understand about all these network states is:
(1) they require a permanent underclass to do all the labor that keeps cities functional,
(2) they have no answers to how or why free people en masse would sign up to be that permanent underclass
And
(3) that’s because they want slaves.
(1) they require a permanent underclass to do all the labor that keeps cities functional,
(2) they have no answers to how or why free people en masse would sign up to be that permanent underclass
And
(3) that’s because they want slaves.
December 7, 2025 at 6:21 PM
The thing to understand about all these network states is:
(1) they require a permanent underclass to do all the labor that keeps cities functional,
(2) they have no answers to how or why free people en masse would sign up to be that permanent underclass
And
(3) that’s because they want slaves.
(1) they require a permanent underclass to do all the labor that keeps cities functional,
(2) they have no answers to how or why free people en masse would sign up to be that permanent underclass
And
(3) that’s because they want slaves.
This is the kind of behavior that would make me overbid on a property on that block.
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
December 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
This is the kind of behavior that would make me overbid on a property on that block.
“The bicycles go by in twos and threes -
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.”
—Patrick Kavanagh
#spéirghorm
#BikeBus
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.”
—Patrick Kavanagh
#spéirghorm
#BikeBus
Three teenagers riding side by side, chatting and sharing gum because protected cycle tracks make this kind of freedom safe, normal and enables social life.
December 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
“The bicycles go by in twos and threes -
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.”
—Patrick Kavanagh
#spéirghorm
#BikeBus
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.”
—Patrick Kavanagh
#spéirghorm
#BikeBus
Tool.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday that the Democratic Party needed to be “more culturally normal” and “less judgmental.”
December 7, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Tool.
My child has taken the right lessons from #CelebrityTraitors : She needs to revert to the Claudia Winkelman haircut I gave her at four.
December 7, 2025 at 7:43 AM
My child has taken the right lessons from #CelebrityTraitors : She needs to revert to the Claudia Winkelman haircut I gave her at four.
Reposted by Rothaí
If he controls over 50% of the voting stock, he should be personally liable for the company’s actions. If you can never be removed from control, that’s not a publicly held company, that’s a grift.
December 7, 2025 at 6:37 AM
If he controls over 50% of the voting stock, he should be personally liable for the company’s actions. If you can never be removed from control, that’s not a publicly held company, that’s a grift.
Anyone who works in board governance should watch Celebrity Traitors.
They’re appalling, yet somehow better at it than major leadership teams I’ve seen.
They’re appalling, yet somehow better at it than major leadership teams I’ve seen.
December 7, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Anyone who works in board governance should watch Celebrity Traitors.
They’re appalling, yet somehow better at it than major leadership teams I’ve seen.
They’re appalling, yet somehow better at it than major leadership teams I’ve seen.
Reposted by Rothaí
I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism.
A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.
If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.
If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
December 6, 2025 at 12:07 AM
I'm not exaggerating when I say following @boltsmag.org rn will unlock money for our journalism.
A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.
If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
A generous reader, @russ41.bsky.social, has offered to donate $1 for every 1-person increase to our follower count.
If you're not following @boltsmag.org yet, it'll directly help fund our reporting!
Celebrity Traitors UK: My 10-year-old noting the British obsession with who is “clever.”
Not really serving them. In the series or in the 21st century.
Not really serving them. In the series or in the 21st century.
December 7, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Celebrity Traitors UK: My 10-year-old noting the British obsession with who is “clever.”
Not really serving them. In the series or in the 21st century.
Not really serving them. In the series or in the 21st century.
California gurls jacket-free under the Christmas palm trees.
December 7, 2025 at 2:15 AM
California gurls jacket-free under the Christmas palm trees.
Another gross thing he’s done is make saying Merry Christmas into this culture war bullshit where people can use it like a slur, I’ve always said it to people because that was never a thing you couldn’t say and literally the only time I’ve felt uncomfortable saying it is when shit like this happens
Next he’ll restore daylight and blinking.
December 6, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Pinning this thread about the Gen X billionaires destroying the world with their apartheid nostalgia—
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm
I left Ireland and moved to New York in 1997. Decades on, what the US has become has broken my immigrant heart.
It also baffled me, until I began to piece together Gen X memories of apartheid South Africa.
It also baffled me, until I began to piece together Gen X memories of apartheid South Africa.
December 6, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Pinning this thread about the Gen X billionaires destroying the world with their apartheid nostalgia—
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm
and the Irish Dunnes Stores “check-out girls” who helped bring down that South African apartheid regime with 1980s solidarity from the far end of the other hemisphere.
#spéirghorm