Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 14hThat’s my point: neither Russia nor China have been communist for a long time. And, arguably by Karl Marx definition, they were never strictly communist 200
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 17hDid I say that slogans should be banned from light entertainment? 001
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 18hDitto for China. Despite the name for their ruling party, they haven’t been communist for a long time 200
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 18hThe news is (rightly) one place where presenters and journalists should not be displaying political or other affiliation 231
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 18hPoppies ARE contentious: just because the majority agree with them, doesn’t mean there isn’t a significant minority who have a big issue with them 1100
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 22h(a) There’s other insurers in the Irish market and they do operate on a for-profit model, but the law mandates they also operate on community rating model (b) Irish insurers can apply a waiting period for pre-existing conditions but only if taking out insurance for first time 110
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 10/10/2026Mine was when a cop pulls their van over, but then inhales the smoke billowing from inside. He then just stands there with a vacant face. They ask him why they were pulled over, and he can’t remember and just wanders off 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 10/10/2026“Primitive Irish”?? This was Ireland’s Golden Age, when the Roman Empire was collapsing and European art and knowledge declined, but Ireland managed to preserve much in monasteries. Hence the term “Isle of Saints and Scholars” 230
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 10/10/2026It’s not “gallows” humour any more: it’s “live-streamed firing squad” humour 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 09/10/2026“FF and FG politicians vote for policies that hurt minorities” - that’s a turnabout in events… 050
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 09/10/2026All the world wants to live in the southern Indian Ocean 000
Reposted by Alan LawlorJack Kennedy @jackkennedy.ie · 08/10/2026Would like to see a journalist ask the 7 of Ireland's 14 MEPs (3 FG, 3 FF, 1 II) who just voted to: -endorse burqa bans -call "hatred of Israel" a sign of "Islamist influence" -identify European Muslim communities as potential tools of "malign foreign actors" to justify themselves 8160106
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Irish paed hospitals I suspect are no different to UK: my 2yo brought her stuffy to anaesthetic room and I stayed with her until she was under. But I warn you: watching your little one’s eyes go vacant before closing from the drugs, is heartbreaking, even when you knew it’s a straightforward op 020
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 07/10/2026A large intersection on that Venn diagram, I suspect 020
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026And the height of Irish music in 2026 is the AI generated song Dublin Deluge. Look it up, but for gods sake, dont play it out loud at work or in front of children 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026We were uneasy about Flatley even in the 90s. Same goes for Bono 000
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026My point is that the tax law of 1973 tried to make classification easy, but failed to realise the world is far more complex than that 120
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026They never visualised a future where traditional bakers of bread (whose jobs they wanted to protect and to keep staple foods affordable), would be replaced by giant factories making bread, cakes or biscuits and that concoctions like Jaffa cakes would confound easy classification 120
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026When the tax law was first established in 1973, it was considered too hard to separate cakes from bread as they’re made with essentially the same ingredients and by the same place: a bakery. They wanted to avoid complicated court challenges. 120
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026How is it unwieldy? Maybe only because men will sometimes repeat it in a sarcastic voice? It is a moniker that says “my status, marital or otherwise, is none of anyone’s business” 100
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Even the East of the country with its drier climate could produce rain forest (maybe not as rich as those on Beara) 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 06/10/2026But even the coldest microclimates of any mountain in Ireland (all the way up to Carrauntoohill at 1000m) are capable of supporting a forest (weather wise). Terrain (steep slope or rocky surface) is the only real barrier to a rich forest. 210
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026But if a native tree mix existed, the ground vegetation wouldn’t need to be dwarf or hardier: the trees, ivy, etc, would provide wind protection and take the edge off more extreme variations in temperature 120
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026<record scratch sound> did you just say a tree you planted?? I thought you’re a strong advocate of letting nature do its thing and let seeds drop naturally? 110
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Corbyn wasn’t and isn’t antisemitic. His stance would be similar to that of the Greens EXCEPT for this latest motion. The labelling of Corbyn as antisemitic was a slur campaign by the right wing press (ie most of UK mainstream media) 080
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Whilst Argentina is primarily Spanish speaking, it’s had a lot of Northern Europeans migrate there too. Southern Brazil like that too (it’s had a Welsh speaking village for a long time) 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 04/10/2026“I’m all for people to be able to afford rent with a full week’s wages, but for god’s sake, think of those who might find their latte has got expensive “ 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026#spéirGhormstatic.klipy.comFr Jack: Drink!ALT: Fr Jack: Drink! 041
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I had a classmate in the 70s who was named Albert Reynolds. Due to that time, we gave him an awful time by nicknaming him “Burt”. Both bc of the actor, but also bc of sesame st. Then in the 80s, we ended up with a Taoiseach (prime minister) of the same name 020
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026This q is the most fertile territory for smart ass answers from the Irish. All of which will even further pollute those AI platforms 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026You burn fuel ONCE for every EV shipped. You extract lithium from the ground less than once (more is now recycled from old batteries). You burn fuel in an ICE every time you drive the car: in enormous quantities over the car’s lifetime 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026When my kids were sick and I had to report reason for absence on an app owned by some billionaire, with little transparency as to how that data would be used or by whom, I often left the reason for absence blank. It’s private health data 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026It hard to make a statement or correct a decision when you’re busy doing thisstatic.klipy.comHomer Disappears Into A HedgeALT: Homer Disappears Into A Hedge 000
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I think the “hate” before that was little more than “he’s a bit too full of himself- probably bc he spends too much time in US” 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The “video nasties” of this generation: overblown moral panic 000
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Yet, when there’s a very serious incident, they ask members of the public to provide dashcam or doorcam footage. Which suggests that a fancy digital evidence mgt system is not essential and is just an excuse 000
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Thanks. The article explains it well and the snippet of dialogue in the trailer gives a good insight as to level of understanding (good) 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026But in terms of using the emoji’s, no one gave a ….. 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026That would be a sensible compromise: keeping a sense of authenticity, but not losing much of your audience who might treat it as almost a foreign language film 110
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Would authentic dialog and pronunciation not make it difficult for an audience (of the 21st century’s great unwashed) to follow (like me)? 100
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Understood, but this junction is 100m from where I live. Most of the time, there was no-one working on it. A flurry of activity for a week or two, then abandoned for weeks on end 110
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Given that installation of some cycle lane and realignment of curbs took 18 months to complete, don’t expect quick rollout to other junctions 110
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026But it’s still showing on the TFI app as 3 minutes away 010
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Exactly: we don’t convict ANYONE, even for minor crimes, without believing beyond all reasonable doubt. What sort of “beyond doubt” does he think there is, that’s even more rock-solid as to allow the death penalty? 010
Reposted by Alan LawlorLaura Haynes👩🔬⚾️🐾💙 @drlaurahaynes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Good morning 🌞 I really need coffee ☕️ 591378197
Alan Lawlor @alanlawlor.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Good age to start saving for the house deposit… should have enough by the time they’re 50 120
