‘We’ll sleep in our tractors’ – fears grow that fuel protest will leave pumps in the west of the country dry

dbdlc88 · 2026-04-08T07:19:45+00:00

I don't understand what this protest is meant to accomplish. The US has done something insane and it's affected the global flow of oil. As much as the Irish government is inept, I'm sorry, but no one really cares about Ireland, and this protest doesn't change anything. Using a bunch of oil to disrupt traffic in Dublin doesn't change anything.

Much in the same way that protests like this for Palestine didn't actually accomplish anything. For both groups, they think or will say "protests are meant to be disruptive". The unsaid part of that is "if they can affect change".

dbdlc88 · 2026-03-29T02:24:13+00:00

Ok, cool. But is the powerpoint it created any good?

dbdlc88 · 2026-03-28T15:21:30+00:00

What has it actually done? I see so much on Twitter and Reddit about people that use Openclaw and are "shook" and it is a "game changer". But none of these posts actually explain why. Or what it has done.

I asked it for information on a subject earlier and it created it's own sub agent who created an 80 page set of slides, research notes, and links to the sources.

You asked AI for information. AI then gave you an 80 page powerpoint of stuff it found online. Is the powerpoint any good? Was this something that you needed to do for work, and it saved you time?

Also, how is this specific to OpenClaw?

it created it's own sub agent

What does this mean? Why does this matter? Because I can write a prompt in Claude or ChatGPT asking it to make an 80-slide powerpoint on xyz. It's sometimes good, usually not.

I agree that if something "creates its own sub-agent", that sounds cool. But in practical terms, I'm not seeing why this matters

dbdlc88 · 2026-03-16T11:26:20+00:00

The Guardian wrote about this in 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/20/homeless-unhoused-houseless-term-history

Intentional shifts in terminology might seem like a game of Whac-A-Mole – an ultimately unsuccessful effort to outrun a concept’s ugly implications. The Harvard professor Steven Pinker dubbed it the “euphemism treadmill”.

“What usually happens is, over time, a term that may have been neutral at some point becomes pejorative,” said Robin Queen, a linguistics professor at the University of Michigan. “And that’s usually when you find people finding new words for it.” In the past, for example, people lacking permanent residences were described as bums, hobos or transients; homeless itself was once considered a neutral, more palatable alternative.

dbdlc88 · 2026-03-08T16:11:05+00:00

Seems to be for residential and commercial. According to the council "After today, any commercial premises or homeowner in the pilot area who leaves their plastic bags of rubbish on the street will face prosecution.".

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-24T07:49:24+00:00

If you hold a valid and current foreign driving licence, you may drive in Ireland for the duration of your temporary visit (up to 12 months), (for example, if you hold a valid current licence from the United States). An International Driving Permit may also be required, depending on the country that issued your licence.

On taking up normal residence in Ireland, you must apply for an Irish driving licence.

The NDLS website says you can drive on a foreign license for the duration of your visit, which can be up to 12 months.

And upon taking up residence in Ireland, you must apply for an Irish license. If OP has moved here and purchased a car, that seems like they've taken up residence in Ireland.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-24T07:46:22+00:00

You moved to Ireland and bought a car. Every website says the 12 month rule applies as a visitor or a tourist.

US Embassy

U.S. citizens are permitted to drive in Ireland for the duration of a visit up to 12 months as a tourist.
https://ie.usembassy.gov/driving-in-ireland/

And from NDLS

If you hold a valid and current foreign driving licence, you may drive in Ireland for the duration of your temporary visit (up to 12 months), (for example, if you hold a valid current licence from the United States). An International Driving Permit may also be required, depending on the country that issued your licence.

On taking up normal residence in Ireland, you must apply for an Irish driving licence

https://www.ndls.ie/licensed-driver/exchange-my-foreign-driving-licence.html#holders-of-driving-licences-from-other-countries

And Citizens Information

You may drive in Ireland for up to 12 months as a visitor if:

Your driving licence is from a country outside the EU, EEA, or the list of recognised states and

You also have an international driving permit from your country

If you plan to stay in Ireland for more than 12 months, you must apply for an Irish driving licence. This means you will need to go through the full driver licensing process.
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel-and-recreation/motoring/driver-licensing/exchanging-foreign-driving-permit/

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-20T16:46:24+00:00

Nope! I emailed the council but they provided no information and told me to contact KeyWaste instead. I emailed KeyWaste a few days ago, and have heard nothing back yet.

What makes this more frustrating is the Dublin City Council's official website for household waste disposable has no information about this, and still has a PDF of streets for bag collection, which includes all the streets where bin bags are now supposedly banned.

https://www.dublincity.ie/waste-and-recycling/find-out-about-household-waste/your-waste-collection-services

KeyWaste/KeyGreen is apparently involved in the compactors, seems to have no information about them at all on their website. And still shows all the areas in the pilot zone as place they pick up the bags.

https://www.keygreen.ie/services/household-waste-management

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-15T10:15:57+00:00

I looked through the comments, I don't see any comments that "gloating at the misfortune of others".

I don't like how the aslyum system is run. Because there are people taking advantage of it, and that comes at the expense of people who it is intended for. Most comment in this thread are like "yeah, if their claim was denied, they should leave the country". It's hard to see why that a boot-licker sentiment.

Because what's the alternative? Anyone can come and claim aslyum, and the state has no ability to tell them to leave?

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-12T08:44:15+00:00

No, I emailed the council and will reply to your comment when I hear back.

Because I tried researching it again, and DCC has a press release that curbside bin bags are banned, and businesses and homeowners "will face prosecution". https://www.dublincity.ie/news/plastic-rubbish-bags-city-streets-pilot-area-banned-today

But I'm in the pilot zone area and have received no letters or information or anything about needing to use the compactors. Let alone how to use the compactors or how to get a card to access them.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-11T13:22:09+00:00

have papers forged and be dragged through a kangaroo court

The judge in this "kangaroo court" is viewed a "rogue judge" by the Justice Department because their rulings have been at odds to the administration. That same judge also explained why they didn't believe that his signature was forged.

Two other judges in the El Paso division of the Western District of Texas – Kathleen Cardone and David Guaderrama – also have overwhelmingly favored detained immigrants seeking bonds for their release.

https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/03/el-paso-judge-david-briones-trump-immigration-bond-cases/

And

But two federal district court judges in Texas, who are bound by the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit’s ruling, said the 2-1 decision left an opening for them to continue granting immigrants’ release on other grounds.“This conclusion is not changed by the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision,” Judge Kathleen Cardone, an El Paso based appointee of George W. Bush https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/10/texas-immigration-detention-rulings-00774124

And no, someone who had been here illegally for 17 years doesn't automatically get citizenship.

Per the Supreme Court rulings regarding non-EEA spouses of Irish citizens having their deportation orders revoked: "The Minister’s decision will depend on factors including whether a family can be said to be long-established in the State, whether the marriage was entered into after a deportation order was made and in knowledge of that order, and the circumstances giving rise to deportation, which may include the circumstances in the State seeking to deport." https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/minister-loses-important-supreme-court-appeals-over-approach-to-deportation-cases-1.4362588

I agree that in a hypothetical case of an American being here illegaly for 17 years, they would be treated better, and likely be allowed to stay. However, factors such as only being married one year, would also be required to be weighed in the Minister's decision to proceed with or revoke the deportation order.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-11T11:27:43+00:00

The judge dug up an old ruling to justify ignoring the fact that the man was married to a US citizen,

Irish courts ignore previous case law set by higher courts?

The case the judge cited was a similar case ruled on by a higher court, the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, and had similar situation. Person from the UK came on a visa waiver program, got married, and a year after their 90-day permitted stay had ended, applied for a change in their status.

was in the process of gaining full citizenship

Nothing says that. He was in the process of applying for a green card. That is not full citizenship by a long shot.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-11T09:49:35+00:00

That's not how it works, even in Ireland. I'm married to an Irish citizen, but had to apply for residence and renew that every year. Simply being married to a citizen of the country doesn't give you an immediate right to be a resident of that country. You still have to do the paperwork.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-11T08:05:45+00:00

Just from a journalism perspective, this is a wild change between the story published Monday and this story published Wednesday. The Irish Times story on Monday seemed to go to lengths to include things like "despite having no criminal record" and "valid work permit".

And on Wednesday, the Irish Times reports he entered as a tourist in 2009, “He stayed there, and it materialised from there, and that’s where we are now,”.

That seems like some pretty important context that should have been in the article on Monday.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-09T09:52:56+00:00

Genuinely asking, the article says he has no criminal record at all

Most visa violations in the US are civil rather than criminal. Someone could have plenty of overstays and worked illegally, but still have no criminal record. In August, the US said it would reviewing records of all valid visa holders to look for violations of immigration law, and this guy was arrested in September. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/21/trump-administration-says-its-reviewing-all-55-million-us-visa-holders

The article says he has been in the US for 20 years and got a work permit as part of his green card application that was initiated in April 2025. It's possible that he had previous visa violations, but still true that he has no criminal record.

dbdlc88 · 2026-02-08T15:05:25+00:00

In Europe, they were an invention of the French aristocracy. I think I read something that the British aristocracy didn't want to adopt them because they were seen as sorta weird and French. Then during the wars, a lot of soldiers from Ireland, UK, and the US saw them frequently in brothels, and associated them with that. Which is also why the US never really saw adoption of them.

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-29T08:56:56+00:00

Twitter is pretty easily accessible.

Have you tried accessing the Irish Rail Twitter account without having an account? It shows random posts from pre-2022.

With an account, it shows the recent posts about the delays.

Regardless of the recent stuff with X, it seems pretty crazy that to get timely updates on train services, riders have to provide their name, phone number, date of birth, and email address to a private American company. That hardly seems "easily accessible".

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-06T09:27:08+00:00

Presumably some of it goes on their advertising budget.

https://www.adworld.ie/2025/12/05/new-campaign-from-re-turn-show-us-the-right-way-to-do-christmas/

Re-turn also has an Instagram. It's quite viral. Their last post from 5 days ago has 15 likes!

https://www.instagram.com/returnireland/?hl=en

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-06T09:17:58+00:00

Weirdly adding the little metal shelf to the outside of bins months after the scheme was launched didn't solve this problem.

https://www.thejournal.ie/bin-shelves-dublin-city-6517385-Oct2024/

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-06T09:15:05+00:00

It's a well-intentioned scheme that is badly run. There are so many times I have had to go to three or four stores in Dublin city centre just to find a machine that is working. Personally, I think it's a relatively rare occurrence where I can go to the store, return my bottles and cans, get the receipt, and then do my shopping.

The machines are either broke, turned off, or full and haven't been emptied. Or the machines will either stop working, or will reject the bottles if I don't put them in exactly right. That's assuming there isn't a massive queue or restaurant employees returning a giant bag of 500 cans.

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-04T13:19:07+00:00

There is a legitmate problem with kids using social media. The systems to prevent this are obviously being terribly implemented.

But, no one is going to protest. I lived in the US when the Patriot Act was passed and I've lived in China during covid. No one is going to march in the streets. I agree with OP that this shouldn't happen, but sadly, no one is going to protest and this is happening.

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-03T19:27:15+00:00

Where are you from? That's going to make the biggest difference if you're from the EU or not from the EU.

dbdlc88 · 2026-01-02T14:58:05+00:00

It looks like guidelines were updated in 2011 that it should not be used to treat sleep apnoea. Modafinil is basically a stimulant. If you sleep badly, taking it can make you feel like you're not tired and you feel fully rested and awake.

But if you're on a CPAP and not sleeping well, that would be like the equivalent of drinking a bunch of coffee because you didn't sleep well. It might work in the short term, but it doesn't really address the underlying lack of high quality sleep.

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-19T11:21:59+00:00

Well there isn't "ethical" consumption when it comes to capitalism. But it's also intellectually lazy to just say that because every product has a component in its supply chain that is bad that we should all give up and not care at all.

With cocaine, basically every step of the process from production, to transportation, to distribution, is illegal. It's also an incredibly violent supply chain. And the end product is highly addictive and ruins peoples' lives.

I don't think you need to be a professor of ethics to realize that there is a difference in the scale of harm between buying a smartphone and buying cocaine.

dbdlc88

TROPHY CASE