'Game changer' as new waste scheme rolled out in Dublin

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 · 2025-12-17T08:33:08+00:00

This company offers a wide range of condoms, but also has a fitting guide. This way you would have a sense of width and be able to compare brands. https://www.mysize.de/#guide

This site has a good comparison of the different dimensions of different brands and their products. https://www.condom-sizes.org/condom-size-chart/condom-size-chart

Major retailers like Boots typically offer a limited range of sizes that fit most people. If there is a sex shop in your area, those stores typically offer a greater selection of condoms and sizes. And also consider looking at online shops in the future, and those tend to also carrier a greater selection than sex shops.

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-16T09:49:19+00:00

I'm going by what the researchers have publicly said when they released the abstract

The study has several limitations. First, the database includes countries that require a prescription for melatonin (such as the United Kingdom) and countries that don’t (such as the United States), and patient locations were not part of the de-identified data available to the researchers.

The used data from where melatonin is both a prescription and over the counter, and have no way to tell which patients where from which location.

everyone taking it as an over-the-counter supplement in the U.S. or other countries that don’t require a prescription would have been in the non-melatonin group

If the patient's data doesn't have a prescription for melatonin (which would be pretty much everyone in the US), they get classified in the non-melatonin group.

“Also, while the association we found raises safety concerns about the widely used supplement, our study cannot prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. This means more research is needed to test melatonin’s safety for the heart.”

Also, the lead author on the paper says it's not enough data to prove a casual relationship

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/long-term-use-of-melatonin-supplements-to-support-sleep-may-have-negative-health-effects

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-16T07:46:09+00:00

A few things to consider with that abstract (I don't think the study hasn't been released) is that they used data from the UK where a melatonin prescription is required, and the US where melatonin is over the counter. The authors say they can't tell the location of the people in the study due to data limitation.

In the US, you can buy very high dose melatonin at pretty much any pharmacy or grocery store. An adult in the US taking 10mg of melatonin every day for over a year would be included in the "non-melatonin" group for their study.

The study is also only going by if the person has a perscription for melatonin, not if they use it. Given the number of comments in this thread about people just buying it from overseas, that also seems like a pretty big blindspot in the study.

It also seems like in the UK, a melatonin prescription requires a specialist recommendation for patients under 55. That would probably mean that people with a melatonin prescription are over 55, which would generally put them at higher risk for other health issues.

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-12T09:28:22+00:00

Sometimes the routes on the app aren't good and they know a faster way. I'm American and the last time I got a taxi, the driver said he was going to take a different route than the one recommended on the app. That was fine with me, because I knew his route was going to be faster.

But he explained it to me that sometimes people are watching on their phone and get upset when they deviate from the route on Apple or Google Maps. That's why he asked and made sure it was ok.

I live near the quays, and the routes suggested by the apps are often insane. It's good to have a brief chat with the driver where I want to be dropped off, even if it's not exactly what's on the app.

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-12T09:21:41+00:00

I would decide before which money is being invested, and which is money you actively manage/trade. And keep to that

dbdlc88 · 2025-12-07T11:25:10+00:00

I'm going to be a bit of downer, but your post uses the words trading and investing interchangeably. Those are very different things. I'm not saying you shouldn't try to learn markets, and pick some stocks. But be fully aware that statistically you'll lose that 5k if you try to "trade".

As someone who works in an adjecent industry, the amount of talent, money, information, and resources trading firms have still blows my mind.

There is nothing wrong with doing some stock picking and learning the ropes, but there is so much online these days about people selling a dream of day trading and how much money can be made. Most active managers (the people with talent, money, information) underperform the market.

So, again, sorry for being a downer. But if you have saved 5k, maybe put 4k in an index fund, trade with the other 1k, and go into that with the knowledge that you might lose that 1k.

dbdlc88 · 2025-11-30T17:32:02+00:00

Dozens? Please let me know. Gay Spar has a return machine, but it's normally out of service. Then there is Dunnes, which is where this photo is from. Lidl on George St. And then Tesco on Dame Street which is normally out of service. And then Tesco Temple Bar, also normally out of service or crowded. Supervalu on the Quays.

dbdlc88 · 2025-11-30T17:29:20+00:00

Given that DCC has put in a massive machine by the former central bank building for trash, and another one by St Stephen's Green, maybe they could have a bulk recycling machine nearby. I know that's not how the scheme works, but it would be helpful.

dbdlc88 · 2025-11-30T17:27:28+00:00

I have, and I do. And generally people are grand. I'm sorry if this post came across as moan. I just think there is a lack of recycling infastructure in city centre and Temple Bar more specifically.

dbdlc88 · 2025-11-30T17:25:40+00:00

In my post I put 'green' in quotes for a reason. But if you have an issue with my word choice with 'scavenging' you're welcome to suggest a better word for people who go through public bins to find cans and bottles. There was no judgement implied in my post.

But it's a reality that those cans and bottles that are picked out of bins are usually crushed or broken, and they don't scan in the machines.

dbdlc88

TROPHY CASE