Ah yeah totally fair. To each their own.

I did live in a city centre once a long time ago but I’d definitely be keeping the earplugs in all night if I were you now!

valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion

Yeah fair enough. I’m not using them in a work environment. I’m happy if I get an extra 20 minutes of sleep in the morning when all the noise from the teenage grooming starts. Sometimes it’s 40.

It sounds ridiculous but it all adds up.

I grew up in the arse end of nowhere so any noise at all wakes me.

Those foam ones are really irritating after a while. Your local chemist may sell “mouldable silicone” ones that are cheap, better at sound isolation and way more comfortable. You basically just mash them into your ear and they form a perfect seal.

I use them every night.

Travelled back in time and the past is shite.

Yeah that part did stick with me too. For what it’s worth I’d say most Irish adults have been to the US at some point and had a great time so it’s all quite a bit of confusion and horror.

We know right well that there are lots of really good folks there too though and Michael does a great job of portraying that in the clip.

He’s a good lad. We’re all very fond of him.

He’s a super lad but you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. This is one of my all time favourite bits of radio where he absolutely eviscerates someone against Obamacare at the time.

It’s from 2010 and 4 minutes long. Honestly couldn’t recommend enough that everyone who reads this gives it a listen.

Some light swearing at the end.

Look, I’ve been to the states a good 7 or 8 times and I’m really very fond of the place and the people generally. That includes the, hands down, best summer of my life on a college visa.

I will not be going back there until shit calms down. I just can’t gamble on the notion of spending weeks in a cold, overly bright shithole cell on the whim of anyone on the way through just for a holiday when I can spin over to any country in Europe and just get a smile and a “Welcome” from the border security on my way in.

It just wouldn’t be a rational choice.

edit: I just want to add in that the EU pumps an enormous amount of money on the Erasmus scheme. If you’re not in the know the idea is to get kids in college in one country to do a year of the course in another country in Europe. The only real goal of this is to make people realise that they’re just like everyone else in Europe so we never have an internal war again and it is (along with a few other bits) the best money the EU spends IMO.

You can check the wallet to see if you have the bitcoin address.

I suppose that hadn’t occurred to me because I live in a country where, if that were to happen, I couldn’t imagine the level of social unrest it would cause.

It’s just beyond reason.

Parent here. You sound like parent material.

This is stupid as fuck, right, but who doesn’t accompany their child into the doctor’s office?

Like there are no circumstances under which I’m leaving my child alone with an adult who may examine their genitals and having had child safety training myself just being alone with a child that isn’t yours is a terrible idea altogether.

Beyond calls and texts I’m very selective with my YouTube “bell” subscriptions so I allow notifications there as I generally want to watch them.

Calendar. Banking apps. That’s it.

All notifications are silent and have been forever. If it’s important someone will call me, otherwise I don’t want my phone to interrupt what I’m doing.

The Mission 1986.

I dunno. Apparently she’s the daughter of a wealthy man who just needs my help to get his fortune out of Poland.

Got my one today. Finally part of the gang.

Has anyone actually bothered engaging?

And she sounds pissed.

“They have no idea who they picked a f—king fight with,”

I think that about sums it up

It’s the official Ukrainian government site for donations.

If you don’t mind me asking, how often did politics come up with your parents?

Edit: just for my own perspective, they came up a little with my father while he was still alive and very, very rarely with my mother who I still see daily. I gently gauge the political position that my kids have but I’ve raised them all with empathy as a central tenet of their upbringing so that’s more or less where they tend to fall as best I can tell.

I am not interested in ending up where you did and I mean that with kindness.