MHA quirks: Explosion, Decay, Naval Lasers, Hellfire, New Order,... Dark Shadow, etc. Knuckleduster: I'm gonna bash your skull with a BRICK 🧱show more

ImAllexx threatening his girlfriend on a LEAKED discord call.... “I’m gonna f*cking bash your f*cking head against the wall with a brick if you don’t shut the f*ck up” This is insane, what are your thoughts?show more

First time ever using Blender in my life, did... a quick walk cycle for the Chief in Blender. Gonna use the rest of the day to figure out parent constraints. Still prefer using Maya, feels like i'm learning how to animate all over again with the new UI, controls, tools, etc. #Haloshow more

chatgpt shopping is gonna mint a new wave of... AI millionaires every time shopping is disrupted (think amazon FBA, TikTok shop etc) it's a huge opportunity for early movers if I wanted to monetize this I would - go heavy on helping brands with GEO, making product descriptions AI-first etc (to improve their ChatGPT search results) - build niche shopping agents (this might be transitory but I believe you can prob make money creating non-tox baby shopping agents etc) - help people onbaord i'm probably missing 99% percent but you get the idea new playing field, get after it, NOWshow more

ROBOT CAGE MATCHES & GROK'S ANI COSPLAY AT xAI... HOLIDAY PARTY The Dec 21 bash wasn’t your average tech mixer... xAI went full spectacle with dancing bots and live Optimus cage matches. And a cosplayer stole the spotlight dressed as Grok’s goth 3D persona “Ani,” doubling as a ring girl. Optimus 2.5 sparred in front of a hyped-up crowd while lasers and synth beats pumped through the venue. xAI might’ve just set a new bar for how wild AI parties can get. Source: xAI Event Postsshow more

Okay this is really cool. Codex app has a... new feature that is really useful. Highlight any text, and you'll notice a new popup. "More Details" uses GPT 5.5 Instant to explain in more detail about the highlighted portion of your text, allowing you to understand the reasoning/concept/statement/etc in greater detail. What's interesting about this versus a side chat is that it's instantaneous, and still retains context from the thread. With /side chat, you'd have to type out a prompt "what are the details on this?" With "more details" the prompt is implicit and the response is instantenous Very nice feature, as I'm always making side chats/branches to expand/learn/understand agent outputs better.show more

This is a circus of Geetu Mohandas, and honestly,... it’s freaking fabulous. 👌 Look at these shots she shuts down the camera with the light and opens up a new frame, and every frame is dark and intense. 😳 Every female character in this circus seems to have a grey shade, and somehow, the entire story feels connected to Daddy Yash. What we’re gonna witness from these female characters is insane from showing off their body parts to actually bringing some serious acting talent. Huma’s laugh, Sanjeeda Sheikh’s reaction in that brothel, Kiara being the eye-candy, and then that crying-while-laughing moment . What an absolute roller coaster of a trailer. 🔥 I'm sold, Geetu Mohandas. Take a bow. 🙇‍♂️show more

TRUE Seasonal games, like Path of Exile, Marathon, or... even EFT (we'll see today), are designed in a way for players to engage with the seasonal content and then move on. Between seasons/leagues, I can play a new game, say Elden Ring, or God of War: Ragnarok, enjoy the game, and look at my calendar and know that on May 29th, at 1:00 PM PST, the new PoE league drops and I will LOG IN. And, that time away (whilst playing other titles) makes the return experience that much more enriched. This might be an odd segue, BUT... I still keep seeing posts about "concurrent players abysmally low, dead game," etc. People who are posting this stuff literally have zero IQ. I know it's all rage bait and engagement farm, but, sadly, it pushes a false narrative and poisons and seeds a negative perception that spreads throughout the gaming community; whether it's with EFT, Marathon, Hunt: Showdown, Path of Exile, and other seasonal games. And, I know when these types of posts acquire mass engagement because people come into stream every day asking, "this game isn't dead yet?" Just cuz a game is off season, doesn't mean it's dead lmao. Sucks cuz I know creatives at the studios probably catch wind of these posts and I'm sure it's a bit demoralizing and stuff... Marathon is still getting heat about it's concurrent player count; trust me, if UbiSoft Singapore are still pumping out content for that AAAA game, Skull and Bones, other studios will be just fine. Marathon, Marauders, EFT, Hunt: Showdown, etc., they ain't goin nowhere. GGG didn't necessarily come up with the philosophy, but they doubled down on it; kudos to them for taking the risk, paving the way for other seasonal games. W economy reset. W wipes. W progression resets. Obviously, this isn't for everyone; casual players get left behind, but I'm a gamer, and I need a game to satiate my gaming addiction, Minecraft ain't gonna cut it for me big dog.show more

Hold up, here is the prompt: works with almost... any model. enjoy :) Role & Objective: Act as an Elite UI/UX Front-End Engineer specializing in Apple-tier micro-interactions and advanced CSS. Your task is to program a perfectly centered navigation bar in a strictly SINGLE HTML file containing all HTML, vanilla CSS, and vanilla JavaScript. No external libraries or frameworks (No Tailwind, React, etc.). Design Concept - "True Liquid Glass": CRITICAL INSTRUCTION: Do NOT generate standard, flat "glassmorphism" or basic frosted glass. I require a physically accurate "Liquid Glass" aesthetic. It must look like wet, poured clear resin, combining the high-gloss specular highlights of classic macOS Aqua with the volumetric spatial depth of modern Apple VisionOS. 1. The Liquid Glass Material & Lighting (CSS): - Deep Refraction: Use `backdrop-filter` with extreme blur (e.g., 50px) and over-saturation (200%). - Specular Highlight: Create a curved, semi-transparent white gradient on the top half using a pseudo-element (`::before`) to simulate a hard light reflection on a wet, rounded 3D surface. - Caustics & Volume: Use multi-layered inner and outer `box-shadow` properties to simulate light refracting at the bottom edge and casting a realistic ambient drop shadow. - Interactive Glare: Implement a soft radial-gradient spotlight inside the glass that dynamically tracks the user's mouse cursor (X/Y coordinates) using JavaScript and CSS variables (`mix-blend-mode: overlay`). 2. Navigation Layout & Elements: - Center the pill-shaped navigation bar perfectly in the middle of the viewport. - Include 3 main navigation items with minimalist, inline SVG stroke icons and text labels: "Home", "Call", and "List". - Add a subtle vertical divider line after the main buttons. - Next to the divider, add a Dark/Light Mode toggle button containing inline SVG Sun and Moon icons. 3. Animations & "Apple Magic": - Sliding Active Pill: Create a solid background "pill" that sits *behind* the active navigation item's text/icon. When a different item is clicked, this pill must dynamically recalculate its width and slide to the new position. - Spring Physics: The sliding transition MUST use an exact Apple-style bouncy spring easing curve (e.g., `transition: all 0.5s cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.2, 0.64, 1)`). - Tactile Feedback: Buttons and icons must physically press down slightly (`transform: scale(0.92)`) when clicked (`:active`). - Theme Switch: The Sun and Moon icons must smoothly rotate, scale, and cross-fade during the transition. 4. Background Environment (Crucial): - Glass needs light and color to refract! Create a full-viewport, smoothly animated mesh gradient background using 3 large, heavily blurred, floating color blobs. - Implement full Dark/Light mode logic using CSS variables (`:root` and `[data-theme="dark"]`). Toggling the theme must seamlessly transition the background blob colors, glass opacity, shadow intensity, and text colors. Output ONLY the pristine, production-ready code. Prioritize maximum visual fidelity and silky-smooth 60fps animations.show more

I always wondered "What if I port my three.js... game to Rust? Will it improve performance?" I finally ported it to both Rust Desktop and Rust WASM (that runs on the browser) Comparing the three.js version with the Rust desktop I had a clear winner: Rust desktop. But now I took the time to port it to the web using Web Assembly (WASM) And my conclusion is... A tie! Both versions averaged 42FPS (60FPS if running one at a time) So if your goal is to ship a web game, it doesn't even matter the tech you use. (Three.js is recommended because the ecossystem is huge though) As long you optmize well (Web workers, reduce triangles, draw calls, etc) you should be good to go. But in the event you want to ship a native game to publish on Steam a system language (Rust, C++, etc) will be better for you. Now I want to port the three.js game to Desktop using Electron and see the results. I'll let you know. Btw, I'm open to new freelance projects. If you have anything for me, my DMs are open!show more

Say goodbye to the Matrix 🛜📶🆘 WHEN THE SIGNAL... GOES DARK There may come a moment when the signal becomes quiet. A moment when the old internet does not answer the way it used to. A moment when platforms slow down, messages fail, websites disappear, banking apps freeze, payment rails become unstable, and the public begins asking the same question at the same time: “What is happening?” This is the moment people must remember one thing clearly: Do not panic. When the signal goes dark, fear will try to speak first. Confusion will move quickly. Screenshots will spread. Rumors will multiply. Fake accounts will appear. Scammers will pretend to have answers. Some will claim they can restore access. Some will ask for wallet information. Some will ask for passwords, seed phrases, private keys, documents, or payments. That is why discipline matters. The darkness of a signal does not mean the end. Sometimes it means the old network is being exposed. Sometimes it means weak systems are failing under pressure. Sometimes it means the final cracks are becoming visible before a stronger structure can rise. The people must understand the difference between collapse and transition. Collapse is uncontrolled. Transition is protected. Collapse leaves people lost. Transition requires patience, order, and calm while the old structure is cleared and the new road is prepared. We, QTheWhiteHats, are not here to create fear. We are here to prepare the people for the moment when confusion tries to take control. If the signal goes dark, remain calm. Protect your accounts. Protect your family. Keep your devices secure. Do not click unknown links. Do not trust random messages. Do not give access to anyone claiming to be support. Do not act from panic. The loudest voices during darkness are not always the safest voices. This is why preparation must come before the moment arrives. Save official links. Know where to look. Follow only trusted sources. Keep important information backed up. Keep your communication calm and direct. Help your family understand that panic is not protection. Fear is not wisdom. Confusion is not truth. The old internet was never built to carry the future that is coming. It was built on weak passwords, exposed identities, fragile platforms, centralized control, hidden tracking, data harvesting, and digital gates that can be closed without warning. A new era requires more. It requires quantum-safe protection. Verified access. Secure identity. Cleaner communication. Stronger financial rails. Systems that protect the people instead of collecting, limiting, and manipulating them. That is why the signal may need to go dark before the new connection becomes visible. Not as punishment. Not as defeat. But as the final proof that the old network could not protect what comes next. When that moment comes, many will not understand it at first. They will see silence and call it failure. They will see darkness and call it danger. They will see disruption and believe the road has ended. But those who are prepared will understand. The signal going dark is not always the end of communication. Sometimes it is the pause between two worlds — the old one losing power and the new one preparing to come online. If the signal goes dark, do not follow panic. Follow discipline. Protect your family. Protect your access. Protect your information. Protect your peace. Share it with your friends, your family, and every patriot who understands that the strongest people are not those who panic first, but those who stay calm when the world becomes quiet. The old signal may go dark. But darkness is not the final message. It is the silence before the new connection. 🛡show more

OK I'm gonna be real with you-- I've been... under the impression that screen protectors are all basically the same thing, the only real difference being the applicator tool that comes in the box. But JSAUX has changed my opinion with their new (slightly silly named) Obsidian AR Screen Protector. I've been using it for about a month now after removing my old screen protector and here are my thoughts What it does - Reduces direct reflections quite a bit - Makes colors appear darker/more rich - Protects the screen What it doesn't do - Angled reflections don't seem to be reduced much? - Doesn't make the screen bulletproof lol They also claim it's fingerprint and smudge proof but I haven't really had that issue with any of my screen protectors so 🤷 It's challenging to show just how much nicer this screen protector is but the video does a pretty decent job I think JSAUX's Obsidian AR Screen Protector for Switch 2 isn't currently available on Amazon (and according to them it won't be for.. awhile? Like maybe not until next year?) but you can pre-order it on their website and I begged them for a discount code for y'all you're welcome: USE COUPON CODE 15Nintendealshow more

When people ask me why I don't deal with... alotta people..I bring up situations like this.. I hosted a live event with 4 (Dalvin Cook) last year to give FSU fans something dope after a rough season I let the Jax Seminoles club be a part of it (even though I didn't need them to make it happen)..could've gotten 4 on my show regardless, I just like showing love That being said, my goal is to do more live events where I get to celebrate FSU legends, and alum..highlighting their careers, businesses, etc..of course I'll do events that aren't related to FSU as well During the process one of the people involved on the process tried to backdoor me for some 💰(ahh silly rabbit) It was dumb to me, because it wasn't a crazy amount of money, and it wasn't worth messing up a relationship..folks be thirsty tho..and I'm big on principle You ain't gonna eat off of me (especially in a situation when I don't need you and I'm looking out) and then try to finess too lol.. I was sent this video of them taking all the credit for the event that wouldn't have happened without Trials To Triumph, and they tried to zoom in and crop me out of the video lol People will move dirty then play victim and be mad at you for calling them out on it lol..I wasn't the only one upset..my sponsors were upset, and didn't wanna do business with the person from the club anymore I'm sure that this is not a reflection of everybody involved with the club..not a smart way to treat alum though This is also a good lesson for someone else who may be going through situations where people try to play with you, lie on your name, or steal from you..sitting there and be quiet will only make the issue worse in the long run..use your voice and speak up, otherwise you're responsible for the other people later down the line that end up with the same experience that could've been avoided if they were made aware early on That being said, while folks were trying to finesse, we were locking in deals with national brands, and will be hosting a lot more events this year..I definitely wanna put something special together in the spring and before the season for FSU fans Full episode with Dalvin Cook is on YouTube, and we have a Huge episode dropping with Derrick Brooks tomorrow as well‼️ Stay 💯show more

Sitting here looking at the skyline of NYC with... the family. Where I was born and raised. Imagine building the greatest city in America through five straight terms of Giuliani and Bloomberg. Cleaning it up. Making it safe. Building Hudson Yards, the High Line, the waterfronts, the skyline we’re all staring at right now. Then handing it over to de Blasio and now a socialist circus ringleader Mamdani! But history repeats. NYC went dark in the 70s. Dinkins came and went. Then the pendulum swung back harder than ever. Sometimes people need to feel the decline themselves before they remember what competence looks like. You need darkness to appreciate light. Pain to appreciate peace. Chaos to appreciate order. Happens time and time again. It’s cycles. New York City will come back. It always does. Don’t listen to blackpillers, to those that are chronically online, and to those that lack any type of travel, culture or knowledge. NYC is amazingly powerful and still is. It’s pumping. We just need one more conservative boost to save it. Who’s it gonna be GOP?show more

The best really is yet to come. These aren’t... just words. I am here to tell you that there is an unstoppable plan in motion. I'm talking about something bigger than new financial systems or mass arrests. We are soon to experience 'heaven on Earth' with beauty beyond imagination. I believe many truth seekers are unprepared for what's coming before the Shift because they're being told white hats are in control of world events and are about to rescue us from evil. This is dangerous thinking. This is the great tribulation and we're not at the end yet. There will be continuation of what we're already seeing, which will escalate drastically by the next election. Freedoms will continue to be taken away, brainwashing of children will continue, globalist agendas will expand, more clones, trans-humanism, bank collapse, climate blackouts, power grid attacks, food shortages. I believe a US war with China is being planned. Galactic Federation won't stop every bad thing from happening but we are being continually assisted in ways we can’t see. They will weaken pandemics, they will stop nuclear weapons and they won't allow any fake alien invasions. It's okay to be aware of dark plans but don't dwell in negative thinking. This lowers your frequency and allows for astral attachments. Be mindful of your thoughts and actions because this creates your experience. Keep your Light. Don't lose hope. We are not prisoners and everything is temporary. Continue standing for truth but know what is within your control to change and have peace about what you can't change. Focus on the big picture and ignore the daily noise. Go within to connect with your Higher Self to find peace. Never be afraid, just be prepared.show more

Seedance 2.0 on Higgsfield AI. The quality here is... outstanding, and the creative control is on another level. This feels remarkably close to real-world music video production. Full open-sourced prompts and assets below 👇🏻 Prompt: SEGMENT 3 of 10 of one continuous music video — Act II begins: new location, new outfit. is the performer — same identity: cornrow braids into long dark curls, silver chain-drop earring, gold pendant necklace, glossy lips. is WARDROBE REFERENCE ONLY (ignore mannequin head): hot-pink halter bandana top with white lettering, grey acid-wash ultra-wide baggy jeans with star studs, black studded belt, chain bracelets, rings, pink manicure. is the master track — the only audio. PRECISE LIPSYNC — TOP PRIORITY, face sharp on every word (this is the FIRST CHORUS — maximum charisma): 0.0–1.0 "...just got bars on a cracked phone" 1.5–2.5 "I walk in, heads drop, that's respect" 2.5–3.5 "I don't chase what's mine, I collect" 3.5–4.5 "If I said it then I'm standing on the check" 4.5–5.5 "Say it with your chest or keep it on the deck" 5.5–6.0 "Ay!" 6.0–7.0 "I walk in, whole room get tense" 7.0–10.0 continue the chorus flow lines exactly with the vocal 10.5–14.5 continue rap flow with the vocal to the end 14.5–15.0 instrumental, closed mouth. FILM CONTEXT: Act II — the grind. Outdoor NYC caged basketball court, chain-link fence, faded court paint, brick housing blocks behind, warm afternoon light throwing fence-diamond shadows. The same 3 girls now changed into matching court looks: cropped white tanks, baggy cargo denim, silk scarves tied on heads, clean sneakers. Black girlie hustle vibe. Shot flow: 0–1s CRASH ZOOM IN through the fence diamonds to her face as she steps onto the court. 1.5–5.5s the chorus: she raps at center court walking at the retreating camera, girls in a triangle behind hitting unison chest-pop choreography locking freezes on each line-end; crash-zoom punch on "collect" and "check". 5.5–6s "Ay!": all four snap into one synchronized pose. 6–10s low-angle orbital: she raps while the girls run a rotating box around her, fence shadows strobing. 10.5–14.5s tighter chest-up frame, her flow doubled in intensity, girls vamping against the chain-link behind; one more crash zoom on the last line. 14.5–15s she turns from the lens, walks toward the fence — setup for next segment. Continuity: gold pendant visible, same crew (new outfits), crash zoom signature, warm afternoon grade. Audio intent: only; faint ball bounces, city hum. Quality bar: expensive NYC rap film, no AI gloss.show more

Seedance 2.0 on Higgsfield AI Full open-sourced prompts &... assets below: Image is the performer — preserve her exact identity: cornrow braids into long dark curls, silver chain-drop earring, gold pendant necklace, washed-green denim corset top, glossy lips. audio1 is the finished master track — the only audio; no invented music, no new vocals. SHE RAPS THE VOCAL ON CAMERA — PRECISE LIPSYNC IS THE TOP PRIORITY. Mouth articulates every syllable of audio1 exactly on time; face visible and sharp through every vocal line, no cutaways mid-word. LIPSYNC MAP: 0.0–0.5 instrumental. 0.5–2.8 "I'm standing on the edge / Say it with your chest / Or keep it on the deck" + "Hey!" 3.2–6.7 "I walk in, whole room gets tense / I don't need luck, I'm the consequence / If you really want to test my intent / Come correct, come correct or get bent" + "Woo!" 7.5–13.7 same hook verbatim second time, escalated. 14.5–15.0 instrumental hold. Music-video route: dance/performance, NYC caged basketball court. Director thesis: queen of the cage — she raps at the center of a chain-link basketball court while her girls run formations around her. Black girlie hustle vibe. Visual world: outdoor NYC basketball court wrapped in tall chain-link fence, faded court paint, brick housing blocks and fire escapes behind, late golden-hour sun throwing fence-diamond shadows across the asphalt. 4 background dancers: Black girls styled sharp — matching cropped white tanks, baggy cargo denim in different washes, bamboo hoops, colorful silk scarves tied on heads, clean Timberlands and Air Force 1s. Palette: asphalt grey, golden sun, brick red, denim, gold jewelry. No neon, no particles. Shot flow (crash zooms through the chain-link): 0–0.5s static wide THROUGH the chain-link fence: she stands at center court, four girls scattered frozen. 0.5s CRASH ZOOM IN through the fence diamonds to her face on the first word — she raps dead center, fence shadow patterning the asphalt around her. 2.8–3.2s on "Hey!" all four girls snap into a diamond formation around her on one beat. 3.2–6.7s she raps strutting the free-throw line, camera dollying laterally inside the cage; CRASH ZOOM punches on "tense" and "consequence"; the girls hit unison hip-hop choreography — chest pops, scarf-flick accents, synchronized bounce — locking freezes on every snare; finger to lens on "come correct". 7.5s CRASH ZOOM IN on the kick to a low-angle close-up against the sun — second hook doubled, braids backlit, jaw snapping consonants. 10–13.7s fast orbital around the whole formation as the girls run a rotating carousel around her rapping at center; two more crash zooms slamming in on snare hits; fence shadows strobe the ground as the camera circles. 13.7–15s on "Woo!" CRASH ZOOM OUT through the fence to the full wide: she's frozen arm high at center, girls dropped into four squat freezes around her, hold. Loopable. Performance rules: feminine swagger, athletic bounce, immaculate diction; only she raps, girls never mouth words. Continuity: same five women, same court and light. Audio intent: audio1 only, mouth locked to it; faint ball-bounce echoes and city hum under the track. Quality bar: expensive NYC rap video, real film texture, no AI gloss.show more

Lads. Sit down and give me your ear a... while, for I have watched from the water long enough and the hour is upon us whether we have the stomach for it or not. You remember. Or your fathers told you, or their fathers did, and the knowledge of it is in the marrow of you whether you drew breath in those days or not. The moors in the grey hour before dawn. Wet heather soft under the boot. Peat smoke rising from a low stone chimney a mile out across the bog, thin as a prayer. A sky the colour of a gun barrel and the gulls lamenting above the headland. The smell of turf burning, and wet wool, and the ferrous tang of the sea when the wind swung around out of the Atlantic and put the taste of iron on your tongue. A man could walk that land and know every stone of it was his by inheritance, because his grandfather had broken his back upon it, and his grandfather before him, back through the generations until you reach men whose names are lost and whose bones are in the soil you are standing on. The potato fields. God be good to us, the potato fields. Lazy beds cut straight as a gunwale, the ridges black and shining after a night of rain, women bent double with creels lashed to their backs and the children at their skirts, drawing the crop up by the hand for there was never any other means devised nor wanted. Hands split open at the knuckles and never entirely healed in this life. Hunger within living memory. Grandmothers who had seen the blight with their own eyes and would not speak of it from the year of it until the day they were laid down, save that a crust was kept always on the dresser which no soul in that house was permitted to touch. Not ever. Not for any reason under heaven. And the chimney sweeps. Wee lads no heavier than a sack of meal, black to the bone with soot, their lungs ruined before they were old enough to marry and old men entirely by thirty. Up the flues at first light, the skin worn off them by the brick, eyes crimson at the rim, breathing the black in with every draw of air. And the coal miners a half mile beneath our feet, down in the wet dark, the roof of the world muttering over their heads, the canary gone silent, a man's whole existence measured out in the shilling a ton and the dust he carried home in his chest to cough up of a Sunday morning into a rag. Fathers who descended and were never hauled up again. Widows at the pit head with the shawl drawn over the head and no tears remaining in them for they had spent those long ago. That was the tariff paid to keep the hearth lit. That was the reckoning of being warm in winter in the Ireland that was. And after the labouring week, Friday evening, and a man had earned the peace of what followed. Home first. Peeled the day off him in the yard. A shower of ice cold moor river water out of a tin bucket punctured with holes, hung on a nail on the gable wall, the water running clean down the back of him and carrying the week's dust and sweat away into the drain. Scrubbed till the skin was pink beneath the grime. Clean shirt laid out by the wife. The hair combed down with a drop of water. Then, and only then, did a man set himself to the table. A meat pie from the baker, tenpence if he was known to you, a shilling and no change if he was not, put down upon a proper plate. Fish and chips for threepence, the salt and vinegar soaked through the newspaper, but carried home and ate slowly at your own table with your people around you, not walked with through the streets like some vagrant tinker off the road. A man ate as a man who had earned his portion, for he had. And later, with the dishes cleared and the kettle set, down the road to the tavern. Low beams black with a century of smoke. A turf fire muttering in the grate. The air thick with pipe smoke and the vapour of wet overcoats steaming themselves dry on the backs of chairs. A pint of stout, cold and black as a cove at midnight, elevenpence laid down on the counter, a head on it thick enough to strike a match upon. A second one because you had it coming to you and no man present would dispute it. A fiddle starting up in the corner of its own accord. The old men in the snug who remembered matters the history books had long since mislaid. A song before the bolt was thrown on the door. The walk home beneath a firmament crowded with stars, the stout warm in the gut of you, the week behind you, and your own door waiting with the latch unlocked for you had no enemies in that parish. That was the country. That was the covenant. Honest labour, plain food, a cold wash, a hot meal, a cold pint, your own tongue in your own mouth, your own soil beneath your boots, and no man standing above you save the Almighty Himself. Now regard her. Regard her close. The fields disposed of to men who have never set foot upon them and never shall. The harbours signed away by the stroke of a pen in a room you were not admitted to, and foreign keels dragging out of our waters the living that sustained this island for a thousand years, while our own boats rot at their moorings for want of a quota. The tradesmen undercut by imported labour and imported goods. The shops shuttered along every main street from Donegal to Cork. The young ones scattered to London and Sydney and Boston and the Gulf because there is nothing remaining for them beneath their own roof. And the entirety of this rotten arrangement dressed up in the soft mannerly language of progress by men in towers of glass who could not tell a lazy bed from a grave, nor a trawler from a tugboat, nor an honest day's work from a pension plan. And now they arrive with the next imposition. A digital identity. A number assigned to each soul. A card required to buy your bread. A code required to draw your own earnings out of your own account. A file kept on every man, woman and child from the cradle forward. Permission asked to move. Permission asked to speak. Permission asked to earn. A levy upon every breath drawn and a regulation upon every step taken. No. And no again. And no for a third time so there is no misunderstanding of it. We do not require your digital identity. We did not request it. We did not vote upon it. We do not consent to it. We do not need your permission to exist upon the soil our forefathers are buried in. We are a free people. We have carried ourselves this far upon our own two backs. Through famine and empire and civil war and black lung and blight and the emigrant ship out of Cobh, we have come this distance under our own steam, and the arrangement appears to be serving us well enough without your intervention. We buried our own. We fed our own. We raised our own roofs and took our own fish and reared our own children in our own tongue. We are in your debt for nothing. Not a signature. Not a biometric scan. Not a single solitary inch. And while we are upon the subject, let us speak plainly of the tax man, for he has gone too long without proper introduction. The tax collector and the tax man are the one article under two names, and the article is a parasite. There is no dressing it up finer than that. A man who produces nothing, who grows nothing, who catches nothing, who builds nothing, who mends nothing, who has never in his professional life lifted anything heavier than a pen, and who arrives at your door with the full apparatus of the state at his back to carry off the fruits of labour he did not perform. He is a middleman between your sweat and some scheme dreamt up in a committee room by his own kind, and the great majority of what he takes is consumed by the machinery of the taking itself before ever a penny of it reaches the road or the hospital or the schoolhouse he claims to be funding. And I will go further while I have the floor. Finance itself, the whole apparatus of it, money breeding money in the dark without a hand laid upon a tool or a spade turned in the earth, is slavery dressed in a good suit. It is the oldest swindle known to man and it has never been anything other. A man who produces nothing yet lives off the productive labour of others through the charging of interest upon money conjured out of nothing is a parasite of a rarer and more refined order than the tax man, but a parasite all the same, and between the pair of them they have the working people of this island bled white and lectured at for the pleasure. A man who will not work with his hands, nor with his back, nor with his mind at some honest problem of the real physical world, is no man that I recognise. He is a ledger entry in a suit. The country was not built by ledger entries. The country was built by farmers and fishermen and masons and smiths and sweeps and miners and shipwrights and midwives and mothers, and those are the people whose say should carry in her councils, and no other. Here is what I put to you. Let each man and woman of this island direct the first tenth of their earnings themselves, by their own judgement, to the purpose they see as worthy. The school down the road. The lifeboat station. The hospice. The widow on the corner. The roof of the chapel. The harbour wall. Whatever it may be. Let the people who earned the money decide where the money travels. You will find the roads mended and the ports dredged and the schools standing and the old ones cared for inside of five years, and done better and for less, because the hand that earned the coin knows the weight of it and will not squander it upon consultants and committees. And let us have done with the paper currency and the numbers in a screen that can be frozen at the whim of a clerk in a tower. Bring back the coin. Gold for the great transactions. Silver for the weekly commerce of a working life. Copper for the small change of the day. Metal you can bite. Metal you can weigh. Metal that cannot be conjured out of nothing by a keystroke, nor erased out of existence by another. Real money for real labour. A coin in the hand is a free man's wage. A number in a database is a collar around a free man's neck, and they are fitting that collar now while we stand arguing over the colour of it. Feel it in your gut. That is not nothing. That is your blood relating to you what your ears will not hear. That is every forebear who starved and fought and coughed the black dust into a rag and descended the shaft regardless, standing at your shoulder and saying no further. Not one more field. Not one more harbour. Not one more son upon a plane. Not one more free man converted into a number in a ledger for the convenience of the parasites. This is the hour. Make no error about it. Ireland is redeemed in this generation or she is lost beyond recovery, and every true son and daughter of her knows it in the marrow. There is no middle ground remaining. There is no waiting it out. There is standing now, upon your own two feet, or there is watching her go under the waves for the last and final time. So stand. Stand with your farmers. Stand with your fishermen. Stand with your tradesmen and your miners and your sweeps and your mothers and your old ones. Raise the tricolour. Speak the tongue. Walk the land. Hold the line in the streets of every town and city and do not break it, for they are relying upon you to break and to go home and to forget by Tuesday. She is calling her children home. Every stone of her, every breaker on her western shore, every acre of wet heather and every coal in every hearth the length and breadth of her is calling. Answer her. Take her back. Every field, every harbour, every last inch of her. Take her back, or lose her entirely. There is no third road open to us.show more