Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Posts Tagged ‘food

Caucusus Colonels’ Fable in Dublin’s Phoenix magazine – real journalism versus pro-Putin deliberate misinformation

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Down the rabbit hole” is an English-language idiom or trope which refers to getting deep into something, or ending up somewhere strange. Lewis Carroll introduced the phrase as the title for chapter one of his 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, after which the term slowly entered the English vernacular. The term is usually used as a metaphor for distraction.[1] In the 21st century, the term has come to describe a person who gets lost in research or loses track of time while using the internet.


Down the Rabbit Hole

Fact check: Fake claim British Colonels were ‘captured’ in Ukraine

The fable spread among all usual tankie publications – that is, organs which uncritically peddle pro-Putin propaganda – and influencers (for example the former British Westminster MP George Galloway). It fitted in with The Phoenix magazine’s pro-Putin takes on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The magazine has form :

The Phoenix magazine has form spreading fasle stories related to Ukraine. See "Two tweets, a ‘Phoenix’ fable and a hatchet to the bud of left solidarity with Ukraine." tomasoflatharta.com/2022/10/14/t…

John Meehan (@johndmeehan.bsky.social) 2025-08-13T16:40:20.841Z

The story surfaced in the first week of August 2025. It is a media disinformation classic – 2.78 million views, spread in 53 countries, 17,800 posts, spread in 16 different languages.

A quick internet check revealed the story was not appearing on reputable news sites, and that it was spreading like wildfire on pro-Putin conspiracy organs.

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Obituary: Cathleen O’Neill, witty, irreverent and tireless activist, author and advocate for social change – Lorna Siggins

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We are delighted to publish a second tribute to Cathleen O’Neill on this blog – this time written by Lorna Siggins for the Sunday Independent, May 11 2025.

A link is here :
Cathleen O’Neill Tribute, by Lorna Siggins; Witty, Irreverent, Tireless Activist, Author, Advocate for Social Change – Sunday Independent

Cathleen’s Death Notice is here ;
Cathleen O’Neill, Death Notice, RIP.IE

All who attended the funeral will remember the hilarious stories and moving tributes. Cathleen, in lock-step with her campaigning friend and activist Joan Byrne, was fearless.


Cathleen O’Neill, who has died aged 76, was a witty, irreverent and tireless activist, author and advocate for social change whose passion for education and opportunity transformed countless lives.

Described as an “organic intellectual” by Professor Kathleen Lynch of UCD, she said she was one of a rare few experts whose ideas were informed by their own working-class background. She was born and reared in Ballyfermot, Dublin, as the eldest of 13 children, but said in an Irish Times interview in September 2012 that her life “began at 33”.

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