X Should Be Called XXX

January 23, 2026

I was using X (formerly Twitter, but in all honesty unrecognisable from what it once was) and I did a search for a character called Sascha Riley to see what was being said on the platform about him.

If what I have listened to on the audio recordings is anything close to the truth, then get ready for the Jeffrey Epstein/Donald Trump story to take on another level of depravity which has the orange buffoon at the centre of absolutely everything.

Here is a small extract from an article in the Guardian about this:

“Widely shared on Substack and up and coming networks, the recordings make grave claims connected with the long-running Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Not a single one of the claims has been authenticated by any courts of law and law enforcement agencies or reputable news organizations, but their distribution shows how unverified testimony can take on a life of its own in a hurry and shape public discussion.

Who is Sasha Riley?
Sasha Riley appears as a war veteran with honors from his experience fighting the Iraq war, having also claimed that he escaped being trafficked as a child. This video appears to have been recorded as part of recorded conversations held on the phone by an individual with no affiliation with the media or investigating bodies, with the date being July 2025. Riley adopted children from the latter part of the 1970s and claimed child abuse from early childhood”

I was and still am curious – you can find the audio recordings on reddit.

When I searched on X it brought me to an account with the name Riley, an account with the handle @DirtyJab and I was astounded by the graphic pornographic images that greeted me – lots of pictures of nude women in compromising positions stretching their very best to show you parts of their anatomy that you never expect to see on a social media platform.

I immediately reported this content to X carefully ticking the boxes that they have about sexual content expecting 100% that this account would be suspended.

To my horror I received a “nothing wrong here” response

I then spotted another account with the name Riley Reid and the handle @rileyreidx3 and this was just as pornographic. so I decided to test the X reporting system. To my shock and horror I received another “nothing wrong here” message.

I have included links to both of these accounts above so you can judge these for yourself!

Instead of doing nothing I decided to email the body in Ireland that is supposed to oversee such matters, Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland’s media regulator).

As an aside, what an appalling stupid name for an organisation – promoting the Irish language is all well and good but at a functional level when 99% of the population have no idea what it means and will never remember it, the purpose of the name/brand has been totally lost. Someone with some power got their way and everyone else just went along with it!!

Having emailed them I decided to also ring and I spoke to a lovely woman, I explained what had happened and emailed her copies of the offending post and the response from X.

This is what I got back after sending them a message saying I had sent that information already.

When I queried that I received the same again!!

Dear Greg,

Thank you for contacting Coimisiún na Meán.

As previously advised, we do not have a role in moderating content, overturning platform decisions, or adjudicating individual disputes between users and service providers. Our role under the Online Safety Framework and the Digital Services Act (DSA) is to oversee whether online services are complying with their legal obligations, including operating effective reporting and complaints-handling mechanisms

Your online experience informs our regulatory role. If you believe the platform has not met its obligations, you can share your experience with Coimisiún na Meán, to assist our regulatory role.

Please provide the following information to us by email:

Country you are located in.

A copy of your appeal of X’s decision and any subsequent response from the platform.

The reasons why you believe the online service did not comply with its obligations. For more information please see: Online Safety Framework – Coimisiún na Meán

Any additional evidence (e.g. URLs, screenshots, please note video format is not accepted), which may assist us.

Informing us about your online experience plays a vital part in helping us to supervise and enforce the Online Safety Framework. For more information on the Online Safety Framework, please visit http://www.cnam.ie.

…infuriating !!!!!

Elon Musk, Groc and AI generated nude pictures of kids

My unhappy conclusion is that X is a cesspit of a platform that is more than happy to allow any type of content from any anonymous accounts trying to corrupt or lure people into some scam and it has no intention of doing anything to stop it.

Elon Musk, with his awful Groc doesn’t care about any of this, including the well publicised AI generated images of children – in his warped world this is all very funny and a form of “free speech”.

And worst of all, if we are expecting our regulator Coimisiún na Meán to do anything meaningful in stopping these online giants then we are fooling ourselves – they have too much money and are too powerful.

Sad, but true, X is now XXX.

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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Best Boy Bert …

October 16, 2025

As I lay there in the dark I just didn’t want the day to start, not this day.

Our little Bert had been sick for about two months, starting with refusing to go on walks, getting extremely picky with his food, and now it had got to the most serious state with no eating at all, drinking loads and loads of water and he was weak and reduced to skin and bone.

We had been back and forth to the vet in Ballydehob each day for nearly a week – it started with a blood test that pointed towards a particular serious issue, and each visit was to administer injections of anti-biotics, vitamins and something to perk up his appetite. Despite Bert’s protests and ability to snap, Tim the vet kept on reassuring him “I’m your friend”.

At the end of this process, the kindest and most gentle vet, Tim, did another blood test which revealed that there was little or no progress and he was out of answers. As well as an “end of life” conversation which we weren’t ready to hear, he recommended the Veterinary Specialists Hospital in Cork for more detailed tests and analysis.

At this stage we were clinging onto the faintest amount of hope – maybe something was missing, and if these tests were to discover what it was, Bert would be back in business.

It was a quiet night as we mulled over the depressing news, so we all went to bed exhausted. Bert lay peacefully in his bed on my side of our bed and unusually there was no sound of his stomach grumbling, just him sleeping peacefully.

I woke in the early hours after having a dream about him and everything felt perfect at that moment.

Could it just stay dark and we could all be peaceful and not face the day?

The next day came and we made a decision to head back to the city in the event that we might be able to get an appointment at the Veterinary Specialists Hospital in Little Island, Cork.

Shane the vet called us and we were all set for 1:30. At this stage Bert was so weak Dee had to carry him everywhere.

We met Shane, another kind, gentle, extremely professional man who explained in detail the procedure, and the range of tests that they would do to get the bottom of what was wrong.

He was so gentle with Bert, carefully sitting on the ground to put him at ease. They did a quick examination of him and took some blood tests and we waited for the first results with our little boy in Dee’s arms staring at us, as vested in a possible “magic” solution that we were.

20 minutes passed and Shane appeared – our poor little Bert was in an awful state. Even though his organs were still working fine there was a large mass in his little tummy that seemed to be causing all of the havoc. It could have been there for a long time.

After carefully explaining all the possible next steps and the likely outcome from these and many questions from us, the very kindest thing that we could do was to send our little Bert peacefully on his way. Us confirming that we would do this was one of the hardest things that we ever had to say.

He dimmed the lights, he prepped our boy as we caressed his beautiful face and we said goodbye to him as he gently slipped away as.

While it was the most awful thing, it was beautiful to be able to say goodbye to him in such a lovely place surrounded by such abundance kindness. Shane told us about his own dog and his similar experiences.

Dee was inconsolable, and after trying to be the “strong” man for his wife, I broke down in a way that I have never done before and I wept and wept in that consulting room as we were left there with our precious little Bert one last time. We rubbed his little head and body and kissed him in a way that we were never able to do before.

We left Bert with the lovely Shane who has already organised cremation and a cast of his paw print for us.

Now to be clear, the little Bert I have been talking about was no angel !!

This scoundrel was a rescue dog who we had for 10 years – he must have been abused before we had him because if he saw hands, anyone’s hands coming towards him he would snap. Everyone that visited were given the Bert warning, and the few that ignored it understood very quickly why we gave them the warning in the first place.

We brought him into our lives as a companion for Honey and the minute he was settled in he ruled the roost and she knew all about it, as we all did!

We always said that if Bert was a person (he was that to us) he would be a door to door salesman and he would probably drink the harshest of whiskey neat.

This no hands rule even applied to us – he was extremely loving, he would jump on your lap or cuddle right up next to you on the couch but always on his terms – do not dare rub him!

We always said he was the best communicator – he would bark the house down at deliverymen, at strangers visiting the house, when he wanted to get out for a pee or when he was hungry. Even a few months ago that distinctive bark had got hoarse and in all honestly it had rarely been heard recently.

He wasn’t too fond of other dogs – despite his size (Dee would always say he thinks he is a Rottweiler!) he would be the first to show teeth and ask questions after, but after a while he would relax and he had a few good dog pals. He loved Ellen’s two, Winnie and Kai.

He was always my work buddy, sitting alongside me which of course started during the Covid home working restrictions, he watched all of the Liverpool matches with me, and if I stayed up late watching TV he was always the one to stay up with me, making sure he didn’t miss a trick.

I didn’t want this day to start but it had to, and now our Best Boy Bert had to say goodbye and go to a better place (maybe he will wait for us and we will hear than unmistakable bark again?).

His bed in my office is empty, his food bowl doesn’t need to be filled, there is one dog bed in the car and not two, and our hearts are completely broken.

Thank you Best Boy Bert for the great times, we love you and you live on forever in our hearts.

The best of fun is the worst of tears…

Greg

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Octopus on a Treadmill: Insights from Gifty Enright

September 25, 2025

When Gifty Enright connected with me on LinkedIn I was immediately intrigued!

The unusual first name combined with the Irish surname was the first thing that grabbed my attention and then it was her short description of herself:

Keynote Speaker | Women’s Leadership & Workplace Wellbeing Expert | Author of Octopus on a Treadmill | Coach | NED | TEDx | Mother

Octopus on a Treadmill I thought!!

Assuming this woman had a lot of interesting things to say of course I invited her onto my podcast.

I really didn’t know what and who to expect and when she appeared on the Zoom call, as well as the formidable woman I was expecting I discovered a very warm, funny person.

We had a really great chat about her life and career and how she came about writing her book, ‘Octopus on a Treadmill’.

She told me that as a young woman growing up in Ghana she dreamt of having lots of shoes, big cupboards, and the trappings of success, so she moved to London to fulfil her dream. The Ghana she described to me sounds like a fantastic fun place and I did wonder why she never returned to live there permanently.

She quickly discovered that she missed that strong sense of community that she enjoyed in Ghana, but she dug deep and carved out a very successful career and life for herself in London complete with a family.

After a number of years with lots of hard work and career success this career mum hit a “Burnout” wall that she knew could not be solved with the medication that was being prescribed to her. While she was talking specifically about mums I think this happens to so many of us, and between a mix of the enticing corporate ladder and too much ambition, it can end up squeezing the life out of you.

As an avid reader who was determined to get better, she did lots of deep research to try to find a sustainable solution to her life situation and she found this through a mix of Western Science, Indian Philosophy and African Wisdom. She started to apply what she learnt and after just three months she was on the road to recovery and hasn’t looked back since.

She wrote the book to share what she learned so that other busy career mums (I think we should all read it) who are constantly juggling don’t hit the same burnout wall that she did.

As well as being an author, she became a public speaker and a coach and she doesn’t care so much about those shoes anymore!

I also learnt that her husband is from Kiskeam in County Cork and she loves to holiday in Ballyheigue in Kerry.

We also had a big chat about working from home and the huge difference that this flexibility can make in people’s lives.

You can listen to my chat with Gifty on the WinHappy podcast here (or on any of the podcast platforms).

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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A 12 Day War and the War on Truth

July 17, 2025

Early in the morning on the 13th June 2025 the air raid sirens and the phone alerts came and you had to move to a communal centre with your partner and your two children.

What thoughts go through your head when you hear the bombs overhead?

What conversations do you have with other people sheltering?

What do you tell your children?

Does it make people think about what it must be like for people in Gaza as the bombs rain down on them and they have no shelters?

How do you do this day after day when those sirens alert you once again to take cover?

Now that the war with Iran “is over” how do you feel?

What is the position with Gaza and has this changed the standing of Netanyahu?

Very recently I chatted with Paul Kearns, an urban planner, author and journalist about his experience living in Tel Aviv with his young family for the last 8 years, and wondered what is he still doing there?

Paul is a fascinating character who is very vocal about the war in Gaza, that is being very carefully censored and sanitised by the media in Israel. He writes prolifically about the war and is not shy about calling it as it is and enlightening readers about the “real” truth.

I captured this revealing conversation with Paul on my podcast

A huge thanks to Paul Kearns for his time and honesty.

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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Interesting Stories and Cracking the Code of a Happy Life

July 1, 2025

One of our special, simple treats is a visit to the Schull Country Market in West Cork on Sunday mornings, which runs from April until September each year from 10 in the morning until 2pm.

The market isn’t very large, with about 14 stall holders selling their wares including everything from jewellery, art, games, soaps, candles, skincare products, coffee and tasty treats. There is a simple criteria for this market whereby the stall holders must manufacture 80% of what they sell.

When the weather is on your side (and even if it isn’t!) we park near the cemetery on the Colla Road that overlooks the harbour. We bring the two dogs for a walk on a little circuit, through the cemetery, down to the shore watching the boats and people swimming and then on the path that leads you back to the quayside and the market nearby.

A cup of coffee, some cheeses, fresh bread and tasty treats are bought for lunch and there is always time to browse the stalls at the market.

The atmosphere is always very relaxing as people in holiday mode mull around and I always say if you could bottle the special atmosphere at the market you would make a fortune.

On one particular sunny Sunday morning the lovely woman at the Little Red Skincare stall spotted our two dogs dragging me in different directions as Dee was trying to buy something. She gave me a bright sympathetic smile, I made some comment about the gorgeous day and she said something about much she loved being there. Somehow I knew she did.

Dee was delighted with her purchases and I couldn’t stop thinking about the very friendly woman who had served us with her warm smile and that really happy aura. What was her story I wondered, and maybe she might make an interesting podcast guest?

A quick search on Mr Google a few days later brought me to the website, a request to come on the podcast and gladly, Fiona Burke accepted my invitation.

Not only was Fiona the founder and owner of Little Red Skincare, but as usual she came with a really interesting story. Our simple conversation about her very special business opened up into a number of areas I wasn’t at all expecting.

She chatted about her early life as the daughter of the local policeman in Ennis, being bullied out of her job as an engineer by someone who felt that wasn’t the place for a woman and this leading to an unplanned life of a successful entrepreneur selling cheese at various markets around Cork.

The cheese business evolved into Little Red Skincare, an organically certified business that can be purchased online, in various stockists, or even better, in person from Fiona at Bantry, Skibbereen and Schull markets.

She also chatted about some big personal changes that she has made recently and how she has cracked the code of this thing we call life! 

If you would like to listen to Fiona’s story on the Win Happy podcast click here and even better pop down to Schull in West Cork on a Sunday morning and meet her in person!

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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Christy – A Love Letter to Cork

June 21, 2025

The speeches were made to open the festival and finally the lights went down and the film began.

I wasn’t fully sure what to expect of the movie, and within minutes I found myself emotionally gripped by the story and throughout I laughed and I cried, I cheered on the main characters and hoped that things would work out for them, and at the very end, and I really don’t want to give anything away of the story, I wept and had to take a few moments to dry my eyes and gather myself.

The movie was brilliant and moving, all of the talented actors and everyone involved waved the Irish and Knocknaheeney, Cork flag proudly and yes, my son did good, beyond good, brilliant.

After the movie had finished and I dried my eyes, I chatted with Daithi O’Dronai who did the music score, to see how he enjoyed it, and how he went about creating such a beautiful sound backdrop throughout the film to match the story. 

I then managed to catch Brendan Canty (my son!) , the man of the moment for a couple of words before chatting with some of the very talented cast; Diarmuid Noyse, Sophia McNamara, Emma Willis and Ciaran Bermingham, a mix of established and brand new actors about their experience of working in the movie and some other projects they are involved in.

At the after party I finally caught up with the extremely humble and down to earth, Daniel Power who played the main character Christy in the movie. This superstar in the making explained his journey from rapping to acting, and how easy that transition was for him and once again it shows the huge role that initiatives like the Kabin Studio can play in young people’s lives.  

A few drinks later and it was time to get to bed – this wasn’t your typical Valentine’s Day, but it was the day when an international audience fell in love with Christy, with Knocknaheeny and this special love letter to Cork city.

In an effort to capture this special night I hit the record button on my phone and have compiled this in an episode of the Win Happy podcast – I hope you enjoy it!

Christy will be showing in cinemas this summer – you are in for a very special treat.

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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Is there anything that we can do?

June 9, 2025

Is there anything that we can do?

It’s just a very simple question to ask of us, ordinary citizens of the world.

We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in Gaza and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.

We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in Ukraine and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.

We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in (just add a another war torn location) and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.

The locations keep changing, and because of someone’s agenda somewhere, rooted in religion, hatred, ideology, power or greed the net result is the same – innocent people lose their lives or their limbs, and at a time when we seemingly have carefully constructed international institutions to protect against these things from happening, they are meaningless.

Not only is this terrible, awful and horrific news part of our everyday digest, we have accepted that we are powerless and there is nothing we can do.

Many of us continue to get upset at the news of even more deaths and many of us just can’t bear to watch anymore so we consciously stop reading, looking and listening and get on with our own lives because after all, there a limit to how much of this we can consume without drowning in darkness.

Some are extremely vocal on social media calling out the horrors and many of us stop because we don’t want to come across as a broken record, we want to enter the US for holiday or work, or we just believe that it is utterly pointless.

Some take to the streets in protest, and most of us look on and wonder why bother because it is too much effort, we are too busy, we don’t care enough or we just honestly believe that these efforts are utterly pointless because nothing seems to make a difference.

Maybe this is true and we can’t make any difference, but maybe that’s not the case and we absolutely can but we just haven’t quite figured out what it takes to make that change happen.

So, a genuine question – is there anything that we can do (that will make a difference)?

What is it ?

Greg

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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From Lead Guitar to Leading a Luxury Brand!!

May 6, 2025

I was more than surprised at the Cork Chamber annual dinner this year that the General Manager of  Mercedes-Benz sitting next to me, Liam Mullane was also a hard rock guitar hero!!

After a couple of hours of exchanging polite corporate pleasantries over a couple of drinks and roast beef, we got down to the real business and quite accidentally discovered our mutual love of rock music.

I think I told him that I found these formal events to be quite boring and that my best time ever in that very hall was to see a Thin Lizzy gig (my first convert ever!!) in 1980.

With surprising enthusiasm he told me that his favourite guitarist was Gary Moore who actually played with Thin Lizzy and from there the conversation took off.

In truth we never really know who we are talking to and what their background is – as well as listening to wonderful stories about the world of luxury car sales, I also heard about his rock and roll dreams and when big decisions needed to be made, and how sadly these dreams had to be put in the back burner.

He now runs a prestigious business but he still plays his guitar.

The next time you are sitting next to someone at a corporate function, never make an assumption that you know their story!

The chat that night was so interesting I asked Liam to guest on my Win Happy podcast so you could hear it also.

Whether you want to learn some sales tips from an expert or you want to listen to a passionate guitarist talking about music, this podcast is worth a listen!

Greg

The Win Happy podcast is available on all podcast Apps and on Spotify.

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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Moving into Wisdom with Kevin Fahey, CEO of Essence of Leadership

March 18, 2025

Essence of Leadership - Kevin Fahey

Recently I have had the pleasure of meeting (virtually!) and doing some business with a very wise man, Kevin Fahey.

Each and every time we would have a chat he would leave me with some pearls of wisdom and when I learnt that this positive, always pushing forward, optimistic businessman was 75 I just had to ask him to come on my podcast.

Kevin is the CEO and Founder of Peer to Peer coaching company, Essence of Leadership.

Kevin came from a family farm, he went into the Irish clothing manufacturing industry and after a board room battle he found himself at home, unemployed.

Never a man to stand still Kevin started off a successful training company and was once labelled a Positive Psychopath by one of his clients. Like so many other businesses the recession that followed the Celtic Tiger crash, had him once again wondering where the next few bob was going to come from. 

He talks about very dark days and struggling at times to lift himself from the bed in the morning, but he did, one foot at a time.

Kevin reinvented himself, and with all of his collective wisdom and experience he remodelled his business following the simple principle that often the wisdom that we are searching for actually sits within us. He explains why and how peer to peer coaching is so powerful, in particular for business owners and senior managers.

As I have been very recently grappling with a big birthday number, we also chatted about ageism and moving into “wisdom” and based on his energy and drive I think I am just a young fella still!

Kevin talks so much sense and I hope you can take the time to listen to our chat – you will be better for it, I promise.

Greg

The Win Happy podcast is available on all podcast Apps and on Spotify.

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of Fuzion, a Brand Communications Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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The difficulties successful women have finding true love (really?!)

February 4, 2025

Relationship Headquarters with Bob Grant

My podcast, a real passion of mine, has been a really brilliant vehicle that helps me to meet some very unusual people.

I often get asked, where do you find such unusual guests?

Sometimes it might be someone that I meet somewhere, sometimes it will be someone that I end up interacting with online and the very odd it will be a podcast booking agent who wants you to have their client on the show.

With me, the main criteria is that I find them really interesting, and I get a sense that they are choosing to Win Happy or they might be helping others to do just that.

On my most recent podcast I chatted to a really nice guy, Bob Grant, a clinically trained relationship expert and founder of Relationship Headquarters. He had reached out to me directly via email because the theme of the podcast resonated with him.

I love that and when I saw what he did I thought brilliant, you are definitely a perfect Win Happy guest!

For over 20 years Bob from Atlanta, Georgia, has been helping successful women to find lasting relationships with men through his very unusual programmes.

What a perfect job to have I thought, and then I wondered how difficult could that be?!!

It turns out it is quite the challenge…

Bob chats about the unique challenges that these successful women have, and how his programmes help them to overcome these challenges and fulfil their dreams.

Men and women are very different, and a woman’s “success” can cause a particular set of circumstances because of the roles we are normally programmed to have in our relationships.

I loved our conversation and I did my best with Bob to try and imagine being that woman !

You might enjoy our chat …

Win Happy with me and relationship expert, Bob Grant.

Greg

The Win Happy podcast is available on all podcast Apps and on Spotify.

Greg Canty is the Managing Partner of  Fuzion, a Marketing, PR, Graphic Design and Digital Marketing Agency in Ireland with offices in Dublin and Cork.

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