Every accusation is a confession

People are dying to get in. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I am not a lawyer, just a historian, but one fundamental problem with the political debate about the EU, especially in English publications is that the whole principle of the acquis communnitaire is not understood or taken seriously. The EU is a framework of rules, not an alliance.

The haters said they couldn't do it. And they were right. Honestly, great call from the haters.

Oh no pathetic old Europeans will never be able to match these rampant capitalist stallions in the Valley.

Looking forward to my work trip to Albuquerque in December 🫠

Just finished watching the excellent new opera “Ali” at La Monnaie / De Munt. The true story of a Somali boy fleeing Al Shabab to Europe. Truly operatic in scale and emotion but with a fantastic score melding European, Arabic and Somali language and music. Strong recommend for Brusseleirs.

It's true Belgian surrealism that a government led by a rightist Flemish nationalist might fall because the Wallons want deeper spending cuts rather than tax rises, and a Flemish party won't agree to it. www.demorgen.be/snelnieuws/l...

For me, it is objectively ridiculous that the UK left knows and cares a lot more about Zohran Mamdani than it does about Pedro Sánchez - the left-wing Prime Minister of Europe's fastest growing economy.

Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."

This is a very informative #longread by @benlorber8.bsky.social at @thenation.com, covering the rise of Nick Fuentes. If, like me, the different far right sects in the US are a bit of a mystery to you, you’ll learn a lot. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

New Travelling Turtle video! Delighted to be premiering episode one (of two) of our adventure across Europe, trying to make the longest possible public transport journey in the Schengen zone in 200 hours. Lots of boats, trains, buses, pastries, mountains and Grieg. #Schengen200 youtu.be/qSQapm0UyWU

Funny how the people keen on aristocracy always think they’ll be the aristoi.

Good to be making a point here, @profpech.bsky.social

Complaints about lack of bilingualism in Brussels hospitals from the Flemish independentists www.lesoir.be/708943/artic...

💥House of Cards stuff from Hungary: Rumors long said Viktor Orbán’s team hides real polls from him showing the opposition TISZA party far ahead. Now TISZA leader Péter Magyar claims Orbán recently learned the truth from his possible successor, Minister János Lázár—and realized he can’t win fairly.

Your language settings saved you this far, bucko, but you knew we were going to catch up with you in the end.

I note that many of the most vocal who had much to say within minutes of Saturday’s appalling events are rather quieter today. But they’ll be back. I wrote about the radical right misinformation machine centred on X in @theipaper.com inews.co.uk/opinion/a-su...

What an indictment of our times, that the name of an incredibly brave man should be a matter of interest for reasons other than it being his name. BBC News - Train hero who saved passengers during attack named www.bbc.com/news/article...

So a weird thing happened to me in Aldi that I cdn't quite place until I was listening to Gabby Bertin talking about choking in porn on the radio this am. (NB: this is 100% not a sex thing). Having the usual polite chitchat with the cashier who is tired from working extra shifts to make £ for xmas..

‘Why should I be a doctor in #Sarajevo for €1,500 when I can do the same thing in Slovenia, Austria, or Germany for €5-6,000?’ - more reflections from #Bosnia-#Herzegovina 30 years on from the end of the war. Share your own! www.hodophile.com/travel/europ...

Cool new working paper on why and how cable news threw gasoline on the culture war fire. The culture war isn't optimal for electoral candidates, but it's optimal for cable news companies. ungated: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/27v4x...

This map helps explain all sorts of roads and urban planning oddities. Wonder why an urban road is unusually wide for short sections? Probably designed with an abandoned future in mind...

Met afstand de beste analyse van de Nederlandse verkiezing die ik heb gelezen. Door @tomwgvdmeer.bsky.social in @groene.nl - zou ook in het Engels moeten worden vertaald.

Jesse Klaver wordt de nieuwe fractievoorzitter van GL-PvdA. Een logische keuze nadat Moorman zei zich niet te zullen kandideren. Hij is 39 jaar. Tezamen met Jetten (38) en Bontenbal (42) zijn 't generatiegenoten. Dat alleen al kan 'n mooie basis zijn voor een goede samenwerking in de komende tijd.

A friend told me that her American dad got in touch to talk about some news he'd seen on Facebook: there are riots in England over DEI, and the King dramatically burst into parliament to tell Starmer off, and then Prince William did the same to Sadiq Khan. AI really is inventing bold new universes

The European Convention on Human Rights turns 75 tomorrow!    The @coe.int’s foremost convention is the cornerstone of all its activities, and its ratification is a prerequisite for joining the Organisation.    📸🔙 Throwback to 1950 when the #ECHR was opened for signature in Rome!

This morning on Cat TV: the roadworks on the Place de l’Yser, again.

A colleague just reminded me of this while attending Venice Biennial where Irish assemblies are the theme of the super Irish pavilion #speirgorm

«Silicon Valley isn’t building apps anymore. It’s building empires.» The Authoritarian Stack: A mapping of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms, by @francescabria.bsky.social et. al. for @fesonline.bsky.social www.authoritarian-stack.info

Japan's "Mundane Halloween" costume contest is back! Each year website DailyPortalZ holds a contest where people dress up as something super duper ordinary. Here's a thread of some of my favorites from the 2025 contest! #MundaneHalloween

Here the full position paper 📝 ✨ zenodo.org/records/1706...

A member of the House of Lords Had words printed in the Telegraph Saying that the people Had squandered the confidence of the op-ed writers. And could only win it back by redoubled Hannanism Would it not be simpler in that case For the op-ed writers to dissolve the people And elect another?

“We cannot go back to anything approaching the old constitutional order, which already had been in a long, terminal decline.” www.liberalcurrents.com/the-american...

Fine evening with a friend and former colleague in ‘t Stad only marred by the fact I’ve missed the last fast train home. Still, putting democracy to rights was worth getting home at 0130

Le Soir burying a truly amazing resurrection story below the fold.

Nu met 100% korting!

Dichters & Denkers | Hoogst actueel, Max Webers essay 'Politiek als beroep', met de vraag welke rol het charisma mag spelen in de politiek. Niet alleen dat van de leider zelf, maar ook van de morele leidraad. buff.ly/6QcveF4

I keep being told spending cuts are easy. Honest proposals such as those recently outlined by Policy Exchange show they are not My column www.ft.com/content/f086...

Aanvaardbaar voor wie? Het is duidelijk dat univ meer inkomsten moeten genereren. Maar het Ned model is er niet eentje om te volgen. Het is elitair, wereldvreemd, exclusief. Gaan onze studenten ook 2 baantjes combineren om het te kunnen betalen? En wat als die investering niet opbrengt?

Kort draadje over formeren. Voor een succesvolle formatie heb je als hoofdonderhandelaar twee dingen nodig: een ideale uitkomst en een werkbaar alternatief. Die laatste optie kan nuttig zijn als stok achter de deur om onwillige partijen richting het gedroomde eindresultaat te sturen./

From the Belgian perspective, De Wever will be pretty happy with a pro-European centrist government to the north. Indeed, the likely new PM is from Noord-Brabant so he’s even a “reserve Belg” (backup Belgian) as they say in Netherlands.

Feels like a long negotiation ahead in NL. Had VVD done worse the leader would have been booted out, but she probably won’t be so her refusal to work with the centre left-green party will hold.

Very surprised by the poor result of PvdA-GroenLinks but glad to see Wilders not winning in Nederland.

Watching the Dutch election results and NOS are going around the different party locations for the evening. NSC seem to have hired a pub (though could probably have managed in a phone box)

This is a very good read on China and the divided US approach to it (@foreignaffairs.com), but as a European it's a bit confronting to see my continent mentioned once, and then as part of a historical analogy from the Cold War... www.foreignaffairs.com/china/agains...

X is a cesspit led by an unhinged billionaire who is desperately trying to stir up civil war in Britain. Nobody with any sense or decency should be there. No organisations, government departments, or politicians should be there. Everyone who is, is enabling this monster.

As a scholar I rarely offer electoral guidance. But today I do: DO NOT USE AI CHATBOTS AS YOUR VOTE ADVICE APPLICATION AHEAD OF (THE DUTCH) ELECTIONS Full of errors, bias and lack of transparency. @ernesto-deleon.com @favstats.eu @theoaraujo.bsky.social and🙋unpack why algosoc.org/results/1-in...

I'm saddened to learn that the reactionary legal project launched by Adrian Vermeule overseas has now found an official home in the UK at Surrey Law School (as if some of the stuff coming out of Oxford Law wasn't enough). Unsurprisingly, their first 'research project' is to attack the ECHR system /1