Shamima Begum was the beginning of something in so many ways, one of which was 'the last government's inability to just do its job properly (in this case by passing legislation that would have allowed it to prosecute her here at home) and instead going 'no option but to undermine all our rights'.

I deplore how the German and western political classes have abused Holocaust memory to the point that publics have lost faith in its lessons.

The CBS investigation portrays a modern concentration camp, similar to the Soviet GULAG (like CECOT, an acronym): sadistic guards, 24 hour lighting, isolation cells. Americans once opposed this inhumane system. The Trump administration sent innocent people there to suffer.

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan… * Vehicle traffic: -11% * Foot traffic: +3.4% * Storefront vacancy: -0.9% * Pollution: -22% * Revenue for mass transit: $548M So YES this has been a huge success.

Candace Owens held up an English translation of August Rohling’s „der Talmudjude“ and repeated its antisemitic lies to her millions of listeners in her attack on Ben Shapiro. Rohling was a notorious Catholic antisemite who spewed vile lies and about Jews and the Talmud. This is incredibly dangerous.

Bari Weiss going from purported brave defender of free speech and open debate to chief censor of reporting about a federal concentration camp is so grimly hilarious

Berliner Senat hält verkehrspolitisches "anti-Bullerbü"-Versprechen. www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/bisla...

It'a difficult to take claims that it is dangerous for Labour to topple Starmer at a time when Europe faces security threats from Russia when his team hasn't got the competence to counter Russia's hybrid threats or provide the British army with a functioning IFV www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

"The emergence of Witkoff as envoy to the Kremlin is partly a story of Putin maneuvering to nudge aside America’s diplomats and clasp hands with its billionaires." Because the billionaires lack experience, can be manipulated. and have obvious conflicts of interest.

Keeping the movement together by channeling discontent into outward aggression: Trump may be weakening, MAGA may be disintegrating – but they will make their weakness and disintegration a problem for all of us, and for American society’s most vulnerable groups especially.

MAGA rose to power with a short-term strategy aimed at quickly overwhelming the system. But 11 months later, that strategy has failed, as societal resistance has been hardening since the summer. The Trumpist Right isn’t really prepared for the prolonged struggle that is next.

"Much of MMT is neither new nor wrong: it’s just standard economic theory presented in different language. The disagreement arises not over whether government can compel the central bank to finance its spending, but to what extent government should do this." criticalfinance.org/2025/12/19/w...

The "political genius" of Morgan McSweeney in one chart

"It requires our leading (Jewish) organisations to abandon the victims of antisemitism.. opens them to the accusation that they are.. selective in their condemnation of antisemitism: unequivocal when it comes from the left, hesitant when it comes from the right" www.jewishnews.co.uk/jonathan-fre...

NEW RESEARCH: UK heat pumps can perform far better than many think. Our analysis of HeatPumpMonitor.org data shows well-designed systems achieve ~40% higher efficiency than past trials (SCoP 3.86 vs 2.81), cutting bills (~£224/yr) and emissions. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan? It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way. But there isn't. Here is why:

Quite funny - in the Brabant village of Wouw there is an angry campaign against plans to build an asylum centre (AZC). Facebook groups, protests, big banners saying “NO AZC HERE” by the road. But there are no plans to build a centre and never have been. It’s an online fantasy nos.nl/artikel/2595...

Addicted to feta... oil. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

Just an absolute charade. The Mercosur trade deal will have minimal effect on EU farming, but the protests will succeed in keeping public funding focused in this direction while there are so many higher priorities not least in maintaining the economic ability to pay such subsidies.

Trump sues the BBC is the stupidest story ever Of course, cover it but please, please point out - early - how stupid it is. And don’t put it at the top of the news. Because it’s really, really stupid.

Hearing a radio news report about how the Agnelli family turned down an offer for Juve from Tether (one of the CrimeCoin companies) « because it was not aligned with the values or history of the club » and feel like maybe I’ve been too harsh on multigenerational wealth.

"..unless Europe is willing to dismantle its welfare system and force down wages.. — which would be bad for global growth — it has..to intervene in its external accounts. The purpose of such intervention is not protectionism, but rather to reverse the consequences of trade intervention abroad."

this is one of the most psychotic things Trump has ever posted

Die Rückkehr zum Verbrennermotor kostet Jobs! Das sage nicht ich, sondern die Vorsitzende der Wirtschaftsweisen, @monika-schnitzer.com. Die CDU/CSU muss ihre Anti-Elektro-Ideologie endlich aufgeben!

Poujadisme 2.0

"Wirtschaftskompetenz"? Both left- and right-leaning leading German economists criticize the German governments push to dilute the EU's 2035 ban of the sale of petrol and diesel cars. www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/v...

Say the hero’s name. Ahmed Al Ahmed. #Sydney #Bondi

Dystopia is now. "'Elon Musk is becoming a role model now,' said Zhang. An increasing number of 'crazy rich' clients are commissioning dozens, or even hundreds, of U.S.-born babies with the goal of 'forging an unstoppable family dynasty,' he said." www.wsj.com/us-news/chin...

Call it the Huawei Effect: As American tech-industrial-surveillance giants are increasingly perceived as arms of the state, other countries will…increasingly perceive them as arms of the state. American global tech supremacy depended on the perception of this public-private sector boundary.

This is appalling — and bad for the Jews www.propublica.org/article/ucla...

This is the full list of info the US is proposing to require from applicants for an ESTA (electronic travel authorisation) to secure visa-free travel to America. This would apply to every UK holidaymaker, conference attendee or businessperson. public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-22461.pdf

Good work by Denmark, the Commission, Germany, France, others "The Danish Presidency can inform that COREPER has agreed on a revised version of the Art. 122-proposal and approved the launch of a written procedure for formal Council decision by tomorrow around 5 pm," the Danish presidency announced

Maybe also shows contradictions in US strategy. Who will guarantee Poland's security vis-a-vis Russia if US effectively pulls out of/undermines NATO (while also appeasing Putin)? Poland would have to rely on Europe in that case.

🚨🚨This is worse than we could have imagined: Full version of #Trump's national #securitystrategy reportedly calls for “pulling Poland away from #EU”. 🧵 notesfrompoland.com/2025/12/10/f...

Mal wieder ein verheerend unkluger Satz von Bundeskanzler Merz in Zeiten, in denen ein geeintes Europa so wichtig ist wie nie zuvor. Merz wollte in Europa führen und schert jetzt aus, wenn’s eng wird. Das ist verantwortungslos. Trump lacht sich ins Fäustchen.

Particulate pollution in the air down a whopping 22% in NYC’s congestion pricing zone. Not only are the streets less congested, but so are our lungs. e360.yale.edu/digest/new-y...

But back to the first post, just as the UK academic and analyst world was slow to recognise elite radicalisation processes gripping Matt Goodwin or Danny Kruger there is similar reluctance to get to grips with how think tanks like Policy Exchange are heading to the same space as Fuentes or Sellner

Ganz am Ende kommt hier eine mE sehr problematische Aussage von #Merz: "Ich sage den Amerikanern: America First ist okay, aber America Alone geht nicht. Und wenn ihr mit Europa als Partner nichts anfangen könnt, dann macht wenigstens Deutschland zum Partner. " Was für eine verheerende Aussage.

“Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Poland are listed as countries the U.S. should “work more with…with the goal of pulling them away from the [European Union].”“ www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

So sieht das aus, wenn souverän-sachlich unideologische Stadtpolitik gemacht wird:

The hydrogen bubble has burst. Nearly 60 major low-carbon H₂ projects have been cancelled or paused — far more capacity than the world has actually built. The reason? Fundamentals still don’t add up: • Demand isn’t there • Costs remain high • Infrastructure is missing www.ft.com/content/b098...

"Any response will probably be costly - costs compounded by letting dependencies like REE and Nexperia grow. But not responding to Chinas distortions and the damage they do to European manufacturing is also costly. "

My colleague reviewed a paper for the journal Climate and discovered it has been written by AI (citations that didn’t exist). Not only did the journal keep the paper, they asked her to re-review it. We are so cooked.

This is INSANE www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/t... and these are our closest allies!

Yes, I have read all the criticism of the NYT coverage and I agree w some of it. My point here is very simply that someone using mainstream news sources, two months into the conflict, would reasonably conclude, at mimimum, that Israel was commiting war crimes and that genocide was a real possibility

The difference in tone (both in the wider political context and the literal texts of official guidance) between two countries which desperately need more dentists could not be starker or indicative of how we've ended up here immigration.ca/how-to-immig... vs www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-role...

"Die Militärexperten (in der Schweiz) kommen zu dem Schluss, dass ein Abfluss von Daten aus den Palantir-Systemen technisch nicht verhindert werden könne." Hmm. Das ist ja komisch. Denn die polizeilichen Palantir-Nutzer in Deutschland behaupten steif & fest das sei technisch ja gar nicht möglich. 🤔

The President's son in law is part of the fucking bidding package!

Every legal story now is either Ancient Circuit Judge Delivers Crystal Clear 100 Page Rebuke To Trumpist Overreach or In Unsigned Shadow Docket Decision, 6-3 Majority Declares Trump Can Hunt People For Sport