Priceless post from the official White House social media

“In order for me to write poetry that isn’t political, I must listen to the birds. And in order to hear the birds, the warplanes must be silent” - Marwan Makhoul

JCPOA similarly took more than a year of direct negotiations.

Je ziet altijd dat clichébeeld van woeste baardmannen die vlaggen verbranden, maar kijk eens hoe verfijnd dit is.

Kerry: I was part of the any number of conversations with Netanyahu. Psaki: Pitching the US strike Iran? Kerry: Yes, he wanted us to strike. He came to President Obama. He made a presentation to ask to strike. President Obama refused. President Biden refused. President Bush refused.

The US using #Ramstein – By tolerating it, Germany becomes complicit in an internationally wrongful act digit.site36.net/2026/04/08/f...

Hier als Geschenklink

This is the ultimate test for a constitutional order. Either constitutional mechanisms are used to check and balance this, and remove him from office, or they are not. For there can be no greater test for any constitution.

Keep hearing stories of loved ones in Iran going about their days, doing their part to make life continue for their communities despite these unhinged proclamations. The entire US political establishment that lets this continue isn’t worth a single hair on the head of a Red Crescent rescue worker.

Sad stuff: futurism.com/artificial-i...

Von der Leyen 2 buried the European Green Deal of Von der Leyen 1 and that sound you're hearing right now is Von der Leyen 2 digging up "Europe's man on the moon moment" again (There's of course a single German word for that: Energiewendewendewende)

🚨 BREAKING: The European Commission has urged people to work from home, drive and fly less, and for EU countries to urgently roll out renewables, as it warned of a prolonged energy crisis as a result of the conflict in the Gulf. Full story: www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Oh well once it gets too hot to think we can ask AI to draft our emails

A young girl plays on a seesaw along the Persian Gulf shoreline as distant military facilities burn in the background. #Iran #IranWar

The energy transition needs critical minerals, but a crisis looms: 𝟭.𝟮𝗯𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰𝟬𝟬𝗺 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀. - We must move from "resource traps" to industrial ecosystems that create real local value Read our analysis on the future of CRMs: bit.ly/4t56Vca

Historians will be baffled by Trump’s capacity to govern through creating chaos. Last Friday was a case in point.

Not invading and bombing countries is also an excellent way to ensure low oil prices

My favorite piece of graphic design I saw in Japan—this logo for a delivery service.

So recently I got this device called the Instruo Pocket Scion. It takes electrical signals from plants and passes them through a sound engine. I hooked it up to this calla lily in my garden and here's what happened:

this is huge. 👇 Germany has withdrawn its planned intervention supporting Israel in the South Africa v. Israel ICJ genocide case. in Europe it was felt that Germany was holding back the EU from being more critical of what's going on. The UK have been helping & largely supporting Israel.

“We may have to declare force majeure on long-term contracts for up to five years for LNG supplies to Italy, Belgium, Korea, and China.” - QatarEnergy CEO This seems bad.

Confirmed: the European Council will not reopen the discussion on Ukraine. Leaders give up today. They realise there's no point in trying to convince Orbán to lift his veto three weeks before the Hungarian elections.

What a hallucinating situation for Hungarian voters and for the EU to be in, confronted by a new transatlantic alliance...

Both Russia and the United States -- both the Kremlin and the Trump administration -- have endorsed Viktor Orbán for a sixth term in office. Both are campaigning for him, in their own ways. This is ... meaningful. A piece from me, for your consideration. www.thenextmove.org/p/putin-and-...

Another example of a European leader contradicting Trump - some really seem to be finding their voice now

😂

* GERMAN DEFENCE MINISTER PISTORIUS: WHAT DOES TRUMP EXPECT FROM A HANDFUL OF EUROPEAN FRIGATES THAT THE POWERFUL US NAVY CANNOT DO? THIS IS NOT OUR WAR, WE HAVE NOT STARTED IT @reuters.com

Actually, Americans are just like you. ~20-30% of them genuinely support fascism, as in ~every 🇪🇺 country. You are just more fortunate to have political institutions & a multiparty system that prevent that 20-30% from fully capturing the center-right party, becoming 51%, & controlling the government.

Yemen’s Houthis have announced they’ll be joining the war in support of Iran shortly. Analysts expect them to shut down another strait, Bab El-Mandeb, which will close the Suez Canal. The global economy hangs by a thread.

My first response to the US request to free up the Strait of Hormuz was: no After some thoughts, my take is: no, no, no - very much no. Why? Besides that it would make 3rd parties fellow combatants, in harms way in an illegal war, there are two further reasons: (1/x)

Today, we were honoured to welcome Federal Minister @reemalabali.bsky.social from @bmz.de at @idos-research.bsky.social. In her introductory speech, the minister emphasised the role of IDOS as a valuable partner and source of expertise. Read more: 📲 www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

in 1994 Norway voted against becoming a full EU member largely for the same reason - the Common Fisheries policy (CFP). Understandable, given how their carefully managed fish stocks are worth billions. Yet, the mood music suggest Norway will likely follow Iceland, even without a CFP optout. 4/6

"To see this as collateral damage, or an unfortunate byproduct of legitimate military operations, requires accepting that 9 million people’s lungs are an acceptable externality of war."

This lunch includes all five of the main Dutch food groups: cheese, cucumber, geometry, boredom and sorrow, with most of the vitamin content provided by the soul-destroying view of endless flatness spilling off the far-flung horizon.

Every word in this piece 🔽

Milliarden Dollar schießt das Regime in die Luft, steckt es seit Jahrzehnten Waffen, um Menschen zu töten. Milliarden Dollar werden auf iranische Städte geschossen. Geld, mit dem Millionen von Menschen, in Iran oder USA, ein gutes, würdiges Leben führen könnten. Das Gift von Macht zerstört alles.

Spain responded to Trump's threat that trade policy is the responsibility of the EU. That was backed by Merz who stated “Spain is a member of the European Union and, as such, we either conduct negotiations on a tariff agreement with the United States jointly or we do not conduct them at all.”

Preparing the graves for more than 150 elementary school girls who were killed by an Israeli-American strike. Photo: IRNA #Iran

"Hey, here is a book about the importance of love and intimacy". "Great, let's use that to train bombs to hit primary schools."

I'll confess that just a few weeks ago I approvingly sent Mark Carney's WEF speech bigging up "middle powers" to my colleagues. These countries' reactions to last weekend's attack on Iran shows it is the fastest and least gracefully deflating conceptual hot air balloon in the history of mankind.

All Europeans will pay the price for their leaders' reaction to the 🇺🇸🇮🇱 attack on Iran this weekend. European leaders (all except Pedro Sanchez) have now accepted the end of international law. The consequences of this will be felt not for weeks, not for years, but for decades

15 US military aircraft have left the Rota and Morón air bases after Spain refused to allow them to be used for operations related to Iran, Reuters reports.

Horrible man killed by other horrible men telling the entire world that the only justice comes from the sky in the form of missiles. Which has been and always will be the easiest way to trigger further violence and empower more horrible men.

That three governments are unable to say that this is against international law is a reminder why we are losing the international rules-based order (or what is left)

The first deaths announced from the US-Israeli strikes on Iran: dozens of school girls. They hit an elementary school in Hormozgan.

Das Internet ist wieder fast vollständig geblockt. Die letzte Nachricht, die ich um 7:30 Uhr aus Teheran bekam: „Der Krieg hat begonnen.“ Die USA und Israel haben Iran angegriffen. Das iranische Regime soll bereits US-Basen in Bahrein beschossen haben. Es ist völlig unabsehbar, was passieren wird.

It is possible to recognise the Iranian regime is hideous, murdering their own citizens, and ideally would be replaced by a more democratic government, and that the US bombing a city of millions is a bad thing and starting an illegal war is really bad. You don't have to support either government. 1/

Nice AI-image-generating tool, but it will never be as great an artist as Onfim, a child who lived in the Novgorod Republic in the mid-1200s and who scribbled these drawings and schoolwork writings on birch bark at the age of 6 or 7.

Energiewendewende