Mountain religion

Final reminder for those still doing Christmas shopping: why not buy a funny and interesting book? Rory Stewart said it was a lovely read! www.bol.com/nl/nl/f/the-...

This whole paragraph is 👀

Oh, we'll keep it alive... In front of all your friends www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

The most important European policymaker for the first time in a decade is not a European and, increasingly, doesn’t even much like the place anymore. The Most Influential Man in Europe Thinks Europe is Full of Losers politi.co/44OL4fj

Spending 90 minutes running around and not scoring is I guess one definition of peace

Makes sense. We were all TIME's person of the year. Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/t...

Is it... HBO?

From R. Crumb's satirical "City of the Future" in Zap Comix (1968)

The overuse of delve (until recently one of my favorite words) by AI is likely because it was disproportionately trained on Nigerian English. One of the very many great nuggets in this piece: Why Does AI Write Like... That www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...

AI but for knowing when I have no desire to use AI

This feels like the most basic of all possible numbers

Tracks My most-used words in 2025 were: 1. "chatgpt" (10×) 2. "europe" (7×) 3. "trump" (7×) 4. "news" (6×) 5. "brussels" (6×) See which words you used the most here: anisota.net/harvest

I mean I know tech guys aren't copyeditors but... C'mon.

Perhaps, instead of turning everything into paperclips, AI is coming to resemble Clippy.

had the intrusive thought that 30 years from now we’re going to have VC funds and military startups named after harry potter stuff and it’s going to be even more annoying than hobbit stuff

The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear -- doesn't have the same ring to it.

Following the pattern, the next number would be 86? First digit raises by 2, second digit raises by 7 but doesn't interact with the first digit. Or 96 if it does, this is uncharted territory.

Gen-X: 42 Millennials: 420 Gen-Z: 69 Gen-alpha: 6, 7 Solve for the next generation

It’s horrifying that in the Netherlands, of all places, it’s now common for mayors and councillors of small towns to need security because of threats to their lives. In 2024 *almost half* of public officials were threatened with violence. Understandably, many are giving up nos.nl/artikel/2592...

Before Germany’s last elections, hundreds of combustion-engine cars had been vandalised, combined with pro-Green flyers left on site. State investigators now assume a Russian influence operation: #fossilwarfare www.n-tv.de/politik/Ermi...

Wanna feel old? wapo.st/4pi4np0

I don't understand the bit about the bamboo?

French energy giant TotalEnergies was formally accused yesterday of complicity in war crimes and torture — after a criminal complaint filed in Paris over a massacre at its Mozambique gas site, first exposed by a POLITICO investigation last year.

One of the biggest yet quietist trends we’re living through: the rapid death of overseas aid and diplomacy. “For the first time in 30 years, France, Germany, the UK, and the US all cut their ODA in 2024.. the first time in history all 4 have cut aid simultaneously” www.politico.eu/article/arms...

If you are fan of Patti Smith (and you should be!), this is well worth spending time with. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Oooh, a Windows update! I can't wait to see what wonders they have in store for me...

"To be clear: anyone in the world who has used ChatGPT in the past three years must now face the possibility that their personal conversations will be handed over to The Times to sift through at will in a speculative fishing expedition," the company said. www.reuters.com/business/med...

Nettles Bring Hives Roses Give Scratches AI Toys Tell Kids to Find Knives and Start Fires With Matches futurism.com/artificial-i...

Perfect subhead (on the actual article page) AI-Powered Toys Caught Telling 5-Year-Olds How to Find Knives and Start Fires With Matches futurism.com/artificial-i...

“Yes, my darling, I was thinking about you too… and how good you’d look leaning against my *Ford F-150*, sipping a *Miller Lite* under the *Visit Austin, Texas* city lights.” ChatGPT ads are coming – and they won’t look like Google Ads searchengineland.com/chatgpt-ads-...

If my math is right, this article is claiming that French people ate on average more than 3.5 baguettes a day. The good old days, indeed! The baguette faces an uncertain future. How France is rethinking its iconic loaves edition.cnn.com/2025/11/08/t...

Great fame can be obtained By routing an army With oxen carrying Burning straw on their horns. But after all, it is No more important than The tracks of sandpipers On a wave washed beach. Days go by and become A year and I am too Lazy to notice. —from "Autumn Thoughts" by Lu Yu

Never travel without a fully stocked first aid kit

France’s social, economic, cultural, religious and political divisions offer fertile ground for the Kremlin’s interference, several policymakers, academics and military officers told POLITICO. Story with @msolletty.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/red-...

When Clare Daly launched her re-election bid last year, Catherine Connolly sat at her right hand. “I wish I could canvass every day for her on the streets,” Connolly said. Will Connolly use the presidential platform in a similar way to how Daly used hers? My piece: www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

Amazing that the use case being promoted by the largest AI companies is exactly the one for which the technology is least suited. AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments. #medievalsky www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...

Less than a week from now the #Netherlands will elect a new government. Ahead in the polls is the far-right PVV — widely known for its anti-Islam rhetoric, less known for this: the party has only one formal member who makes all the decisions. Guess who. My story: www.politico.eu/article/geer...

Spotted in Sardinia 😢

It's a what-if-we're-the-baddies tattoo

This is delightful. “The comedians on that stage are performing in a gilded cage,” the exiled Saudi satirist Ghanem al-Masarir wrote before the festival, adding, “In MBS’s Saudi Arabia, the punchline is always prison.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Geert Wilders’ one-man rule — and what that means for the Dutch How Europe’s smallest party became the Netherlands’ largest political force. By @evahartog.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/geer...

Just going to sit down, watch a movie, take my mind off of current events. Oh. youtube.com/watch?v=_wpw...

In this economy? 50centadjustedforinflation.com

Drank a room temperature coke today. Ice was available. I've gone fully European.

Under Russian drones, Ukrainians wonder if Europe still cares www.politico.eu/article/russ... by @thisisbartosz.bsky.social

Juncker still undefeated

I've been a bit sceptical of the "exodus of US-based academics to Europe" thing, but this is a notable move.

Negotiating to have my salary paid in Labubus.