Open up this picture fully. Then look at the surface of Mars. Then look up to the top right. Spot Mars' moon Phobos high in the sky. Then notice the bright spot beside Phobos. That's Earth.

watch for this to pick up in 2026, as Tesla increasingly circles the drain

They're talking Asian-made second hand phones, painting them gold and trying to sell them in the USA. This story is funny throughout. Honestly wonder if it's actually more than a grift but a piece of savage satire, loosely disguised into performance art. - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Cardons, cardons, car nous sommes matelassiers

This is interesting. Patriotism tests loom for big business economist.com/internationa... from The Economist

more evidence the product here is “democratizing” the experience of sycophancy heretofore restricted to the very rich. the very rich are surrounded by cynically self-dealing sycophants. soon you can be too!

I'm not immune to the occasional bout of Poster's Madness but I try to live my online life in ways that present fewer potential portals to that outcome, because getting mad at strangers is one of the worst things you can do for your mental health and quality of life

Ce n’est pas bien de réagir aux sottises de Mme Bastie mais: 1- Nelson Mandela est probablement un meilleur nom de lycée que « Jules Dugommier, député maire de 1971 à 2007 » dont l’unique fait d’armes aura été la multiplication par 50 du nombre d’agents municipaux au cours de ses mandats

This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)

Little known fact: Germany (the world’s largest cheese exporter by both weight and value) has a positive cheese trade balance with Italy. It exports more cheese to Italy than it imports from Italy, though the gap has narrowed.

Mais qu’est ce qui est donc arrivé sous le sapin? @andreloez.bsky.social @alexjubelin.bsky.social

Aujourd’hui, si vous avez validé votre compétence « avoir un avis péremptoire sur l’autodétermination du Somaliland à partir exclusivement de mon bord dans le conflit israelo-palestinien » vous avez la possibilité de participer au grand débat géopolitique du moment.

Growing Chinese auto giant BYD stands poised to officially surpass Tesla as the world’s biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales.

Une excellente liste pour préparer ses bagages, je ne m'en sépare jamais. Elle permet de ne pas oublier les indispensables du voyage (huile de baleine, permanganate de potassium, etc.) Petit bémol, la dernière phrase que je suivais à la lettre au début m'a valu bien des mésaventures.

Indonesia remains in the West the largest, least noticed part of humanity

Marvellous, moving and wise column by @martinsandbu.ft.com:

Pour les profs

⚫ Brigitte Bardot, actrice française légendaire, icône féminine des années 1960 et fervente protectrice des animaux, est décédée à l'âge de 91 ans, a annoncé ce dimanche la Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

Great read on YouTube. www.ft.com/content/9e75... The relentless rise of YouTube

Scrolling through Soros’s articles in the NYRB is just him being right again and again.

"Doors should have handles that work without electricity" is for some reason a hot take

This is state of the art at Tesla.

"tell me we didn't just fire a dozen $500,000 missiles at a $200 camel" "sir, no evidence of any camel present, sir!"

What's the Latin phrase equivalent to "pro bono", but they're helping bad people, but it turns out to be good because they're terrible at it?

cc Darwin Awards

I wrote about this last year. At one point Kevin became the top name in France, Germany and the Netherlands among others. Also noted is the unfortunate "Brajan" spotted in Poland We need to talk about Europe’s Kevins www.economist.com/europe/2024/...

Find this fascinating. The Tapestry is literally priceless. There is no market. Why not £2 billion? Or £500 million? www.ft.com/content/ec9a... Bayeux Tapestry set to be covered by £800mn UK Treasury indemnity

In 2024, sparkling wine consumption in Germany totaled 255.3 million liters—the lowest level in many decades—continuing a long-term decline. This decrease is mainly attributable to falling per-capita consumption, which dropped from 5.82 liters in 1991 to 3.06 liters in 2024, a decline of 47%.

I like how deeply committed the us is to putting on the worst world cup of all time: ad breaks in the matches, tickets for 50,000 dollars, shitty 30 minute halftime show. it's going to be like, the farewell party for the american century with all the symptoms of national decline put together

💰 The largest administrative divisions in the European Union by GDP.

Merry Christmas to my mother, who got my toddler a toy fire engine that not only makes lots of noise, it also sprays real water

On ne sait plus maintenant si une plainte contre X est contre un inconnu ou contre le réseau social A moins bien sûr que ce soit un restaurateur gaulois à Rome

Je me rappelle qu'on avait mis en cause des grosses légumes

X tombe à 14,4 millions de visiteurs uniques en novembre en France, son plus mauvais score depuis le rachat par Musk. X fait désormais quasi jeu égal avec Reddit en France. D'autres points à relever, source Médiamétrie :

the most Turkey headline imaginable *TURKEY PASSES BILL POSTPONING INFLATION ACCOUNTING THROUGH 2027

rhetm.org/article/id/2... Very first paper by Etienne Martinier (PhD student at Université Côte d’Azur), on the contribution of Oli Hawrylyshyn (1943–2020) to the economic valuation of unpaid domestic work, published in the Review of the History of Economic Thought and Methodology. Congrats !

à l'heure où les USA sanctionnent Thierry Breton.. pardonnez l'autopromo, mais si vous ne l'avez pas lue, lisez ma tribune d'il y a deux mois www.lemonde.fr/idees/articl...

La Savoie, il faut qu’on parle, là

Judges who ruled against Trump say harassment and threats have changed their lives @lawrencehurley.bsky.social: www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

About those commitments in US trade deals... www.ft.com/content/c961...

In contrast, I think these measures are ineffective showboating that are more about publicity than consequences. We may see more serious and effective measures in future. We may not.

Counterpoint: Thierry Breton's 2024 letter to Elon Musk suggesting that EU rules should interfere with an American citizen interviewing a former American president vying for election in America was *completely insane*. The visa ban is obviously MAGA stupidity, but... yeah. The letter was bonkers.

www.ft.com/content/9544... Why self-improvement starts with maintenance

from the excellent r/Giscardpunk subreddit, someone installed ChatGPT on an old minitel www.reddit.com/r/Giscardpun...

Excellent read from @alanallport.bsky.social foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/18/f...

If nobody wanted to live in Dublin, it would have neither a housing nor a congestion problem.

And now, for the best Substack of the year: Kaiser Kuo: China is here to Lead, not just Stay jiwankshetry.substack.com/p/must-read-...