it is extremely funny that RFK both does not believe in the germ theory of disease and is a lab leak truther

if you want to get shit done, rather than a “strong man”, instead of autocracy, have you considered a democratically elected unicameral legislature which directly appoints and can remove the executive?

A fascinating case of "what variable have you actually accidentally measured?"

With all this talk of how to end Russias war against Ukraine, and a cease fire, keep this in mind: If Ukraine ceases firing, Ukraine will cease to exist. If Russia ceases firing. the war will cease to exist. Pretty clear

Meanwhile the stakes in Putin's efforts to take out the Odessa seaports are really high. They carry 60-70% of the country's exports. Since the drone and missile blitz this month they are now running at just 30-35% of capacity www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

Theda Skocpol is amazing, just came here to say that

North Pole alligator watch

An AIM-9 costs $0.5-1 million, a Russian Shahed costs about $50,000.

Good post by Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist, arguing that the EU and UK must retaliate against America’s bullying moves to sanction EU officials and ICC judges. open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

Terrific year-end essay by @polphilpod.bsky.social, I recommend it to all colleagues, non-colleagues, family, pets etc

Just donated. Every day Russia is firing missiles and drone bombs to destroy power plants and substations, trying to freeze Ukraine into submission. Every day Ukrainian soldiers and engineers are out in the cold replacing them. Send them the equipment they need.

Wow. Voor iedereen die heeft gedoneerd: fantastisch! Honderd generatoren die stuk voor stuk naar ziekenhuizen, militaire veldhospitalen en andere vitale plekken gaan. Dank onszelf wel! (ik heb natuurlijk ook een volle generator gedoneerd). Geven kan nog steeds hier: vvodiel.nl/doneren/

This is a historically correct use of “terrorism”. When Nazi Stukas destroyed Rotterdam in May 1940, the international press decried Nazi “terror-bombing”, noting the German term “Schrecklichkeit”. Here is the New York Times.

The Trump administration is doing more to squeeze Putin than people realize. US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil have caused Urals oil price to fall very sharply, as places like India steer away from Russian oil for fear of secondary sanctions. This is big... robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/how-recent...

Our data journalism is great and this was instructive, but note that burning a barrel of oil produces 433kg CO2 equivalent. So this is the difference between adding 22% (Venezuela) or 6% (Brazil) to the CO2 emitted. Significant but not game-changing

NYT: look these are inherently subjective judgments, one man’s field of sorghum is another man’s terrorist

America must commence airstrikes immediately to stop the oppression of Christians in Antarctica www.ft.com/content/99d2...

Who’s going to tell him that he was watching a show starring the sons of 2 immigrants?

Corruption.

Congratulations on the birthday of one of tens of thousands of rabbis whose followers believed he had mystical powers

Just watched “Champagne Problems” with the family and it was like being asleep for 90 minutes, feeling full of energy now. Highly recommend

Notable that the Trump administration has done this but as far as I am aware there are no sanctions outstanding for the people who operate China’s Great Fire Wall, or the corresponding Russian censorship, specifically for censorship on the internet. It is only the US’s allies who get this treatment

Feeling left out since I only know One Piece from the very silly TV series with that incredibly annoying actor. Presumably the manga is good somehow? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

San Francisco has fewer murders now than it has since Philip Marlowe was trying to find the Maltese Falcon. And its population is higher

Adam Serwer nails it. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Poland, Sweden and others are buying subs to protect pipelines

Alle maskers vallen af. De EU moet kapot, vindt Trump-trouwe Denktank. Waarom? Omdat de EU als enige nog een vuist maakt in de westerse wereld tegen de techgiganten en Amerikaanse monopoliehouders. Als dat geen schallend compliment voor de kracht van de EU is! nos.nl/l/2595747

This is a fantastic review of an unfortunately significant piece of garbage.

Zouden mensen in Amsterdam deze a.u.b. rondsturen

Ukrainian soldiers say the most effective defense against fiber-optic FPV drones remains the combo of a “Safari” shotgun and the “Ptashka” net launcher. If the drone survives buckshot, it’s caught by a 4x4m net fired up to 30m.

Son of friends, Thijmen Weeda, 21, missing in Amsterdam. Last seen Sunday 14:30 at the Marnixstraat. www.facebook.com/share/1AVLiG...

This is some insane shit from Bari Weiss

Relieved to see it doesn’t appear to have great big gun turrets.

The secret to winning political discourse is that you just have to put “bros” after whatever ideology or analysis you dislike and it automatically proves it wrong

I have come to detest Corinthian capitals. Ugly, overwrought, stylistically incoherent with the forms of the buildings they decorate. Childish. It’s not just Trump’s ballroom, it’s the whole shebang. They were never good. podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/k...

Veel reacties vandaag op deze column van mensen die denken dat ze in 2035 nog een nieuwe brandstofauto gaan kopen. (benieuwd waar ze dan tanken, en hoeveel een litertje in 2035 kost als die laatste diehards de hele benzine-infrastructuur moeten betalen)

"After decades of narrowing, the gap between countries at the top and bottom of the index has widened for four years running. The world’s poorest countries have stalled on other indicators, too. Extreme poverty has barely fallen since 2015. Measures of public health have declined since covid."

Yet more outrageous pro-Empress Maria Theresa propaganda

Excellent progress on Plan 2025’s Viktor Orban-inspired effort to subject America’s main media organs to political control, by having friendly billionaires buy them and install obedient editors www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

bit of an edgy tweet here for Dmitriev, given all the Trump bootlicking

This tweet is an excellent demonstration of why more people should read The Economist’s data journalism

If Matt said, "People coming to America seeking asylum have no issues setting up stable housing and therefore do not meaningfully contribute to homelessness trends," that also could've produced a ritualistic denouncement even though this is an implication of rejecting his point.

LOL

Americans descended from Native, English, African, Hispanic, Irish, German, Russian, Chinese etc ancestors are all American. Anyone who calls themselves a “heritage American” however is spreading anti-American propaganda and working to destroy America.

It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans. 🧵 1 of 9

Lots of people think the claim that you need to earn $140k/yr to participate in middle class life in the US is ridiculous. But the PPP € conversion to the Netherlands is 0.77 and I’m pretty sure people here would find a claim that you need €108k/yr to participate in middle class life insane.

I wonder whether Jeffrey Epstein would have been happy to know that so many people would still be thinking of him, years after he passed

Sentimental Value: ****1/2

One reading of the disappearance after one cycle of Dutch party NSC, which hammered on “bestaanszekerheid” (social security basically), is that voters attracted to upstart/populist movements claim to be motivated by economic fears but actually…aren’t. Xenophobia beats €

Yup. Slower GDP growth accounts for only modest share of cross-cohort decline in absolute upward income mobility (kids earning more than their parents). Most of decline is from the uneven distribution of GDP growth. Chetty, Grusky, and colleagues in Science: www.science.org/doi/full/10....