This is the duty for Europe to do in it’s very own interest kyivindependent.com/editorial-am...

There are a bunch of 16th century Dutch songs that go incredibly hard but that have just about disappeared from public consciousness because they read kind of funny to modern eyes

Here is one of the key paragraphs.

“Had European nations procured some 100,000 quadcopter drones in 2023—an approach that seemed sensible at the time—it is likely that these systems would now be largely useless. Instead, the European defence industry must be positioned to scale up production & modify systems as needed”

Haha oh my god these four years are going to be wild www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Let’s make 2025 the year in which other Europeans and NATO become more like the Finns. Finland seizes a tanker, getting tough on hybrid warfare econ.st/4gBufbL

As always, being a non-party to a situation yet having an emotional interest just means you're probably a fucking tool for somebody in it. What do I give a shit about Blake Lively being a good person or not? Why does my opinion suddenly matter in this? Oh I'm a tool.

2/9 The first problem is that in a globalized world, economies with open capital and trade accounts automatically import their industrial policies as the obverse of the industrial policies of their more aggressively interventionist trade partners. carnegieendowment.org/china-financ...

I liked this article www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1341...

Then you have the matter of those Syrians who do not want to return. For some it can be too hard and too scary, after fleeing for your life it is understandable to be wary about returning no matter what the situation. There will also be those who have built lives now, and want to keep them. 5/

We are already seeing Syrian refugees attempting to return home. That's not surprising. Despite what certain politicians and pundits claim, the vast majority of refugees want to return home as quickly as possible, hence why most remain in regions of origin. 2/

No way 😂😂😂😂😂😂 We’ve heard of statues being destroyed or smashed, but sitting on them and tying them to a car? That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.

This might be the greatest headline of all time.

Militants of the Syrian regime are abandoning their posts in the Mazzeh neighborhood, Damascus. That area is the last line of defense between the advancing rebels and Assad‘s palace.

Dit is Bashar al-Assad. Bashar al-Assad heeft vandaag een kutdag.

Stunning images are emerging from Hama, as reports confirm the release of thousands of prisoners from Assad's dungeons. Many were presumed dead, their survival unimaginable, yet now against all odds, they're free.

why does it feel like we're living through a BIlly Joel song

There is a tricky thing going on that is very different from the past, which is the needs of the economy and that of national security are drifting very much apart.

Dit is totaal niet doorgedrongen. Rusland zal de Baltische Landen testen om te kijken of onze solidariteit geen papieren tijger is. In Oost-Europa is dat besef er wel. Een jaar geleden waarschuwde ik hiervoor. 'Een Europees Pearl Harbor is akelig dichtbij.' hiddebouwmeester.nl/gaat-u-maar-...

Absolutely the right thing to do www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

Interesting article on a 1980s wargame here, with what sounds like a pretty realistic scenario (Soviet breakthrough near Hamburg, tactical first use by NATO, kinda escalates from there)

Het contrast is overigens ook een steeds grotere bedreiging voor de intense BE-NL militaire samenwerking. Een paradox : de bespaarders hebben altijd de mond vol over samenwerking om zo te kunnen besparen maar dreigen die zelf te ondergraven.

"Imagine that Russia launches a much bigger sub-threshold attack on a single NATO ally (...) A country suffering such a combination of attacks would rightly see that as an existential threat (...) And what will Russia do? It will rattle its nuclear saber. (...) What happens then?"

UAE, Saudi Arabia and Russia (oil), Australia and Brazil (iron ore) and Indonesia (coal) all significantly smaller exporters than Belgium.

We have produced a lineage both oversexed in the mind and completely sterile in body. Where sweat has no smell and flesh has no sound and consequence ends when the scene does. What have we done. Why don't our geckos fuck anymore?

"Go pound sand" can occasionally be a constructive diplomatic response

Today in "well what did you expect?"

A lot busier here all of a sudden.